Ethereum (ETH) experienced a slight downturn on Wednesday, in tandem with a broader cryptocurrency market decline led by Bitcoin (BTC), which fell 7.59% over the past 24 hours to trade at $54,354 at the time of writing.

Earlier in the day, ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency, dropped approximately 8%, briefly touching $2,300 before rebounding by noon. This volatility reflects growing investor caution amid rising interest rates and the upcoming U.S. elections.

That said, analysts remain divided on Ethereum’s future trajectory amidst this drop. Analyst Alan Santana, in a tweet, acknowledged Ethereum’s bullish potential but also highlighted the ongoing correction and the possibility of further price dips. Notably, the pundit pointed to the “weekly MACD” indicator showing a bearish divergence, potentially leading ETH to revisit its “new baseline” between $1,750 and $1,550.

Santana further expressed concern about the recent launch of Ethereum Spot ETFs, suggesting institutional investors might be looking to buy between $1,000 and $1,200, a level last seen in November 2022.

“I think the next target is the “new baseline,” but I am prepared for all scenarios just in case…This is how the markets work, they tend to produce sudden events that we never thought possible.” Wrote Santana.

However, he emphasized Ethereum’s intention to surge to a five-figure price tag following the correction following a test of this support zone.

“After the correction is over, we will have a new growth phase, and Ethereum can easily go above $10,000. We only have a few months left for the entire correction and bottom to settle. After this, we are back on the positive and we think solely about LONG, up and green.” He added.

Notably, other prominent analysts have echoed similar sentiments. Popular veteran market analyst Peter Brandt recently predicted a potential decline for Ethereum (ETH), identifying it as a “well-defined short-side trade.” In a tweet, the pundit pinpointed $2,830 as the critical support threshold of a rectangle pattern, suggesting that if prices breach this level, ETH could go lower.

Similarly, popular crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen cautioned investors on Tuesday about Ethereum’s risk metrics. He highlighted the importance of considering Bitcoin’s dominance when evaluating altcoins like Ethereum. Cowen argued that Ethereum has been “bleeding back to Bitcoin” over the past years, suggesting a potential long-term decline in its value relative to Bitcoin. It could potentially drop to $1,200 by year end before resuming a bullish move.

ETH traded at $2,288 at press time, reflecting a 2.71% surge over the past 24 hours. However, the trading volume of assets saw a 59.69% surge, settling at $15.71 billion over the same period.

In a notable development for the XRP community, Ripple has officially requested “a pause” on paying the $125 million settlement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as directed by a court on August 7, 2024. This comes even as the legal battle with the agency continues to unfold.

On Wednesday, Ripple’s legal team submitted the request in a letter to Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York, stating that the SEC had consented. This request comes just before the deadline for the so-called “monetary portion” of the judgment, which had been set for this Friday, September 6.

Notably, Ripple’s request hinged on Rule 62(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows a party to obtain a stay of judgment by providing security. The letter further revealed that Ripple and the SEC had agreed that Ripple would place 111% of the judgment amount in a bank account controlled by its counsel, Kellogg Hansen. The stay will remain in place until 30 days after the expiration of the appeal period or the resolution of any appeal.

Notably, the stay order issued by Judge Torres further reflected these terms, emphasizing that post-judgment interest would continue to accrue in the SEC’s favor. As per the order, Ripple would retain beneficial ownership of the funds, though it will have no control over them during the stay. Further, the funds would only be released under specific conditions, such as mutual consent between Ripple and the SEC, payment of the judgment by other means, or a reversal of the judgment by the Court of Appeals.

That said, the latest development has sparked considerable speculation within the XRP community, considering that the SEC has until October 7, 2024, to decide whether to file an appeal. In a tweet, Pro-Ripple attorney Jeremy Hogan cautioned the SEC’s delay in filing an appeal may suggest uncertainty about its next steps.

