Robert Kiyosaki advises selling bitcoin amid its crash, yet plans to buy more, likening his approach to Warren Buffett’s “buy and hold forever” strategy. Vivek Ramaswamy’s chances of becoming Trump’s vice presidential pick have surged by 1,100% on Polymarket. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticizes SEC Chair Gary Gensler, warning his actions could affect the election. […]
Bitcoin News
Vivek Ramaswamy’s VP Prospects Spike 1,100% on Prediction Market Polymarket
Following speculation that former President Donald Trump might select Republican Vivek Ramaswamy as his vice presidential candidate, Ramaswamy’s chances have significantly increased on prediction platforms like Polymarket. Over the last three days, his odds have jumped by 1,100%. Ramaswamy Gains Momentum in VP Stakes on Prediction Markets On Tuesday, the internet buzzed with ongoing speculation […]
Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Ownership Trends: Short-Term Spike As ETFs Gain Popularity – Report
The winds of change are blowing in the Bitcoin market, bringing a fresh wave of short-term traders while veteran holders remain steadfast in their convictions.
A recent report by Bitfinex Alpha reveals a fascinating dichotomy in investor behavior, with new players chasing quick profits and seasoned hodlers (hold on for dear life) accumulating for the long haul.
Short-Term Surge Fueled By ETF Frenzy
Spot Bitcoin ETFs, financial instruments that mirror Bitcoin’s price, have emerged as a game-changer. These easily accessible options are attracting a new breed of investor, one with a keen eye for short-term gains.
This influx is evident in the significant rise of short-term holders (those holding Bitcoin for less than 155 days). Their holdings have skyrocketed by nearly 55% since January, indicating a surge in speculative activity.
It looks like we still have overhang from last cycle.
Short term holders realized price is steadily rising as new players enter the market and Buy #Bitcoin. Hedge funds, Pension Funds, Banks etc.
But the price isn’t taking off because older coins are being distributed.
We… pic.twitter.com/VxaXozgANT
— Thomas | heyapollo.com (@thomas_fahrer) June 12, 2024
However, this newfound enthusiasm comes with a caveat. Short-term investors, by their very nature, tend to be more reactive to price fluctuations. A sudden market correction could trigger a sell-off, causing price volatility. The report highlights this vulnerability, emphasizing the need for caution amidst the current “greed” sentiment in the market (as measured by the Fear & Greed Index).
Long-Term Holders: Diamonds In The Rough
While the short-term scene buzzes with activity, long-term holders continue to display unwavering faith in Bitcoin’s potential. These digital veterans, who weathered previous market cycles, have shown a remarkable buying spree after initially offloading some holdings at Bitcoin’s all-time high in March.
The report further underscores this bullish sentiment by pointing out the minimal amount of Bitcoin held by long-term investors that was purchased above the current price point. This signifies a “hodling” mentality, where investors are confident that the current price represents a good entry point for future gains.
Additionally, Bitcoin whales (large investors holding significant amounts) are mirroring their pre-2020 bull run behavior by aggressively accumulating Bitcoin, indicating a potential repeat of the previous market upswing.
Navigating The Crosscurrents
The current Bitcoin market presents a unique situation. On one hand, the influx of short-term investors injects fresh energy and liquidity. However, their presence also introduces the risk of increased volatility. On the other hand, long-term holders continue to be the bedrock of the market, providing stability and confidence.
Bitcoin Price Forecast
The Bitfinex Alpha report coincides with a technical analysis-based prediction, forecasting a potential rise in Bitcoin’s price by 29.51%, reaching ,897 by July 13, 2024.
However, the report also acknowledges the mixed sentiment in the market, with a Fear & Greed Index hovering at “Greed” territory. This indicates a need for caution, as investor optimism can sometimes precede price corrections.
Featured image from VOI, chart from TradingView
Rapid Fluctuations in Bitcoin Fees Cause Brief Spike in Hashprice
Bitcoin’s hashprice, representing the anticipated value of one petahash per second (PH/s) per day of hashing power, climbed to per petahash on June 8, marking the highest level since the halving. The increase derived from a rise in onchain fees. However, by the following day, bitcoin fees had substantially decreased, causing the hashprice to […]
Bitcoin News
Is Polkadot Preparing For A 100% Surge And Spike Above $20?
Polkadot, the interoperable blockchain, remains one of the largest and most popular networks in the top 20. At press time, DOT, the platform’s native currency, is 14th, ahead of Tron and the NEAR Protocol.
However, despite recent gains, it is still down 87% from all-time highs, undeniably facing a brutal market correction.
Even with this bearish sentiment, a wave of optimism is building around DOT’s future. Taking to X, one analyst thinks not only will the coin shake off weakness but will surge, rallying to over in the coming months.
This confidence, the analyst said, will be primarily because of crucial developments in the broader Polkadot ecosystem.
Eyes On Polkadot 2.0, Better On-Chain Governance
Of the many, the analyst thinks the upcoming Polkadot 2.0 upgrade will be a game-changer. Already, Polkadot is interoperable and scalable. However, once the new upgrade comes into play, the platform’s developers expect the network to be more interoperable, scalable, and with better governance.
Specifically, to address scalability, they will eliminate the Parachain slot auction and introduce the concept of coretime. This feature will give developers more flexibility.
Instead of bidding and locking resources in the auction, they must purchase block space dynamically as needed. This will improve resource allocation, leading to more accessibility and efficiency.
Additionally, Polkadot developers are introducing the OpenGov system for more decentralized governance. The objective here will be to give all DOT holders a voice in decision-making, which is crucial in decentralized networks.
JAM Upgrade Proposal Passed, Will DOT Bulls Break ?
The network is also preparing for more changes. The community recently approved the Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) chain.
The proposal, which was unanimously passed by the community, paves the way for developers to build services similar to Ethereum smart contracts directly on the Polkadot Relay Chain. Gavin Wood, the former Ethereum developer who introduced the proposal, said this would make the network more accessible.
Beyond network-related upgrades, the analyst also said that more DOT’s are being locked, which is a huge boost. Usually, with staking, coins are taken out of circulation, increasing scarcity. If more activity and the demand for DOT increases, it would positively impact the price, helping lift it from the current ranges.
As of June 3, over 1.4 billion DOT were in circulation. By the fourth week of May, over 820 million DOT had been staked. Looking at the price chart, if the coin breaks above , the incentive to stake and early rewards plus capital gains will increase.
Hong Kong Police Warn of Spike in Counterfeit Banknotes Used in Cryptocurrency Scams
Hong Kong police have issued a warning over the rise in counterfeit banknotes, with many cases linked to cryptocurrency scams. Between January and April, authorities seized 3,396 fake notes valued at HK.55 million (US6,130), a significant increase from last year’s 553 notes worth HK6,220. Three major cryptocurrency-related fraud cases led to the confiscation of 1,693 […]
Bitcoin News
Bitcoin’s Network Strengthens: Mining Difficulty And Hash Rate Spike Amid ETH ETF Buzz
Bitcoin mining difficulty has adjusted upwards by nearly 2%, reaching over 84.4 trillion, as the network’s average hash rate surged past 600 EH/s.
This increase comes amid growing optimism in the crypto market, particularly due to speculation about the potential approval of spot Ethereum ETFs in the United States. Notably, Bitcoin mining difficulty measures how difficult it is to find a hash below a given target.
The Bitcoin network has a global block difficulty that adjusts every 2,016 blocks (roughly every two weeks) to ensure that the time between blocks mined remains around 10 minutes, despite the number of miners and their growing computing power.
This difficulty adjustment helps maintain the network’s regular block time, ensuring stability and security.
Significant Shifts In Bitcoin Mining
The adjustment of BTC mining difficulty seen earlier this month marked a significant shift, as the metric saw a drop of nearly 6%, the largest decrease since the bear market in December 2022.
This rebound in hash rate from the 580-590 EH/s range to over 600 EH/s aligns with a broader crypto market rally fueled by expectations of regulatory advancements in Ethereum products.
The concept of mining difficulty is crucial for understanding how Bitcoin self-regulates the production of new blocks. The difficulty increases as more miners join the network, making it harder to mine new blocks.
Conversely, the difficulty drops if the number of miners decreases, making mining easier. This mechanism ensures that the introduction of new BTC into the market remains steady and predictable, irrespective of fluctuations in the number of miners.
