The top daily news from the cryptocurrency and blockchain space:
- Mike Novogratz predicts the price of bitcoin to settle.
- 500,000 Polkadot DOTs sell in line with $1.2 billion valuation.
- Gemini cryptocurrency exchange opens Chicago office.
At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) are trading at $11,317.5 (-8.4%) and $297.7 (-8.0%), respectively. As for the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index, it is currently tracking at 4,576.8 (+2.4%).
Bitcoin Price to Settle, Says Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz
Appearing on CNBC’s pre-market business news television program Squawk Box, the Galaxy Digital founder explained how he feels the price of bitcoin “put a tradable top in” on Thursday, June 27, a day which saw the leading cryptocurrency fall from a local top of almost $14,000 to levels below $12,000.
“I sold a little bit [of bitcoin] yesterday,” Novogratz told the Squawk Box panel, before going on to say, “I wish I sold a lot.”
Providing commentary on Facebook’s Libra digital currency, specifically, how centralized the Libra Association appears, the cryptoasset fund manager said the entity “will have a hundred votes, so it will be distributed. Maybe not decentralized. They plan on decentralizing over time.”
Private Sale of Polkadot’s DOT Token Upholds $1.2 Billion Valuation
Polkadot, a protocol allowing independent blockchains to exchange information, has successfully closed a private sale of 500,000 so-called DOT tokens, reported The Block, citing a managing partner of the Web3 Foundation’s (W3F’s) – the Swiss not-for-profit entity stewarding the development of Polkadot.
Whilst the W3F did not specify the dollar amount raised, the sale is reportedly on track with the $1.2 billion valuation alleged by The Wall Street Journal earlier this year. Assuming the veracity of these figures, the W3F would have raised $60 million from this most recent private DOT token sale.
Gemini Opens Chicago Office to Bolster Crypto Trading Product
Gemini has hired five former Coinbase engineers as part of an expansion into its third U.S.-based office Chicago office. Described by chief executive Tyler Winklevoss in a blog post as “an engineering hub”, the Chicago office will reportedly focus on improving the cryptocurrency exchange’s trading platform and matching engine.
Earlier this year, Coinbase laid off roughly thirty engineers that worked at its Chicago-based office; the result of a change of corporate strategy that did not emphasise high-frequency trading as heavily as in the past.
