Crypto firms reported an uptick in retail activity as US stimulus hit bank accounts according to crypto news outlet TheBlock.
Coinbase is preparing for its direct listing which is scheduled for Apr. 14.
On April 1, Morgan Stanley added Bitcoin trading to 12 of its existing institutional funds using cash-settled futures and investments with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
Morgan Stanley in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that “bitcoin and bitcoin futures have generally exhibited significant price volatility relative to traditional asset classes.”
Separately, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty was at a record high this week, dimming the prospects of continued record revenues for miners.
The rise in difficulty was since hash rate or blockchain computing power couldn’t keep up with Bitcoin’s surging price because of a global shortage in chips
On March 31, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said in a Bloomberg interview that the organization could be looking to launch a central bank digital currency within four years.
Here is a list of some of the top cryptocurrencies to watch and their performance from this past week by the percentage change at around 9 a.m. ET Sunday, Apr. 4.
Bitcoin BTC | $57,850.48
BlackRock has started trading Bitcoin futures, according to filings lodged with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission published on March 31.
Ethereum ETH | $2,070.99
The price of Ethereum hit a new all-time high of over $2,060 on Friday, according to data from TradingView. ETH first breached $2,000 in late February. The previous all-time high was at $2,041, reached on Feb. 20.
Dogecoin DOGE | $0.056
Tesla (TSLA) – Get Report CEO Elon Musk tweeted Thursday that his aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company SpaceX will put a Dogecoin on the moon. Since Musk tweeted on April Fools’ Day it wasn’t clear if the tweet was a joke or not.
Binance Coin BNB | $343.70
Binance Coin has been rising this past week, gaining over 27% this past week as it looks to keep its price above $300.
Cardano ADA | $1.18
Cardano had one of the highest percentage returns in the first quarter but is only up 0.51% this past week
Polkadot DOT | $44.24
Polkadot’s coin is up over 35% in the past week. Polkadot is helping create a decentralized web created by the Web3 Foundation.
All cryptocurrency price performances are referenced and pulled from Coinbase.