Tag: bitcoin

Crypto Santa Claus Rally This Christmas?

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Traders often predict these two catalysts will drive crypto prices up or down in December. Is this a ‘Santa Claus rally‘ and tax loss harvesting?

The two terms are older than cryptocurrency, commonly discussed by stock traders at the end of each financial year. Just how accurate are they for making stocks or crypto price predictions?

Pentoshi On Crypto Prices Narratives

One of the most popular crypto Twitter accounts, @Pentosh1 told his followers to expect those two ‘narratives‘ in December.

Furthermore, he added Wall Street bonuses, as did many in the replies. Also not excluding the Chinese New Year as a 2023 narrative for crypto prices. Many holders around since the 2018 bear market will recall these ideas.

While he didn’t expand on that tweet thread yet this November, Pentoshi has been critical. He has been critical of this type of fundamental analysis in previous years. He says ‘just trade the charts’ and ‘what matters is the trend’.

Crypto Santa Claus Rally

Last Christmas for example, Pentoshi tweeted the image below and his comments that bad traders rely on narratives.

Investopedia explains the justification for a Santa Claus rally. It explains it as ‘general feeling of optimism and seasonal happiness on Wall Street, and the investing of holiday bonuses’.

The theory dates back to Yale Hirsch’s Stock Trader’s Almanac written in 1972. However thats not all thats happening this season of yuletide.

There is Tax harvesting. Tax loss harvesting is defined as selling assets to ‘limit the amount of taxes due on short-term capital gains. Gains which are generally taxed at a higher rate than long-term capital gains’.

Meanwhile, last December Pentoshi noted one narrative was that institutions would sell until the last business day of the month. Afterwards, the crypto markets would rally. However the Bitcoin price action was bearish at the 2021 close, with the overall macro downtrend being the deciding factor.

In July 2022 Pentoshi made an interesting prediction that more funds ‘will blow up.‘ This is the kind that focus on these type of crypto price narratives. Russian Oligarchs, Tax harvesting, etc. Most of these narratives came from the same VCs, TradFi guys. And funds that blew up or will blow up in a few months.

Bitcoin Prediction Following FTX Collapse

Earlier this month it emerged Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research were insolvent and lost $3.7 billion. The FTX exchange linked fund were previously imagined by many to be made up of expert traders and quants.

Heading into December, Bitcoin is trading sideways, stuck in a 2% range at the time of writing around $16,500.

Since hitting an all-time high of $69,000 on Binance, Bitcoin has crashed as low as $15,476. This is happening one year on. A 78% correction.

Well, here’s the  downside. Some analysts predict the $12-$14k level could be tested as support.

The 2019 high was $13,970. This was plotted on the Bitcoin price chart above, just above the 2018 yearly open of $13,715. Pentoshi is unsure if Bitcoin will see a capitulation event and crash that low.

He’s predicting more sideways accumulation, for an extended period of time – neither a Santa Claus rally nor tax loss selling. To the upside, some traders predict a bear market rally could take the Bitcoin price up. They predict that the coin will go as high as high as the 2021 lows for a bearish retest. The June 2021 monthly wick hit $28,805.

El Salvador To Place New Law To Pave Way For All Crypto 

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

El Salvador is doubling down on its bet on cryptocurrencies even in the midst of a bear market. The first country to declare Bitcoin as legal tender is now working on a Digital Asset Issuance Law. One which would facilitate operations with any crypto asset.

What The El Salvador Law Would Mean 

According to a document available on the official website of the country, the law would regulate the transfer operations of any digital asset. Especially digital assets seeking to “promote the efficient development of the digital asset market and protect the interests of acquirers.”

Furthermore, the novelty of the law is that it separates crypto assets from all other assets and financial products. This creates a tailor-made regulatory framework for them. The law leaves no room for doubt. Consequently, for a digital asset to fall under this categorization, it must use a distributed ledger or a similar technology. The blockchain is perhaps the most popular distributed ledger technology to date.

