Getting a token from inception to market is no mean feat and more often takes years of planning and commitment. Achieving fair price discovery and stability requires just as much commitment and energy. Generally speaking, market makers categorize the token pricing journey into four main phases: pre-generation construction, primary listing, price discovery and expansion, and […]
Bitcoin News
AI-Powered Discovery Network for NFTs Launches $PULSR Token
PRESS RELEASE. GEORGE TOWN, CAYMAN ISLANDS — APRIL 25, 2024 Pulsr, an AI-powered search engine for NFTs, is launching a new token. The genesis of $PULSR is taking place on Thursday, April 25 at 11.30am EST — and will fuel the project’s ambition to make on-chain assets across the Web3 ecosystem more visible. Established in […]
Bitcoin News
Crypto CEO Drops Bombshell Discovery Why Bitcoin Price Is Muted Post-ETFs
Despite the landmark launch of spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) spearheaded by industry behemoths BlackRock and Fidelity—ranking among the top five ETF launches in their initial month of all time—BTC’s price response has been notably subdued. Prior to the launch of these EFTs, BTC soared to a peak of ,040 on January 11.
Fast forward to today and BTC is currently settling at ,000, marking a modest appreciation of 4.3%. This tepid performance has puzzled market observers, particularly in light of massive net inflows of .278 billion into all Bitcoin ETFs within a mere six-week span. These could have been even significantly higher if there would have been .398 billion in outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC.
The Bombshell Discovery
Yet, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju may now have found the “real” reason that has had an even bigger impact on Bitcoin’s price action in recent weeks. Ju’s analysis highlights the transfer of over 700,000 BTC to Over-The-Counter (OTC) desks predominantly utilized by miners in the weeks succeeding the spot Bitcoin ETF approvals—an equivalent of approximately .6 billion at current prices.
He shared the below chart and stated: “700K BTC has moved to OTC desks used by miners over the past three weeks following spot Bitcoin ETF approval.” This revelation has sparked a reevaluation of the impact of such substantial transfers on the market dynamics of Bitcoin.
Ju later corrected his statement slightly and explained, “Got some questions about the data accuracy. These OTC addresses are not only used by miners. It could be used by other whales. We’ll let you know what addresses caused this spike,”acknowledging the complexity and multifaceted nature of these transactions.
The Bitcoin OTC Mechanism Explained
OTC desks facilitate direct transactions between two parties, unlike open exchanges where orders are matched among various participants. This method of trading can handle large volumes of Bitcoin without immediately affecting the market price.
When substantial amounts of BTC are bought or sold on public exchanges, the sudden increase in supply or demand can lead to significant price volatility. By opting for OTC transactions, large buyers, such as ETF issuers, can accumulate Bitcoin in vast quantities without triggering a steep price increase that would inevitably follow if these purchases were made on spot markets.
Thus, Ju theorizes that the issuers behind the newly launched Bitcoin ETFs are strategically purchasing Bitcoin via OTC desks. This approach serves a dual purpose: it allows these entities to fulfill the demand from ETF investors by securing enough Bitcoin to back the ETF shares while simultaneously mitigating the immediate price impact that such large-scale purchases would have if conducted on open exchanges.
The essence of Ju’s claim is that if the 700,000 BTC had been bought on the spot market instead of through OTC channels, the influx of demand would have likely propelled Bitcoin’s price significantly higher than the observed 4.3% increase. This subdued price action, therefore, could be attributed to the strategic use of OTC transactions by ETF issuers and other large-scale buyers.
However, there is also a silver lining. What will happen if the miners can only sell half of the current supply following the upcoming BTC halving in April, but the demand remains? Moreover, this constraint isn’t limited to miners alone.
Given that the OTC supply is finite and likely depleting rapidly, it appears inevitable that a supply shock could impact the market once the OTC reserves are fully tapped. When entities like BlackRock and others are compelled to purchase Bitcoin on the open market to back up their ETFs, the BTC price could react swiftly.
At press time, BTC traded at ,030.
Judge Orders Ripple to Comply With SEC’s New Discovery Requests Concerning XRP
A federal judge has ruled in favor of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and ordered Ripple to comply with the regulator’s post-complaint discovery requests concerning XRP. Ripple must also answer an interrogatory regarding the amount of XRP institutional sales proceeds it received after the SEC complaint was filed.
