According to cryptocurrency research firm Arkham Intelligence, Saxony, a state in eastern Germany, has now liquidated all of its Bitcoin holdings. 

Saxony's relentless selling spree has been a major bearish headwind for the leading cryptocurrency by market cap since the start of June. Last week, the leading cryptocurrency collapsed below the $64,000 level, reaching its lowest price point in roughly five months. 

The German state originally owned 50,000 Bitcoins that were confiscated earlier this year from the operators of the Movie2K piracy website.       

card

Following the confiscation, Germany ranked as one of the top holders of Bitcoin among different governments (behind only the U.S., China, and the U.K.). However, it no longer holds any Bitcoin. 

As reported by U.Today, Saxony's sales were absorbed by Bitcoin ETF investors who were eager to buy the dip. On Thursday, these products recorded another $79 million worth of inflows. In fact, they have now seen their best week since May with an impressive $882 million worth of inflows.    

card

The selling spree naturally attracted plenty of criticism from the members of the Bitcoin community.  Joana Cotar, Germany's pro-crypto MP, called for halting the sales, arguing that holding the cryptocurrency would be beneficial for the state.  

Despite the apparent end of Saxony's Bitcoin sales, there are also other headwinds such as Mt. Gox repayments. This means that Bitcoin bulls are not out of the woods just yet. 

The leading cryptocurrency is currently trading at $57,723, according to CoinGecko data. 

Coinbase researchers David Duong and David Han have predicted that a major cryptocurrency rally is unlikely to occur in the third quarter of 2024.

The analysts believe that the price action will be "choppy" during the current quarter. 

This prediction is based on the fact that there are no convincing bullish narratives that could prop up the market. 

card

There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the hotly-anticipated launch of multiple spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs). If these products recorded underwhelming inflows, their underperformance could emerge as another bearish catalyst for the market. As reported by U.Today, Ethereum ETFs are expected to be recorded this July.   

After a period of volatility over the next two months, Coinbase researchers expect the market to improve in the fall. 

card

Duong and Han have also pointed to recent reports about the U.S. economy potentially falling into a recession. These concerns are not groundless given that recent macro data has clearly shown that the U.S. economy is cooling off. Due to fears of economic problems, retail investors are unlikely to purchase altcoins, according to Coinbase.  

On a positive note, the researchers believe that the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting rates this year could bode well for the market. 

As reported by U.Today, US inflation turned out to be lower than expected in June. Now, the Fed might end up cutting rates multiple times this year in order to prevent a dramatic slowdown in economic activity. 

Some analysts of the likes of Fundstrat's Tom Lee expect Bitcoin to experience a strong rally in the second half of the year due to declining inflation. 

There is no one-way trend on the market as the prices of some coins are falling while others are going up, according to CoinMarketCap.

Top coins by CoinMarketCapSOL/USD

The price of Solana (SOL) has dropped by 4.73% over the last day.

Image by TradingView

On the hourly chart, the price of SOL is closer to the support, which means that bears remain in control of the market. 

card

If buyers cannot seize the initiative soon, traders may witness an ongoing decline to $130.

Image by TradingView

None of the sides is dominating on the daily time frame. If the candle closes around the current prices, the consolidation in the narrow range of $135-$140 is the most likely scenario.

Image by TradingView

From the mid-term point of view, one should focus on the weekly bar closure. If it happens near the $120 mark, the accumulated energy might be enough for a breakout, followed by a blast to $100.

SOL is trading at $135.82 at press time.

Here are the top three news stories over the past day presented to you by U.Today.

XRP on verge of crazy price pump - if John Bollinger's bands are right

According to a recent analysis of the XRP price chart, the Ripple-affiliated token could be set for a significant surge in value. The Bollinger Bands, a technical indicator created by prominent trader John Bollinger, are currently experiencing a notable narrowing, which signifies a period of low volatility, often preceding major price movements. A similar narrowing happened in 2017; back then, the XRP price jumped by a whopping 55,000%, peaking at $3.30 per token by early 2018. Another narrowing occurrence happened in late 2020; after that, XRP reached almost $2 per token by April 2021. Thus, the ongoing narrowing of the Bollinger Bands, which started in November 2022, backs the possibility for XRP's potential increase in value in the near future.

