TL;DR

Ripple plans to introduce a stablecoin on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum later this year, aiming to bridge traditional finance and the cryptocurrency sector.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has labeled the product an “unregistered crypto asset,” continuing its longstanding legal battle with the company.

Here’s the Latest Info

Ripple made the headlines earlier this year when it disclosed that it would launch a stablecoin pegged to the American dollar. CEO Brad Garlinghouse claimed the monetary product could serve as a bridge between traditional finance and the cryptocurrency sector.

In a recent post on X, the team revealed further details, informing that the stablecoin will be called Ripple USD (ticker RLUSD). It will be available on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum and will see the light of day later this year.

Some crypto enthusiasts, including X user Alex Cobb, have previously suggested that the upcoming product could become an essential factor triggering a potential price rally for Ripple’s native token, XRP. 

Despite not being live yet, RLUSD has already become a subject of controversy. Somewhat expectedly, the criticism came from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which labeled it an “unregistered crypto asset.”

The agency has been confronting Ripple for years. It filed a lawsuit in December 2020, accusing the firm and some of its executives of illegally raising more than $1.3 billion by selling XRP in an unregistered security offering.

The case reached its trial phase in April this year and passed through numerous developments in the following months. Some might view the SEC as the underdog since Ripple secured three partial court wins in 2023, which resulted in a substantial price resurgence for XRP. Those curious to learn more about the lawsuit and its possible impact on the cryptocurrency, feel free to take a look at our dedicated video below:

What Else Is on Ripple’s Agenda?

The launch of RLUSD is not the only thing the company plans to focus on in the next three years. Earlier this year, CEO Garlinghouse stated that expanding globally remains one of the other priorities:

“We are going to keep expanding even though the US market, partly from a regulatory point of view, has been slow to adopt. The non-US market has been really, really strong for us.”

The boss also outlined Ripple’s ambition to dominate the future financial infrastructure, emphasizing XRP’s potential role in the monetary system:

“We think that opportunity is huge, we think that’s going to be great for Ripple, we think it’s going to be great for XRP so I’m very very optimistic about that. I just think that the US needs to figure it out.”

The post Important Update Regarding Ripple’s Stablecoin: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Business intelligence firm and long-time Bitcoin holder MicroStrategy announced plans to offer $500 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2032.

Interestingly, the proceeds of this initiative will be used to buy more Bitcoin and for other corporate purposes.

According to its official announcement, the NASDAQ-listed company also intends to grant initial buyers of the notes an option to purchase up to an additional $75 million in principal amount of the notes within 13 days starting from the issuance date.

The notes in question will be unsecured senior obligations of the company, accruing interest payable semi-annually on June 15th and December 15th each year, starting from December 15th, 2024.

The notes will mature on June 15th, 2032, unless they are repurchased, redeemed, or converted earlier. From June 20, 2029, MicroStrategy will be able to redeem all or part of the notes for cash, provided that at least $75 million in principal amount of notes remains outstanding and not subject to redemption at the notice date.

Holders can require MicroStrategy to repurchase any portion of their notes for cash on June 15, 2029. Furthermore, the notes can be converted to cash, MicroStrategy class A common stock, or a combination of both at the company’s discretion.

MicroStrategy also said that until December 15, 2031, the notes will be convertible only upon the occurrence of certain events and during certain periods. Following this date, they will be convertible at any time until the second scheduled trading day immediately before the maturity date.

“The interest rate, initial conversion rate, and other terms of the notes will be determined at the time of pricing of the offering. MicroStrategy expects that the reference price used to calculate the initial conversion price for the notes will be the U.S. composite volume weighted average price of MicroStrategy’s class A common stock from 9:30 AM through 4:00 PM EDT on the date of pricing.”

The post MicroStrategy Announces $500M Convertible Senior Notes to Buy More Bitcoin appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The founder of the stablecoin lending and borrowing protocol Curve Finance, Michael Egorov, is seeing his position liquidated.

He had over 111 million CRV tokens in collateral and $20 million in debt over four DeFi platforms, reported Lookonchain on June 13.

As the price of CRV fell, other positions went underwater, causing a cascade of liquidations.

The #Curvefi founder(Michale Egorov) is being liquidated!

He currently has 111.87M $CRV ($33.87M) in collateral and $20.6M in debt on 4 platforms.https://t.co/WM1nW8JKwU pic.twitter.com/huwgetBXuS

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 13, 2024

Curve Finance Woes

CRV prices have been crumbling for the past week, having fallen 45% since June 7. This has put pressure on those using the token as collateral for DeFi loans, such as the platform’s founder.

Further pressure has been put on the platform and token prices following a $20 million hack of the UwU lending protocol earlier this week.

In response to the incident, Egorov said that ‘soft liquidations’ worked well. “The system showed a fantastic performance,” he said before adding “This gave time for liquidators to prepare funds and OTC-liquidate the hacker’s position. As a result, the system has no hacker’s funds left, no bad debts, everything operates well.”

Soft liquidations are part of Curve’s Lending-Liquidating Automate Market Maker Algorithm (LLAMMA).

As of June 12, Egorov was borrowing around $96 million in stablecoins, mostly Curve’s crvUSD, against $141 million in CRV, across five accounts on five protocols, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.

