Central banks kept up demand for gold in February, registering net purchases of 19 tonnes. Albeit the purchasing trend continued, purchases fell 58% compared to January’s demand, according to IMF and World Gold Council numbers. China reported the largest gold accumulation, acquiring 12 tonnes to maintain a 16-month gold purchasing streak. Gold Demand Still High […]
Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Miners on the Brink of Surpassing February Earnings as 2 Difficulty Adjustments Loom
Bitcoin miners face two additional difficulty adjustments before the network’s halving event, which is rapidly approaching, with less than 4,300 blocks remaining. Data indicates the total hashrate has recovered from a minor dip, suggesting miners might see a decrease in difficulty at the next adjustment, set for on or around March 28, 2024. With the […]
Bitcoin News
Phishing Scammers Stole $47 Million From 57,000 Victims in February Alone — Report
Nearly million was stolen from approximately 57,000 crypto users by criminals who use phishing scams to lure victims. The Scam Sniffer data highlights that most of the thefts occurred on the Ethereum chain, with ERC-20 tokens being the most targeted. Unlike in January, the number of victims who lost digital funds exceeding million […]
Bitcoin News
Study: Criminals Target Defi Platforms, Steal More Than $67 Million in February Alone
In February alone, criminals stole digital funds worth over million from decentralized finance (defi) platforms. The latest Immunefi data shows that hacking attacks accounted for more than million, or 97% of the month’s losses. The Ethereum blockchain suffered the most individual attacks, with 12 incidents representing 85.71% of the total losses across targeted […]
Bitcoin News
Peckshield: Cryptocurrency Hackers Stole Over $360 Million in February
Cryptocurrency hackers stole over 0 million during February, almost doubling the amount stolen in January. According to Peckshield, a cryptocurrency and blockchain security firm, the largest hack event in February involved a security breach in Playdapp, a Web3 gaming platform, that lost 0 million four days after being attacked. Fixedfloat, a cryptocurrency exchange, also lost […]
Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Mining Revenue Jumps to $1.39 Billion in February Despite Fee Decline
In February, bitcoin miners discovered a total of 4,446 blocks, amassing earnings of .39 billion, with million of this sum coming from onchain transaction fees. The revenue from bitcoin mining in February rose by million compared to January, though the amount collected from fees saw a decrease this month. Bitcoin’s Hash Price Breaks […]
Bitcoin News
LBank Exchange Will List beoble (BBL) on February 28, 2024
PRESS RELEASE. Road Town, BVI, February 27, 2024 – In a significant move for cryptocurrency and mobile technology enthusiasts, LBank Exchange, a premier global digital asset trading platform, has announced the listing of beoble (BBL) on February 28, 2024. Users of LBank Exchange can brace themselves for the BBL/USDT trading pair, which will go live […]
Bitcoin News
Ethereum Inches Closer To $3,000 – Will February Deliver A $4,000 Knockout?
Ethereum (ETH), the global runner-up in the cryptocurrency ring, is making serious moves this week, stepping closer to the coveted ,000 mark. Could this be the opening bell for a February knockout, sending it soaring towards a staggering ,000 finish by month’s end?
Ethereum Staking And ETF Surge: Bullish Momentum
Several factors are fueling this bullish sentiment, starting with the surging popularity of ETH staking. As Ethereum 2.0 gathers momentum, more investors are locking their ETH into staking contracts, earning passive income while reducing the readily available supply in the market. This “induced market scarcity,” as experts call it, creates upward pressure on the price.
The numbers are impressive: a whopping 25% of all circulating ETH, or 30.2 million coins, are now locked in staking contracts. This represents a significant surge of 600,000 ETH deposited between February 1st and 15th. And with an annualized reward rate of 4%, the incentive to join the staking party is only growing stronger.
But staking isn’t the only force propelling ETH forward. The potential approval of an Ethereum Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) has also injected optimism into the market. Such a product would make it easier for institutional investors to enter the crypto space, potentially leading to significant inflows and price appreciation.
Furthermore, the recent Dencun upgrade on the Sepolia testnet, promising improved network performance and lower transaction costs, has been met with positive reactions from stakeholders. This could attract more developers and users to the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem, boosting its utility and ultimately driving demand for ETH.