card

Major Shiba Inu update teased by SHIB team member: Details

In a recent X post, Lucie, Shiba Inu marketing lead, shared some details on the main product that the SHIB dev team is reportedly planning to launch on Shibarium soon. Lucie wrote that the Shib ecosystem is becoming a hub for innovation "driven by blockchain technology and a dedicated community." At the core of this hub will be SHIB Marketplace, which Lucie defined as "a decentralized platform set to democratize power among its users rather than centralized corporations." The SHIB representative then presented the list of key features and core components of the new SHIB product, such as financial autonomy (the marketplace will use smart contracts to put away any intermediaries), active participation (users will actively shape the marketplace, making them participants rather than consumers) and more. However, Lucie provided no dates for SHIB Marketplace's launch.

Ultra-bullish Cardano price pattern no one talks about

Cardano recently made market observers turn their heads, as it formed an interesting pattern on its price chart. At the moment, ADA has arrived at a crucial price level, $0.35, which has consistently served as a pivotal support or resistance point. This support level demonstrated its strength once again last week, when ADA's price held firm at $0.35 after a 12% plunge. After stabilizing, the weekly candle closed above this mark, which sparked a staggering 15.3% increase in ADA's price over the next four days. Notably, this price surge occurred on relatively low trading volumes. This pattern suggests a potential ultra-bullish trend for Cardano that has largely gone unnoticed. As ADA maintains its stability at this critical support level and starts to rise, investors might get more interested in this token.

Shytoshi Kusama, the pseudonymous lead developer of the Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem, recently granted his first interview, outlining a bold vision for the project's future. Kusama addressed speculation regarding his identity, clarifying he is not tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, despite past cryptic messages.

However, his closing remark on his X page – "Wen conversation Elon Musk? lol" – hinted at a potential future dialogue.

card

Wen conversation @elonmusk ? lol https://t.co/jIIKsGXFlN

— Shytoshi Kusama™ (@ShytoshiKusama) July 12, 2024

Kusama's recent appearances at conferences in Japan and India focused on ambitious expansion plans for the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Building on the groundwork laid by founder Ryoshi, the team has cultivated a thriving decentralized community within the Web3 landscape.

Their ultimate objective? Establishing the first trillion-dollar decentralized economy.

Dream or reality?

Shiba Inu (SHIB) currently sits in 13th place in the ranking of top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization according to CoinMarketCap, with a figure of $9.56 billion. As of July 12, 2024, SHIB is priced around $0.00001649. This reflects a slight increase of around 2% compared to the previous 24 hours.

Meanwhile, DOGE boasts a market cap of roughly $15.48 billion. To claim the top meme spot, the Shiba Inu token still needs a staggering increase of 63% at minimum.

Source: CoinMarketCap

card

This climb for sure will not be a walk in the park. As things stand, SHIB's price would need a substantial boost, or DOGE's price would have to take a tumble, for the former to close the gap.

Cardano (ADA) is preparing for the highly anticipated Chang upgrade, with some new releases activated ahead of this historic milestone.

Ktorz, technical director at Cardano Foundation, has intimated to the Cardano community about a new release for Ogmios, a lightweight bridge interface for a Cardano node that offers a WebSockets API that enables local clients to speak Ouroboros' mini-protocols via JSON/RPC.

In a tweet, Ktorz noted that Ogmios is now ready for the Chang 1 update with the release of v6.5.0. The latest release shares compatibility with recently launched Cardano node 9.0.0. It also possesses a new ledger state query for treasury and reserves, as well as new protocol parameters covering the new reference script fee and max size.

Ogmios is now ready for Chang 1; v6.5.0 is out! https://t.co/Q6bJFxcB3j✅ Compatibility with cardano-node == 9.0.0✅ A new ledger state query for treasury and reserves✅ New protocol parameters covering the new reference script fee & max size✅ And more...Enjoy 🎁

— KtorZ (@_KtorZ_) July 12, 2024

Ktorz noted that the formula for fee calculation is changing in Conway, with Script references now priced in as part of the minimum transaction fee. The release notes include an annex outlining the new equation and some plots offering a sense of its impact.