$140M CRV nearing Liquidation

Curve founder Michael Egorov is currently borrowing $95.7M in stablecoins (mostly crvUSD) against $141M in CRV, across 5 accounts on 5 protocols.

Based on current rates, Egorov is paying $60M annualized in order to keep his positions open on… pic.twitter.com/ipTlWLZOAx

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) June 12, 2024

Industry observers and DeFi experts had previously warned about the potential impacts of such a large debt position.

“This has ramifications throughout the whole DeFi sector, unfortunately, so expect some pullbacks,” commented trader ‘MisterSpread’ on X on June 13.

“CRV balance on exchanges hit an all-time high, rising 57% in the past two hours,” observed Crypto Quant founder Ki Young Ju in a post on X on June 13.

DeFi Fallout

CRV prices tanked 33% in a matter of minutes in late trading on June 12. The DeFi asset is currently trading at $0.283 following a fall from an intraday high of $0.374. CRV is now down a painful 98% from its all-time high of $15.37 in August 2020.

Other DeFi tokens such as GMX and Frax Share (FXS) are also seeing losses today but not as severe.

Markets are flat on the day at $2.58 trillion, with very little movement from Bitcoin and Ethereum following their falls earlier this week.

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TL;DR

Meme coin DADDY saw a 500% increase after endorsements from Andrew Tate. It is surrounded by controversy over insider holdings.

MOTHER, launched by Iggy Azalea, rose 700% in 30 days despite criticism from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

DADDY on the Move

Despite the recent market correction, the cryptocurrency sector has rallied substantially since the start of the year, with numerous leading assets hitting new all-time highs in the past few months. The meme coin niche has contributed to the overall frenzy since it is full of tokens that witness double and even triple-digit price increases in a short period of time. The latest sensation is the Solana-based DADDY.

This meme coin saw the light of day earlier in June and initially charted only mild gains. However, its price skyrocketed on June 13 after multiple endorsements from Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer and current online influencer.

In one of his X posts, he revealed supporting DADDY so it can flip MOTHER (another meme coin) “for the patriarchy.” He also promised to burn his stash, claiming that he doesn’t want money but chaos.

DADDY reached an ATH of $0.36 a few hours ago (per DexScreener’s data) before retracing to its current level of approximately $0.25. This still represents a whopping 400% increase on a daily scale. 

It is interesting to note that the meme coin became the subject of huge controversy after crypto analytics firm Bubblemaps maintained that insiders purchased 30% of the supply at launch. The entity further stated that Andrew Tate received 40% of all DADDY tokens, which are currently worth more than $100 million.

Not long ago, the social media personality introduced his own meme coin, ticked RNT. Its price peaked at over $0.05 on June 5 but plummeted in the following days to hit its current mark of $0.013 (per CoinMarketCap’s data).

Some might have viewed Tate’s decision to launch a meme coin as a surprise, considering his previous stance that he “will never launch a crypto.”

How’s MOTHER Doing?

This meme coin, announced by the Australian model and rapper Iggy Azalea, is up 700% on a 30-day basis, tapping an ATH of $0.23 on June 6. As of the moment, it hovers around the $0.16 mark, while its market capitalization is around $155 million.

MOTHER Price, Source: CoinMarketCap

Similar to DADDY, MOTHER caused some people to raise eyebrows. Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin was among those criticizing it, saying:

“I’m feeling quite unhappy about “this cycle’s celebrity experimentation” so far. […] Ashton and Mila’s Stoner Cats was vastly more honorable than anything we’ve seen from this 2024 celebrity meme coin era – at least there was an actual show being funded.”

The post Battle of Controversial Meme Coins: Andrew Tate-Linked DADDY Vs. Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has decided to keep the benchmark federal rate at 5.25% to 5.50%. This stance essentially indicated that there would be very minimal rate decreases going forward.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that there has been a slight drop in inflation and that the rates will remain steady to ensure economic stability. This decision reflects a “cautious” stance amidst mixed economic signals. It also highlights the U.S. monetary authority’s focus on balancing inflation control with economic stability.

How would this impact Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency prices in the near term? Bitfinex analysis weighs in.

Bitcoin’s Path Amid Fed’s Rate Decision

In a statement to CryptoPotato, Bitfinex analysts suggest that if the Fed opts to maintain the current rates, Bitcoin could see short-term fluctuations as the market reacts to the development. On the flip side, the overall trajectory may stay positive, particularly if the broader economic conditions continue to strengthen.

It is also important to note that historical data shows that in three out of the last four Consumer Price Index (CPI) releases, Bitcoin reached local peaks. This evidenced potential volatility around such updates.

Bitfinex analysts also added that the world’s largest digital asset might stabilize near current levels or see modest increases, buoyed by investor optimism about future rate cuts that are expected late in the year.

They further stated,

“Central banks around the world have already started to cut rates, which suggests a broader trend towards monetary easing. It seems clear that the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve will follow suit in the coming months. The global liquidity cycle indicates that money supply is likely to increase, which can support asset prices, including cryptocurrencies.”

