Thanks to its drinkable appeal, the St. Patrick’s Day favorite has soared in popularity over the past couple of decades — and seems poised for more growth
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Coinbase announced plans to launch a $1 billion bond offering to raise funds for its growth and expansion, according to a March 12 filing.
The bonds, designated as unsecured convertible senior notes, are set to mature in 2030, offering investors the option to convert their holdings into Coinbase shares or cash at that time. The offer also includes a 30-day option to buy an additional $150 million principal amount of notes to cover over-allotments.
The strategy is seen as a savvy maneuver to capitalize on the crypto market’s positive momentum while safeguarding shareholder value.
Coinbase has also introduced “negotiated capped call transactions” as part of the bond offering. This measure is designed to mitigate the dilutive impact on shareholders when the debt is converted into equity.
The proceeds from the bond offering are earmarked for a variety of uses, including debt repayment, funding for the capped call transactions, and potential acquisitions, indicating Coinbase’s ambitious agenda for growth and consolidation within the crypto economy.
Coinbase stock surging with crypto
This announcement comes on the heels of a significant upsurge in the value of Bitcoin, which recently hit a record high, crossing the $73,000 mark.
The bullish trend in the crypto market has been paralleled by a 48% increase in Coinbase’s stock price this year to levels last seen in December 2021 — a rally that has prompted some Wall Street analysts to revise their previously cautious outlooks on the company’s stock.
Financial giants like Raymond James and Goldman Sachs have shifted from bearish to more optimistic views, buoyed by the sector’s robust performance.
As of press time, COIN was trading at $256.14, up 11.91% over the past week and 82.45% over the previous month.
Coinbase previously offered $1.25 billion in senior convertible notes in May 2021, which instead took place following a market crash related to the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin. The firm has regularly repurchased its outstanding debt.
The post Coinbase looks to raise $1 billion via bond offering amid bullish market trend appeared first on CryptoSlate.
In an unprecedented surge, global crypto investment products experienced a historic influx of $2.7 billion last week, signaling strong confidence among investors and propelling assets under management (AUM) back to December 2021 levels. Record $2.7 Billion Flows Into Crypto Investments in a Historic Week The record-breaking week saw digital asset investment vehicles garner inflows of […]
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The Bitcoin price is creeping up once again, rising to a new all-time high above $71,000 in the early hours of Monday. As the price surge continues, it has put a record number of shorts at risk, where a less than 10% move upward from here will see $1 billion in shorts liquidated.
$1 Billion In Shorts At Risk Of Liquidation
Crypto trader and analyst Ash Crypto took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a map that showed the number of short positions at risk as the price of Bitcoin rises. The map shared in the post showed that short liquidation leverage had risen above $1 billion.
These short leverage positions had been rising along with the price with a large number of crypto investors expecting the price to crash after pumping to a new all-time high. However, Bitcoin seems to have other plans in mind with its price surging close to $72,000 and increasing the risk of liquidations for these positions.
For these positions, Bitcoin reaching $75,000 would be detrimental to them. At this price level, over $1 billion worth of short positions will be liquidated. “$1,000,000,000 WORTH OF SHORTS WILL GET LIQUIDATED IF BTC HITS $75,000,” Ash Crypto revealed.
Will Bitcoin Stop Anytime Soon?
The Bitcoin price has seen a 10.33% increase in the last week and shows no signs of stopping soon. However, the debate of whether it continues upward or downward continues to wax strong as crypto analysts far and wide proffer their own predictions.
One crypto analyst know as MarcPMarkets suggests that the price of Bitcoin could hit resistance and then spiral back down if Bitcoin fails to properly clear the $70,000. But the analyst also explains that there is a possibility that the positive price action does continue if price does push above $71,500 and makes a close above it.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading above $71,700, which shows it has cleared the level highlighted in the analyst. Now, what remains is to see if the cryptocurrency is able to make a daily close above $71,500, something that would be incredibly bullish for price. In this case, the BTC price could rise as high as $80,000 following this breakout.
The Bitcoin move over $71,000 has already had a significant impact on traders in the last day. Over $333 million has been lost by traders in one day. But interestingly, the majority of liquidations (64.29%) happen to be long positions, according to data from Coinglass.