“Most likely, the SEC just hasn’t made a decision whether it will appeal yet. Filing a Notice of Appeal…takes only 15 minutes. If the decision to appeal was already made, there’s no reason to delay filing the Notice, especially when you think it’s bad case authority out there.” He wrote.

Elsewhere, popular crypto lawyer Fred Rispoli humorously described the situation as a back-and-forth between Ripple and the SEC. He noted that Ripple’s legal team is essentially telling the SEC, “This is a lot of [money] that we are going to get back and extract maximum interest from you if you appeal and lose. So, are you appealing or not?”

That said, the latest development builds on last month’s ruling, which slashed Ripple’s fine from $2 billion to $125 million, a notable victory for the company. Despite this win, it has increasingly become evident that both Ripple and the SEC are bracing for an extended legal confrontation, a move that could continue suppressing XRP’s price.

As the ongoing debate over XRP’s potential breakout from its prolonged consolidation heats up, a prominent crypto pundit has offered a surprising perspective.

On Tuesday, popular crypto analyst “Levi Rietveld” pointed the finger at respected industry figures, accusing them of unfair criticism and undermining XRP’s reputation, which he claims is the reason behind its failure to reach the long-anticipated $100 price target.

“There is a reason why XRP is not $100 per coin, and that reason is because we have people who constantly spread misinformation, which makes it harder for us to get mass adopted,” the analyst stated.

Notably, Levi particularly denounced recent comments by Raoul Pal, a well-known investment strategist and the founder of Global Macro Investor. According to Levi, Pal has a massive influence within the cryptocurrency community and has been spreading what Levi deems as “misinformation” about XRP, causing “damage to this cryptocurrency and the rest of the industry.”

Notably, in a previous video, Pal had stated that while he hopes the XRP community is right about the cryptocurrency’s potential, he believes it is merely a matter of “hope” and not a sound investment strategy.

“I don’t want to get attacked by people online for this but I just feel like you’re being done a disservice by being an occult,” stated Pal. “our job is to be mercenaries. We’re in the job to make money not to be a cult. Cults don’t make money except for the leaders.  I know it hurts people when I say this Cardano, XRP there’s a whole bunch of these.”

Pal suggested that XRP holders should instead focus on “better narratives” around cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana.

Levi, however, strongly disagrees with Pal’s assessment. He argues that XRP has outperformed many other top cryptocurrencies, including Solana, over the past month. Furthermore, the pundit points out that XRP’s recent legal victories, such as being ruled non-security in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit, have provided much-needed clarity for the entire cryptocurrency industry.

“XRP fundamentally is far superior than 99.99% other crypto projects that are in existence today and they have a lot to back it unlike some other projects out there,” Levi stated. He also aimed for Pal’s previous support for the now-collapsed Terra ecosystem, questioning the credibility of Pal’s investment advice.

Levi’s remarks garnered support from Bill Morgan, a well-known XRP community member, who concurred, stating, “Endless FUD against XRP and the impact of the lawsuit may be factors inhibiting wider institutional adoption and higher prices for XRP.”

Morgan, however, emphasized that while these factors may play a role, they don’t fully explain XRP’s price behavior over the past seven years. This behavior often mirrors broader crypto market movements, particularly in response to Bitcoin’s fluctuations. 

Meanwhile, XRP continued its sideways trading on Wednesday, hovering around $0.53 after a 1.01% surge over the last 24 hours.

Cardano (ADA) has garnered much interest since the Chang hard fork upgrade. Despite the bearish sentiment that has engulfed the broader cryptocurrency market since September, ADA appears ready to extend its gains.

ADA was trading at $0.32 at the time of writing after a slight 2.46% gain in 24 hours. While the spot trading volumes have declined slightly, the derivatives market indicates a surge in interest.

According to Coinglass, ADA’s open interest stands at $173M after increasing by around 3%. This indicates that a large number of people are opening and maintaining positions on ADA.

Moreover, the recent gains in ADA price have led to the token forming a bullish pattern. According to trader Daan Crypto on X, ADA price has made a “clean breakout” on the one-hour chart. If the bullish trend continues, the analyst expects ADA to portray more signs of strength.