ETF Stability Expected

The decision to maintain rates could bring stability to ETF flows, according to the crypto exchange. This could be due to the as investors await clearer signals from the Fed’s future policy direction. Furthermore, spot Bitcoin ETFs may experience steady inflows, although the momentum could be less pronounced compared to a rate-cut scenario.

Meanwhile, the introduction of spot Ether ETFs could still attract significant interest, potentially paving the way for diversified investments across both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.

As reported earlier, the CPI data published on Wednesday pushed Bitcoin above $69,000. The subsequent correction has dragged the asset’s price near $67,000, but the retail crowd on Binance continued to hold net long positions on Bitcoin in anticipation of a rebound.

The post Fed’s Rate Hold May Spark Further Bitcoin Price Fluctuations: Analysts appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Bitcoin peaked at $72,000 last Friday, dropped below $70,000 quickly, and fell to $66,000 ahead of the CPI announcement and the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.

Shiba Inu’s burn rate increased by 2,800%, but its price is down over 15% weekly.

While XRP dropped 7% to $0.48, analysts predict a rise to $1 or $1.50 based on technical patterns.

BTC’s Ups and Downs

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced huge turbulence in the past seven days. Towards the end of last week, it seemed like it was likely gearing up for a new all-time high after touching $72,000. However, the asset’s price slipped under the psychological level of $70K after a violent rejection on Friday and remained there during the weekend.

After a brief surge to $70,000 on Monday, the bears resumed control and initiated a leg down that drove BTC to as low as $66,200 (per CoinGecko’s data). The negative trend was briefly interrupted yesterday (June 12) when the asset again touched the $70,000 mark. The rally occurred shortly after the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest CPI report, showing that inflation in America came lower than expected for May.

Despite the promising numbers from the US and Elizabeth Warren’s plea, the central bank kept interest rates unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%, claiming inflation has only witnessed “modest progress.” 

As a result, BTC headed south again, currently hovering around $67,500. Lowering interest rates in the world’s largest economy will make it cheaper for investors to borrow money, which could increase interest in risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies. Prominent names, including Mike Novogratz (CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings), believe bitcoin could take off once the Fed introduces such a move.

SHIB’s Latest Advancements

The popular meme coin Shiba Inu made the headlines thanks to its burn rate, which exploded by 2,800% on June 11, resulting in almost 8 million tokens being removed from circulation. The team behind the token has sent over 41% of SHIB’s maximum supply to a null address in the past few years.

The process aims to create a price appreciation via scarcity (assuming demand stays the same or rises). Despite those efforts, SHIB is down over 15% on a weekly scale, with its plunge resonating with the correction of the entire digital asset sector.

It is worth noting that the surge in the burn rate might have been caused by investors moving to liquidate their positions during times of market uncertainty. After all, a percentage of tokens is burned with each transaction. Those willing to learn more about the process can read our guide here.

Separately, Shiba Inu’s decentralized exchange, ShibaSwap, received support from the popular DeFi platform DexTools. The development unlocks “advanced DeFi analytics” for the SHIB Army.

XRP Predictions

Last but not least, we will discuss Ripple’s native token, XRP, whose price is down over 7% weekly, currently trading at around $0.48 (per CoinGecko’s data). However, multiple analysts remain unfazed, envisioning a resurgence in the near future.

The X user Dark Defender thinks XRP stands above a certain support line on the weekly time frame. “Our indicator is close to oversold again, as weeks before and pending for reversal,” the analyst added.

Dark Defender assumed that the next resistance (assuming the uptrend continues) stands at around $1. “It will be easy above $0.6640 and $1,” they claimed.

Earlier this week, EGRAG CRYPTO chipped in, too, predicting an ascent toward the $1.50 level. This could become possible should XRP break a specific pattern depicted as “the White Triangle.”

The term reflects the asset’s price movements from the summer of 2023 until the beginning of 2025 and is made up of the ascending “Atlas line” and the descending “Genuine wake-up line.” If XRP continues to stay in that zone, it might finish 2024 at a price of around $0.70.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Volatility Amid FOMC Meeting, Shiba Inu (SHIB) Developments, and More: Bits Recap June 13 appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin went on a real rollercoaster in the past few days in anticipation of the US CPI numbers and the subsequent FOMC meeting.

The altcoins went on a similar ride, but now that the dust has settled, TON has emerged as today’s top performer, followed by FET and KAS.

BTC’s Volatile Ride

The primary cryptocurrency had a quiet weekend in which it stood primarily around $69,500. Monday began on a more positive note as the asset flew past $70,000 but just briefly.

The bears were quick to intercept the move and pushed the asset south. This culminated in a price drop to a multi-day low of $66,000 on Tuesday amid growing outflows from the ETFs as anticipation built for the economic developments in the States.

Wednesday was even more eventful as the US announced better-than-expected CPI data for May, which sent BTC flying to $70,000 once again. However, the Fed refused to cut the key interest rates, and BTC’s price tumbled back down to $67,000.

As of now, the cryptocurrency trades above $67,500, with its market cap climbing back to $1.330 trillion. Its dominance over the alts stands tall at 51.5% on CG.