This recent increase in mining difficulty coincides with a slight recovery in Bitcoin’s hash price, which had fallen to an all-time low at the end of April.
The hash price, a metric developed by Luxor, a Bitcoin mining services firm, measures the expected earnings per unit of hash rate daily. It has rebounded from less than per PH/s per day to around .6 per PH/s per day, providing a minor relief to miners after the recent market downturns.
Bitcoin’s Price Movements And Future Expectations
While Bitcoin’s price has experienced a minor dip of 2% in the last 24 hours, it maintains a weekly uptrend of 3.9%, trading at ,132.
This movement is closely watched as investors and traders await the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision on spot Ethereum ETFs, which could significantly influence the entire crypto market.
In response to these developments, a prominent analyst known as BitQuant shared insights via social media platform X, predicting substantial growth for Bitcoin. According to BitQuant, Bitcoin is expected to reach ,000, with a significant rise to ,000 anticipated in May.
However, BitQuant also forecast a sharp decline from this local peak in June, maintaining that the overall timeline for this top has not changed.
Several updates for those here to build generational wealth and not involved in day trading:
1. Yes, #Bitcoin is going to K.
2. Yes, K will extend to June, but the sharp decline from this local top will also occur in June, so the overall timeline for this local top hasn’t… pic.twitter.com/VFvMweBVbs— BitQuant (@BitQua) May 22, 2024
Featured image created with DALL·E, Chart from TradingView
Non-Empty USDC And USDT Wallets See 13.9% And 15.7% Spike, Why This Is Good For Crypto
Non-empty wallets for stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT have been on the rise for a while now as crypto prices have recovered since the start of the year. This has come to a head as the non-empty wallets have grown double-digits in a very short time. While this could point to recent selling, it is also quite bullish for crypto going by historical performances.
Non-Empty USDT And USDC Wallets Jump 13.9%
According to the on-chain data tracking platform Santiment, there has been a significant shift in the number of crypto wallets that are holding stablecoins on their balances. This growth is mostly seen in stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
As Santiment’s data shows, the total number of non-empty wallets holding USDC has risen 13.9% so far in 2024. Likewise, USDT wallets have also been on the rise, with a marked 15.7% increase in non-empty wallets in the same time period.
The chart shows a steady increase in the number of these non-zero wallets as the price of Bitcoin had recovered, taking the whole crypto market along with it. The total among of USDT holders moved from around 4.5 million at the start of the year to 5.7 million at the time of the report. For USDC, this figure went from around 1.9 million to more than 2.15 million. In total, there are more than 7.85 million stablcoin wallets between the both of them.
Concerned about another #crypto market retrace? You may be comforted by the fact that the amount of non-empty #stablecoin wallets are rising. In 2024, the amount of #USDCoin non-empty wallets has grown by +13.9%, and #Tether wallets have grown +15.7%. https://t.co/9K2y8UgOv9 pic.twitter.com/mxdkrgn36M
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) May 23, 2024
Now, given the recent uptick in the number of non-zero stablecoin wallets, it could suggest there has been some selling. However, stablecoins have seen their market caps increase drastically as more coins have been minted, suggesting that investors are looking to buy rather than sell.
Rising Stablecoin Wallets Is Good For Crypto
The rise in the non-zero stablecoin wallets are good for crypto, especially in the event of a retrace, as the on-chain tracker points out. This is because investors usually keep their funds in stablecoins waiting for good opportunities to buy, and during market retrace, they tend to deploy stablecoins such as USDT and USDC to buy other assets for low prices.
A correlation can be seen between the rising Bitcoin and crypto prices this year and the rising stablecoin market cap. For example, the USDT market cap went from billion to over 1 billion since January, signifying a 20% increase. In the same vein, the USDC market cap went from billion in January to over billion in May, representing a 32% increase for the stablecoin.
In the last 24 hours alone, over 0 million was moved from the USDC treasury in two transactions into unknown wallets, suggesting that crypto investors are getting ready to get into the market.
Sei Foundation Unveils ‘Parallelized’ EVM In v2 Upgrade, Driving 11% Spike In SEI’s Price
To increase the capabilities of its Layer 1 (L1) blockchain, the Sei Foundation has announced a governance proposal to upgrade Sei to Version 2. This proposed upgrade will reportedly introduce a “high-performance, parallelized” Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to improve the network’s overall functionality.