Cardano prepares for Chang upgrade

The Cardano ecosystem is poised for a major transformation with the upcoming Chang upgrade.

card

Chang is a pivotal upgrade that aims to enable decentralized governance on the Cardano blockchain. This technique is firmly based on the Voltaire-era ideals outlined by Cardano's roadmap and detailed in CIP-1694. The upgrade will be carried out in two major phases, Chang 1 and Chang 2, with each introducing critical governance aspects that will give the community a meaningful say in the protocol's development.

Chang Upgrade 1 will add governance features to Cardano and start the technical bootstrapping phase, as outlined in CIP-1694. Chang Upgrade 2 removes CIP-1694 from the technical bootstrapping process, allowing for complete on-chain governance functionality, including DRep participation and governance actions.

Gas fees for Ethereum (ETH) have fallen to new lows amid anticipation of a spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in the U.S. As shown on CryptoQuant’s chart, Ethereum’s gas fees are at their lowest since May 2024.

Influence of gas fees on Ethereum’s price

CryptoQuant’s analyst Woo Minkyu wrote in a Quicktake piece that Ethereum’s low gas fees paint a picture of calm network activity. The analyst highlights that Ethereum’s price tends to rise when gas fees increase, and vice versa.

Ahead of the Upcoming Approval of the $ETH Spot ETF“Trend shows that gas fees are at their lowest since May 2024, indicating a quieter #Ethereum network activity. It can be observed that when gas fees increase, Ethereum prices tend to rise as well.” – By @Woo_Minkyu Read more… pic.twitter.com/baajlxNdAj

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) July 12, 2024

card

For context, on the Ethereum blockchain, gas fees refer to the cost needed to carry out a transaction on the network. It is important to note that there is no direct relationship between gas fees and price. However, the decrease in network fees results in fewer ETH being burned from the total supply.

As seen in economics, a higher supply over demand leads to a decrease in the value of a digital asset. For Ethereum, this means investors holding the coin will see a decrease in the value of their investment.

Is ETH preparing for a rally ahead of ETH ETF approval?

The CryptoQuant analyst concludes by asking if Ethereum’s current calm can be preparation ahead of spot ETF approvals. In hindsight, this could be the case because investors tend to avoid making investments ahead of a big announcement.

Expectations were high that the SEC would approve a spot Ethereum ETF this week, as reported in our previous article. With the end of the week already here, the market is anxiously awaiting what will happen next. Speculation remains as to whether the new product will flop or not.

card

As of this writing, ETH is trading at $3,081, demonstrating a decline of 2.8% in the past 24 hours, with the market cap pegged at $372 billion. The trading volume also decreased by 11% to $13 billion, indicating a reduction in selling pressure.

Jan Happel and Yann Allemann, cofounders of prominent cryptocurrency analytics platform Glassnode, believe that another altcoin season could be on the horizon.

The analysts pointed to the fact that the tech-heavy Nasdaq index declined 2% on Thursday. For comparison, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), an index that is composed of small-capitalization stocks, was up more than 3%.

This indicates that investors are placing their bets on riskier assets that are likely to generate greater returns.

card

They compared the current situation to November 2020. Back then, the small-cap sector also started soaring and kept expanding its gains during the following months.

The analysts believe that a similar scenario is going to play out on the cryptocurrency market, with investors potentially rotating their capital into altcoin. "Will we see the same again? Will rotation create a massive rally in Alts? We think that may well happen!" the analyst said.

XRP stealing show

As reported by U.Today, the Bitcoin market recently plunged into "extreme fear" territory for the first time in more than a year due to selling in Germany as well as Mt. Gox repayments.

card

The Bitcoin price failed to take out the $60,000 resistance level despite positive macro-financial signals such as cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation.

Even though most altcoins are in the red, XRP managed to stand out, with a 4% price spike over the past 24 hours. This came after CME Group's real-time indices and reference rates for the Ripple-affiliated cryptocurrencies. It is the best-performing cryptocurrency in the top 100.

Bitcoin's dominance currently stands at 50.9%, according to CoinGecko data.

According to Glassnode, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has seen its valuation climb by $354 billion, or 267%, since November 2022. Leading cryptocurrency exchange FTX, once valued at $32 billion, collapsed in a matter of days in November 2022.

This information was presented in an H1, 2024, report entitled, "Digital Assets: Insights and Market Trends" jointly published by CME Group and Glassnode, which provides a complete overview of the digital asset landscape.