Bitcoin/Price/Chart 13.06.2024. Source: TradingView TON on the Rise, Meme Coins Not

After experiencing massive price fluctuations as well mid-week, most altcoins have stalled on a daily scale. ETH, BNB, TRX, and SHIB are slightly in the red, while SOL, XRP, ADA, AVAX, LINK, and DOT are with minor gains.

Toncoin has emerged as today’s top performer from the larger-cap alts. TON has soared by almost 8% in a day and stands close to $7.7. KAS (6%) and FET (5%) follow suit.

In contrast, most meme coins are in the red. BRETT has dumped by 10%, FLOKI by 8.5%, BONK by 5%< and WIF by 4%. PEPE has lost 3% of its value and sits below $0.000013.

The total crypto market cap has also calmed at just under $2.6 trillion on CG.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Settles at $67.5K After CPI and FOMC-Induced Volatility (Market Watch) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Ethereum (ETH) has declined to around $3,500, but analysts predict potential new all-time highs due to positive technical indicators.

Metrics such as negative exchange netflow and a low RSI suggest reduced selling pressure and possible price recovery.

Is It Time for a Resurgence?

The price of Ethereum (ETH), similar to many other cryptocurrencies, plunged significantly in the past several days. Currently, the second-biggest digital asset in terms of market capitalization is worth around $3,500 (per CoinGecko’s data), a 9% decline on a weekly scale.

ETH Price, Source: CoinGecko

Nonetheless, some analysts think ETH will face good days ahead, with some speculating about a new all-time high in the following months. The X users Wolf and Jelle are some examples.

The former presented a price chart showing that ETH has been on a bullish path since the beginning of 2024. The analyst envisioned enhanced volatility for the asset in the upcoming future, which will eventually lead to a bull run and a new all-time high price of over $5,000.

I’m guiding you to new all-time highs. $ETH . pic.twitter.com/1ovHG2HSjz

— Wolf (@IamCryptoWolf) June 12, 2024

Jelle claimed that ETH “successfully retested the 50-day EMA.” The analyst believes the asset’s valuation could reach fresh peaks once it surpasses the $3,700 zone. 

The 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) is an important technical analysis tool that could suggest a potential price movement. It helps identify prevailing trends in the past 50 days but with a bigger focus on the most recent data, unlike the SMA, and provides insights into potential buy and sell levels.

What Are Metrics Signaling?

Several major indicators also hint that an ETH price revival might be in the cards. One example is Ethereum’s exchange netflow, which has been negative in the last four days. A shift from centralized trading platforms towards self-custody methods is considered bullish since it reduces the immediate selling pressure.

ETH Exchange Netflow, Source: CryptoQuant

Separately, Ethereum’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) plummeted on June 11 to a multi-month low of 20.7, currently positioned at 36. The metric has not crossed the 70 mark since May 23.

It is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price fluctuations and identifies overbought or oversold conditions in a market. Its value varies from 0 to 100, with a ratio above 70 suggesting a pullback might be imminent. 

The post When Will Ethereum Start Rallying Again? Here Are the Latest ETH Price Predictions appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The spot Bitcoin ETFs started the current business week negatively, ending their longest streak in terms of inflows on Monday.

However, the tides have changed once again, perhaps due to the promising US CPI numbers that came out yesterday.

CryptoPotato reported last Friday that these financial vehicles had recorded their 19th consecutive days of positive flows, which was the longest streak since they saw the light of day in mid-January 2024.

The landscape changed on Monday and especially on Tuesday, with outflows of $64.9 million and $200.4, respectively.

The change in investors’ perspective could have been attributed to the uncertainty in the US and the important economic developments such as the CPI and the latest FOMC meeting, both of which took place yesterday.

Once the Consumer and Price Index data came out and the numbers for May were slightly better than expected, the trend changed once again.

On the one hand, BTC’s price shot up immediately by two grand and touched $70,000. On the other, investors returned to the spot Bitcoin ETF scene by pouring in $100.8 million.

The FOMC meeting went as expected as the US central bank said it will not change the interest rates this cycle, unlike what the ECB did.

Although this was an anticipated outcome, bitcoin’s price reacted with a sudden drop that drove it south by three grand. As of now, BTC stands at just over $67,500, but this enhanced volatility has resulted in more than $200 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin/Price/Chart 13.06.2024. Source: TradingView

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Coinbase saw the largest Ethereum outflow of the year, totaling over 336,000 ETH, worth more than $1 billion on June 12th.

This marks the fifth instance in 2024 where over 150,000 ETH has been pulled from the crypto exchange in a single day. It is still unknown as to who is behind such a massive transfer of funds.

Coinbase’s Historic $1B Worth Ethereum Outflow

According to the latest findings by CryptoQuant, the magnitude of these transactions ranges from $400 million to $1.1 billion, suggesting that they are unlikely driven by individual investors. Instead, these movements are probably orchestrated by whales or unidentified institutions.

If these withdrawals are not internal shuffles within the exchange, they could signal a highly positive long-term outlook for the world’s largest altcoin.

CryptoQuant analyst also flagged similar activities on Coinbase before the trading of the spot Bitcoin ETFs began. As such, the withdrawal valued at $1.17 billion on June 12, 2024, could be influenced by whales or institutions anticipating an increase in Ether prices alongside the introduction of spot Ethereum ETFs.