“ADA pretty clean breakout & retest here. If these things start working out, that’d be a good gauge of market strength… Generally, if things start moving up where they “should,” that’s a sign of strength and vice versa if it doesn’t obviously,” the analyst said.

Cardano’s four-hour chart confirms that a bullish trend is brewing. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 45, showing that selling momentum is still at play.

However, the RSI line has been forming higher lows and has also moved above the signal line, confirming bullish momentum is in play.

(Source: TradingView)

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator also suggests that bulls could take control. Not only is the MACD line above the signal line, but the histogram bars have also turned green, further proving a case for the bulls.

Continuing the bullish momentum, we could see the ADA price heading towards the next resistance level at $0.34. 

Cardano Joins Decentralized Recovery Alliance

This recent development comes as Cardano development firm Input Output (IOHK) joined the Decentralized Recovery Alliance. Other alliance members include Hedera, the Algorand Foundation, Ripple, and XRPL Labs.

This alliance is focused on promoting blockchain and Web3 security. Cardano will participate in the alliance’s Technical Oversight Committee to formulate the policies and standards needed to enable the recovery of crypto assets.

Cardano will also help solve one of the crypto industry’s main issues: security. It will support policy shaping while simplifying users’ crypto recovery process.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) dipped hard on Friday after the U.S. jobs report showed that growth was slightly less than expectations in August. The flagship crypto nosedived below $54,000 to its lowest level since Aug. 5.

Meanwhile, crypto market sentiment has plunged to an over-one-month low as industry pundits warn of a potential deeper BTC price pullback under the key psychological mark of $50,000 as soon as this weekend.

‘Extreme Fear’ Grips Market After Price Crash

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, a widely-followed indicator that measures the current sentiment in the Bitcoin market, cratered to “extreme fear” levels on Friday. The gauge fell to a one-month low of 22, its deepest dive into the fear zone since the start of August.

The metric dropped to 17 back when Bitcoin’s price plummeted to $49K, observed verified CryptoQuant author Axel Adler on Friday:

“During the mining ban in China, the index dropped to 10%. The maximum drop to 6% occurred during the Luna crash. HODL.”

Notably, the fall in sentiment follows the unprecedented plunge in the Bitcoin price today.

The oldest and largest cryptocurrency is now trading for $54,718, CoinGecko data shows, representing Bitcoin’s lowest price recorded since August 5. It’s down by 5.2% over the past 24 hours, pushing its weekly descent to 8.5%.

Markets reacted to data from the Labor Department showing that the United States added 142,000 jobs in August—lower than economist forecasts of 160,000. Moreover, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.2% from July’s 4.2%.

BTC Backslide To Sub-$50K Impending?

Crypto experts believe Bitcoin’s correction today sets the stage for this weekend’s maiden crypto crash, which will be sub-$50K.

“BTC is heavy, I’m gunning for sub $50k this weekend. I took a cheeky short. Pray for my soul, for I am a degen,” ex-BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes wrote in a Sept.6 X post.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt presented a similar observation, albeit without specific timing.

Brandt pointed to an expanding triangle/megaphone pattern emerging on BTC’s weekly chart, explaining that a “massive thrust” into price discovery is required for the bull rally to resume following months of sellers being in the driver’s seat.

“A test of the lower boundary would be to 46,000 or so,” the classical chartist posited alongside the illustrative chart below.

Solana (SOL) continued to trade sluggishly on Thursday, following a sharp drop of around 20% to approximately $128.62 on Wednesday. This decline has been linked to sustained selling pressure from a major unidentified whale or institutional investor, who has already unloaded over $99 million worth of the cryptocurrency this year.

“Since January 1, this whale/institution has sold an average of 19,306 SOL (worth $2.76 million) weekly, totaling nearly $100 million.” According to on-chain analysis firm Lookonchain tweeted on Sep 3.

