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Artist Stages Crypto Protest In Front Of US SEC With “Rug Pull” Exhibit
Two years ago, controversial artist Nelson Saiers sparked a debate when he erected a massive inflatable rat outside the US Federal Reserve building in New York; now, the creator takes another jab at a US institution with a new crypto art exhibition.
Crypto Art Exhibition Takes Jab At Scams
According to a release shared with NewsBTC, a crypto art installation was placed in front of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This time, Nelson Saiers portrayed a street vendor offering “rug pulls.”
In this latest protest exhibition, Saiers highlighted the crypto-based scam where the team behind a project disappears, leaving their community behind and “holding the bag” for an initial investment. The exhibit aimed to showcase the “ease” of these illegal activities.
Moreover, by setting the crypto art exhibit in front of the SEC, the artist potentially tried to send a message to the regulator: “rug pulls” happened right in front of the institution, seemingly without consequence.
This is the latest, but far from the only art exhibition where Saiers takes a hit on the US SEC and other financial regulators. As mentioned, the artist set an inflatable Bitcoin rat at the Fed’s building in 2020 and 2018.
A few months later, as the crypto market was experiencing a bull run that took the price of Bitcoin into uncharted territory, Saiers called cheap on the Fed with his “Cheap Money is Out-of-Order.” During this exhibition, which saw the sculpture of the Wall Street Bull interfered with a Saiers-made sculpture, the artist criticized the inflationary measures adopted by the financial institution.
Based in New York, Saiers completed a Ph.D. in mathematics and is a former trading group manager for Deutsche Bank AG and Chief Investment Officer for Saiers Capital. In art, Saiers is known as the “Warhol of Wall Street.”
As of this writing, Bitcoin trades at ,200 with sideways movement across the board. The cryptocurrency has been unable to break above or below its current trading range and will likely continue this trajectory until late September.
At that time, macro-economic forces will likely come back into the picture, stirring volatility into the market. In particular, the spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) narrative, mainly in the hands of the SEC, is bound to influence the price of the number one crypto by market cap.
Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview
Large Sellers “Pull the Rug” on Ethereum; Will This Lead to Further Downside?
Ethereum has seen some intense selling pressure throughout the past day, which has struck a blow to the technical strength that was brought about by the buying pressure seen yesterday.
This decline has made it grow increasingly unclear as to where the crypto may trend in the near-term, but it does seem as though it may be positioned to see significantly further downside in the near-term.
One analyst, while speaking about this recent decline, noted that it appears to have been sparked by a so-called “whale” who had been previously walking up the cryptocurrency’s price by spoofing buy orders.
The analyst notes that this whale “pulled the rug” on ETH, sparking today’s decline. As such, it may continue seeing heightened weakness in the near-term, as it has now broken below a key support level.
Unless this level is recaptured, there’s a strong likelihood that the cryptocurrency continues plunging lower in the near-term.
Ethereum Sees Sharp Decline as Market-Wide Weakness Mounts
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading down over 8% at its current price of 7. This marks a notable decline from its daily highs of 0 that were tapped yesterday at the peak of the uptrend.
This upswing came about in tandem with BTC’s push to highs of ,600, which is around the price at which it found some significant selling pressure that slowed its ascent.
Analysts are now noting that the entire market’s near-term directionality may depend largely on BTC’s reaction to ,200, which is where it has established some strong support in recent weeks.
If the benchmark cryptocurrency does break below this level, it could create tailwinds that further unwind Ethereum’s recent strength.
ETH Whale Unwinds Uptrend Following Spoof Orders
While speaking about Ethereum’s recent uptrend, one analyst observed that it had been driven primarily by spoof orders from a single whale on Bitfinex.
That being said, his removal of these bids is what may have sparked today’s downtrend. It also helped lead the cryptocurrency below a key support level within the 0 region that was previously strong support.
“ETH update: Well done Mr. Whale man. Said it from the start of this rally that it was being walked up by a whale. And there’s the rug. It should bounce around here according to some of my previous analysis, but I’m not inclined to jump in yet, too much dump too fast.”
Image Courtesy of Chase_NL. Chart via TradingView.
How Ethereum trends in the coming few days may depend largely on its continued reaction to the support it is finding at 0, and whether or not it can reclaim 0 in the near-term.
Featured image from Unsplash. Charts from TradingView.
Bitcoin May See a “Rug Pull” Scenario as Bulls Fail to Fuel a Rally
Bitcoin has firmly established that it is trading within a relatively tight range. This comes as the cryptocurrency has been hovering within the upper-,000 region for several days.
Each visit up to highs of ,200 has been met with significant selling pressure that subsequently forces it lower, signaling that this is the key near-term resistance level that bulls need to target.
It is important to note that the crypto has visited its range lows more times than it has touched its range highs. One analyst is claiming that this could be a bearish sign for BTC.
An interesting trend to observe in the near-term is how Bitcoin responds to some significant bids that were placed just beneath its current price region. If BTC fails to post a sustained uptrend as a result of these bids, one analyst believes it could be prone to a “rug pull” scenario.
Bitcoin Enters Firm Bout of Sideways Trading as Bulls Flash Subtle Signs of Weakness
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading up just under 1% at its current price of ,890.
This marks a notable decline from daily highs of ,200 that were set overnight when bulls once again attempted to spark an uptrend.
Last night’s rejection marked the fourth one that the crypto has seen at this price region, elucidating that the sell wall built here may be insurmountable in the near-term.
Throughout the course of this rangebound trading, BTC has tested the lower boundary of its trading range more times than it has tested the upper boundary – a subtle sign of weakness amongst buyers.
This has led one analyst to note that it is tough to have any near-term conviction of where the crypto will trend next, explaining that Bitcoin may move to “chop” up investors before making a big impulse.
“Seems pretty 50/50 right now. Tough to have conviction. The reality of it is we are just in a range. The low has had more touches than the high. Reclaim mid-range then price probably test the highs. This is the type of stuff that will chop you up before a big impulse,” he said.
Image Courtesy of CryptoISO
BTC Could See a “Rug Pull” as Large Bids Fail to Propel Price Higher
Yesterday evening some large buyers stacked notable bids around ,800.
Shortly after this, BTC made a fleeting move past ,000 before once again declining, signaling that the crypto could be poised to see a “rug pull.”
“Waiting to see how price reacts on those added bids… If price doesn’t go up, this might be microselling and a potential rug pull,” one popular trader noted.
Image Courtesy of Romano
Although BTC did see a tempered reaction to these bids, the potential removal of them could still cause the crypto to decline further.
Featured image from Unplash.
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