“Whether this assumption is correct will become clear in the coming days. However, such movements that reduce the circulating supply (high demand) are expected to have a positive impact on the price in the medium to long term.”

All Eyes on Spot Ethereum ETF

With the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of spot Ethereum ETF, ETH-based investment products witnessed a substantial rebound last week, attracting $200 million in inflows. This was the second week of inflows, which reversed a 10-week outflow streak.

The degree of excitement around these investment vehicles is moderate, as evidenced by the recent traders’ positions. However, a K33 report shows that spot Ethereum ETFs could potentially rake in inflows of approximately $4 billion within the first five months of their launch.

The research firm also highlighted that since spot Bitcoin ETFs sparked a rally of more than 60% rally in bitcoin’s price Ethereum might experience a similar boost. Hence, K33 further added that Ethereum ETFs could potentially help the altcoin outperform the world’s largest digital asset.

The post Coinbase Witnesses Largest Ethereum Outflow of the Year, Surpassing $1 Billion appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Terraform Labs has reached a settlement in its lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with the defunct crypto firm agreeing to pay a $4.47 billion fine for its fraudulent activity related to the defunct Terra blockchain.

In a Wednesday letter to US District Judge Jed Rakoff, the SEC asked for approval of its “proposed final consent judgement” concerning Terraform and its famous co-founder, Do Kwon.

The agency claimed that the seismic penalty addresses the “magnitude of this fraud” while allowing for “meaningful and speedy recovery” of the billions of dollars lost by the network’s investors.

“To settle this action, Terraform agrees to provide the SEC with all the relief it sought from the Court,” the letter stated. That includes $3.6 billion in disgorgement, $466 million in prejudgment interest, and a $420 million civil penalty – nearly matching what the SEC had requested in April.

Kwon himself has agreed to pay nearly all penalties the SEC requested, including $204 million in monetary relief that will go entirely to the Terraform Labs bankruptcy estate to aid harmed investors.

The SEC charged Terraform and Kwon with securities fraud in 2023 related to the fallen Terra blockchain, whose unstable design resulted in a spectacular $44 billion blowup across its LUNA and UST tokens.

In early April, a jury found Terraform and Kwon guilty of misleading investors and of deliberate fraud.

“The entry of this judgment would ensure the maximal return of funds to harmed investors and put Terraform out of business for good,” the SEC concluded.

If accepted, this would mark the largest settlement in a crypto fraud case to date, outsizing even Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement with the Justice Department in November.

Still, some are skeptical that Terraform or Kwon actually have the money to pay the charges.

“$4.47B cash-out is impossible, even with a $40B market ca,” wrote CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju on the matter. “Do and Terraform aren’t supposed to hold that much money.”

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ENA – the native token of Ethena – has been facing significant selling pressure in recent weeks. After an extended period of price declines, ENA plunged to $0.73, representing its weakest price level since May 20th.

This, in turn, has translated to huge losses for ENA stakers.

Lookonchain revealed that the largest ENA staker, who had staked 23.24 million ENA – worth around $17.3 million – unstaked their entire holding on Tuesday. In a surprising move, this whale then sold 19.36 ENA – worth over $14.1 million – at a significant loss.

To put things into perspective, the on-chain data also revealed that this investor had initially withdrawn 23.24 million ENA from Binance between April 5 and April 10, when the token was trading at around $1.29. However, after the recent sell-off, the investor is currently left with only 3.88 million ENA – worth $2.74 million.

As a result, the whole ordeal translated to a loss of more than $13 million.

ENA has failed to post a meaningful rebound despite its ecosystem growing steadily. According to the latest stats on DefiLlama, the TVL locked in the Ethena project has been on an upward trend, reaching a staggering $3.44 billion as of June 12th.

Moreover, the Ethena ecosystem’s USDe stablecoin has seen impressive growth since its public launch. In the first week alone, its supply reached $400 million before eventually surpassing $2 billion barely two months later.

The meteoric rise prompted concerns, especially considering the collapse of the ill-fated algorithmic stablecoin, Terra’s UST.

The post Largest Ethena (ENA) Staker Sells $14.1M in Tokens, Suffers $13M Loss appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it would not change its policy interest rate despite increasing political pressure to change course.

No Rate Cuts Yet, Says Federal Reserve

In a press release, the Federal Reserve declared that job growth and economic expansion have “remained strong” while inflation has only seen “modest progress” towards its 2% target.

“The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals,” the statement read.

This comes after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its latest inflation CPI inflation figures, showing 3.3% annualized inflation in May. That’s slightly above the 3.4% inflation reading in April, and a notch above what economists were expecting, according to Reuters.

“Indexes which increased in May include shelter, medical care, used cars and trucks, and education,” wrote the BLS on Wednesday. Among other things, costs for new vehicles, communication, and recreation dropped over the month.

A lower inflation reading was a signal to markets that the Federal Reserve is getting closer to its 2% inflation target, and thus could be more willing to lower its policy interest rate back down to standard levels. That’s bullish for both stocks and crypto, which have historically performed well when it’s cheap for investors to borrow money.

