With bitcoin traders eyeing $12K and Litecoin pivoting to privacy, CoinDesk’s Markets Daily is back for your latest crypto news roundup!

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and Elliptic.

Today's stories:

Bitcoin Steady Above $11,400 as Hashrate Reaches New High 

Bitcoin's record hashrate indicates fundamentals are stronger than ever, according to Skew Markets. 

JPMorgan Calls Square's $50M Bitcoin Investment 'Strong Vote of Confidence' for the Cryptocurrency 

Other payment companies will also likely follow in Square's footsteps or risk getting shut out of a growing segment, JPMorgan wrote.

In Effort to Differentiate, Litecoin Makes a Move to Privacy 

Litecoin (LTC) founder Charlie Lee told CoinDesk in an interview the project is now looking to adopt key privacy-enhancing features, which he sees as increasingly attractive to cryptocurrency users.

WEF Releases Report Assessing Global Blockchain Standards 

The Global Standards Mapping Initiative is the most "comprehensive" attempt so far to survey blockchain technical standards, the WEF said.