#Bitcoin's market cap increased by $1.13 trillion (+370%) since November 2022, and #Ethereum's valuation rose by $354 billion (+267%) over the same period.Discover more insights from our report with @CMEGroup → https://t.co/SG2XESAkQG pic.twitter.com/BPU5mS36NX

— glassnode (@glassnode) July 11, 2024

According to the analysis, Ethereum presently has a market capitalization of $451 billion, while the overall altcoin ecosystem has a total market capitalization of $611 billion. Ethereum has long been the leading asset in the altcoin sector, accounting for 41.7% of the market today.

Other ETH metrics

As presented in the report, validators currently have 32.2 million ETH locked up as staked collateral. The quantity of ETH staked has generally climbed over time, just a few times when the total volume decreased. This presently accounts for roughly 27% of the circulating ETH supply.

The Merge was completed in September 2022, ushering Ethereum's shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Because of the large drop in issuance and the EIP1559 burn mechanism, the ETH supply has fallen by 343,000 ETH since the Merge.

card

In the 365 days following the Bitcoin halving event, ETH has had more diverse market performance, with the 2016 cycle falling by 45% before increasing by over 3,400%, and in 2020, its price more than doubled in the immediate months after, continuing to climb by 2,150%.

Ethereum's drawdown profile has seen considerably deeper corrections than Bitcoin's, with the largest loss in the 2022-2024 cycle so far being 42%. Previous cycles have seen corrections greater than 65% throughout both the early and late stages of macro bull markets.

Prominent crypto influencer SolJakey is starring in the latest "Solana is for everyone" commercial. The promo is accompanied by iconic 2009 Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" superhit and showcases some of the latest milestones accomplished by the Solana (SOL) ecosystem. 

Tesla's Cybertruck semi-ironically portrayed in Solana's commercial

Today, July 12, 2024, the team of high-performance blockchain Solana (SOL) shared its newest promo video. Dubbed "Solana is for everyone," it emphasizes the holistic and one-size-fits-all approach of the cryptocurrency. SolJakey, a crypto KOL and representative of Solana's flagship DEX Jupiter plays the main character.

Solana is for everyone ft. @SolJakey pic.twitter.com/5Avp7QbOig

— Solana (@solana) July 11, 2024

In the video, an upper-middle-class American driving Tesla's Cybertruck hits SolJakey, who is portrayed as a stereotypical partygoer, on his bicycle. As the former is wearing Solana merch, the attacker asks whether he can compensate SolJakey for the damaged bicycle and a VR-set via Solana's wallet. 

As the compensation arrives in seconds thanks to QR-code sharing, the culprit of the accident gives his victim a ride. The video mocks the obsession with high-tech devices (SolJakey is riding a bicycle with his VR-set that allows him to trade and read Solana [SOL] news on the road) and contains some references to what is happening in Solana (SOL) in Q3, 2024.

For instance, both characters are excited about Solana Blinks ("blockchain links"), novel blockchain objects that can initiate Solana Actions, specification-compliant APIs for transactions on Solana (SOL).

Solana's TVL surges despite price stagnating

Right now, Solana (SOL) is holding Blink Build Days, a series of offline meetups designed to introduce the opportunities of the new concept to developers and users.

As covered by U.Today previously, in Q2, 2024, Solana (SOL) welcomed a number of major upgrades. With its ZK Compression, the community expects overall performance to surge by 10,000x.

card

Meanwhile, in less than seven days, Solana's USD-denominated TVL surged by over 10%, from $4.02 to $4.45 billion.

Solana (SOL) price is struggling to recover to $140, being down 2.39% in the last 24 hours.

Whale Alert reported approximately an hour ago that another Bitcoin whale came back to life over the past couple of weeks.

This wallet again holds a substantial amount of more than one million U.S. dollars.

Ancient Bitcoin wallet reactivated with 6,924% profit

The aforementioned blockchain sleuth that follows large cryptocurrency transactions and then shares the details on the X social media app has spilled the beans about a dormant wallet that was “switched on” after staying inactive for almost eleven years – since 2013.

Back then, when the wallet was last used, the 25 Bitcoins it contained were evaluated at $20,399. At the current Bitcoin price, this amount of crypto is worth $1,432,968 – that is a 6,924.69% price increase, which has made its mysterious owner a millionaire after all these years.

