Crypto Scoop: Bitcoin Soars Past $68K For The First Time As Ether Also Sets A New ATH.

Here are the highlights of this week's crypto scoop:

• Bitcoin Soars Past $68K For The First Time As Ether Also Sets A New ATH.
• Twitter Sets Up A Crypto Team To Lead Crypto initiatives
• Circle Launches Venture Capital Fund for Blockchain Projects

Bitcoin Soars Past $68K For The First Time As Ether Also Sets A New ATH.

The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has almost reached the $3 trillion benchmark. Bitcoin broke beyond the $68,000 barrier for the first time on Monday, reaching $68,382.60. Since the beginning of October, the markets have been in bull mode, with the crypto market adding roughly $1 trillion to its total value in just a month.

This comes as Apple CEO Tim Cook reveals that he owns bitcoin, but that his investment is purely personal and not indicative of the company's crypto goals. When asked if he owns bitcoin or ether, Cook said, "I do." It makes sense to own it as part of a diversified portfolio, in my opinion." "I wouldn't go invest in crypto [for Apple], not because I wouldn't invest my own money, but because I don't think people buy Apple shares to get exposure to cryptocurrency," he stated. Cook went on to add that Apple has no plans to accept cryptocurrency payments in the near future.

Cook's crypto remarks sparked a firestorm of debate on Twitter. This prompted crypto enthusiast, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor to tweet "If Apple were to add support for Bitcoin to the iPhone and convert their treasury to a Bitcoin Standard, it would be worth at least a trillion dollars to their stockholders." Apple currently does not offer any cryptocurrency-related products or services.  However, this has prompted more curiosity into Apple's recent job posting. Early this year, an Apple job posting showed that the payments unit was looking for a crypto-savvy person to lead partnership efforts

After a U.S. inflation report on Wednesday, Bitcoin (BTC) soared to an all-time high of roughly $68,950. Since then, the price has dropped, with bitcoin currently trading below $65,000 at the time of writing. However. Bitcoin price 'dips are transitory,' according to analysts, implying that BTC will soon reach $75,000. Not only did Bitcoin hit a new high, but so did other cryptocurrencies. over the last week, Ethereum the second-largest cryptocurrency had risen to a fresh all-time high however it had dropped to around $4,500 on Wednesday. However, Ethereum soon set another new all-time high early Friday morning when it went over $4,865.

Read Also: Is It Too Late To Buy Bitcoin?

Twitter Sets Up A Crypto Team To Lead Crypto Initiatives

Twitter has established a crypto division to oversee its blockchain and crypto-related operations. Twitter went on to explain that it "wants to figure out what crypto can do for Twitter" and that it is willing to pool large sums of money in order to improve and investigate the decentralized technology. Tess Rinearson, who worked on different crypto initiatives like Chain.com and Cosmos before joining Twitter, will lead the newly formed crypto team.

The team leader Rinearson would lead the crypto team in developing solutions that aren't primarily tied to the financial domain and "go beyond cryptocurrencies." According to Rinearson, the company will also look into how it might help creators who are interested in decentralized apps for managing virtual goods and services. She also stated that the new adjustments are subject to customer feedback, as she believes it is vital to understand procedural flaws so that the company can improve its performance.

"As I build out the team, we'll be working to figure out what crypto can do for Twitter, as well as what Twitter can do for crypto," Rinearson wrote in a tweet. In addition, the crypto team would encourage decentralized applications, or dapps, in conjunction with other identity-oriented solutions, asset ownership, and a strong unified community.

Circle Launches Venture Capital Fund for Blockchain Projects

Circle, the digital currency firm that manages the USDC stablecoin alongside Coinbase, has launched the Circle Ventures fund to help early-stage blockchain initiatives and businesses. The fund has already deployed initial cash, notwithstanding the lack of a fixed monetary sum. "Circle's purpose is to increase global economic prosperity through frictionless financial value exchange". In announcing the launch, Circle CFO Jeremy Fox-Geen stated, "Achieving it will take a village of many, many individuals, projects, and organizations to develop the technologies, products, and protocols needed to get us there."

"Through Circle Ventures, we will be able to bring our financial capital to bear, assist these compelling early-stage firms in a unique way, and accelerate their development and contributions to our common objective," said Fox-Geen. Earlier this year, Circle announced plans to go public via a reverse merger with Concord Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition firm (SPAC). Circle was valued at $4.5 billion in the deal, which is anticipated to close by the end of the year.

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