The latest report from the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that the consumer price index (CPI) for April climbed by 0.3%. Over the last 12 months, the CPI increased by 3.4%, primarily driven by higher costs for shelter and gasoline. Relief Rally in Financial Markets as April CPI Data Shows Subdued Inflation […]
Bitcoin News
El Salvador Has More Bitcoin Than Public Estimates With Multiple BTC Revenue Sources, President Bukele Indicates
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has indicated that his country’s bitcoin holdings may exceed public estimates. He revealed that El Salvador has been generating bitcoin-related revenue from various sources in addition to the capital gains from bitcoin purchased since its legalization as a legal tender in the country. ‘El Salvador Is Bitcoin Country’ El […]
Bitcoin News
Former US President Donald Trump Selling ETH Worth Millions of Dollars, Analysis Indicates
An analysis by crypto intelligence firm Arkham indicates that Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, is selling millions of dollars in ether acquired from selling his non-fungible token (NFT) collections. The analytics firm also revealed that Trump’s highest crypto balance reached million. Based on deposit analysis to date, the former U.S. president has sold 1,325 ETH, totaling over million.
Donald Trump Selling Ether, Analysis Suggests
Crypto intelligence firm Arkham shared an analysis on social media platform X on Thursday, revealing the amount of ether former U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have sold.
“Looks like Donald Trump is selling his ETH,” the firm wrote, adding that three weeks ago, the former U.S. president started sending his cryptocurrencies to Coinbase after months of accumulating from the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). “His peak balance was million,” the firm added, noting that based on the deposits, Trump has sold 1,075 ETH for .4 million so far. However, 250 more ETH have been transferred to Coinbase since Arkham’s post. At the time of writing, the total transferred amounted to more than million.
Looks like Donald Trump is selling his ETH.
3 weeks ago he started sending ETH to Coinbase after months of accumulating Trump NFT royalties. His peak balance was million.
Based on the deposits, so far he’s sold 1,075 ETH for .4 million. pic.twitter.com/JZzA3cS2je
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) December 27, 2023
Arkham previously identified a crypto wallet linked to Trump based on public disclosures.
Trump has launched three NFT collections to date, with the most recent being the Mugshot Edition unveiled earlier this month. Notably, the latest release marks his first inclusion of physical cards. Customers acquiring 47 cards from the Mugshot Edition will receive a fragment of the suit worn by Trump in his mugshot, along with an invitation to a gala dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home.
The former U.S. president’s first NFT collection was launched in December last year. It was a digital card collection featuring art of his life and career. His second NFT digital card collection was launched in April, which was 19 days after he was indicted with 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business records.
In August, Trump disclosed in a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that a company that made .7 million by licensing his image on NFTs, CIC Digital LLC, maintained a cryptocurrency wallet with at least million in ethereum, which produced income of .8 million.
What do you think about former U.S. President Donald Trump selling his ETH proceeds from NFT collections? Let us know in the comments section below.
Whale Alert: Big Players Scoop Up These 4 Altcoins, On-Chain Data Indicates
The transactions of ‘whales’ – large-scale investors – often set the tone for market trends. So far, recent on-chain data from Lookonchain, a renowned on-chain analytics platform, has unveiled a notable accumulation pattern in four specific altcoins.
Maker (MKR), ssv.network (SSV), Coin98 (C98), and RSS3 have emerged as the latest targets of these accumulative efforts. The data shows a series of substantial withdrawals of altcoins from Binance, a leading crypto exchange, hinting at a growing interest in these altcoins among heavyweight investors.
Notably, this trend of whale accumulation is not just a fleeting occurrence but a concerted effort that has been unfolding over recent months.
Diving Deep Into Whale Transactions: A Closer Look at the Accumulated Altcoins
The analysis by Lookonchain reveals intriguing details about the accumulated assets. A new wallet, identified as “0xB4aE”, mainly made waves by withdrawing 10 million RSS3 tokens, valued at approximately .44 million, from the OKX exchange.