Judge Grants SEC’s Motion Against Ripple
On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled in favor of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple Labs concerning XRP.
The securities regulator seeks an order compelling Ripple to produce “2022-2023 financial statements” and “post-complaint contracts governing ‘institutional sales.’” The SEC also wants the crypto firm to “answer an interrogatory regarding the amount of XRP institutional sales proceeds it received after the complaint was filed,” Monday’s court document details, adding:
The SEC’s motion is granted in full.
The court also addressed Ripple’s objections to the SEC’s motion. The crypto firm had argued that the securities watchdog’s requests are “untimely,” asserting that the agency “has failed to justify each of its requests on the merits.” Ripple also claimed that “the information the SEC seeks has no bearing on the court’s remedies determination.”
Regarding Ripple’s financial statements, the court document explains that “At this stage, the Court sees no basis to short-circuit that inquiry by denying access to readily available information that may be probative to the remedy stage.”
As for the post-complaint contracts, “The Court is not convinced that the production of these contracts will result in an improper or costly ‘mini-trial,’” as warned by Ripple. Regarding post-complaint XRP institutional sales proceeds, the judge ruled that “the SEC has made a sufficient showing that this information may assist the Court in fashioning its remedy,” noting that “Ripple must respond to the interrogatory.” The Court has set Feb. 12 as the deadline to complete the “remedies-related discovery.”
What do you think about the federal judge ordering Ripple to comply with the SEC’s requests concerning XRP? Let us know in the comments section below.
Ripple Asks Judge to Deny SEC’s New Discovery Requests Concerning XRP
Ripple Labs has opposed the requests by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for post-compliant discovery concerning XRP. Ripple argued that the regulator’s requests are “untimely” and “the SEC has failed to justify each of its requests on the merits.” Moreover, the crypto firm stated that “the information the SEC seeks has no bearing on the court’s remedies determination.”
SEC Seeks More Information From Ripple Regarding XRP
In response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion to compel certain post-compliant discovery regarding XRP, Ripple Labs sent a letter to Judge Sarah Netburn on Friday, firmly opposing the SEC’s requests.
The SEC wants Ripple to produce audited financial statements for 2022 and 2023 as well as all post-complaint contracts for the sale or transfer of XRP to non-employee counterparties. The agency also demands Ripple answer an interrogatory about the amount of “XRP institutional sales proceeds” received after the complaint filing for certain contracts.
In the letter to Judge Netburn, Ripple’s legal counsel explained that the crypto firm opposes the SEC’s requests for two main reasons. “First, they are untimely,” the counsel stated, emphasizing that the SEC “had ample opportunity to seek much of the requested discovery while fact discovery was open, failed to do so, and lacks good cause to do so now.” The counsel continued:
Second, the SEC has failed to justify each of its requests on the merits. They are irrelevant: the information the SEC seeks has no bearing on the Court’s remedies determination.
Ripple asserted that the SEC seeks a shortcut on investment contract claims, aiming for a summary judgment instead of a full hearing, cautioning that this bypasses crucial fact-finding, risks a second discovery phase, and burdens both parties and the court.
The counsel further noted: “Worse, the SEC’s summary procedure would deprive Ripple of protections that would normally apply to a pre-suit investigation of new conduct and the process afforded by the filing of new claims. And lastly, as to the SEC’s interrogatory in particular, the SEC has used all of its interrogatories in the case and cannot unilaterally grant itself more.”
The letter also highlights the ruling by Judge Analisa Torres on July 13 last year, holding in part that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP and other distributions did not amount to investment contracts but that certain institutional sales of XRP to sophisticated individuals and entities should have been registered as securities.
Ripple further argued that “Besides being untimely, the SEC’s discovery requests seek information that is irrelevant to remedies.” The counsel stressed that “Ripple’s current financial condition is not relevant to the amount of penalties the Court should order,” emphasizing that “Ripple is not claiming an inability to pay and will not argue in favor of a reduction in penalty amount on account of its present financial condition.” The letter concludes:
The SEC’s request for irrelevant and burdensome post-complaint discovery, especially given the close of fact discovery, should be denied.
Do you think the court should deny the SEC’s requests for post-compliant discovery concerning XRP? Let us know in the comments section below.
