Layer 1 Blockchain Token Aptos Reaches Record High

by Arthur · January 25, 2023

Top story

Layer 1 blockchain Aptos’ token, which has risen since the beginning of the year, broke the record on Wednesday.

This article originally appeared in Crypto Markets TodayCoinDesk’s daily newsletter that dives into what’s happening in today’s crypto markets. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

The token, APT, hit new record highs and is up 427% since January 1, according to CoinDesk data.
APT recently changed hands at $18.30an increase of more than 46% in the last 24 hours.
The tokens rally have oversized the last moves from the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, bitcoin and ether. Bitcoin is up 30% in 2023, while Ether is up 34%.
However, funding rates for the token are still negative, suggests that traders expect the rally to be short-lived.
“If traders are willing to open short positions with very negative funding rates, they must have faith that the token will decline,” Christopher Newhouse, a crypto derivatives trader at crypto market maker GSR, said. “Despite the increase, this suggests the shorts believe the rally may have gone too far.”

Bitcoin (BTC): The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rebounded from a late Tuesday swoon to recently trade at around $22,950, roughly flat over the past 24 hours. BTC dipped below $22,500 the previous day along with most other major cryptos as many investors likely took profits after a four-day rally. Bitcoin has risen more than 35% in value this year.

Stock traded sideways with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500, which has a hefty technology component, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) all down a few percentage points. Investors chewed on the latest cascade of fourth-quarter earnings, including Boeing and Microsoft.

Ether (ETH): ETH had yet to recover as much ground as bitcoin from Tuesday’s crypto fall. The second largest crypto by market capitalization recently changed hands at around $1,580, off about 2.1%.

Popular meme coins dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB) fell by 2.6% and 3.3% respectively.

Axie infinity (AXS): Play-to-win giant Axie Infinity’s AXS cryptocurrency, which hit a four-month high of $13.94 earlier Monday and was up 13% at one point on Tuesday, continued its rally. AXS was recently up approx. 2%.

CoinDesk Market Index (CMI)

1,089.09

+7.6 ▲ 0.7%

Bitcoin (BTC)

$23,680

+824.2 ▲ 3.6%

Ethereum (ETH)

$1624

+30.8 ▲ 1.9%

S&P 500 daily close

4,016.22

−0.7 ▼ 0.0%

Gold

$1,948

+14.1 ▲ 0.7%

Treasury Yield 10 years

3.46%

▼ 0.0

BTC/ETH prices per CoinDesk indices; gold is the COMEX spot price. Prices from approximately 4:00 PM ET

By Glenn Williams Jr.

Derivatives markets are signaling positive sentiment for bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s current futures structure is in “contango,” a condition that exists when the price of bitcoin futures exceeds the price of bitcoin in spot markets.

Contango is represented by an upward-sloping futures curve. The opposite condition is “backwardation”, where futures prices are lower than spot prices, and represented by a downward sloping price curve.

In traditional markets, where supply, demand and physical storage are important factors, contango is often a bearish sign because the difference between the futures and the spot price is largely based on the cost of transporting and storing that asset.