The law’s framework excludes transactions with CBDCs assets not eligible for trading or exchange. Assets with restricted transactions such as securities, and sovereign assets are regulated by foreign laws.

In a Twitter thread, cryptocurrency lawyer Ana Ojeda Caracas pointed out some of the most interesting features of the law:

  • Creation of a registry of digital providers.
  • Legalization of cryptos.
  • Inclusion of a legal definition of stablecoins and tokens.
  • Regulation of public offerings of digital assets.
  • Tax exemption in some cases.

Short Comings Of The El Salvadoran Law

Criticisms of the new law were not long in coming. Mario Gomez, a Salvadoran hacktivist, claimed that the new law was created as a way to benefit troubled foreign companies. Companies seeking to increase the attractiveness of El Salvador as a haven for the crypto industry. 

“The reason why these companies focus on small countries is simple. It is easier to sit directly with a president being a big company and implement measures that benefit (them),. This he assured in a Twitter space, analyzing the issue.

President Bukele introduced the famous Bitcoin Law in Congress in June 2021. A few hours later, it had already been approved by the National Assembly with large majority of the pro-government party. If this is anything to go by, the new law will likely come into force in a similarly hasty manner.

Crypto Companies To Eradicate User Data Monopoly

CoinSwitch is preparing to become the solution for the recent liquidity issues in centralized crypto exchanges. They intend to do this  by launching the CoinSwitch Pro.

Twitter is to improve its future and its currently laying its groundwork. Musk told employees that the company would encrypt DMs and would add encrypted video and voice calling between accounts. There have been uncovering of personal DM. So, Elon is to eradicate all traditional problems of the platform. Besides, after firing thousands of employees, Elon is re-hiring to fill up the empty slots.

AI-enabled cars are overshadowing the potential of expert human drivers by navigating through dense traffic conditions. Meanwhile, In a recently held experiment, experts deployed artificial intelligence in cars. The result was stunning. These specially equipped cars were able to ease rush hour congestion. Additionally, it also reduced driver frustration, and besides, less stop-and-go driving would also save more fuel and less pollution.

India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio announced the launch of Jio True 5G services in Pune, Maharashtra. Reportedly, Jio users in Pune will be at Jio Welcome Offer to experience Unlimited Data without any additional cost.

The Cryptocurrency Market Is Bracing For A Feds Tsunami

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have crashed this year in the face of the Federal Reserve’s “brutal” interest rate hikes as it battles against soaring inflation.

The bitcoin price has plunged under $20,000 per bitcoin. This is down from almost $70,000 late last year. 

Meanwhile, ethereum and other top ten cryptocurrencies BNBBNB, XRPXRP, solana, cardano and dogecoin have also crashed. This is happening despite some game-changing developments such as ‘The Merge‘.

The Reality Of The Cryptocurrency Market

Currently, following a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report this week, things are shaky. The report sent the bitcoin price sharply lower. 

Consequently, all eyes have turned to the latest consumer price index (CPI) report, due on Thursday. Some think it will “decide the fate of this market.”

“CPI next week will decide the fate of this market,” one influential trading analyst posted to Twitter. He did this after data showed U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs in September. This was down from 315,000 in August but higher than an anticipated 255,000.

“With this jobs report it seems clear we are on course for another significant hike from the Fed. I say this considering the market pricing in a 75 [basis point] rise in interest rates at its next meeting.” The above statement was by Paul Craig, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors, told Coindesk.

Consumer Price Index

September CPI is predicted to have slowed slightly from the month before, forecast to drop to 8.1% year-on-year. A larger-than-expected slow down in price rises could mean the Fed eases up on its program of interest rate hikes.

The last U.S. CPI reading of 8.3% showed prices were still climbing. Prices climbed despite the Fed embarking on a series of historic interest rate hikes this year. This led to torpedoing stock markets and cryptocurrency prices.

