Tag: Caitlin Ostroff

Dogecoin Has a Top Dog Worth $2.1 Billion

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/dogecoin-has-a-top-dog-worth-2-1-billion-11613559022?mc_cid=4b04f7e31f&mc_eid=983bcf5922

Excerpt:

The dogecoin market has a pack leader.

Records show that a person, or entity, owns about 28% of all of the cryptocurrency in circulation—a stake worth about $2.1 billion at current prices. The holder’s identity isn’t known, which is common in the opaque world of digital currencies.

It is hard to tell what to make of this giant position in what has long been a small and niche corner of the cryptocurrency world.

Dogecoin was created in 2013 as a satirical homage to bitcoin. Its developers were riffing off the meme of a Shiba Inu dog with bad spelling habits. It wasn’t designed to be used as a form of payment, or as anything except a joke. At the start of 2021, a dogecoin was worth about half a cent, even as bitcoin prices had surged to nearly $30,000.

Author(s): Caitlin Ostroff

Publication Date: 17 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

Bitcoin Trades Above $50,000 for First Time

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-trades-above-50-000-for-first-time-11613479752?st=5sdazs17y4me06r&reflink=article_gmail_share

Graphic:

Excerpt:

Bitcoin topped $50,000 for the first time Tuesday, doubling in value in less than two months.

The digital currency traded as high as $50,584.85, before closing at $48,642.45, according to CoinDesk, up 0.95% for the day and 68% for the year, with a total market value in circulation close to $909 billion.

The $50,000 level is an “emotional level for people in the space,” said Brian Melville, head of strategy at trading firm Cumberland. But it is also a simple result of supply and demand, he added.

From August through December, about 150,000 new bitcoins were minted, he estimated. The firm calculated that about 359,000 bitcoins were bought in the same period, and that imbalance has continued in 2021. “It’s a really important metric to watch,” he added.

Author(s): Paul Vigna and Caitlin Ostroff

Publication Date: 16 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal