The UK is preparing new regulations regarding stablecoins and staking

The price surge comes after a week of consolidation that may see volumes slow bitcoin purchased by spot ETFs compared to previous weeks. According to data from each ETF provider's published bitcoin holdings, last week, approximately 11 BTC was purchased net by spot ETFs compared to 200 BTC, 18 BTC, and 800 BTC in the previous three weeks.

It's unclear what exactly caused the price to spike to $57, but there were some bullish announcements on cryptocurrency Twitter yesterday.

First, Microstrategy Inc, a publicly traded software company that has made bitcoin purchases part of its corporate strategy, announced yesterday through its founder Michael Saylor, purchasing 3000 more bitcoins ($155 million), bringing its total bitcoin holdings to 193 bitcoins (approximately $000 billion).

Secondly, we recorded a record day in terms of trading volume ETFs spot on bitcoin ($2,4 billion), with iBIT Blackrock amounting to $1,3 billion. Spot ETFs also accumulated approximately 9000 bitcoins yesterday, which is 10 times the daily new supply of bitcoin entering circulation from block rewards.

Ethereum also rose during the week, breaking the $3000 price level - the highest price since April 2022. This happened in anticipation of the upcoming "Dencun" upgrade to the Ethereum mainnet and is part of the overall bullish trend in the cryptocurrency market. According to Yahoo Finance, Ethereum is currently trading at $3225.

This week

The focus will return to inflation data this week, as the latest US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) reading is due to be released on Thursday, February 29.

There will be more emphasis on the Core PCE reading, which excludes the more volatile components of food and energy, making it easier to spot the underlying inflation trend.

Although Federal Reserve virtually ruled out a reduction in interest rates at the upcoming March meeting, the lower-than-expected PCE rate may increase the likelihood of a cut at the next meeting in May.

As we have seen historically, the increased expectation of interest rate cuts has generally been positive for cryptocurrency prices as well as stocks.

Filecoin will provide a decentralized data storage solution for the Solana blockchain

Last week, Filecoin was one of the best performing cryptocurrencies, gaining 30%.

Filecoin (FIL) is the cryptocurrency powering the Filecoin network, a decentralized peer-to-peer file storage system.

The continuous increase in FIL prices follows announcement last week that the network would begin storing Solana's block history, making the data "more accessible and useful to infrastructure providers, explorers, indexers and anyone needing access to historical data."

“By leveraging Filecoin's decentralized storage capabilities, @solana can achieve data redundancy, scalability, and enhanced security while remaining true to its decentralized ethos.” – stated in the tweet.

According to Yahoo Finance, FIL is currently valued at $8,1526.

The UK hopes to have a new ruling on stablecoins and staking within six months

As reported Bloomberg, the UK government hopes that new rules governing stablecoins and cryptocurrency staking services will be approved by lawmakers within the next six months.

Speaking at an event in London on February 19, Bim Afolimi (Economic Secretary to the Treasury) said the government was "pushing very hard" for new legislation to be passed before the next general election.

“We are convinced that we want to conclude these matters as quickly as possible. “I think it will be doable in the next six months.” Afolimi said.

In 2022, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) pledged for the first time to make the UK a global center for cryptocurrency technology and pave the way for stablecoins to be used in the UK as a recognized form of payment, however, progress since this time is small.

If the new rules are adopted in time, it could attract more digital asset businesses and investment to the UK in the coming months and years.