This transaction underscores the growing interest in RSS3, a lesser-known crypto asset. In parallel, another prominent wallet, dubbed “0xb6a7”, substantially withdrew 114,227 SSV tokens from Binance, amounting to a value of about .93 million.
1/ We noticed that whale/fresh wallets are accumulating $MKR, $SSV, $C98 and $RSS3. pic.twitter.com/AOIlNTVyux
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) November 22, 2023
This same investor also transferred 2.77 million C98 tokens from Binance, signaling a bullish stance on these specific altcoins. It is worth noting that these transactions exemplify the strategic moves by whales, often aimed at leveraging market dynamics to their advantage.
The Maker (MKR) Movement: Whale “0x9e74 Leads the Charge
One of the most significant players in this scenario is the whale wallet “0x9e74”. Since July 2023, this investor has consistently withdrawn Maker (MKR) tokens from Binance, totaling roughly 4,776 MKR.
The most recent transaction involved moving .7 million worth of MKR from the exchange, bringing the total worth of MKR withdrawn by this investor to about .9 million. This consistent and targeted accumulation of MKR suggests a strong confidence in the future of this particular altcoin.
The Maker token, part of the MakerDAO ecosystem, has been a subject of interest, mainly due to its role in decentralized finance (DeFi) as a lender.
These large-scale movements by whales underscore a broader trend within the crypto world, where informed players are increasingly steering towards altcoins with strong fundamentals and potential for substantial growth.
Amid the accumulation of the altcoins above by whales, RSS3 and Maker are still the top gainers, with both altcoins seeing a surge in price by 34.8% and 10.7%, respectively, over the past two weeks.
The remaining two altcoins, however, have seen slight gains and decline, with SSV seeing a mere 4.8% increase and C98 seeing an 8.6% plunge over the same period.
Featured image from iStock Chart from TradingView
Fed’s Powell Hints at Continued Elevated Rates; Fedwatch Tool Indicates Near-Certain Hike Next Month
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stressed on Thursday the U.S. central bank remains committed to bringing down inflation and will maintain restrictive monetary policy until prices cool. Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, Powell hinted that further interest rate hikes may be appropriate if price pressures persist.
Powell Signals for More Monetary Tightening as Fed Remains Focused on Inflation
In his remarks, Jerome Powell said inflation is still too high despite recent moderation. While headline and core PCE inflation have come down from their peaks earlier this year, the Fed chair said it is too early to be confident inflation will stay near the Fed’s 2% target.
“While the path is likely to be bumpy and take some time, my colleagues and I are united in our commitment to bringing inflation down sustainably to 2 percent,” Powell explained at the luncheon.
He further noted tightening financial conditions are putting downward pressure on inflation. But Powell warned persistent economic growth or tight labor markets could necessitate further policy tightening.
“Additional evidence of persistently above-trend growth, or that tightness in the labor market is no longer easing, could put further progress on inflation at risk and could warrant further tightening of monetary policy,” Powell told attendees.
The Fed chair stressed longer-term Treasury yields have risen sharply, tightening financial conditions. He said the central bank is monitoring these developments closely. “We remain attentive to these developments because persistent changes in financial conditions can have implications for the path of monetary policy,” Powell remarked.
The 10-year Treasury yield jumped to a 4.9% high this week hitting its highest level in 16 years. Since Powell’s statements, the CME Fedwatch tool shows a 99% chance a rate hike will occur next month. Investors expect the Fed will deliver another 0.25 percentage point rate increase at its November meeting.
Powell underscored the Fed’s unwavering commitment to reining in inflation, aiming for the central bank’s 2% target over the long haul. In essence, Powell conveyed that the Fed would be “policy restrictive until we are confident that inflation is on a path to that objective.”
Following his remarks, all four U.S. benchmark stock indices took a downturn. On the other hand, precious metals saw a modest uptick, while the crypto markets remained largely unfazed by the Fed chair’s pronouncements. The drop in U.S. equities was attributed to Powell’s speech in New York.