“Worries are firing in from all fronts following the latest robust snapshot on the U.S. labour market.” The above comment was by Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at brokerage Hargreaves Lansdown. 

“Investors are simultaneously fretting that the fall in the pace of hirings indicates a slowing economy. However, also that the better than expected data shows that the jobs market hasn’t slowed enough to stop the Fed. Especially from hiking rates aggressively.”

Cryptocurrency Losses So Far

The bitcoin and crypto market, after touching $3 trillion last year, has lost a staggering $2 trillion. This happened in under 12 months in what’s been branded the latest crypto winter. 

The crypto market has previously spun on cycles of boom and bust with the last crypto winter lasting through 2018 until late 2020. 

This week, one crypto founder predicted how long this latest crypto winter could last.

“We will need to see some consistent economic slowing figures before the Fed-pivot trade is realistically in play.” The above statement by William Marsters, senior sales trader at Saxo, said in an emailed note. “CPI numbers and FOMC minutes are out next week which will continue to build the picture for the outlook.”

Expectations had built this week. Expectations that the Federal Reserve could be about to swing dovish in its flight against inflation. Especially with one closely-watched analyst predicting the price of bitcoin, it could be about to “outperform most major assets.”

However, Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari said this week that the central bank has “more work to do.”

“Until I see some evidence that underlying inflation has solidly peaked. Until there are signs of it heading back down, I’m not ready to declare a pause,” Kashkari said.

Bitcoin And Ethereum Could Be Poised For Recovery

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

The bitcoin price has been bouncing around $20,000 per bitcoin since mid-June (despite some eye-popping bitcoin price predictions). However, ethereum has fallen sharply in the aftermath of its long-awaited, energy-saving upgrade, flying in the face of expectations.

Now, as Blackrock and Fidelity make surprise moves to enter the bitcoin and crypto market, a new finding surfaces. A survey of professional investors who collectively manage $2.2 trillion in assets has returned a huge crypto price prediction.

How Investors Are Taking This Bitcoin Price Action?

Institutional investors and wealth managers were found to be optimistic about the future price of bitcoin and ethereum. Furthermore, 46% forecasting bitcoin will be worth $35,000 or more within six months. However, 64% predict the price of ethereum will exceed $2,000 during the same period.

“Predicting future price movements in the cryptocurrency market is always a challenging endeavor. However, the survey clearly points to constructive price recovery expectations by institutional investors.” This was stated by Anatoly Crachilov, the chief executive of London-based crypto asset manager Nickel Digital.

Meanwhile, over half (58%) of respondents said they expect the crypto bear market to end within six months. This suggests a spring price rally.

“It is a well-grounded long-term optimism,” Crachilov added. “Investors acknowledge that the ongoing crypto winter still has some way to run but there is also a recognition that, if history is any guide, once the winter ends these high-beta markets will stage strong recovery.”

This Week on Bitcoin And ethereum

This week, as the stock market buckled under pressure from the Federal Reserve and fears rampant inflation could require an even stronger response.  Bitcoin, and other crypto prices climbed before falling back, with the bitcoin price dropping to just over $18,000.

“The $18,000 level has continued to provide decent support and if bitcoin doesn’t break down in the coming days, we could see upward movement in October with $24,000 and $26,000 being initial levels to watch,” Joe DiPasquale, the chief executive of bitcoin BitBull Capital, said in emailed comments.

After a sharp drop in the last few days, crypto tokens regained some flair. Top crypto tokens were moving in tandem with other riskier assets, rising higher on Thursday.

Whats Up With The Crypto Markets In Russia

Russia escalated its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the prospects of a severe global recession increased exponentially. Consequently Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading above $19,000.

Barring the US dollar-pegged USD Coin, all top crypto tokens were trading sharply higher on Thursday. BNB zoomed more than 5%, whereas Bitcoin, Solana and Ethereum rallied 4% each. XRP and Polygon were 3% up.