Bitcoin’s Price Reaction

Bitcoin surged 3% on Wednesday morning following the May CPI print but dropped slightly after the Fed’s largely expected no-cuts announcement.

Bitcoin / USD. Source: TradingView

While the central bank said after its last meeting that it “does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range” anytime soon, certain developments in June gave reason to believe the Fed might hesitate.

One of those developments was the newly announced pivots from both the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank, which both lowered their main interest rates by 25 basis points this month, citing an “improved inflation outlook.”

Furthermore, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Fed chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday urging him to lower rates. “Reducing rates will reduce the cost of renting, buying, and building housing, lowering Americans’ single highest monthly expense,” she argued.

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Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market experienced a notable surge following the release of the latest US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, and now eyes are on tonight’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

Bitcoin and Ethereum posted gains of 3.4% and 2.43% over the past 24 hours, respectively. The crypto market remains uncertain, with BTC hovering at around $70,000, Ethereum struggling to get past $4,000, and investors treading with caution. However, there has been a notable shift in market sentiment, especially among retail traders on Binance.

Retail Investors’ Long Positions

According to Hyblock’s latest findings, 70.25% of accounts on crypto exchange Binance hold net long positions on Bitcoin, a significant increase from 57% just 24 hours prior. This essentially suggests that retail players are increasingly attempting to “buy the bottom,” showing a strong belief in a potential rebound ahead of the FOMC meeting.

“We are down quite a bit, but retail is still favoring long positioning. 70.25% of accounts on Binance are currently in a net long on BTC. Just 24 hrs ago, this was 57%. In other words, they continue they continue trying to buy the bottom.”

It is important to note that this behavior by retail investors comes amidst ETF outflows, which demonstrates investor caution ahead of the fact.

Data compiled by Farside revealed that Grayscale’s GBTC experienced the largest net outflows amounting to $121 million. Following closely behind are ARK Invest’s ARKB, which witnessed $65.5 million, and Bitwise’s BITB with $11.7 million in outflows.

Next up were Fidelity’s FBTC with $7.4 million and VanEck’s HODL with $3.8 million in outflows. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s IBIT did not record any activity on Tuesday. However, the latest wave of outflows ended the 19-day streak of net inflows for the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, with outflows totaling almost $65 million the day before.

Bitcoin Bullish on Optimistic CPI

Lower inflation figures are further expected to boost the crypto market, which has been range-bound for weeks. In May, the CPI remained essentially unchanged, as it surpassed the previously estimated 0.1% increase and declined from April 0.3%. Annually, CPI increased by 3.3%, slightly below both predictions and April’s 3.4%.

The latest price movement and the retail long position could also mean that BTC had already priced in the latest CPI data and the upcoming Fed decision.

As described by IREN board member Mike Alfred, Bitcoin is a “highly intelligent global macro asset” that potentially anticipates and incorporates major economic factors well in advance of their release.

Charlie Bilello, the Chief Market Strategist at Creative Planning, tweeted,

“Overall, US CPI moved down to 3.27% year-on-year in May from 3.36% in April. US inflation has now been above 3% for 38 straight months. US Core CPI (ex-Food/Energy) moved down to 3.41% year-on-year from 3.62% last month. This is the lowest core inflation reading since April 2021.”

The post Retail Investors Still Bullish on Bitcoin (BTC) Ahead of FOMC Meeting appeared first on CryptoPotato.

A long-dormant Bitcoin whale wallet recently became active after over five and a half years, transferring over 8,000 BTC, valued at $536.5 million, from Coinbase cold storage.

Such a renaissance of long-term dormant Bitcoin wallets is often a result of investors and old miners selling their chunks of assets for profits.

Dormant Wallets Wakes Up

After over five years of dormancy, the Coinbase cold storage transferred a total stash of 8,000 BTC on June 11, 1:26 pm UTC, under block number 847,490, to Bitcoin wallet address “1ABww1.”

The receiving Bitcoin wallet later transferred the received stash of BTC to another Binance Deposit address at a fee of $108. Unlike in many cases, the two transactions worth over $1 billion did not include any test ones.

As per data provided by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, the dormant Coinbase cold storage wallet received the funds in small chunks of 200 BTC between October 5, 2018, and December 5, 2018.

As Bitcoin is now priced at over $67,409, the transfer came after a +1,700% increase in the value of the BTC from the average acquisition price of $3,750 in 2018. Whether the wallet holder sold the stash after transferring to Binance remains unclear. However, such revivals of long-term dormant Bitcoin addresses are aimed at collecting profits.

This was not the first awakening of a long-term dormant Bitcoin address. On April 7, a decade-long dormant Bitcoin whale, with a stash of about 4,300 BTC, woke up and moved about 246 BTC. The wallet purchased Bitcoin over a decade ago at an average price of $29.39 and was selling at over 230,000% return on investment.

Miners Selling Their Stash?

Another group of Bitcoin stakeholders awakening large holdings is the old miners. For instance, on March 27, a Bitcoin miner’s wallet, which had been dormant for over 14 years, moved about 2,000 BTC received as mining rewards in 2010.

When receiving the BTC rewards, the total value of the BTC was only a few hundred dollars. However, at the time of wallet awakening, the value of the stash had surged exponentially to $140 million.