The firm also revealed that the whale still holds 1.88 million $SOL (valued at $255.89 million) in staking, raising concerns over potential continued selling pressure.

Notably, SOL has struggled to maintain momentum since reaching a local yearly high of $210 last March, falling into a sideways consolidation pattern similar to other major crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and ADA.

Nevertheless, despite this lull, several analysts remain confident in SOL’s potential. On Wednesday, prominent crypto analyst Javon Marks projected a surge in SOL’s price to $457. In his analysis, Marks highlighted that his $233.8 target for Solana has held steady since mid-2023, when prices were at $16.12, marking a remarkable 1,203% rise. 

With SOL’s recent pullback, the pundit reaffirmed his next target, noting that the breakout holding the price in play continues to show strength, backed by bullish signals that push the price to his target.

“With that pullback and bull signal, we can watch for a break of this $233.8 target, bringing $457.97 into play and room for an additional +93% climb…” he stated.

Other analysts have also expressed optimistic views about SOL. Analyst “Cryptocurb” noted SOL’s consolidation within an asymmetric triangle pattern, tweeting that SOL has been trading between $120 and $210 for over 180 days, fluctuating between monthly support and resistance levels.

He further projected that when this consolidation phase breaks, “the move is going to be MASSIVE.” According to the pundit, we can “expect a swift move up to $400-$500, before advancement to $800-$1,000” or more, once the breakout occurs.

Adding to the positive outlook, Ali Martinez highlighted a potential technical signal for a Solana rebound in the short term. On Thursday, he tweeted that the TD Sequential indicator has issued a buy signal on SOL’s daily chart, suggesting a possible rebound over the next one to four daily candlesticks.

Elsewhere, analyst Sai Prathap highlighted historical price trends leading up to Solana’s annual Breakpoint conference. He pointed out that in previous years, SOL experienced significant pre-event price surges: 68% in 2021, 42% in 2022, and 58% in 2023. 

With this year’s Breakpoint conference scheduled to start on September 20th in Singapore, Prathap suggested a similar rally could occur. He further added that anticipated rate cuts in mid-September could further boost the likelihood of a price surge, emphasizing that it’s a matter of probabilities.

At press time, SOL was trading at $125.44, reflecting a 3.74% drop over the past 24 hours.

Nearly two years after “The Merge” at Ethereum’s blockchain — the transition to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism from a proof-of-work setting — investors in ETH who hoped the pivotal upgrade would provide a financial lift have been left with shrinking returns on investment. Ether’s price has underperformed Bitcoin (BTC), BNB, and even Solana (SOL) since the September 15, 2022 merge day.

The Floppening

Ethereum started 2024 on a high note but started flatlining in mid-March. While the second-largest crypto picked up momentum in mid-May amid anticipation of the approval of U.S. spot-based ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs), it has underperformed Bitcoin by a notable 44% since the blockchain’s switch to the PoS setup.

“Next week will mark two years since Ethereum switched to a proof-of-stake network, an upgrade known as The Merge. Since then, Ethereum has underperformed Bitcoin by 44%,” wrote CryptoQuant experts in a Thursday report.

CryptoQuant noted that the ETH/BTC price currently hovers around 0.0425, the lowest level since April 2021. Notably, Ether has underperformed the benchmark crypto even after spot ETH ETFs made their debut on U.S. exchanges on July 23.

The experts predicted that Ether could drop a further 50% against Bitcoin before bottoming out:

“Ethereum could fall further with respect to Bitcoin as Ether is still above undervaluation territory. We estimate that Ether would need to fall to about 0.02 in terms of Bitcoin, a 50% decline, for it to enter undervaluation territory.”

According to analysts, Bitcoin is not the only crypto Ethereum has trailed since The Merge.

“Ethereum has also underperformed altcoins like Solana and BNB since ‘The Merge’, down 53% and 18% respectively,” CryptoQuant’s Head of Research Julio Moreno postulated.

Is The Flippening Dream Over?

Many Ethereum fans have been ardently clamoring for the “Flippening,” but with the current trends, it seems that dream might be slowly slipping away.

