Bitfinex’s LEO Token Jumps 46%, XRP Gains Slightly in Flat Market

Crypto markets showed nominal movement on Wednesday as bitcoin and ether, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, traded flat with gains of a nominal 1% in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin saw some selling from the $45,000 level on Tuesday to as low as $42,500. Prices, however, recovered to $44,200 in European trading hours.

Analysts said bitcoin could develop a continued surge towards the $50,000 level if the current momentum is maintained.

“Recovery in institutional demand for stocks late in the day on Tuesday helped bitcoin stay above the 50-day moving average,” explained Alex Kuptsikevich, analyst at FxPro, in an email to CoinDesk. “Continued buying on the decline to this level will keep the technical picture bullish as upside momentum develops to $49-50K.”

“A sharp dip lower today or tomorrow will raise the issue of a false break and bring the sellers back into play, heading for $37-38K,” he cautioned, however.

Among the top ten cryptocurrencies, XRP, the native cryptocurrency of RippleNet, extended gains with a 3% surge in the past 24 hours. Prices for the payments token moved upward amid positive sentiment among investors pertaining to the ongoing Ripple v. SEC court case.

Bitfinex’s unus sed leo token, which trades under LEO, led gains among majors with a 46% increase in the past day. The increase came as U.S. federal officials seized nearly $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of the crypto exchange Bitfinex.

LEO traded at $7.19 in European afternoon hours, increasing from lows of $4.98 on Tuesday. LEO hit all-time highs of $8.16 in early Asian trading hours but has since fallen 11.6%, data from analytics tool CoinGecko showed.

That move came as Bitfinex said in a statement it was trying to recover the seized bitcoin and use 80% of recovered funds to purchase and burn LEO in the open market. This would essentially lower the circulating supply and make the tokens more lucrative for investors.

“Bitfinex will, within 18 months of the date it receives that recovery, use an amount equal to 80% of the recovered net funds to repurchase and burn outstanding UNUS SED LEO tokens,” the company confirmed, as reported.