Recently, an average of 1 dormant wallet has woken up every month. A recent Chainalysis and Fortune report indicated that about 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses have remained on the sidelines for over a decade. Some of the decade-long dormant wallets are possibly lost forever due to lost passphrases.

The post Dormant Bitcoin Wallet Transfers $536.5 Million After 5 Years of Inactivity appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The US Consumer and Price Index for May showed a slight movement for the inflation data, showing a minor decrease to 3.3% compared to April’s numbers of 3.4%.

These CPI figures might have a particular influence on the financial markets, as the US Federal Reserve is set to meet later today to determine its monetary policy and whether it will follow the ECB in reducing the interest rates.

❖ U.S CPI (MOM) (MAY) ACTUAL: 0.0% VS 0.3% PREVIOUS; EST 0.1%

❖ U.S CPI (YOY) (MAY) ACTUAL: 3.3% VS 3.4% PREVIOUS; EST 3.4%

❖ U.S CORE CPI (MOM) (MAY) ACTUAL: 0.2% VS 0.3% PREVIOUS; EST 0.3%

❖ U.S CORE CPI (YOY) (MAY) ACTUAL: 3.4% VS 3.6% PREVIOUS; EST 3.5%

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 12, 2024

Being lower than expected, the US CPI numbers resulted in immediate price volatility for bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market.

As reported earlier, the primary cryptocurrency had slumped to $66,000 as investors pulled $200 million out of the ETFs ahead of the CPI announcement and the subsequent FOMC meeting.

BTC had recovered some ground to $67,500 and soared by more than a grand and a half within minutes after the CPI went out. Currently, bitcoin trades inches above $69,000.

All eyes will now be on the US Federal Reserve later today. The US central bank will meet to determine whether it will keep the interest rates at current levels of 5.25% to 5.5% or it will mimic the ECB and lower them.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Skyrockets Above $69,000 as US CPI Data Lower Than Expected appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Binance will stop supporting pairs like ALPACA/BTC and QUICK/BTC later this week, advising users to adjust their trading bots to prevent losses.

The exchange added IO.NET (IO) to several services and introduced new contracts for Binance Futures Copy Trading.

The Upcoming Amendments

Binance continues to adjust its offerings “to protect users and maintain a high-quality trading market.” The process includes periodic reviews of all listed pairs, with some of them removed from the platform due to poor liquidity or other reasons.

Most recently, the company revealed it will halt trading services on the following ones: ALPACA/BTC, NFP/TUSD, MDX/BTC, QUICK/BTC, and XAI/BNB. The delisting effort will come into effect on June 14. 

“Users are strongly advised to update and/or cancel their Spot Trading Bots prior to the cessation of Spot Trading Bots services to avoid any potential losses,” the exchange warned.

Some affected cryptocurrencies, such as NFP, MDX, and XAI, slightly dipped after the announcement. Their plunge coincides with a market correction reigning in the entire cryptocurrency sector.

It is worth noting that a more severe price decline usually occurs when a leading exchange like Binance terminates all services with a certain digital asset. Such was the case in February when the popular privacy coin Monero (XMR) collapsed by over 20% after the firm withdrew its support.

Additional Binance Updates

Besides removing some trading pairs, Binance added IO.NET (IO) to Binance Simple Earn, “Buy Crypto,” and Binance Convert. The company also included it on Binance Margin and Binance Futures, while the addition to Binance Auto-Invest is scheduled for June 13. 

Last but not least, the firm introduced the following contracts: BB/USDT, ONDO/USDT, and TNSR/USDT to Binance Futures Copy Trading. 

The feature is designed for traders that may lack the time or expertise to hop on the bandwagon on their own, allowing them to automatically replicate the trades of professional or experienced individuals. However, it’s important for users to conduct their own research and understand the risks involved before participating in copy trading.

The post The Following Cryptocurrencies Are Impacted by Binance’s Latest Change appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Donald Trump is covering all his bases to pull in the crypto crowd. This time around, he has turned to championing Bitcoin mining not just in Washington, D.C., but also internationally.

In a recent meeting with industry players, the Republican presidential candidate said he aims for all remaining Bitcoin to be mined in the US, a move he believes will contribute to the country’s energy dominance.

Trump’s Crypto Crusade

Attendees of the meeting include representatives from prominent Bitcoin mining companies such as Salman Khan from Marathon Digital, S Matthew Schultz from CleanSpark, Jason Les, and Brian Morgenstern from Riot Platforms. Former Head of Mining at Galaxy and Director of Bitcoin Mining at Fidelity, Amanda Fabiano was also present in the meeting.

In his latest post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said,

“Bitcoin mining may be our last line of defense against a CBDC. Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia, and the Radical Communist Left. We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!! It will help us be ENERGY DOMINANT.”

With the latest push, Trump essentially aims to boost the US share of Bitcoin’s network hash rate, which is currently at 38% according to the latest data by ChainBulletin. Trailing behind is China at 21% followed by Canada at 6.5%.

Trump Leverages Crypto Advantage Over Biden

The cryptocurrency industry is increasingly seeking to influence US politicians as it faces heightened regulatory scrutiny. While the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were significant milestones, Trump is pulling out big guns to sway voters in his favor.