💤 A dormant address containing 25 #BTC (1,432,968 USD) has just been activated after 10.6 years (worth 20,399 USD in 2013)!https://t.co/PPCeLOGD0b

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 12, 2024

This month slightly fewer than a dozen Bitcoin wallets returned from dormancy after a decade, most of them containing at least one million U.S. dollars in BTC. The wallet, which awakened on July 6, held an impressive $56,924,352.

card

Bitcoin forming Double Top on chart

The world’s flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, seems to be forming a reverse pattern Double Top on the hourly chart. If this pattern is validated, BTC may face another plunge after recovering from the $54,975 level since Monday.

BTC has added almost 8% from Monday to Thursday, rising to the $59,350 zone. For the second time this week, Bitcoin has attempted to overcome this resistance but failed and took a dip of 4.37%. By now, BTC has slightly recovered and is changing hands at $57,550.

In the meantime, the German government continues to dispose of the Bitcoin it confiscated from the Movie2k pirate website in January. Today, this powerful entity again transferred 2,700 BTC worth $154.4 million to centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.

Its previous Bitcoin transfers were made to Kraken, Bitstamp and Coinbase to sell the crypto. As of this writing, the German government still holds 6,394 BTC valued at $366 million.

Yesterday, German authorities transferred 10,627 BTC and received $616 million in return after selling it at roughly $57,976. However, the government then bought back 4,169 BTC for $240 million at approximately $57,469 per coin.

The cryptocurrency market's recovery was unsurprisingly followed by a wide range of inflows, starting from retail and ending with institutional investors. Various companies started pouring funds back into the market, hoping to catch a strong retrace. And they might be right.

Nine Bitcoin ETFs added 1,661 BTC, or $95.82 million in total, according to a recent update released on July 11. This inflow is a reliable sign of the market's resurgence of interest and confidence. Fidelity added 1,006 Bitcoin, or roughly $58 million, to their total holdings, which now stand at 174,437 Bitcoin, or $10 billion.

July 11 Update:9 ETFs added 1,661 $BTC(+$95.82M).#Fidelity added 1,006 $BTC(+$58M) and currently holds 174,437 $BTC($10.06B).#Grayscale decreased 659 $BTC(-$38M) and currently holds 273,483 $BTC($15.77B).https://t.co/jQmzBAjUNJ pic.twitter.com/eHYNpNtRZL

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 11, 2024

This noteworthy development underscores Fidelity's positive assessment of Bitcoin's prospects for expansion and recuperation. Conversely, the Bitcoin Trust owned by Grayscale experienced a decline of 659 BTC valued at $38 million, bringing their total holdings to 273,483 BTC, or $15.77 billion.

card

Even with this cutback, Grayscale continues to dominate the market, and fund rebalances frequently result in these kinds of adjustments. We can see that the price of Bitcoin is currently around $57,284 by looking at the daily chart. The 200 EMA major support level, $58,163, is the level that the price is fighting to stay above.

As immediate resistance levels, the 50 EMA and the 100 EMA are in place. In contrast, if the current support is broken, there may be more downside. A persistent move above these EMAs could indicate a bullish reversal. The fact that BTC is being actively added to Bitcoin ETFs is supportive of the general market sentiment.

This pattern indicates a generalized institutional belief in the long-term benefits of Bitcoin. Furthermore the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined — Bitcoin excluded — has surpassed the noteworthy $2 trillion threshold. This stage indicates possible stability and advancement ahead and acts as a technical and psychological support zone.

Peter Brandt, recognised by many as a trading legend, has issued a crucial advisory regarding leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds, or ETFs for short. Long story short, the trader expressed a strong aversion to these financial instruments, likening them to gambling.

Why? He emphasizes that these ETFs represent bets on volatility rather than price direction, indicating a preference for shorting these instruments as part of a strategic risk management approach.

card

Trading commentary on leveraged and inverse ETFsI avoid these like a plague. In my mind, these represent gambling. I am not a gambler, but a risk manager.Inverse and 2X/3X ETFs are bets on volatility, not price direction. If anything, my preference would be to short XX ETFs

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) July 12, 2024

With 50 years of market experience, Brandt’s perspective highlights the importance of distinguishing between sound and unsound risk. His observations reveal that the type of speculator attracted to leveraged and inverse ETFs often seeks quick profits, a mentality he advises against.

What about Bitcoin ETFs?