Analysis Claims Discovery of Selective Transaction Filtering in Bitcoin Mining Pools
A recent analysis by 0xB10C, a developer and onchain analyst, has uncovered intriguing findings in the Bitcoin network. The study, which focuses on the mining pools’ transaction selection processes, revealed that certain transactions from U.S. Treasury-sanctioned addresses were missing from blocks. This insight raises questions about the practices of mining pools and their influence on the network’s censorship-resistant qualities.
Study Highlights Potential Censorship in Bitcoin Network
The investigation by 0xB10C, detailed in a comprehensive report, scrutinized the activity of today’s most prominent bitcoin mining pools. It focused on six specific transactions linked to addresses sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
This analysis is part of a broader project, the developer’s miningpool-observer, aimed at detecting instances where bitcoin mining pools may not include transactions that they could be mining. The findings suggest a pattern of selective transaction filtering, a practice that could have significant implications for the network’s decentralized nature.
In September and October 2023, 0xB10C’s miningpool-observer reported six blocks missing an OFAC-sanctioned transaction. These transactions were notably absent from blocks mined by three different pools: Viabtc, Foundry USA, and F2pool.
The study meticulously analyzed the transaction patterns and block compositions to understand whether these omissions were intentional acts of filtering or coincidental outcomes based on other factors like transaction fees or propagation times.
The report concludes that the missing transactions in blocks mined by Viabtc and Foundry were likely “false positives” and not due to intentional filtering. However, the scenario was different for the transactions missing from F2pool’s blocks.
After a detailed examination, 0xB10C inferred that these transactions were likely filtered out by F2pool. This observation is particularly noteworthy as it marks a deviation from the expected norm of transaction inclusion by mining pools and suggests compliance with U.S. OFAC sanctions.
0xB10C Confirms the Transactions ‘Were All Picked Up by Other Miners’
0xB10C’s analysis delved into the technicalities of transaction sizes, fees, and block space allocation. The developer notes, “Each node has its own set of valid transactions. A pool might also prioritize transactions for which it received an out-of-band payment. However, it might also deprioritize or filter transactions.”
This statement underlines the complexity of transaction selection within the Bitcoin network and the autonomy of mining pools in deciding which transactions to include in their blocks. The implications of the developer’s discovery are significant for the Bitcoin ecosystem.
It raises questions about the extent of decentralization and censorship resistance within the network. While a single pool’s actions may not drastically alter the network’s overall resistance to censorship, it does set a precedent.
The report highlights the importance of ongoing monitoring of mining pools’ transaction selection practices to ensure the integrity and foundational principles of the Bitcoin network. After releasing the report, 0xB10C said that eventually, all of the OFAC-flagged transfers were “picked up by other miners.”
What do you think about 0xB10C’s study? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Unidentified Miners, F2pool Lead All-Time Bitcoin Mining Rankings: A Comprehensive Review of Bitcoin’s Historic Block Discovery
Since the inception of the Bitcoin blockchain by Satoshi Nakamoto, the network has diligently processed in excess of 800,000 blocks. An examination of data from 99 distinct mining pools, spanning the previous 14 years, reveals that unidentified mining participants discovered 28.37% of the network’s total blocks. Trailing not far behind, F2pool secures the second position, having found just slightly more than 10% of all the blocks since 2009.
Unknown, F2pool, and Antpool Lead the Pack in Terms of Number of Bitcoin Blocks Mined
Over the last year, Foundry USA has emerged as the prevailing bitcoin (BTC) mining pool, uncovering 15,767 blocks from a total of 53,703 block rewards since August 12, 2022. Although Foundry has consistently led among large mining pools in recent periods, it ranks ninth in all-time statistics, with a tally of 25,946 blocks as of block height 802,854.
The top position is occupied by unidentified miners from 99 diverse pools, as identified by btc.com, with unknown miners, including Satoshi and early miners, having found a cumulative 227,800 blocks, or 28.37% of the total. F2pool commands the lead as an identified pool with the most blocks mined since 2009, having discovered 80,364 blocks, approximately 10.01% of the total.
Following closely, Antpool ranks second to F2pool and third overall, with 75,829 blocks, or 9.44% of the total. The subsequent ranks are filled by Btc.com’s mining pool (39,996 blocks), Braiins Pool (39,647 blocks), and Viabtc (33,194 blocks).