The global cryptocurrency market cap was trading significantly higher at $941.75 billion, jumping by 3% in the last 24-hours. However, the total trading volume tumbled over 12 per cent, close to $82.32 billion.

Expert take

This week, the global crypto market cap saw rapid changes with key cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum plummeting. The tokens dropped below their reserve prices but only to make corrections as spot volumes increased. According to Prashant Kumar, Founder & CEO, weTrade.

“Almost a fortnight after the Merge, Ethereum is trading at $1,300,” he added. “The strengthening US dollar, increased rate hikes and calls for broader regulations for stablecoins by the US Federal Reserve chair are all affecting the market.”

On the global scene, AQUA, a Web3 community platform for gamers, has launched its flagship marketplace for trading in-game assets. The startup also announced a $10 million investment from DIGITAL, an investment firm backed by Steve Cohen.

Japan’s Crypto Regulator (JVCEA), Warns Exchanges

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

The Financial Services Agency (FSA), Japan’s crypto market regulator, has issued a renewed warning to the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA). The warning is about the October full-scale implementation of FATF travel rules for crypto. 

Local news outlet CoinPost reports that the FSA also criticized the management of the JVCEA. Furthermore, the financial market watchdog stated that it is dissatisfied with the JVCEA’s speed in rolling out anti-money laundering rules. The body is also dissatisfied with how the organization handles decision-making and communication, and how it handles delegating executive responsibilities. 

In addition, the JVCEA has stated that it is working to meet up with the FSA’s standards. However, it still faces challenges.

For one, its efforts to introduce anti-money laundering rules for crypto exchange in Japan have been undermined by the cross-border nature of the crypto market. This has made reporting transactions difficult. 

Masako Yamaga, a director of the JVCEA and a professor at Meiji University, made a remark. He stated that implementing the travel rules will require international collaboration. Similarly, he noted management and communication challenges come from not having enough manpower with experience in crypto-regulations. 

Notably, this isn’t the first time the FSA is expressing its dissatisfaction with the JVCEA’s pace of rolling out regulations. Back in July, Financial Times reported that the JVCEA was in the middle of internal crisis. One that had the FSA bearing down on it. 

At the time, the FSA emphasized the same concerns even as employees of the association sought to unionize. This was in a bid to oppose the JVCEA’s plans to downsize its employee headcount. The association had been struggling to keep running costs down as the crypto market entered bear territory globally. 

Furthermore, amidst the tussle, the JVCEA has also successfully introduced some more lenient rule changes for exchanges. The association has put together a “Green–List” of cryptocurrencies that registered exchanges can list without rigorous processes of screening. 

JVCEA Still Attracting Crypto Exchanges With Its Web 3.0 Policy

While JVCEA registered exchanges struggle to meet up with the FCA’s implementation of the FATF travel rules. Consequently, exchanges are looking to enter the Japanese market. Bloomberg reports that the global biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance is making moves. The exchange platform is ,making moves to reopen in Japan after leaving four years ago. 

Binance’s renewed attention is thanks to the new economic policy introduced by Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Furthermore, under this policy, the Japanese government has already set up a Web 3.0 Policy Office that will focus on promoting the adoption of Web 3.0-related innovations.

Elsewhere In Cryptocurrency

With cryptocurrency investors increasingly worried about Hong Kong’s regulatory ambiguity on crypto, a number of major crypto-focused businesses. And events have decided to move their activities to Singapore and other countries considered as more friendly to their industry.

Hong Kong’s lawmakers are advancing plans. Plans to require licensing for crypto trading platforms through an amendment to the city’s anti-money laundering legislation. This legislative change would require firms to offer such services exclusively to professional investors. Investors with a portfolio of at least HK$8 million (US$1 million). However, should the amendment go through, the move could discourage numerous crypto investors from conducting their business in Hong Kong.

