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On Monday, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant setback, with Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) dropping notably below the $40,000 mark, marking its lowest value of the year. By Tuesday, Bitcoin had stabilized, trading at $39,482. Meanwhile, Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) continued its downward trend, priced at $2,220, a decrease of 3.93% from the previous day. Sylvia Jablonski of Defiance ETFs interprets this drop as a possible “sell the news” event but remains optimistic about Bitcoin’s future recovery. In contrast, Fernando Pereira reaffirms his prediction of a steeper decline. “Bitcoin began the week breaking the critical support of $40,000, with a higher likelihood now of seeking the next support at $36,000, as has been indicated in recent days,” Pereira highlighted.
Major cryptographic tokens, including Solana (COIN:SOLUSD), Avalanche (COIN:AVAXUSD), Dogecoin (COIN:DOGEUSD), continued their decline due to institutional sales linked to recently launched ETFs, with some coins registering drops of over 20% in the last week. While UMA Network (COIN:UMAUSD) saw gains, analysts warned that the recent correction in bitcoin’s price (COIN:BTCUSD) eliminated profits for short-term investors, suggesting the possibility of a further market downturn.
The native token of OKX (COIN:OKBUSD) experienced a sharp drop of over 50% in three minutes due to mass liquidations, hitting a low of $25.17. It later recovered to $47.89, a decrease of 8.3% in the last 24 hours. OKX has promised to reimburse affected users’ losses, planning to announce a specific compensation plan and improve its risk and liquidity policies. Currently, OKB has a market value of $2.860 billion.
The Avalanche Foundation, supporting the Avalanche blockchain, introduced an “eligibility framework” for meme coin purchases. To be eligible, coins must be independent, native to the Avalanche blockchain, and cannot be centralized around creators or whales. Additionally, they must meet criteria such as a minimum of 2,000 holders, over $200,000 in liquidity, a market value of at least $1 million, and $100,000 in average daily trading volume for two weeks.
Mode, a Layer 2 DeFi platform, is set to receive a significant donation from the Optimism Foundation, totaling 2 million OP tokens (COIN:OPUSD), valued at approximately $5.3 million. This donation aims to boost user growth on the Mode platform, which operates with Optimism’s OP Stack technology. In return, Mode will support the Optimism Collective, contributing a portion of its revenue and adopting the Chains Law for governance. Its goal is to become a central hub for DeFi applications on Optimism’s Superchain.
With technological advancements and geopolitical shifts, the global financial system faces challenges. The dominance of the US dollar is questioned by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) presented a view on the future of encryption in 2024. While the dollar represents 25% of the global GDP, it constitutes nearly 60% of global foreign exchange reserves. Countries like China and the European Union are seeking alternatives. The cryptocurrency market is growing rapidly, with Bitcoin becoming a sovereign reserve asset. The bank says understanding the interactions between fiat currencies, Bitcoin, E-Money, and stablecoins is crucial for macro investors.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) downgraded Coinbase’s (NASDAQ:COIN) shares to “underweight,” pointing to Bitcoin’s (COIN:BTCUSD) fall and the underperformance of BTC spot ETFs. Despite recognizing Coinbase as a leader in the cryptocurrency market, analysts predict weak performance for the COIN stock, which has already fallen 28.5% in the last month. With pressure on cryptocurrency prices and inflated expectations for ETFs, JPMorgan adjusted its price target forecast to $80 by December 2024.
The nine new spot Bitcoin ETFs, excluding the converted Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (AMEX:GBTC), now hold over 100,000 BTC, equivalent to about $4 billion in assets under management. BlackRock’s ETF (NASDAQ:IBIT) leads with 40,213 BTC, followed by Fidelity’s ETF (AMEX:FBTC) with 34,152 BTC. Although these ETFs have seen significant inflows, the GBTC experienced net outflows of about $640.5 million in a single day, totaling $3.45 billion in outflows to date. Despite GBTC’s withdrawals, experts suggest the possibility of Grayscale’s acquisition by new participants to gain advantage and credibility in the growing bitcoin ETF market.
ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, continues its investment strategy by acquiring 523,541 shares of the Ark 21Shares Spot Bitcoin ETF (AMEX:ARKB) for $21 million, while selling 648,091 units of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (AMEX:BITO) for $12.85 million. This move aims to strengthen ARKB’s position, one of the best-performing ETFs, in ARKW’s portfolio. ARKB is now the 15th largest holding, while BITO drops to the 20th position in the portfolio.
Swiss fintech Taurus, backed by Deutsche Bank, received regulatory approval from FINMA to expand its TDX trading market, allowing retail customers to participate in tokenized asset trading. This approval increases the liquidity of digital securities and allows companies to access primary and secondary markets. Taurus also announced a list of issuers that have chosen TDX as their preferred platform for trading digital securities, including Investis Group, la Mobilière, Qoqa, SCCF, Swissroc, and Teylor.
The Cosmos community voted against Proposal 868, which sought to reduce the minimum inflation parameter on the network from 7% to 0% when more than two-thirds of the ATOM supply were staked to the network. The proposal, presented by Stakelab, aimed to alleviate inflationary pressure on the ATOM token (COIN:ATOMUSD). However, the majority voted against the measure, citing network security concerns as the primary reason. The inflation rate has been a topic of debate in the Cosmos community, with differing opinions on its optimization.
An activist group launched a legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm, who face charges in the US. The developers were accused of conspiracy related to money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmission business related to Tornado Cash. The defense fund aims to raise funds to support the legal defense of the accused, who face significant legal costs. Donations are being accepted through various fundraising platforms.
The value of TrueUSD (COIN:TUSDUSD) dropped to $0.9785 in the last 24 hours, as major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) and Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) faced substantial selling. The project team attributed the price deviations to community mining linked to the Binance Launchpool, but community concerns persist.
The Texas State Securities Board reached a principle agreement with Abra and its CEO, Bill Barhydt, allowing US investors to withdraw their assets from the cryptographic platform. The agreement stipulates that Abra must notify users with balances over $10, granting them a seven-day withdrawal period. Unclaimed assets will be converted to fiat currency and sent to remaining Texas investors. The agreement concludes actions brought against Abra by the board following the state’s coercive action in June 2023.
Former clients of the defunct exchange Mt. Gox reported receiving emails requesting identity confirmation and account details. The reimbursement of 850,000 BTC lost during the 2014 hack, valued at $33 billion, appears to be underway. Beneficiaries will receive payments in bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) or bitcoin cash (COIN:BCHUSD) in their previously indicated exchange accounts. This reimbursement could impact BTC prices, especially if it coincides with increased flows to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Bitcoin’s halving in April.
The interoperability protocol Socket announced that it recovered 1,032 Ether (about $2.3 million) following an exploitation in its Bungee bridge protocol. The previous security incident affected wallets with infinite approvals for Socket contracts. Blockchain security company PeckShield reported a theft of at least $3.3 million in funds. The exploitation resulted from an “incomplete validation of user input.” Socket plans to release a recovery and distribution plan for affected users.
The blockchain gaming project Gamee, backed by Animoca Brands, confirmed a theft of 600 million GMEEE tokens (COIN:GMEEEUSD) on Polygon due to “unauthorized access”. The tokens, valued at $15 million at the time of the incident, were subsequently converted into ETH and MATIC through various decentralized exchanges. The price of the GMEE token, which had fallen by 64%, recovered in a surge of 16.5% over the last 24 hours. The project assured that only the team’s token reserves were affected and that no community assets were compromised. The token has seen a rise of 325% over the last 3 months.
At a rally in New Hampshire, Donald Trump reinforced his opposition to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stating that he would never allow their creation. He mentioned Vivek Ramaswamy, a critic of CBDCs, who recently suspended his campaign. Trump argued that CBDCs represent a threat to financial freedom and would grant the government absolute control over people’s money. With other candidates critical of CBDCs leaving the race, the focus on cryptocurrencies in the elections may diminish.
Polymer Labs raised $23 million in its Series A funding round, focused on developing an Ethereum-based interoperability hub. The round was led by Blockchain Capital, Maven 11, and Distributed Global, with support from investors like Coinbase Ventures, Placeholder, and Digital Currency Group. Polymer Labs, which had previously raised $3.6 million, is creating a Layer 2 network using Inter-Blockchain Communication to enhance interoperability and overcome challenges in the Ethereum ecosystem.
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