BTC price reaches new ATH | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
Featured image from, chart from Tradingview.com Atlantic Council
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
According to the latest figures, Microstrategy’s investment in bitcoin has doubled, showing a 116% increase after the cryptocurrency’s value experienced a significant rise this past week. The company, specializing in business intelligence, has acquired a total of 193,000 bitcoins at an expenditure of $6.122 billion, with the current market value of their holdings soaring to […]
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The latest figures reveal that the nine new spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) now control 390,525.3 bitcoins, valued at just over $26 billion at current market rates. These nine ETFs are rapidly approaching the holdings of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which presently has 405,713.31 bitcoins in its possession. Emerging Bitcoin ETFs Challenge Grayscale’s Reign Collectively, […]
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Quick Take
Recent Glassnode’s data captures intriguing shifts in Bitcoin’s spot volume, tracking the aggregate trading volume of Bitcoin against USD-based currencies, both fiat and stablecoin, across various exchanges. On March 5, there was a surge in spot volume to $26 billion across all exchanges, a pinnacle not reached since the SVB collapse in March 2023.
During the SVB collapse, Binance dominated the spot volume, contributing $22 billion of the total $27 billion, as reported by Glassnode. Now, spot volume has again reached a similar level, spurred by Bitcoin’s surge to a record $69,000 and its subsequent 15% drop. In this latest bout of volatility, the exchange landscape was more distributed, with Binance, Coinbase, and Bybit recording spot volumes of $9 billion, $4 billion, and $4 billion, respectively.
The data depicts a stark decrease in Binance’s market share over the year, as its spot volume shrank from $22 billion during the SVB event to $9 billion in the following year’s volatility peak.
The post High volatility drives spot Bitcoin volume to $26 billion appeared first on CryptoSlate.
For nearly six decades, Warren Buffett has put on a master class in how to beat Wall Street. Since taking over as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) in the mid-1960s, he’s led his company’s Class A shares (BRK.A) to a jaw-dropping aggregate return of 4,961,342%, as of the closing bell on March 1.
Extensive books have been written discussing the investing philosophies that have allowed the Oracle of Omaha to trounce Wall Street’s benchmark index, the S&P 500. These traits include buying stakes in brand-name businesses with strong management teams, as well as investing with a long-term mindset.
But if there’s one catalyst to Buffett’s undeniable investing success that doesn’t get nearly enough credit, it’s his penchant for portfolio concentration. Both he and the recently departed Charlie Munger, who Buffett described as the “Architect of Berkshire Hathaway” in his annual letter to shareholders, have firmly believed that their top investment ideas deserve added weighting. If these top holdings perform well, it likely means Berkshire Hathaway stock can head even higher.
Based on closing values from March 1, 78% — $290 billion — of the $369 billion investment portfolio Warren Buffett oversees at Berkshire Hathaway was invested in only six stocks.
1. Apple: $162,692,909,600 (44% of invested assets)
Any question investors may have had about the Oracle of Omaha’s desire to concentrate his company’s portfolio is answered by looking at Berkshire’s mammoth stake in tech stock Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). Even after Buffett and his team reduced their company’s stake in Apple by roughly 1% during the December-ended quarter, it still accounts for 44% of invested assets.
Apple’s innovation has driven the outperformance of its stock for years. Since introducing a 5G-capable iPhone during the fourth quarter of 2020, it’s pretty consistently held a 50% or greater share of the U.S. smartphone market.
But this innovation extends well beyond its well-known physical products. For years, CEO Tim Cook has been overseeing a transformation that’s emphasized subscription services. To be clear, Apple isn’t forgetting about the physical products, like the iPhone, Mac, and iPad, that brought it fame. Rather, it’s evolving into a platforms company that’ll further enhance customer loyalty and keep these customers within its ecosystem of products and services.
The Oracle of Omaha is also, undeniably, a fan of Apple’s world-leading capital-return program. Since introducing a share repurchase program in 2013, Apple has bought back more than $600 billion worth of its common stock.
2. Bank of America: $35,478,466,406 (9.6% of invested assets)
Another company that Warren Buffett and his investment aides, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, clearly love is Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Berkshire owns more than 13% of the outstanding shares of BofA, which equates to almost $35.5 billion in market value.
The lure of financial stocks for the Oracle of Omaha has always been the cyclical nature of the industry. Even though recessions are an inevitable part of the economic cycle, economic downturns pass quickly. Whereas no recession since the end of World War II has lasted longer than 18 months, two periods of growth over the same span stuck around for at least a decade. Companies like Bank of America should be able to successfully grow their loan portfolios over time as the U.S. economy expands.
Interestingly enough, Bank of America also holds an advantage in the current economic climate as the most interest-sensitive of all U.S. money-center banks. In other words, no bank will see its net-interest income shift more with changes to interest rates. The Fed’s most aggressive rate-hiking cycle since the early 1980s has added billions of dollars in net-interest income to BofA’s bottom line each quarter.