Sei Rolls Out Multi-Phase V2 Upgrade
According to the announcement, the Sei V2 launch will be rolled out in three phases to minimize risk, set user expectations, and optimize network performance. “By rolling out Sei v2 in measured steps, Sei Contributors can ensure a stable and scalable network for everyone,” the foundation stated.
The first phase will focus on validating software upgrades and transitioning the existing Sei Pacific-1 mainnet to the new “v2” iteration. This will pave the way for deploying EVM-based contracts and infrastructure integrations on the Sei network.
The announcement cautioned that “not everything will be functional at the start of this period. “For example, bridges will need time to deploy to Mainnet before the community can use them.”
However, the foundation promised to provide an official announcement once the v2 network is deemed stable and critical infrastructure, such as RPCs, bridges, indexers, and multi-sigs, is ready for use.
If the governance proposal is accepted, the Sei mainnet upgrade to Version 2 is scheduled for Monday, May 27th.
Interestingly, the announcement of the Sei V2 upgrade has already sparked a surge in the blockchain’s native token, SEI, which has emerged as one of the biggest gainers in the market over the past 24 hours, with a price increase of 11%.
All Eyes On All-Time High On Mainnet Upgrade Prospects
The SEI token is trading at .5830, surpassing its previous resistance level of .560. This breakthrough aims to consolidate the token’s price above this mark, a key level for the token’s prospects of testing higher resistance walls and potentially reaching its all-time high (ATH) of .14, set on March 16.
Furthermore, the token has recorded a trading volume of million since the announcement, resulting in a substantial 150% increase compared to the figures recorded during the previous weekend, according to CoinGecko data.
Despite these positive developments, it remains to be seen whether the governance proposal to upgrade the Sei blockchain to Version 2 will be approved.
In the event of a bullish outcome and the successful implementation of the V2 upgrade, the key resistance levels to watch on the upside are .592, .613, and .637. These levels could be potential targets for the token’s continued bullish momentum.
Conversely, should the token experience a price correction, the .544 and .527 zones would be the levels to monitor for potential support and stabilization of the SEI price in the coming days.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
What Triggered The 6,350% Spike In XRP Long Liquidations Compared To Shorts?
The bulls have continued to take a beating in the market, and XRP bulls, in particular, were recently in the spotlight as .27 million was liquidated from their long positions. This 6,350% spike in long liquidations is likely due to XRP’s recent price action, highlighting the general sentiment in its ecosystem.
.27 Million In Longs Get Liquidated
Data from Coinglass shows that .27 million in long positions have been liquidated in the last 24 hours. This is massive in comparison to the ,220 liquidated in short positions during this period. This occurrence was likely due to the 3.85% drop in XRP’s price, as the crypto token dropped to as low as .51 in the last 24 hours.
XRP’s price decline during this period is believed to have been caused by the sharp correction in Bitcoin’s price, with the flagship crypto dropping below ,000 again. However, there also seems to be a bearish sentiment in the XRP ecosystem, as data in the XRP derivatives market shows that trading volume has dropped by over 26%.
Meanwhile, options trading volume has also dropped by over 46%. These figures suggest that XRP investors are choosing to remain on the sidelines, seeing as the bears look to have the upper hand at the moment. However, the bright spot is that there has been an uptick in open interest, which means some bulls are still willing to bet on the crypto token.
These bulls might have a good reason to gamble on the crypto token, seeing as crypto analysts are predicting significant moves for XRP. Specifically, crypto analyst Jonathan Carter recently predicted that XRP could rise to .93 and further to .68. There is also the feeling that a rally is long overdue for XRP and could be anytime soon.
When The XRP Rally Could Come
An XRP rally could be on the horizon with the legal battle between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple almost coming to an end, with a ruling expected soon enough. Crypto analyst JackTheRippler predicted that the crypto token could rise to as high as 0 once this case ends.
While this price level is undoubtedly ambitious, XRP could still make a significant move to the upside, considering that it also enjoyed an upward trend on the back of Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling that the crypto token wasn’t a security.
At the time of writing, XRP is trading at around .51, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.