Bitcoin has experienced one of its worst sell-offs in its history, plummeting in price by nearly 20 per cent over the last 24 hours to take it to its lowest level in six months. Several other leading cryptocurrencies have suffered even worse downfalls, with eight of the top 10 most valuable tokens falling by more than 20 per cent since Sunday. The losses have totaled more than $300 billion for the combined crypto market, leading to fears among investors that the bull market that began in November 2022 may be coming to an end. The crypto market downturn can be pinpointed to broader economic turmoil, which has seen massive losses for stock markets across Europe and Asia on Monday. When traditional financial markets begin to tumble, the crypto market typically mimics the downward movement as investors look to offload risky and volatile assets. “Risk assets nosedived during the Asian trading session on Monday as a weaker US jobs report and higher unemployment rate from Friday, and a rising Japanese yen following the Bank of Japan’s recent interest rate hike, caused investors to flee risk assets,” said Simon Peters, a crypto analyst at the online trading platform eToro, who said that technical indicators may suggest bitcoin has bottomed out ahead of a potential recovery.
“It is possible we could see a rebound from here over the coming days, as to how high the price will rebound we have to wait and see,” he added.The most recent slide began when weak jobs figures in the US last week prompted concerns that the world’s largest economy was slowing down. It led to a record-breaking drop of 12.5 per cent for Japan’s Nikkei 225 on Monday, while the FTSE 100 and Euronext 100 also fell by between two to three per cent.
In Donald Trump's Own Words – a Partial Transcript of His Bitcoin 2024 Speech Trending (The following excerpts from former President Donald Trump's speech – aided by AI transcription – focus on portions of his remarks in Nashville, Tenn., in which he addressed crypto and the industry directly.) Donald Trump: Our country is blessed to have the extraordinary talent, energy and genius represented in this room. It really is great genius. Not all of you, but most of you, many of you, this is the kind of spirit that built America. This is the spirit that's going to help us make America great again. That's what we're doing. I stand before you today filled with respect and admiration for what the Bitcoin community has achieved. It's incredible, actually, I sort of say to my sons, it's like incredible, because they do so much about– it is so they're so aware of it, much more so than people that are a little bit older. But I say this is the steel industry of 100 years ago, really is. I think you're just in your infancy. I can see it happen. In just 15 years, Bitcoin has gone from merely an idea posted anonymously on an internet message board to being the ninth most valuable asset anywhere in the world. Can you believe that? Is that right? That's a big deal. Think of that. It's already bigger than Exxon Mobil. Soon it will be surpassing the entire market cap of silver. It's not bad about gold. How about gold? Let's go gold. … One day it probably will overtake gold, but based on the way it's going now, it could very well be a possibility. There's never been anything like it, and I don't think you've ever seen anything like it, and most people have no idea what the hell it is. You know that, right? So what happens when they figure it out? That's going to really be something? Bitcoin is not just a marvel of technology, as you know, it's a miracle of cooperation and human achievement and a lot of relationships that are formed. They just did a meeting, a roundtable, with a lot of the leaders, and it's amazing. There's a great camaraderie. It's really interesting.
According to Odaily, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas announced on the X platform that the SEC has finally responded to issuers. The regulatory body has requested that issuers return the final S-1 documents, including fees, by Wednesday. The application is expected to take effect after the market closes on Monday, allowing for issuance on Tuesday, July 23.
VC inflows coincide with bull markets The involvement of VC investors, especially from traditional funds, also gave legitimacy to crypto projects. Inflows of VC coincided with the price of Bitcoin (BTC). Not all VC investments come from outsiders, though. Newer projects get funding from older ICO sitting on ETH and BTC treasuries, who can afford to fund a new startup with only a fraction of that treasury. But even mined projects are not always fairly launched, as several coins have started with a premine for the team. Fair launch tokens became a trend in 2024, reflected in the creation of meme assets that were fully diluted and immediately available to the community. Also Read: Bonk price prediction 2024 – 2030: How high will Bonk go? In Q2, VC inflows in crypto also showed no sign of stopping. For the last period, crypto projects received $3.19B in 577 deals. The number of deals fell compared to Q1, but each deal received slightly more funding. Crypto funding is just a fraction of the global VC market, which also achieved overall growth in Q2. But in the case of crypto, the relatively small size of the market has an outsized effect. The golden age of the VC market inflows into crypto is now in the past, with a peak in 2021. The current market is still absorbing the token unlocks and inflows. The current market prices showed the market’s capability to absorb selling, but have achieved lower returns for late retail buyers. VC inflows lag behind crypto market hype In Q2, the expansion of VC inflows lags behind the trend of the current bull market. The previous crop of investments is now re-estimating its potential returns. Projects are also closely watched for delivering utility instead of just hype. Some VC funding is flowing into already established projects, such as the Polymarket prediction hub, Eigen Layer, and the Farcaster crypto social media. The slowdown of VC has also affected the game sector.##ETH_ETF_Approval_23July
Naval Ravikant thinks crypto does not actually need the VC approach to financing startups. Paradoxically, the leading investor has supported multiple projects with venture capital. The crypto model does not require VC funding, said Naval Ravikant, one of the leading US investors in early-stage products. The statement arrives at the tail end of a trend where crypto projects actually drew in more VC funding than ever, to build some of the most prominent chains and projects. Crypto VCs are largely unnecessary. — Naval (@naval) July 17, 2024 VC was key to the latest batch of startups arriving during the 2021 bull market. Previously, crypto projects relied on the ICO model, which provided high-level funding from regular buyers. The ICO fundraising also did not ensure a fair launch every time, adding problems with the credibility of projects. The problem with VC funding is that it helps create low-float projects. Retail investors then notice they are the exit liquidity for those projects, which permanently depresses the token price. Funds have moved into crypto space for a decade, as in the case of Pantera Capital. Other big names included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Blockchain Capital. Also Read: Lido DAO token price reveals long-term effects of supply dilution Some of the big names in venture funding also worked to give legitimacy to FTX Ventures, the now-defunct exchange. Sequoia Capital, Black Rock and SoftBank were just a few of the backers that took FTX to prominence. The presence of VC funding also accelerates the cycle of crypto startups, leading to faster exchange listings and more aggressive marketing. In 2024, however, even exchanges became skeptical, with Binance increasing the scrutiny of projects with a low initial float. Skepticism about VC accelerated as Worldcoin is preparing for one of its biggest insider unlocks in just a week. WLD was an asset to start trading and gain market exposure with a float of just 1.4% of the supply.