“There was a point in time where Hong Kong had a leading position in cryptocurrency and business related to crypto,” Padraig Walsh, a partner at the Hong Kong law firm Tanner De Witt, told local daily.

The South China Morning Post. “That isn’t the case any more, and I think regulation has been a key part of the reasons why.”

Cryptocurrency Prices Today: ETH And BTC Are Starting To Recover

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Top Cryptocurrency gains today as bitcoin and Ethereum manage to show signs of recovery after days of serious slumps following the Merge. While bitcoin managed to climb above $19,000 mark on Thursday, Ethereum on the other hand saw a 24 hour gain of about 5%. Other altcoins which include the likes of Dogecoin, Litecoin and Solana were all in greens this morning.

Furthermore, Ripple emerged as the biggest gainer, with a 24-hour gain of 34.13%. At the time of writing this report, the global cryptocurrency market cap stood at $950.8 billion. Consequently, this marks a 4.73% gain in the last 24 hours, as per CoinMarketCap data.

Top Cryptocurrency Prices Today

Bitcoin price stood at $19,38.77, seeing a 24-hour gain at 3.34%. Meanwhile, ETH price stood at $1,339.17, marking a 24-hour gain of 5.70% at the time of writing. Dogecoin followed by registering a 24-hour gain of 6.66% as per CoinMarketCap data, currently priced at $0.0614.

Litecoin also saw som magic as the cryptocurrency saw a 24-hour gain of 4.51. At the time of writing, it was priced at $54.26. XRP price stood at $0.5328, seeing a 24-hour gain of 31.01%.

Furthermore, Solana price stood at $32.90, marking a 24-hour gain of 5.47%. Today’s price action saw the biggest gainers as Ripple (XRP) at 34.13% in 24hours. The best loser being Terra Classic, with a 4.93% gain in 24 hours.

What Cryptocurrency Exchanges Are Saying About The Current Price Action

Mudrex co-founder and CEO Edul Patel told ABP Live: “Bitcoin and Ethereum rose on Thursday after going through a roller coaster ride in the past few days. BTC managed to trade above $19,300 with the support of buyers. If BTC can close above $19,500 today, we might see an upward trend in the next week. But if it falls below the current level, we might see BTC going back to the $18,000 support. The second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, has also shown a bullish sentiment in line with BTC. This price action comes as a relief to the market participants after the successful Merge. If ETH can hold above the current level, we might soon see it reaching the $1,500 level.”

Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO and co-founder of Unocoin said, “Indian markets mainly reacted to the US central bank’s hawkish tone on interest rates, which created pessimism among investors. The Fed’s latest quarterly summary of policymakers’ projections shows that US central bankers expect to raise the key interest rate, now in a range of 3-3.25% after Wednesday’s 75 basis point increase, to 4.4% by the end of this year and to 4.6% until the end of this year. cryptocurrencies fended off declines triggered by the US Federal Reserve’s next big interest rate hike, although sentiment remained cautious given the central bank’s warning of economic pain ahead of policy tightening. Bitcoin had some positive price movement in the morning but ended with 1.5% negative by end of the day. Second-biggest coin Ether continued to underperform, falling 2% as well.”

WeTrade Founder Has His Say On The crypto Situation

WeTrade founder Prashant Kumar offered his take on the market scenario as well, “After days of movement in the red due to increased interest rates, the crypto market cap saw some positive movement with a 4% increase during Asia trading hours on Friday morning. Bitcoin caught up by 3.8% but is still trading below $20,000.”

Ethereum Crashes After A Successful Merge

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

The much awaited Ethereum Merge has come and gone. The aftermath of this event is still rather uncertain. However, it seems that the “Successful Merge” has produced some sort of reaction from the crypto society. It is not the reaction many were expecting. Ethereum is down by nearly 8% after the merge.

The second largest cryptocurrency in the world is now trading at $1,500 for the first time in more than a week. The plunge came from the merge, shifting from a more energy-intensive model  to a more eco-friendly one. 