Obstacles Ahead: ETH’s Journey Towards ,000
However, the path to ,000 isn’t without its obstacles. A major resistance level looms at ,850, where approximately 1.23 million addresses, holding a combined 578,000 ETH, bought in. These holders might be tempted to take profits as the price approaches their break-even point, creating a temporary hurdle.
Additionally, a price dip below ,500 could trigger panic selling among investors who bought at higher prices. While some experts suggest that such a scenario might be mitigated by “frantic last-minute purchases” to avoid losses, it underscores the inherent volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
IntoTheBlock’s global in/out of the money (GIOM) data further emphasizes this point. This data groups all existing ETH holders based on their historical buy-in prices. According to GIOM, the cluster of holders at the ,850 resistance level represents a potential selling pressure. However, if the bulls can overcome this hurdle, another leg-up towards ,000 and beyond becomes more likely.
Ultimately, while the short-term outlook for ETH seems promising, caution remains key. Investors should carefully consider their own risk tolerance and conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. As with any market, past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
The next few days or weeks will be crucial in determining whether ETH can break through the ,850 resistance and continue its ascent towards ,000 and beyond.
Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from TradingView
Stablecoin Sector Swells by $1.7 Billion in February; USDC and FDUSD Lead Supply Growth
Statistics reveal that since the onset of February 2024, the stablecoin sector has experienced a significant expansion, with an increase of .7 billion in its economy. In the last 30 days, both usd coin and first digital usd witnessed their supplies jump by 9.6% and 40.3%, respectively. The Dual-Edged Sword of Stablecoin Growth As the […]
Bitcoin News
Crypto Token Unlocks To Cross $700 Million In February 2024, Here Are The Culprits
February is set to be a hot point for crypto assets, with several cryptocurrencies set to release over 0 million worth of assets during the month. According to data from TokenUnlocks, 26 crypto projects are set to carry out token unlocks in February, potentially flooding the crypto market with almost billion worth of crypto assets. Most of this liquidity is set to come from Avalanche (AVAX), with approximately 5 million worth of AVAX set to hit the market in the middle of February.
February 2024 Set To See Massive Crypto Unlocks
Many major projects like Aptos (APT), The Sandbox (SAND), and Avalanche (AVAX) have unlocking events scheduled for February 2024. Avalanche, for instance, is set to unlock 9.54 million AVAX tokens, representing 2.6% of the total supply on February 22. This token unlock is set to be allocated in four batches, with 2.25 million AVAX tokens going to strategic partners, 1.67 million tokens to the foundation, 4.50 million tokens to the Avalanche team, and 1.13 million tokens as airdrops.
Aptos (APT) will unlock 7.34% of its total supply on February 11 to the tune of 24.84 million APT tokens worth 8.55 million. In the same vein, metaverse platform The Sandbox will unlock 5.59 million SAND tokens, representing 9.19% of its circulating supply, on February 14. At the time of writing, these tokens are worth .46 million.
Ethereum L2 blockchain Optimism is also set to unlock 24.16 million OP tokens worth .51 million on February 29. This represents 2.52% of its total supply.
Other notable tokens also set for unlock include SUI, Algorand (ALGO), ApeCoin (APE), MANTA, and AGIX. Once unlocked, these tokens are free to be sold on the open market
How Will These Unlocks Impact Prices And Investors?
Crypto unlocks among altcoins are not a new phenomenon in the crypto industry, and they tend to have both positive and negative impacts on the price of such crypto assets. However, once those locked tokens are unlocked, they can enter the open market.
This means that a large supply of tokens may become available for trading simultaneously. If any of those newly unlocked tokens are sold right away, it can put downward pressure on the price as the supply overwhelms demand.
At the time of writing, the crypto market is at somewhat of a standstill in terms of price volatility, although some cryptocurrencies like Chainlink (LINK) are currently on substantial gains in the past seven days.
Chainlink also recently witnessed an unlock of 19 million LINK tokens worth 1 million. Following this, 16 million tokens were deposited into the crypto exchange Binance immediately, suggesting a sell-off.