Fortunately, for example, Bitcoin ETFs do not fall under this category, which means that trading them, if you stick to Brandt's opinion, is not that shameful. In general, however, these instruments on the largest cryptocurrency are not experiencing a lack of trading activity as it is.

card

Thus, on July 11, the total net inflow of spot Bitcoin ETFs was $78.93 million, continuing a five-day trend of positive net inflows. Specifically, the Grayscale ETF (GBTC) experienced a single-day outflow of $37.69 million, while the BlackRock ETF (IBIT) and the Fidelity ETF (FBTC) saw single-day inflows of $72.09 million and $32.69 million, respectively.

The XRP price has initiated a major rebound today. The coin appears to be breaking the shackles as it enters a bullish price zone. While the sentiment is shifting, XRP has also witnessed a remarkable surge in one of the most crucial metrics.

The trading volume of XRP, per Coinglass data, has skyrocketed 143.81% today. It is currently at $2.02 billion, showing a huge rise in trading activity for the coin. This surge in trading volume is seen across notable crypto exchanges.

Binance leads the way with $622.13 million as Bitget and Bybit follow suit with $341.28 million and $402.46 million, respectively. The rest of the trading activity comes from other prominent crypto trading platforms. This is a prominent sign for the brainchild of Ripple as it shows increasing investor interest in the coin.

XRP price surges

The latest surge in trading activity has injected bullish momentum into the market. The price of XRP has soared 4.50% to $0.4691 in the last 24 hours, as of writing time. Moreover, the market cap of the coin has risen 4.67% to a whopping $26.17 billion.

However, there are still some worrying signs amid this latest XRP price surge. The coin is currently trading below its 200-day simple moving average (SMA), per the latest data from TradingView. Consequently, XRP needs to reclaim this level in order to sustain its current rally in the coming days.

Considering the rising trading activity and this recent price surge, it appears that bulls can push XRP above this price level. While it may act as a barrier in the short term, XRP is expected to break through it and enter a long term bullish zone. Overall, the XRP price outlook is looking optimistic, and we may see further gains in the future.

Renowned blockchain sleuth Whale Alert has spotted two large XRP transfers made by anonymous wallets to major cryptocurrency trading platforms over the past 24 hours.

Millions worth of XRP in U.S. dollars have been transferred. This coincided with a major bullish price move undergone by the Ripple-affiliated cryptocurrency.

Over 63 million XRP unloaded on exchanges

According to data shared by the aforementioned source, an anonymous whale made two consecutive crypto transactions as he transferred first 32,461,000 and then 30,961,000 XRP. The transactions were made consecutively approximately 15 hours ago to the Bitso and Bitstamp exchanges.

Bitstamp is based in the U.S., European Union and several other locations, while Bitso is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, with its headquarters in Mexico.

🚨 32,461,000 #XRP (14,513,381 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Bitsohttps://t.co/L1NkprsF1V

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 11, 2024

While the transactions could be leading X users to think that these tens of millions of XRP were unloaded by an anonymous whale, Bithomp XRP explorer shows that the source of the these funds is actually San Francisco-based crypto giant Ripple Labs.

Bitstamp and Bitso are among those platforms that collaborate with Ripple, helping it to power its international payments service, which was was previously known as On-Demand Liquidity (ODL).

card

XRP's bullish market performance

Over the past 24 hours, the top 10 list member XRP has seen a price increase, adding almost 6%. However, after a tiny rebound, the coin is changing hands at $0.47028 on the Bitstamp exchange.

Thus, XRP has staged a 15.51% recovery since Monday this week and managed to recover the price level it lost on July 3 last week.

Now that the Ripple CEO, with his team and the whole XRP community, are breathtakingly awaiting the end of the long-running lawsuit started by the SEC against Ripple in 2020, traders are keeping their eyes on the XRP chart, wondering if XRP will perform a major price leap.

In an interview this year, the Ripple boss Brad Garlinghouse shared that he believes the settlement of the case is likely to come at the end of the summer, but he jokingly called it “September.”

The case has been going on for several years now and has cost Ripple millions of U.S. dollars in terms of legal expenses. Besides, once the case began, many exchanges delisted XRP and have recently begun to reverse their stance on this.

According to crypto analyst Lark Davis, at the handle "TheCryptoLark" on X, Bitcoin is up 356% since this cycle's low.