What Exactly Is causing This Drop In Ethereum Prices?

The Ethereum merge went off without a hitch from a tech perspective. However, sentiment around ETH after the shift to a more environmentally-friendly consensus model might be dipping. Today, the price of ETH plummeted below the $1,500 mark for the first time in more than a week.

According to data from CoinGecko, ETH is down almost 8% over the last 24 hours to a current price of $1,485. That’s a sharper drop than the rest of the crypto market right now. According to CoinGecko it is down about 3% on the whole, with Bitcoin down about 2%.

Initially, the price of ETH had remained largely flat after the overnight merge, hovering around the $1,600 mark with slight fluctuations. However, shortly after 10AM ET this morning, the price sharply dipped from about $1,585 to its current mark. The move is not altogether unexpected.

In a report in early August, crypto analytics firm Glassnode flagged data on derivatives exchanges. One that indicated that the merge was shaping out to be a “sell the news” event. 

The hype around the merge appeared to be generating bullish sentiment around Ethereum in July. However, sophisticated derivatives traders were already hedging their bets. They did this expecting the price of ETH to drop after the event, according to Glassnode.

Ethereum’s Sell-The-News In play

“Traders appear to be utilizing call options to bet on the ETH price into September, whilst futures and options backwardation indicate an expectation to sell-the-news is in play,” Glassnode researchers wrote in a report at the time.

The merge is Ethereum developers’ name for the long-awaited shift away from the original proof-of-work consensus model. A model in which thousands upon of users run powerful computers to secure the network and also earn cryptocurrency rewards.

Under the new proof-of-stake model—in which validators stake (or hold) coins in the network to process transactions—the network is estimated to use over 99% less energy than before, according to the Ethereum Foundation.

While many Ethereum proponents were in favor of the merge, some ecosystem participants were less thrilled. For example, some have forked the previous version of the network to create the new EthereumPoW (ETHW) network. This will retain mining, while other miners have instead started mining coins like Ethereum Classic (ETC) or Ravencoin (RVN). 

The Current Price Of Cryptocurrencies Today 

Meanwhile, on the general cryptocurrency scene, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are strugging. 

“The current pressure on the crypto market is a result of a broader sell-off in the traditional markets. Especially as investors move away from high-risk assets to safeguard their wealth from economic shocks. The soaring cost of food and energy along with geo-political uncertainty will keep the investors on their toes in the coming weeks.” said Tarusha Mittal, COO and co-founder of UniFarm.

Bitcoin could not recover on the day as it continued to trade below the $20,500 markThis is a crucial point for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Bitcoin price today was standing at $20,172.85, down by 0.37 per cent in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Cryptocurrency Today: Bitcoin Dips To $20,000; Ether Lose Up To 23%

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Cryptocurrency Price Today: The bearish run that the cryptocurrency market saw last week continued on Monday, August 22, as major coins registered continuous drops in their values. Bitcoin, the largest crypto token by market capitalization, came under $21,000, while Ether that reached $2000 levels days ago came down to the $1500 mark. 

The General Crypto Market

Other crypto coins, including Cardano, Dogecoin, Polkadot and BNB also registered losses as the bears seemed to grip the crypto market due to unclear reasons weeks after investors finally began to see better days this year.

The global crypto market cap was threatened with a drop below the $1 trillion mark again as it was trading at $1.01 trillion, registering a 0.00 percent decrease over the day, data from CoinMarketCap showed.

Bitcoin remained in red on the day and fell below the $21000 mark. Bitcoin price today at the time of writing this article was $20,988.95, down by 1.57 per cent over the past 24 hours, data retrieved from CoinMarketCap showed. In the past seven days, Bitcoin prices have fallen by 12.61 percent.

What About Ether?

