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This week in coins. Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt.

After three consecutive weeks of losses, prices turned verdantly green for holders of the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap this week.

Bitcoin (BTC) blew up 36% over the past seven days and now trades at around $27,515 according to CoinMarketCap data.

Last week, Bitcoin shed around 10% in reaction to news that the industry-servicing Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) had both failed.

The industrys No. 2 coin, Ethereum (ETH), is back where it was before the downturn. ETH is up 27% over the seven days and currently changes hands at $1,832.

The entire crypto market surged back to life beginning last Sunday night after the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, and FDIC announced they would step in to backstop all deposits at Signature and SVB. Thatpromise was reiterated by President Biden.

Crypto didnt emerge fully unscathed, however: the industry has lost its two most crypto-friendly banks, and now conflicting reports are swirling over whether the FDIC is telling prospective buyers of Signature Bank that it will have to jettison the banks crypto business. Former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank claimed the Feds shut down Signature to send an "anti-crypto message" and aReutersreport late in the week appeared to confirm Frank's claims; the FDIC has since denied the claims made in the Reutersstory.

Over in the U.K., Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced that the HM Treasurythe UK Finance Ministryhad brokered a bailout deal in which HSBC acquired the British arm of SVB for 1 to make whole British businesses with exposure to the bank.

In addition to these interventions, investors were drawn into risk-on assets like crypto and tech stocks this week after signs emerged that the banking crisis could be spilling over into Europes TradFi institutions: Credit Suisse announced on Wednesday a $54 billion loan from Swiss National Bank to shore up its liquidity.

Virtually all of the top thirty cryptocurrencies by market cap posted significant gains this week, but some of the biggest winners aside from Bitcoin and Ethereum were Filecoin (FIL), which rose 33% to $6.39, Polygon (MATIC), which grew 22% to $1.24, Solana (SOL), which rose 28% to $22.30, and BNB, which climbed 25% to $344.76.

USDCthe dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circleslipped its peg last weekend and fell all the way to 87 cents after uncertainty over the companys exposure to the beleaguered banks. It restabilized this week in reaction to the bailout news.

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This Week in Coins: Bitcoin, Ethereum Post Mega Rallies After Banking Intervention - Decrypt

PLBY Group (PLBY), the parent company of the late Hugh Hefner's Playboy enterprise, said it took an impairment loss of $4.9 million on the ether (ETH) it held last year, as crypto winter created a significant decline in the broader market prices.

The lifestyle and media company said it accepted ether as payments for its Rabbitars non-fungible tokens (NFT) launched in 2021, which it holds in its balance sheet as digital assets, according to an annual filing on Thursday. The value of the digital assets sits at $327,000 as of last year, the filing said.

A previous filing shows the company's digital assets, which it refers to as Ethereum, were worth $1.75 million as of Sept. 30, 2022.

The company explained that the company accounts for its digital assets as indefinite-lived intangible assets, which are subject to impairment losses if the fair value of the assets fall below their carrying value, at any time. The impairment losses the company takes on the digital assets cant be recovered, even if the fair value of the assets rise after taking the impairment losses.

The market price of one [ether] in our principal market ranged from $964 to $3,813 during the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, but the carrying value of each Ethereum we held at the end of the reporting period reflects the lowest price of one Ethereum quoted on the active exchange at any time since its receipt, according to the filing. "Therefore, negative swings in the market price of Ethereum could have a material impact on the company's earnings and carrying value, while only time a rise in prices will impact the companys earnings positively, is when the Ethereum held in the balance sheet, are sold at a gain," the filing said.

The company launched its Rabbitar NFT project in October 2021, during the peak of the crypto market. Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, lost about 60% in value since October 2021, according to TradingView data.

Earlier in 2021, Playboy entered into NFT and blockchain technology industry with its NFT drop called Liquid Summer, which is a collection of digital artworks created in collaboration with the artist Slimesunday. The collection, which minted in May 2021, features archival photographs of Playboy model Lenna Sjblom the so-called First Lady of the Internet.

Read the original here:

Playboy Lost $4.9M on Ether It Accepted as NFT Payments - CoinDesk

National Australia Bank (NAB) has made history as the first major financial institution to complete an intra-bank cross-border transaction on a public blockchain using its own NAB-issued stablecoin.

NAB conducted the pilot transaction on the Ethereum blockchain and utilised smart contracts for seven major global currencies. The success of this transaction demonstrates the potential to significantly reduce the time and cost of cross-border transactions, benefiting NABs corporate and institutional clients who operate in multiple jurisdictions and currencies.

According to Drew Bradford, NABs executive general manager of markets, the bank is investing in the development of Australias safest, simplest, and most secure digital asset ecosystem.

We are committed to pursuing the right digital asset opportunities with clear customer benefits, said Bradford. We believe that blockchain technology will enable elements of the future of finance, and were already witnessing rapid change in the tokenisation market.The stringent governance frameworks we have in place ensures we can support the creation of a safe and reliable digital financial system.