The now-inoperative Btc Guild is in seventh place, having found 32,935 blocks since 2011 before officially shutting down in June 2015. Despite its inactivity for over eight years, Btc Guild’s contributions remain noteworthy. In eighth place, regarding all-time blocks discovered, stands Poolin with 27,236, while Foundry occupies the aforementioned ninth place with its 25,946 blocks.
Following Foundry is Ghash.io, which commenced mining in 2013 and officially halted operations on October 24, 2016. Though it hasn’t mined in years, Ghash.io’s 23,083 blocks substantially outpace the 11th place holder, Bitfury, a mining pool that, while absent in the past year’s hashrate, has found a total of 19,513 blocks all-time.
Data indicates that a tally of 11 pools total have mined fewer than 50 blocks. Moreover, approximately 19 pools have mined fewer than 100 blocks, while around 80 pools have extracted more than 100 BTC block rewards. To date, 92.64% of BTC’s total supply, or nearly 19,455,124.32 BTC, has been mined into circulation. Furthermore, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has been adjusted 397 times since the first adjustment at block height 2,016.
Currently, BTC miners are committing a staggering 387.62 exahash per second (EH/s), translating to 387,620,000,000,000,000,000 hashes per second (H/s). A mere two days after Bitcoin made its debut, the hashrate hovered around 948,000 hashes per second, or 948 kilohash per second (KH/s). This data reveals that the total hashrate fortifying the BTC network has ballooned by an astonishing 40,888,185,654,008,340% since the inception of the blockchain.
What do you think about the block statistics per pool over the last 14 years? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Ethereum Breaks To The Upside, Why ETH Could Track On Price Discovery
Ethereum is leading the charge on this fresh run towards new frontiers. As of press time, the second crypto by market cap trades at ,432 with a 5.6% profit in the daily and 9.1% profits in the weekly chart.
ETH on a rally in the daily chart. Source: ETHUSD Tradingview
Up 500% Year To Date, Ethereum has rallied on the back of massive adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finances (DeFi), and institutional demand.
Related Reading | TA: Ethereum Outperforms Bitcoin, Why ETH Could Rally To New ATH
As seen below, in the chart shared by Joe Orsini research director at Eaglebrook Advisors, Ethereum has gone from under ,000 to its current levels in record time.
Additional data provided by Orsini indicates that Ethereum still has a lot of room to continue its room has displayed in the ETH/BTC trading pair. Compared to the 2017 bull run, ETH is far from reaching an all-time high of 0.14 BTC as it currently sits at around 0.08 BTC.
Source: Joe Orsini via Twitter
In support of the bulls’ current push, Delphi Digital records a “leverage wipeout in crypto futures” as yesterday’s session wash charge with volatility to the downside. Thus, Ethereum and other major coins dipped to previous higher lows in less than an hour.
Source: Delphi Digital via Twitter
The fast recovery signals convection on the bulls’ corner. As over-leverage traders were shaken out of their position, prices are more likely to sustain their levels. Delphi Digital claimed:
The average daily funding rate across exchanges is down from its recent high a few days ago, but it looks like there’s still some room for rates to fall. OI on exchanges like Binance and Huobi experienced a massive wipeout, which confirms the aforementioned deleveraging.
Related Reading | New Ethereum-to-Cardano Bridge Will Provide NFT Creators Eco-friendly Options
Ethereum Implements Hard Fork, Closer To The Merge
The rally in the price of Ethereum could have been driven by the implementation of Hard Fork Altair. The successful deployment of this upgrade puts the network closer to migrating to a Proof-of-Stake consensus.
The Altair beacon-chain upgrade is live! Pretty smooth upgrade, even got some time to paint on @POAPart
Find Waldo -> Find Proto pic.twitter.com/VSGpKuPFV7
— proto.eth 🚂 🦇 🔊 (@protolambda) October 27, 2021
In the past months, the amount of ETH locked in the ETH 2.0 deposit contract has soared as developers moved into the PoS based blockchain and the Merger. This event will join both networks and it’s expected to be a potential bullish catalyst for Ethereum’s price.
Related Reading | TA: Ethereum Rally Gathers Pace, Why Uptrend Isn’t Over Yet
Investors are drawn to the PoS model because of its alleged higher efficiency in energy consumption and its capacity to generate yield. According to the Eth2 Rewards monitor, this stand at 5.46% since October 27, 2021.