CryptoQuant posited that a key reason for the underperformance could be Ethereum’s transaction count in the Mainnet relative to Bitcoin’s falling to one of the lowest levels since July 2020. Additionally, Ether’s total supply has been expanding since the execution of the Dencun upgrade in April and is no longer deflationary.

“Ethereum underperformance seems to be correlated with weaker network activity dynamics compared to Bitcoin,” CryptoQuant analysts said.

Another reason cited is the Ether network’s total transaction fees, which have continued to decline compared to those for BTC. Lower transaction fees on the Ethereum network after Dencun are to blame for this fall.

Despite the underperformance, some analysts are optimistic that spot ETH ETFs will push Ether price to new highs, with some predicting that Wall Street will use it to bet on Web3’s growth. Others envision the spot Ethereum ETFs attracting over $15 billion by 2025-end, driving ETH price to $5,000 during this cycle.

A top Ripple executive has backed Vice President Kamala Harris in her U.S. presidency bid.

According to a Friday CNBC report, Ripple co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen signed a letter formally endorsing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for president. CNBC noted that a total of 88 corporate leaders and high-ranking execs from multiple companies in the United States, including Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of the enterprise cloud company Box, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, Snap chairman Michael Lynton, and former 21st Century Fox boss James Murdoch, among others, have signed the letter.

Ripple’s Larsen signing the letter is curious, given the blockchain payments company has been embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since December 2020, when the agency accused the company of selling unregistered securities in the form of the XRP token. Notably, the Ripple co-founder and current CEO Bradley Garlinghouse had been named defendants in the $1.3 billion case, but the SEC ultimately dropped all charges against the two.

That said, the crypto industry has fiercely criticized Harris’s current presidential regime for its hostile stance. In fact, Ripple’s Garlinghouse has made no secret of his displeasure with the SEC’s confounding and confusing regulation-by-enforcement approach, emphasizing that the regulator’s actions harm innovation and force startups to move to friendlier jurisdictions.

Harris’ opponent in the presidential election, Donald Trump, has quickly become the crypto favorite, securing big-money support from industry CEOs as he embraces passionate cheering for the sector — which he’d publicly disliked until recently.

When Trump spoke at the recent Bitcoin Nashville conference, he promised to nurture the crypto industry, create a national strategic “reserve” of Bitcoin, and even replace unpopular regulators like Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler.

Ripple CEO Predicts Gensler’s Exit No Matter Who Wins Election

At this juncture, it’s vital to mention that Garlinghouse has recently predicted that Gensler’s time as SEC boss will come to an end, regardless of how the November U.S. presidential election unfolds.

During a press conference at Korea Blockchain Week 2024 in Seoul, the CEO said he would “make a gentleman’s bet” that Gensler’s term would not continue, regardless of who takes the Oval Office in January.

As the presidential election approaches, crypto regulation has noticeably become a hot-button political issue. Whether the cryptocurrency industry is influential enough to sway the hotly contested election remains to be seen.

Mike Alfred, former tech CEO, founder of a value investment fund, and a board member of several large companies believes Bitcoin (BTC) could explode higher and reach ambitious $200,000 heights as early as next year despite the top crypto floundering in recent weeks.

Speaking to crypto investor-cum-podcaster Scott Melker, also known as “The Wolf of All Streets,” Alfred indicated that his higher-end target is $315,000 by the end of 2025.

BTC To Touch $200K Price Tag Next Year

Even as bearish headwinds continue to blow in Bitcoin’s path, some pundits are still bullish about the price of the premier cryptocurrency.

During a recent chat with Scott Melker, investor Mike Alfred asserted that Bitcoin price could see a massive upward move and enter price discovery if it recaptures the $73K mark.

“My low-end target for Bitcoin next year is kind of $100,000 to $120,000…My high-end target is upwards of $315,000 and, of course, they’re they are really smart people who think it can go higher,” Alfred added.