NAB will fully back its Australian stablecoin, AUDN, one-for-one with the Australian dollar and manage it as a liability of the bank, making it the cornerstone for NABs ambitions in digital assets. Additionally, it aims to support select clients in transacting with digital assets by the end of 2023.

NAB collaborated with Blockfold and Fireblocks to build and deploy its stablecoins on the Ethereum blockchain. This involved utilising their expertise in smart contract creation, secure minting and burning of stablecoin, and managing custody of digital assets on the blockchain.

Michael Shaulov, CEO and co-founder, said: NABs successful trade execution marks the beginning of the evolution of financial services from Web2 to Web3, underpinned by blockchain technology as well as strong governance and risk management.

While BlockFold CEO and co-founder Francois Schonken, added: NABs multi-currency cross border settlement execution on a public blockchain is exhilarating. The NAB eco-system of stablecoins puts in place cross-border payment rails that unlock tokenisation potential for both real world assets and financial products.

NABs ambition is to enable transactions across seven of the top globally utilised currencies: Australian, New Zealand, Singapore and US dollars, Euro, Yen and Pound Sterling.

Read more here:

NAB Completes Historic Cross-Border Transaction Using Stablecoin on Ethereum Blockchain - The Fintech Times

Tech titan Microsoft is reportedly working on a new feature that enables users to send and receive crypto assets through its default web browser.

First reported by BleepingComputer, software documenter Albacore shared screenshots of a new Ethereum (ETH) wallet that Microsoft is planning to integrate into its Edge browser.

Newest in the gauntlet of questionable upcoming Microsoft Edge features, a crypto wallet. Not really sure how to feel about this kind of thing being baked into the default browser.

The onboarding pages indicate that Microsoft is rolling out a non-custodial crypto wallet that gives users exclusive control of their assets and private keys.

This is a non-custodial wallet, meaning you are in complete control of your funds. We will not have access to your password and recovery key. It is embedded in Edge, making it easy to use without installing any extension.

The screenshots also indicate that users can buy crypto assets using US-based digital asset exchange Coinbase and web3 infrastructure firm MoonPay.

The shared images also suggest support for browsing NFT marketplaces, a news feed feature and an option for users to choose between the built-in Edge wallet or an extension wallet for managing their assets.

When asked for more details, a Microsoft spokesperson told BleepingComputer,

At Microsoft, we regularly test new features to explore new experiences for our customers. We look forward to learning and collecting feedback from customers but have nothing further to share at this time.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Lord Beard/Porstocker

Continued here:

Microsoft Working on New Ethereum Wallet Amid Foray Into Crypto and NFTs: Report - The Daily Hodl

Ethereum price (ETH) earned a significant price gain on March 18 when it broke beyond the $1,800 level. However, recent market data shows that a significant chunk of ETH was transferred to the Binance exchange at 1:30 AM ET, casting doubts on a possible sale happening. The transfer resulted in the largest altcoin by market cap losing part of its market value.

Ethereum price (ETH) slumped after 18,657 ETH tokens (approximately $33,130,424 at current rates) were transferred in a single transaction. The transaction was traced back to an unknown but affluent wallet, costing him a mere $1 transaction fee on the Ethereum blockchain. In most instances, when such a huge chunk of tokens is transferred to an exchange, it usually points to a prospective sell activity that eventually drives down the asset's price.

Related: Assessing chances of Ethereum price rally to $2,400

As a result of the activity, Ethereum price has taken a breather, easing back 2.53% from the $1,807 reported earlier and auctioning for $1,761 at press time. This comes as market FUD continues to linger in the industry. According to projections by prominent crypto analyst Akash Girimath, however, the current bullish narrative for ETH would only be invalidated once the price crosses below the $1,636 level.

A move below the aforementioned invalidation level could send Ethereum price down to lose the support offered by the 50, 200, and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1,588, $1,553, and $1,529, respectively.

In extreme cases, the Ethereum price could drop to the $1,500 psychological level before buyers can attempt a recovery. Such a move would constitute a 15% downswing for the PoS token from current levels.

ETH/USDT 1-day chart

Meanwhile, Ethereum price still has some ground to cover before tagging the $2,000 psychological resistance level. The move would be feasible if the cryptocurrency sustains the current momentum, which, in turn, depends on the macroeconomic environment. Notably, the recent collapses in the banking sector fueled more liquidity into the crypto market, causing the Ethereum network to record a positive net flow of $35.8 million.

Ethereum price could resume its uptrend if Bitcoin remains bullish above $27,000 and ETH bulls hold forte by increasing their buying pressure. Moreover, the Ethereumnetwork recently confirmed the official launch date for theShanghai update, which will happen in three weeks.

These factors could be enablers to Ethereum price soaring in value near term.

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Whale moves $33 million worth of Ethereum to Binance in one go: What this means for ETH - FXStreet