—Current Network—🤑 Reward rate: 5.46%👨🌾 Participation rate: 98.50%💻 Active validators: 250,374
—Queue—⏰ Wait time: 0 hours💻 Validators: 0📉 Rewards impact: -0.08%
—Projected Annual Returns—Ξ 1.75 (,909.18)
— Eth2 Rewards Bot (@Eth2Bot) October 28, 2021
Ethereum Posts Clear Breakout as Investors Eye Price Discovery
- Ethereum has seen some strong momentum throughout the past few days, with buyers taking control as its price now hovers firmly above ,400
- The selling pressure in this price region has been dissipating with each visit, signaling that bulls could be on the cusp of sparking a breakout rally
- Where the market trends in the mid-term will undoubtedly depend on whether or not bulls can maintain the crypto above ,400
- A break below this level would mark yet another rejection in the crypto’s all-time high region, potentially spelling trouble for where it trends next
- One analyst said that options activity seemed to spike just before ETH made a push to fresh all-time highs of ,500
Ethereum and the entire crypto market have been caught within the throes of some immense volatility throughout the past few days and weeks, with buyers and sellers both struggling to gain any control over the market.
This can largely be blamed on Bitcoin, which has been caught within a consolidation trend as of late.
Ethereum could be gearing up for price discovery once bulls can firmly shatter its all-time highs, but bulls first need to clear ,500.
Ethereum Shows Signs of Strength Despite Another Rejection
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading up over 8% at its current price of ,485, which marks a notable rally from its recent lows of ,260 that were set just a few days back.
The crypto’s latest price surge allowed it to gain some ground against Bitcoin, but its price remains generally correlated to the benchmark cryptocurrency.
Unless it rejects violently around its current price levels and drifts below ,400 again, it does seem as though it may be coiling up for another move higher.
Analyst: ETH Options Activity Surged Right Before Latest Pump
One analyst observed that options trading activity for Ethereum ballooned before ETH’s rally this morning.
This highlights the growing impact that options are having on the market.
“Hours before ETH hit a new all-time high, the options market was showing dominant call activity. Options market is now about 1/4 of futures market open interest for Bitcoin. Watch out for options, it has a big impact on markets.”
The coming few days should shine a light on whether the overnight move higher will be sustainable or if it will result in another swift move lower.
Featured image from Unsplash. Charts from TradingView.
Ethereum Surges Against Bitcoin as Bulls Try to Spark Price Discovery
- Ethereum has seen some immense turbulence throughout the past few days and weeks, with buyers and sellers both vying to gain control of its price action
- The cryptocurrency has been unable to gain any clear trend, with buyers keeping it stable between ,200 and ,400, while sellers continue guarding its all-time highs
- It has now tested, and broken above, its all-time highs from late-2017 on three occasions, but each one has been met with massive selling pressure
- This could indicate that bulls are bound to see further near-term downside unless the entire market begins ascending once again
- One trader is noting that, from a technical perspective, ETH appears to be far stronger than BTC, which could mean that it is positioned to breakout
Ethereum has seen mixed price action as of late, with its weakness largely coming about due to Bitcoin and its intense downside incurred throughout the past few weeks.
Fortunately for bulls, BTC has been able to remain above ,000 despite all of its weakness, which may be a good sign for where it trends next.
While sharing his thoughts on where the cryptocurrency might trend next, one analyst noted that Ethereum could be on the cusp of seeing price discovery, with its strength against Bitcoin being striking.
Ethereum Rallies as Broader Crypto Market Rebounds
Yesterday was a weak day for BTC and the rest of the crypto market, with bears causing an intense selloff led by Bitcoin’s multiple breaks below ,000.
Today, the market has stabilized, and Ethereum has been able to gain some momentum.
At the time of writing, ETH is trading up just under 8% at its current price of ,340, which marks only a slight decline from its daily highs of ,360.
Trader Claims ETH Could See Price Discovery as Strength Mounts
One trader explained in a recent tweet that Ethereum could soon see price discovery due to its immense strength against Bitcoin.
“ETH looks A LOT better than BTC rn. Consolidating in an upward channel. Acceptance above VAH would lead to further price discovery + alt season. D close below POC would take it to VAL.”
Image Courtesy of Byzantine General. Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.
Where the market trends next will undoubtedly depend on Bitcoin, but if it can stabilize, it could allow Ethereum and other altcoins to explode higher.
Featured image from Unsplash. Charts from TradingView.