On the other hand, Ether price today dipped by 3.23 per cent at the time of writing in article to $1522.21, showed data from CoinMarketCap. Over the past week, Ether prices have spiraled down by 18.92 per cent, the data further showed.

“Bitcoin and Ethereum witnessed a slight increase as bulls try to restore the lost initiatives. Even though BTC and ETH have lost their weekly gains, they managed to stay above their crucial support levels at US$20,000 and US$1,500 indicating that bulls have not given up yet. A move above the current level today, can result in BTC bouncing back to the US$22,000 level,” said Edul Patel, CEO and co-founder of Mudrex.

“On the other hand, Ethereum is currently between its support at US$1,500 and resistance at US$1,655. It has not accumulated enough strength to make a sharp move on either side. So, we may see ETH trading sideways for the coming few days,” added Patel.

Such sharp moves are common in the highly volatile cryptocurrency market, a Reuters report said. On June 15, bitcoin plunged more than 15 per cent as investors were spooked by the collapse of a so-called stablecoin, TerraUSD, and a major crypto lender freezing customer withdrawals.

Cryptocurrency Today: Prices

Bitcoin $20,988.95 or 1.57% loss in the last 24 hours.

Ethereum $1,522.21 or 3.23% loss in the last 24 hours.

Tether $1.00 or 0.00% loss in the last 24 hours.

USD Coin $1.00 or 0.00% gain in the last 24 hours.

BNB $289.93 or 2.68% loss in the last 24 hours.

Binance USD $1.00 or 0.05% gain in the last 24 hours.

XRP $0.3339 or 2.71% loss in the last 24 hours.

Cardano $0.4405 or 4.28%  in the last 24 hours.

Solana $34.10 or 4.07% loss in the last 24 hours.

Dogecoin $0.06588 or 4.95 per cent loss in the last 24 hours.

The Ethereum Unexpected Surge

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Ethereum’s long-anticipated software upgrade has made the blockchain’s early offshoot an unexpected winner, pushing up the prices of the latter’s token in recent days.

Ethereum-Classic

Ethereum Classic, which was created after a 2016 software change known as a “hard fork” on Ethereum’s blockchain, saw its token’s price jump by as much as 29% on Wednesday. 

Ethereum also rose by as much as 18% as the crypto industry awaits the blockchain’s biggest transition. A transition known as the Merge. This will take place in September after being delayed for several years. 

Cryptocurrencies surged across the board on Wednesday amid a broad rally in risk assets. Bitcoin rose as much as 10%, the most in more than a month.

The Merge: From Proof-of-stake To Proof-of-work

The Merge is set to take Ethereum to a system called Proof of Stake. A system in which staked Ether tokens will order transactions, from its current system called Proof of Work. Proof-of-work is a mechanism which uses powerful computers to order transactions.

“If you want to cancel Proof of Stake, we are not going to cancel you… there’s Ethereum Classic, which is the original Ethereum,” he said. “It’s a very welcoming community and I think they’ll definitely welcome proof of work fans. It’s not even a joke. If you like proof of work, you should go use this original version. It’s a totally fine chain.”

Buterin’s comment has helped “drive speculation” among traders, Thomas Dunleavy, senior analyst at crypto research firm Messari, said. 

The Ethereum based software, which still uses the Proof-of-Work mechanism, may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Ethereum’s migration. The migration is expected to cut off earnings for as many as one million people. Miners who are looking for a platform for their costly mining equipment may turn to Ethereum-Classic. 

The “original Ethereum” was pushed further into the limelight after AntPool. The mining pool affiliated with mining giant Bitmain Technologies Ltd., said it has invested $10 million to support it.

But analysts remain skeptical of the fate of Ether’s sister token. Since its inception, Ethereum-Classic, has never gained a similar level of success as Ether. Its network has also suffered several attacks in the past.

“This seems like a trade more than an investment,” Dunleavy said. “I don’t think Ethereum has any long-term viability.”