He predicted that the U.S. Federal Reserve could cut its benchmark rates by up to 50 basis points. Monetary easing is typically considered to be a major positive catalyst for Bitcoin prices. 

“They’re trying to thread the needle to prevent unemployment from going up without causing inflation to go up. I think they’re just going to pump small-cap stocks, biotech, Bitcoin, maybe some crypto,” stated Alfred.

It pays to recall that the Fed’s 2020 Covid-19-era push to slash rates transformed Bitcoin in less than one year from a laggard asset class into a $1 trillion asset class.

The value investor further suggested that while the timeline for Bitcoin’s next parabolic rally might have shifted by a month or two, the case for Bitcoin surging is still very strong. In his opinion, the current consolidation phase is a “gift” for investors with a long-term view of BTC. 

“The longer this goes on, the more frustrated people get, and the more people capitulate, the bigger the up move will eventually be,” Alfred said.  

Bitcoin plunged below $57,000 Thursday, obliterating gains from yesterday’s momentary surge above $58,000. According to CoinGecko data, BTC was trading around $53,512 at the time of writing, around 2.7% lower than 24 hours ago.

Ripple CEO Bradley Garlinghouse has revealed that the fintech company’s U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), is closer than ever to being launched as it eyes a share of the fast-growing stablecoin market.

During a Sept. 4 fireside chat at the ongoing Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul, South Korea, Garlinghouse said the firm would roll out RLUSD in “weeks, not months”.

“We’re in a private kind of closed beta,” the CEO posited. “It’s called Ripple USD. RLUSD has been minted in that framework. We will certainly launch soon. Weeks, not months.”

Ripple revealed its stablecoin ambitions in April, noting that the token would be “100% backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. government Treasuries, and other cash equivalents.” The firm started testing the token in August with enterprise partners.

Garlinghouse revealed that plans for RLUSD were made after USD Coin (USDC), the industry’s second-biggest stablecoin by market cap, de-pegged from $1 in March 2023.

“We felt like there was an opportunity for a credible player already working with lots of financial institutions to lean into that market,” he explained.

The stablecoin will initially be deployed on its native blockchain, XRP Ledger, and Ethereum, but there are plans to expand to more blockchains and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols over time.

USDT and USDC currently dominate the stablecoin market. Tether’s USDT accounts for a whopping 70% of the total stablecoin supply, while USDC takes up roughly 20%.

Ripple’s stablecoin plans follow further enhancements to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), including Ethereum smart contracts through a new sidechain.

Garlinghouse Has “No Interest” In US IPO

While there have been long-standing rumors of a potential Ripple initial public offering (IPO), Garlinghouse said during the fireside chat that he has “no interest” in the company going public in the United States. This is mainly due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) hostile stance toward the crypto industry.

“SEC approved Coinbase going public in the United States, and now the SEC is suing Coinbase for the same things they approved,” Garlinghouse postulated. “One of the first pieces of advice I give entrepreneurs who ask me about starting crypto companies is: don’t incorporate in the United States. You’re just asking for more legal bills.”

Garlinghouse went on to predict the ouster of SEC chair Gary Gensler, regardless of who wins the forthcoming presidential election: 

“I think no matter who wins the United States election, we’ll see new leadership in the U.S. SEC. I think [Gary Gensler] really has hurt his party. He’s a Democrat, and I think it’s hurt them in the current election cycle.”

On August 7, 2024, Judge Analisa Torres of New York ordered Ripple to pay $125 million as part of the final judgment in its protracted legal tussle with the Wall Street regulator. Ripple execs celebrated the ruling as a significant victory for the company and the crypto industry at large.

“There aren’t that many companies that actually can stand up to a bully. The SEC has a lot of power, and it takes a lot of money and a lot of conviction to fight that,” Garlinghouse added Wednesday. “But we really did that from the very, very beginning believe that we were on the right side of the law and that we’d be on the right side of history.”