What do you think about Powell’s recent statements at the Economic Club of New York? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Will Bitcoin Drop To $20,000? EURUSD Correlation Indicates It Might
In recent discussions surrounding Bitcoin (BTC) and its potential future price trajectory, crypto-enthusiasts and analysts alike are finding new correlations to dissect. Most notably, a correlation with the EURUSD pair (the euro against the US dollar) has come into the spotlight due to a Twitter thread by esteemed analyst Josh Olszewicz.
Olszewicz begins by setting the stage, drawing attention to the widely acknowledged inverse correlation between Bitcoin and the DXY (US Dollar Index). He notes, “Most are aware of the strong historic BTC-DXY inverse correlation. DXY is a USD index against a basket of currencies which has a EURUSD weighting of around 58%. So the BTC-EURUSD correlation should also be relatively high.”
Will Bitcoin Price Follow EURUSD?
What’s intriguing here is the observation Olszewicz makes about the BTC-EURUSD correlation in the period following the pandemic and the last Bitcoin halving. He mentions that the “post-pandemic (post-halving) EURUSD pair has led BTC in both the bullish and bearish direction by anywhere from a month to a full year.”
This pattern, if it continues to persist, might spell some bearish tendencies for Bitcoin. Olszewicz goes on to suggest that, “If this relationship continues to hold, BTC should break down towards the BTFP low of k.” This statement is a significant one, indicating a potential substantial drop from its current position, all based on the movement patterns of the EURUSD.
Further supporting this projection, he highlights a technical pattern observed in both BTC and EURUSD, stating, “the EURUSD has completed a bearish H&S, similar to BTC, providing technical fuel for further downside.” A ‘bearish H&S’ refers to the bearish ‘head and shoulders’ pattern, a chart formation that predicts a bullish-to-bearish trend reversal.
However, it’s not all gloom and doom. Olszewicz does provide a glimmer of hope for Bitcoin bulls. He posits, “If you’re bullish on BTC here, you’re either hoping this relationship weakens/breaks, or the EURUSD begins to strengthen instead of continuing to weaken.”
BTC’s Second High Does Not Fit
Olszewicz also touches upon some “tin foil” speculations, discussing how the BTC-EURUSD correlation had been seemingly disrupted during Bitcoin’s second high in November 2022. He suggests that the continued fall of EURUSD did not immediately impact Bitcoin’s bullish trend, speculating that actions from major crypto players like 3AC, FTX/Alameda, and the Anchor BTC reserve might have played a role.
He states, “It is both possible and likely that the funny business behind the scenes by 3AC & FTX/Alameda, as well as the Anchor BTC reserve, helped delay the inevitable bearish trend by about a year.”
While correlations can provide insight, they are by no means a guarantee of future market movements. Investors should exercise caution and conduct their own research when making investment decisions. Rose Premium Signals added, “interesting observation about the BTC-EURUSD correlation. It’s essential to consider multiple factors in crypto analysis. The relationship could indeed evolve, impacting BTC’s future movements.”
At press time, BTC stood at ,180.
Study: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Bitcoin Transaction Volume Number One Globally, Data Indicates Shift Towards Stablecoins
Despite accounting for just 2.3% of global transaction volume, the latest data shows that crypto has penetrated key markets in Sub-Saharan Africa and “become an important part of many residents’ day-to-day lives.” With a regional volume of 9.3%, Sub-Saharan Africa’s BTC share outranks all regions including North America (9.0%) and Eastern Europe (8.2%).
Nigeria Epitomizes Sub-Saharan Africa’s Crypto Penetration
While the Sub-Saharan Africa region is reported to have accounted for 2.3% of global transaction volume, a closer look at the latest data shows that “crypto has penetrated key markets and become an important part of many residents’ day-to-day lives.” As the excerpt from Chainalysis’ upcoming Geography Report shows, no country from this region best exemplifies how crypto has become part of everyday life than Nigeria.
With transaction volumes of just under billion between July 2022 and June 2023, Nigeria is Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest crypto market by a distance. For perspective, the region’s total volumes during the same period were 7.1 billion. The data shows that Nigeria accounted for nearly half of the region’s total transaction volume in that period.