To boot, BofA typically returns in excess of $20 billion to shareholders each year via dividends and buybacks when the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders.
3. American Express: $33,302,806,362 (9% of invested assets)
Even though a tech stock accounts for the leading stake in Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio, there’s not a sector Buffett enjoys putting his company’s cash to work in more than financials. It’s why American Express (NYSE: AXP) is the second financial stock in Berkshire’s top-three holdings.
The not-so-subtle secret to AmEx’s continued success is its willingness to play on both sides of the transaction aisle. In the U.S., which is the top market for consumption globally, it’s the clear No. 3 in credit card network purchase volume.
But in addition to facilitating transactions and collecting a fee from merchants, American Express is also acting as a lender to consumers and businesses in which it earns annual fees and interest income. During extended periods of economic growth, AmEx’s ability to double-dip allows it to thrive.
The other factor that makes American Express a top-notch investment is its success in luring well-to-do consumers. People with higher incomes are less likely than the average earner to alter their spending habits during minor periods of economic disruption. On paper, this should help AmEx navigate challenging economic climates better than most lending institutions.
4. Coca-Cola: $23,812,000,000 (6.4% of invested assets)
The fourth-largest holding is the longest-tenured stock in Buffett’s portfolio, beverage company Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). Shares of Coca-Cola have been held since 1988.
What’s more, Berkshire Hathaway is netting a roughly 60% annual yield on its Coke shares thanks to a minuscule cost basis of $3.2475 per share. Coca-Cola recently increased its base annual payout for a 62nd consecutive year.
A big reason the Oracle of Omaha and his investment team view Coca-Cola as a core holding is its consistency. According to Kantar’s annual Brand Footprint report, Coca-Cola has been the most-chosen brand from retail shelves for 10 years running (as of 2022). Since it’s selling consumer staples that’ll be purchased in any economic climate, Coca-Cola’s cash flow and profits tend to be highly predictable.
Coca-Cola also enjoys virtually unsurpassed geographic diversity. With the exception of Cuba, North Korea, and Russia, it has existing operations in every other country. This allows it to generate that aforementioned predictable cash flow in developed markets, while moving the organic growth needle via emerging markets.
5. Chevron: $19,268,321,146 (5.2% of invested assets)
Throughout much of this century, energy stocks have played little or no role in Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio. Over the past two years and change, we’ve witnessed a sizable shift in sentiment from Berkshire’s brightest minds. Integrated oil and gas giant Chevron (NYSE: CVX) currently holds the No. 5 spot in the $369 billion portfolio the Oracle of Omaha oversees.
Having more than $19 billion invested in a leading oil and gas stock is a pretty clear indication that Buffett and his team believe the spot price of crude oil will remain above historic norms. Supporting this thesis is multiple years of capital underinvestment by major energy companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. This underinvestment has led to energy commodity supply constraints that should provide a healthy lift to the spot price of crude oil and push profits for drillers higher.
The “integrated” aspect of Chevron’s operating model is also important. Although drilling generates its juiciest margins, Chevron owns transmission pipelines, chemical plants, and refineries. If the spot price of crude oil declines, the company’s midstream and downstream assets act as a hedge that stabilizes its cash flow.
The icing on the cake here is that Chevron doles out a 4% yield and has raised its base annual dividend for 37 consecutive years.
6. Occidental Petroleum: $15,218,392,334 (4.1% of invested assets)
Warren Buffett’s $369 billion portfolio at Berkshire Hathaway only has two energy stocks, but they occupy the fifth and sixth spots in terms of portfolio concentration. The 248 million shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) held by Berkshire, worth $15.2 billion on March 1, have all been added since the start of 2022.
While the macro catalysts described with Chevron align similarly with integrated oil and gas operator Occidental, there are some very defined differences between these two companies.
For example, Occidental brings in the lion’s share of its revenue from its upstream drilling segment. This means its operating cash flow is highly sensitive to shifts in the spot price of crude oil. While it’ll benefit more than other integrated operators (including Chevron) if oil prices increase, the reciprocal is also true — Occidental will struggle mightily if the spot price for crude oil significantly declines.
The other big difference between Chevron and Occidental can be seen on their balance sheets. Whereas Chevron has what’s arguably the best balance sheet among oil majors with a low debt-to-equity ratio, Occidental is still lugging around $18.5 billion in net debt. Unlike Chevron, Occidental needs the spot price of crude oil to remain high to continue reducing its outstanding debt.