Bitcoin And Ether Surge After Fed Rate Hike

The U.S Central Bank delivered as expected rising interest rates. 

Consequently, the crypto market Shrugged, continuing their 2 days journey upslope. Bitcoin is the first to be noticed. The coin jumped by a serious 10% following the announcement from the Federal Reserve. Ether Soared by more than 15% at some point.

Bitcoin was recently trading at about $22,900, up over 8% for the past 24 hours. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has mostly lingered between $21,000 and $23,000 for 10 days now. Ether was recently changing hands just above $1,600. It was up more than 15% over the same period. Other major cryptos spent much of Wednesday in the green. ETC up more than 30% and UNI and AAVE each rising over 20%.

Many market observers believed markets had already accounted for the Fed’s rate hike. A hike which the bank has been foreshadowing for over a week. “A lot of people are saying that the rate hike right now is baked in just because the Fed has telegraphed for quite a while. And even equity markets have been setting quite a bit.” Katie Talati, head of research at asset management firm Arca.

Ethereum Hits Revenue Of Network-based Projects As Bitcoin Drops To $20,500

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Increasing selling pressure led to a dip in the cryptocurrency markets over the weekend. In the last 24 hours, the global cryptocurrency market cap fell more than 3% to $915 billion over the day while Bitcoin once again fell below $21,000, according to CoinMarketCap data at the time of writing (11.50 am, India time).

The global crypto market volume over the last 24 hours decreased 4.33% to $53.48 billion while the total volume in DeFi was $4.38 billion, representing 8.2% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stablecoins was $48 billion, 90% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume.

Bitcoin (BTC) dominance decreased by 0.28 per cent to 42.81%. BTC price dropped 3.64% in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $20,530. In the last 7 days, BTC price has increased by around 7%.

According to Siddharth Jaiswal, founder and CEO, SportZchain, the platform has raised $800,000 from external investors

SportZchain expects its userbase to reach 20,000 by the end of FY23; aims to clock a revenue of two million dollar

Bitcoin remains more than 50% below in 2022, hit by the monetary tightening and hint of blowups in a digital-asset sector that’s still sobering up after bingeing on leverage.

As Bitcoin price briefly goes above $20,000 mark, industry observers say, ‘Don’t get happy too early’

Will crypto bounce back in 2022? Here’s what experts say

“Most cryptocurrencies dipped over the weekend with increasing selling pressure. Despite the decline, Bitcoin has gained nearly 8% over the past week. If bulls can keep the bar above the US$21,000 level, we might see sharp upward moves. If sellers take over the BTC, we might likely see a bearish trend this week,” Edul Patel, CEO and co-founder of crypto investment platform Mudrex told FE Online.

“As the price of Ethereum falls, the revenue of projects based on the network is also plunging drastically. ETH has lost nearly 5%, and it is about to test its support level at US$1,200. If buyers lose control to sellers, we might see Ethereum falling to the US$1,000 zone,” he added.  

Next key support for Bitcoin And Ethereum

“Last week, Bitcoin was on an uptrend and had crossed the $22,000 level with the U.S.  Feds saying that the recessional concern is exaggerated. However, BTC dropped below $21K through the weekend. On the 4-hourly time frame, the BTC chart has broken out of the triangle pattern. However, the trend has dropped marginally and it is retesting the pattern. The daily RSI that had earlier surged to 50, dropped to the 40 level in the last couple of days with extremely low trading volumes in the same period. The next key support for Bitcoin is at $14,000,” analysts at WazirX Trade Desk shared in a note.

“Ethereum has been closing in Red for the last 3 to 4 days after it had begun an upsurge last week. ETH against Bitcoin has lost marginally in the last couple of days as Bitcoin’s dominance index crossed the 44% level. The weekly chart for ETH-BTC continues to traverse within an ascending channel pattern, trading at the support levels. The next key support for ETH-BTC is expected at 0.046 level and next resistance is expected at 0.076,” they added.