South Africa, whose traded volumes surpassed the billion mark during the same period, is home to the Sub-Saharan Africa region’s second-largest crypto market. Kenya, Mauritius and Ghana, which are ranked third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, complete the region’s top five.
Meanwhile, the Chainalysis data suggests that residents from the Sub-Saharan Africa region increasingly see BTC as an alternative store of value. With a regional volume share of 9.3%, Sub-Saharan Africa’s BTC share outranks all regions including North America (9.0%) and Eastern Europe (8.2%). Explaining why Sub-Saharan Africa is ranked first, Chainalysis said:
Many countries in the region have struggled with rising inflation and debt, making cryptocurrency an attractive means of storing value, preserving savings, and attaining greater financial freedom.
The blockchain intelligence firm singles out inflation-hit Ghana where residents reportedly have turned to BTC.
While BTC is still the number one crypto in the region, the latest data appears to point to a shift away from the leading crypto asset towards stablecoins. Moyo Sodipo, the co-founder of Nigeria-based cryptocurrency exchange Busha, said the drop in the price of BTC may explain why users from the region are gravitating towards stablecoins.
“Now that Bitcoin has lost a lot of its value, there is a desire for diversification between Bitcoin and stablecoins. However, market shifts aren’t dampening activity,” explained Sodipo.
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What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
New Job Listing Indicates What Ripple Is Focusing On Next
Following its partial victory over the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ripple seems to be turning its attention toward avoiding a repeat of such a lawsuit, as evidenced by its most recent job posting.
Ripple Wants Compliance Talent
Ripple is seemingly looking to improve its compliance with sanctions and regulatory developments through a more proactive approach. To this end, the payments processor is actively hiring talent to fill a role advertised as “Web3 Specialist, Global KYC & Due Diligence.”
The job which carries an ,000-6,000 pay range is advertised to “be heavily focused on carrying out due diligence to mitigate regulatory, reputational and sanctions risks associated with Ripple’s institutional clients, counterparties and corporate partners to ensure compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”), Counter-Terrorist Financing, Economic Sanctions regulations such as the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) and USA PATRIOT Act.”
In light of these developments, Monica Long of Ripple in the US recently articulated the company’s strategy, saying, “We are very excited about this because we now have clarity on how Ripple will conduct its business in the future. And we are resuming operations in the US market.”
This statement signifies Ripple’s intention to continue its operations in the United States. The recruitment also points to Ripple’s efforts to mitigate regulatory violations following its 3-year-long battle with the SEC.
A Global Hiring Shift Reflects Ripple’s Ambitious Expansion
Ripple has been one of the leading crypto firms that has continued to hire talent at a time when layoffs are the order of the day in the industry.
GlobalData, a data analytics firm, reports that Ripple has increased its job postings by 26.9% during January-April 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. While the hiring trend in the US has declined slightly, Ripple has significantly ramped up job postings in Canada, Poland, India, and other countries.
Sherla Sriprada, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, noted at the time, “Ripple’s decision to primarily hire employees from outside the US reflects a strategic move towards global expansion, accessing international talent while also overcoming regulatory challenges in the US by diversifying its presence in other markets.”
This means that despite its commitment to remaining in the US market, Ripple is actively going after talents in other jurisdictions. This points to a strategy of worldwide expansion instead of focusing on a single market.
However, despite Ripple’s growth, its native XRP token has continued to struggle in the market. Coinmarketcap data shows that the altcoin is down 4.15% in the last day to trade at .5038 at the time of writing.
This Metric Indicates Shibarium Is Growing Rapidly Following Its Public Launch
Shibarium has only been live for a few days but is already showing early signs of success. The Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, which hopes to provide lower gas fees and faster transaction times for the Shiba Inu community, has seen some impressive growth numbers in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL).
TVL Crosses .4 Million
Since Shibarium launched its mainnet, the total value deposited in the network has skyrocketed. The TVL recently crossed .4 million, indicating strong interest in the new chain.
Data from DeFi TVL aggregator DeFiLlama shows that the total TVL in Shibarium has grown to .42 million in the past two days. While this amount is small when compared to the total DeFi TVL of .731 billion, the rapid growth demonstrates the potential that Shibarium possesses.