In recent months, Trump has resorted to using cryptocurrency as his latest tool to target the Biden administration. The dramatic shift in opinion on the matter is now a major issue in the upcoming presidential race.

Last month, Trump promised that Bitcoin would prosper in the US under his leadership while speaking at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC. He also vowed to protect the rights of crypto holders to self-custody while keeping critics like Elizabeth Warren away from their assets. He also opposed the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The latest polls indicate that Trump is currently leading Biden by a slim margin, holding 40.9% of voter support compared to Biden’s 40%. Meanwhile, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr maintained a little over 9% of voter support.

The post Donald Trump Pushes for All Remaining Bitcoin to be Mined in the US appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Polkadot has recently reached a crucial support region near its previous major swing low of $6 after facing a significant rejection.

The price is now experiencing slight fluctuations, which may lead to increased market volatility.

Technical Analysis

By Shayan

The Daily Chart

The daily chart reveals that after a notable 17% drop, Polkadot’s price has settled near the $6 support zone, aligning with its prior major swing low. This area is filled with demand, and the bearish momentum has diminished upon reaching this threshold. The cryptocurrency has entered a period of slight fluctuations with minimal volatility, indicating a struggle between buyers and sellers at this critical level.

This action suggests that the existing demand might dominate the supply in the short term. Hence, a temporary period of sideways price movement appears imminent before either side gains control and initiates the next significant move.

Source: TradingView The 4-Hour Chart

On the 4-hour chart, Polkadot’s price experienced substantial selling pressure after breaching the lower boundary of a multi-month ascending wedge pattern, accelerating the bearish momentum. Upon reaching the crucial $6 support region, heightened buying pressure emerged, leading to slight sideways movements.

Nevertheless, the price is currently forming a symmetrical triangle pattern, indicating a lack of clear momentum. As the price approaches the narrowest range of the pattern, a breakout in either direction will likely determine the next short-term move. A breakout above this pattern could potentially lead to a bullish retracement toward the $6.7 mark.

Source: TradingView Sentiment Analysis

By Shayan

With Polkadot’s price failing to establish a new daily high, traders are seeking explanations. While the price reflects a struggle between buyers and sellers, insights from the futures market sentiment could offer valuable perspectives.

The accompanying chart illustrates Polkadot’s open interest, a critical metric for assessing futures market sentiment. Typically, higher open interest values signal bullish sentiment, while excessively high values can trigger heightened volatility and potential liquidation cascades.

Recently, the open interest metric peaked, indicating an overheated futures market. However, following the recent plunge, a long-liquidation event ensued, resulting in a significant decline. Despite Polkadot’s downtrend, it’s notable that the open interest metric has followed a similar trajectory, experiencing a substantial decrease. This alignment suggests a cooling off of activity within the futures market.

Consequently, the market appears primed for the resurgence of either long or short positions, potentially triggering a fresh and decisive market movement in either direction.

Source: CoinGlass

The post This Important Polkadot Metric Drops Along the Price, What Does it Mean? (DOT Price Analysis) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

DexTools has added support for ShibaSwap, providing advanced DeFi analytics for the SHIB community.

The decentralized exchange allows users to trade, stake, and farm cryptocurrencies, particularly those part of the Shiba Inu ecosystem.

ShibaSwap is Now Live Here

DexTools – a popular decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that offers a wide range of tools and resources to help users navigate the ecosystem – added support for Shiba Inu’s ShibaSwap. According to the announcement on X, the development unlocks “advanced DeFi analytics” for the SHIB Army.

WOOF! @DEXToolsApp now supports #ShibaSwap. Unlock advanced #DeFi analytics for the #SHIBARMY pic.twitter.com/E25mHS6tzS

— ShibaSwapDEX (@ShibaSwapDEX) June 11, 2024

ShibaSwap is a decentralized exchange part of the Shiba Inu ecosystem. It enables users to trade cryptocurrencies, particularly SHIB, LEASH, and BONE, without relying on a central authority. 

Besides trading, participants can stake their tokens on ShibaSwap to earn rewards, while yield farming options are also available. 

Earlier this year, the decentralized exchange migrated to the layer-2 scaling solution – Shibarium – in the form of ShibaSwap 2.0. The upgrade includes new features such as improved user processes for adding and reducing liquidity, staking, and trend analysis.

“[ShibaSwap 2.0] “is the redesigned beating heart of a freshly forked Shibarium, where community tokens can flourish. This new UX is still an early Shibaswap version, with more updates in the pipeline for the product,” Shiba Inu Lead Developer Shytoshi Kusama said at the time.

How is Shibarium Doing?

The L2 blockchain solution made the headlines numerous times since its official launch in August last year due to blasting through countless milestones. At the end of May, the number of total blocks processed on the network surpassed the five million level, while prior to that total transactions exceeded 400 million.

Shibarium’s main role is to enhance the functionality and scalability of Shiba Inu’s ecosystem. It aims to reduce transaction fees, improve speed, and provide infrastructure for decentralized applications on the network. Those willing to learn more about the protocol, feel free to take a look at our dedicated video below:

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