In a tweet, Cryptolark noted that Bitcoin's current price performance is remarkably similar to what was seen in the last two market cycles. BTC has surged 356% since this cycle's lows, closely aligning with the 351% and 361% increases recorded at the same points in the previous two cycles. "Looks like we're right on track with the previous two cycles," the crypto analyst added.

#Bitcoin is up 356% since this cycle's low.The price performance of $BTC is identical to the last 2 cycles - 351% and 361% at this point.Looks like we're right on track with the previous two cycles. pic.twitter.com/Ez1vR8zA3I

— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) July 11, 2024

Glassnode's recent analysis matches this same view. In a tweet, Glassnode noted that the Bitcoin market cap has climbed by more than $1.13 trillion, or +370%, as of the current ATH set in March 2024 since the cycle low in November 2022. The overall market capitalization of digital assets is now around $2.56 trillion, with Bitcoin accounting for more than half of that at $1.33 trillion.

card

Bitcoin has also remained the largest digital asset for the past 16 years, accounting for more than 52.7% of total industry value.

History repeating itself?

In a recent analysis, Glassnode evaluates Bitcoin's price performance in the 365 days following the prior four halving events, using 2016 and 2020 as relevant benchmarks.

Following the halving, the 2016 and 2020 cycles enjoyed several months of quiet performance before posting spectacular peak returns of +350% and +650%, respectively. The Bitcoin market in 2024 followed a similar trend in the weeks following the fourth halving in April 2024, with BTC prices fluctuating within a few percentage points since the event.

card

However, the 2024 uptrend has seen comparatively minor drawdowns as compared to prior bull markets. Prices have fallen by 20.3% from their local high, marking the most severe correction since November 2022. Previous cycles witnessed substantially deeper corrections, ranging from 25% to 35% in 2016-2017 and 50% to 63% in 2020-2021.

At the time of writing, BTC had dropped 2.32% in the previous 24 hours to $57,280.

The cryptocurrency market's capitalization is an important metric that reflects the size and straightness of the market at a given time. However, it is generally considered a broad metric not really useful for finding entry or exit points. But at the same time, there is a psychological threshold that might be used for support or resistance levels.

A major psychological and technical milestone was recently reached when the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, excluding Bitcoin, surpassed $2 trillion. This significant turning point serves as a major support area and lays the groundwork for future bullish momentum on the altcoin market. 

BTC/USD Chart by TradingView

The market cap has retraced to the "Reload Zone," which is located between the Fibonacci retracement levels of 61.8% and 78.6%. These levels have historically been important for locating possible turning points. Strong buying interest is evident from the market's propensity to recover from these zones. It looks like the market is ready for a big upswing based on the current configuration.

The chart shows a possible trajectory for the market cap, which would indicate a significant increase from current levels and bring it to $1.417 trillion. As investors get ready for a period of recovery and growth, this projection is in line with the general bullish sentiment that is emerging on the market.

card

This upbeat perspective is influenced by various factors. The first is that risk assets like cryptocurrencies might gain from an increase in liquidity brought about by the Federal Reserve's possible rate cuts. Second, the positive sentiment is reinforced by developments in the regulatory arena, such as the way the SEC has handled Ethereum ETF filings and the CFTC's position on cryptocurrency regulation.

Institutional interest is also increasing, as seen in the increased involvement of big financial institutions like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs in the cryptocurrency space. More evidence for a market-wide recovery comes from JPMorgan's optimistic forecasts for Bitcoin's August rebound and Goldman Sachs' impending tokenization initiatives.

Many might have succumbed to extreme fear regarding the potential of Bitcoin (BTC), but for Samson Mow, sentiment remains outright bullish. The price action of Bitcoin in recent times has tested the resolve of many hardcore proponents. However, with Samson Mow, the bearish trend remains a setup for a major rally ahead.

Samson Mow prediction

Taking to his favorite social media platform, X, Samson Mow pointed out that "everything is accelerating" at a fast pace. Specifically, he pointed to the growing adoption of Bitcoin and the drop in fiat valuation as two key factors that will drive growth - but which many people are choosing not to see.

card

The advocacy for Bitcoin from Samson Mow is not bogus. It is worth noting that the spot Bitcoin ETF market has played a crucial role in shaping the supply of the coin. Recently, the sell-off from Germany and the bearish sentiment that trailed Mt. Gox's Bitcoin redistribution drove the price of BTC to a low of $53,717.38 over the past month.