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Bank of America and American Express are advertising partners of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Sean Williams has positions in Bank of America. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, and Chevron. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
78% of Warren Buffett’s $369 Billion Portfolio Is Invested in Just 6 Stocks was originally published by The Motley Fool
On-chain data shows that Bitcoin short-term holders have panic sold $2.6 billion worth of coins in the crash following the new all-time high.
Bitcoin Short-Term Holders Have Sent Huge Volume In Loss To Exchanges
As analyst James V. Straten explained in a new post on X, Bitcoin short-term holders have shown signs of capitulation during the latest drop in the cryptocurrency’s price.
The “short-term holders” (STHs) refer to the BTC investors who bought their coins within the past 155 days. The STHs make up one of the two main divisions of the market, the other one being the “long-term holders” (LTHs).
Statistically, the longer an investor holds onto their coins, the less likely they are to sell at any point. This means that the STHs, who are relatively new hands, generally sell quickly whenever an asset crash or rally occurs. The LTHs, on the other hand, usually show resilience, only selling at specific points.
One way to track whether either of these groups is selling is through the transfer volume they are sending to exchanges. First, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin exchange inflow volume precisely for the STHs in loss:
The value of the metric appears to have shot up in recent days | Source: @jvs_btc on X
As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin STHs have transferred around $2.6 billion worth of coins in loss to exchanges in the past day, implying that some members of this cohort have capitulated.
This spike is huge, but it’s less than the loss-taking event that took place back during the price drawdown that followed the BTC spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval.
These loss sellers would be those who FOMO’d into the rally that took BTC to a new all-time high beyond the $69,000 level, but their conviction wasn’t strong enough that they were able to hold past the sharp crash that BTC observed shortly after.
The STHs aren’t the only ones who have exited the market in this latest price volatility; it would appear that the LTHs have also done some selling. The difference, however, is that these HODLers have made profits.
The chart below shows how the exchange transfer volume for the LTHs in profit has looked like recently.
Looks like the value of the metric has registered a sharp spike recently | Source: jvs_btc on X
The graph shows that the Bitcoin LTHs have participated in their largest profit-taking event since July 2021, transferring tokens worth $1.5 billion to exchanges.
Thus, it would appear that this recent volatility has shaken up the conviction of even some of the diamond hands, although these HODLers have at least still been rewarded with profits.
BTC Price
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around the $65,800 mark, up 8% in the past week.
BTC has gone through a rollercoaster in the past couple of days | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView
Featured image from 愚木混株 cdd20 on Unsplash.com, Glassnode.com, chart from TradingView.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
The meme coins market cap is currently hovering above $54 billion up by nearly 20% ion the past day. This surge is evident as roughly seven meme coins now rank among the top 100 crypto by market capitalization, marking a significant shift in investor interest towards these once ‘speculative assets.’
A recent market report from QCP Capital has shed light on this phenomenon, disclosing what drives this meme coins surge.
What Is Driving The Meme Coins Surge
According to QCP Capital, the price appreciation in meme coins can be attributed to a “speculative buying frenzy” during the Asia trading session. Particularly, the firm report suggests that the rallying meme coins is driven by retail FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), indicating a significant shift in the dynamics of market participation.
The analysts from QCP Capital also observed an increase in leveraged buying activity, hinting at the “robust” momentum that could potentially pause should Bitcoin surpass its all-time high in dollar terms. The market report read:
Altcoins, especially memecoins, are rallying hard as retail FOMO really kicks in now. Leveraged buyers will likely not relent until we break all-time highs, which could be any time now.
So far, major meme coins such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, PEPE, and BONK have registered. massive gains, with increases of 27%, 57%, 46%, and 68% respectively over the last 24 hours. These gains reflect the growing investor interest in meme coins and underscore the broader trend of retail investment driving the crypto market.
Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, in particular, have solidified their positions within the top 15 global crypto market cap rankings, demonstrating the significant traction meme coins have gained among investors.
Retail Participation Fuelling The Crypto Rally
The surge in memecoins is part of a larger trend of increased retail participation in the cryptocurrency market. Analysts from JPMorgan have echoed the observations made by QCP Capital, noting that retail traders have played a crucial role in the cryptocurrency market rally observed throughout February.
The study carried out by the research group at JPMorgan, under the guidance of Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, highlighted the significant role of “small-scale investors,” commonly known as ‘mom-and-pop’ traders, in driving prominent cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to a two-year high last month.
The researchers noted:
We find that the retail impulse into crypto rebounded in February, thus likely responsible for this month’s strong crypto market rally.
Meanwhile, over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has reached new heights, trading above $66,000, marking a nearly 30% increase over the past week. This upward trajectory is also evident in the asset’s market cap, which currently exceeds $1.2 trillion.
Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.