A look through DeFiLlama shows that Shibarium currently has seven protocols. The DEX DogSwap with a TVL of 4,582 accounts for most of the total TVL. Other protocols on the chain are MARSWAP, Woof Finance, WoofSwap, Shibex, LeetSwap, BoneDex, and yield farm ChocoInu.
Shibarium’s growth piggybacks on the vast community Shiba Inu has gathered in the past few years. But the network did witness some hiccups before its launch, as PeckShield reported that a total of .7 million was stuck on the bridge.
Just hours after its launch, the network witnessed a flurry of user traffic, causing it to be temporarily shut down. However, this has been resolved as Shibarium developer Kaal Dhairya explained this was a fail-safe to ensure the safety of the funds.
As of the time of writing, block explorer Shibariumscan shows that there have been a total of 599,554 transactions from 444,134 wallets averaging a daily transaction count of 68,402.
Will Shibarium Translate To A Higher Price For SHIB?
SHIB’s price has always reacted positively to Shibarium developments. Prior to its launch, the Shiba Inu ecosystem witnessed massive withdrawals from exchanges as many investors opted for self-custody in hopes of what the Shibarium launch might bring. SHIB also saw a jump in price after lead developer Shytoshi Kusama teased Shibarium’s launch on a social media post.
It would appear, however, that the launch of Shibarium hasn’t really translated into a price spike for SHIB. At the time of writing, the token is trading at .000008178 and is down by 1.28% and 1.73% in the past 24 hours and seven days respectively.
With the recent slump in crypto markets, Shibarium’s early success is a bright spot. This early success of Shibarium could potentially boost the price of Shiba Inu. As investors see the rapid growth in total value locked (TVL) on Shibarium, interest in the supporting SHIB token may increase.
On-Chain Data Indicates Ethereum’s Bullish Trend Could Continue
Of all the altcoins in the crypto space, the price of Ethereum has been the one that has closely followed the performance trend of Bitcoin. The digital asset has been able to clear the ,800 level multiple times, dragging more investors into profit. But even more important is that on-chain data is showing increased adoption for the cryptocurrency.
Ethereum Exchange Withdrawals Reaches 3-Month High
The collapse of FTX triggered massive withdrawals from centralized exchanges. However, like with any other thing, the withdrawals had cooled. That is until now when the Ethereum exchange withdrawals have picked up once again, seeing millions of ETH removed from exchanges.
On-chain data aggregator Glassnode reported that the amount of ETH being withdrawn from centralized exchanges on a seven-day moving average hit a new three-month high of 3,134.065 ETH. The last time withdrawals were this high was back in late 2022 and the following weeks saw the price of the digital asset climb steadily, as shown in the chart below.
Adoption is also not left behind as the network has seen an uptick in the number of new addresses created. This metric also recovered to a three-month high as new ETH addresses climbed as well. Importantly, the Arbitrum (ARB) airdrop spurred adoption on the blockchain as many rushed to take advantage of the new liquidity.
ETH Profitability Climbs Again
With Ethereum’s price tethering between the ,700 and ,800 level, a large portion of investors has now moved into the profit territory. Data from IntoTheBlock shows that a total of 66% of wallets holding ETH are seeing profit as the coins were purchased at lower than the current price. This has pushed down the percentage of those seeing losses to 32% with 3% sitting in the neutral territory (meaning they bought at the same price the coin is now trading for).
Glassnode corroborates this with its report that the number of ETH addresses in profit has reached an 11-month high. At the time of the report, a total of 63,933,355.435 wallets are all in the green. The last time it was this high was at the beginning of the second quarter of 2022.
These metrics growing so fast in such a short time point to a largely bullish outlook among investors. This increased positivity in the market can easily translate to better price action for the digital asset and could be the push it needs to finally scale the ,000 hurdle once and for all.
At the time of writing, Ethereum is changing hands at ,790, up 2.26% in the last day. It is seeing meager gains on the weekly chart after rising only 2.44% in the last week.