Everything is accelerating. Both #Bitcoin adoption and fiat collapse. Some people just don’t want to see it. pic.twitter.com/HDsIyyIENu

— Samson Mow (@Excellion) July 12, 2024

While many are choosing to focus on the negative impact of these sell-offs, Mow believes the accumulation by Bitcoin ETF products is properly counterbalancing the impact. With his projections, he has maintained his stance that the coin will hit a $1 million price mark overall.

Bitcoin legacy in check

Beyond value transfer, Bitcoin has built a whole new legacy that many Wall Street firms are now trying to align with. The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs is one of these legacies as investors can now gain unhindered access to the coin without the accompanying risks of physical BTC management.

card

MicroStrategy is also helping to boost the reality check for the coin with consistent accumulation in a mutually beneficial setup for its share price. The company initiated a 10-for-1 stock split recently, underscoring how the coin has triggered its growth since 2020.

Litecoin (LTC) has witnessed superior on-chain activity compared to other prominent coins, such as Dogecoin (DOGE). Per data from IntoTheBlock, LTC processes an impressive $2.85 billion in transactions over $100,000 daily. Notably, it averages more than 50% of its market cap.

This crucial figure surpasses the transaction volume of major layer-1 blockchains. It shows the massive whale activity on the Litecoin network. Moreover, Litecoin’s daily transaction volume in high-value transactions truly stands out in the crypto ecosystem.

The $2.85 billion processed daily in transactions is showing a robust level of activity among large holders, or whales. It highlights that institutional investors or high-net-worth traders have a strong presence in the Litecoin network. They seem to be using it for major transfers. This also shows that these whales are confident in LTC’s long-term outlook.

LTC surpasses DOGE

Dogecoin has a  higher market capitalization compared to Litecoin. It is almost three times that of Litecoin. Despite this, the meme coin has a significantly lower volume of large transactions. DOGE has almost $590 million in transactions over $100,000 daily.

This huge difference indicated that while Dogecoin has a huge market cap, its on-chain activity, particularly in large transactions, is comparatively modest. It further highlights the unique use cases and community engagement each coin attracts. DOGE, as a leading meme coin, has grown into a popular coin on the market.

It has a notable following, often driven by social media trends and celebrity endorsements. However, IntoTheBlock data shows that Dogecoin’s utility in major transactions is limited compared to Litecoin.

In addition, the rising whale activity of LTC may have several impacts. History suggests that crypto whales can influence market dynamics, owing to the size of their holdings. Their active participation in the Litecoin market shows their growing confidence in its stability, security and potential for future growth.

A well-known figure in the crypto industry, Justin Sun, founder of TRON (TRX) and chief adviser to Huobi, opened up in an unusual post on social networks. In particular, he responded to rumors regarding his Bitcoin investments.

Sun expressed confidence in Bitcoin's future but clarified that he did not take a long position at the $69,000 price level.

I am very optimistic about the development of Bitcoin and have great confidence in its future. However, I would like to clarify that I did not go long on Bitcoin at the $69,000 price level.

— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) July 12, 2024

card

This clarification came in response to a claim by Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, who alleged that Sun had opened a substantial Bitcoin long position using stUSDT as collateral.

HTX whale saga

Ju claimed that Sun is a mysterious HTX whale, who opened a long Bitcoin position at $67,000 with at least $420 million in positions.

I deleted the tweet to clarify things with the HTX team. I'll share their insights on PoR after our discussion.

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) July 11, 2024

He pointed out that the USDT reserve was around $24 million and questioned the source of the collateral, stating that Sun used $460 million worth of stUSDT, a stablecoin project with a high annual percentage yield, with 89% of the supply in HTX.

BTC to USD by CoinMarketCap

Interestingly, Ju later deleted his post, explaining that he intended to clarify matters with the exchange team. He emphasized that he was not being compensated for this action and did not want to harm their business before they had a chance to comment.

card

While Sun denied purchasing BTC at the $69,000 level, he did not address allegations regarding his Ethereum acquisitions. Recently, Spot On Chain reported that since Feb. 8, Sun may have bought 362,751 ETH, worth approximately $1.11 billion, via three wallets.