Today, Ripple submitted a letter requesting a stay of the monetary portion of Judge Torres’ ruling last month. In other words, Ripple doesn’t want to hand over the $125M to the securities watchdog until “30 days after the time to appeal or the resolution of any appeal” expires. 

The SEC has agreed to the request for a stay.

A Wednesday statement from World Liberty Financial, the new crypto lending platform promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump and his sons, suggests it wants to ensure global U.S. dollar supremacy in decentralized finance.

“Our mission is crystal clear: Make crypto and America great by driving the mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralized finance,” World Liberty Financial said in a seven-part Twitter thread. “We want U.S.-pegged stablecoins to remain the world’s settlement layer for the next 100 years.”

We have previously covered in-depth that the appeal of cryptocurrencies has proven too much to resist for Donald Trump’s family, even with less than two months to the election. While official details remain scant, World Liberty Financial indicated that it is being developed atop the popular Ethereum-based lending platform, Aave.

[1/7] Rumors are flying, but here’s the real story behind World Liberty Financial (WLFI). We know the magnitude of what we’re building and its potential impact on both crypto and our country, especially with the upcoming elections.

— WLFI (@worldlibertyfi) September 4, 2024

“We’re not just another hostile fork of Aave. History shows those don’t work,” the team posited. “We’re working with Aave, collaborating to create a platform that sets new standards and pushes all of DeFi forward. This is a partnership to build something truly transformative.”

According to the project’s team, the U.S. dollar is “under attack” by foreign nation-states after being the “backbone of global finance for decades.”

The main reasons why pundits think the dollar could soon lose dominance as the world’s reserve currency is the emergence of leading nations including Russia, South Africa, Brazil, China, and India, uniting to roll out a possible USD competitor, as well as the fact that the greenback’s share of financial exchange reserves has reached historic lows.

“By spreading U.S.-pegged stablecoins around the world, we ensure that the U.S. dollar’s dominance continues, securing America’s financial leadership and influence on the global stage,” the Sept. 4 statement said.

World Liberty Financial Copied Code From Hacked Blockchain App?

Fresh details concerning World Liberty Financial also emerged on Tuesday after CoinDesk reported that according to a leaked whitepaper, the upcoming borrowing and lending project is reminiscent of Dough Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that recently fell victim to a $2 million flash loan attack.

The report further revealed that World Liberty Financial is comprised of several Dough team members who could seemingly reuse code from the hacked protocol.

World Liberty Financial team, however, was quick to emphasize that it is making security a top priority, naming security firms Zokyo, PeckShield, BlockSec, and PeckShield as the companies have audited the project’s code.

Notably, the team also intends to launch a new “non-transferable” governance token called WLFI. 

“To those who are skeptical or listening to the noise: Our plan will speak for itself,” World Liberty Financial opined in the thread, “The brightest minds in crypto are backing us, and what’s coming will make all doubters think twice.”

This comes after Donald Trump has previously made several cryptic posts concerning World Liberty Financial, vaguely billing it as a project that will make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet.”

“Stay tuned. This is just the beginning,” the X post concluded. “We’re here to win, and we’re here to change the game. Let’s make DeFi, and America, great again.”

Days after announcing the proposed Shiba Inu DAO, the Shiba Inu (SHIB) community has voted to move forward with the initiative, bolstered by a significant 37.5 ETH donation from Project Wellys, one of the network’s major partners.

The vote, which closed on September 4, 2024, now sets the stage for the next steps in the Shiba Inu ecosystem’s decentralized governance. 

In an announcement endorsed by the network’s lead developer, Shytoshi Kusama, on Wednesday, a community member declared, “The voting has concluded. ShibArmy has spoken loud and clear. Thank you to everyone who participated. Stay tuned for more DAO votes on key decisions as Shiba State continues to evolve.”

Notably, the vote offered Shiba Inu holders four distinct options for managing the funds:

1. Escrow the funds in a new multi sig wallet to be managed by community members with public voting rights.

2. Burn the funds by purchasing and destroying SHIB tokens.

3. Allocate the funds to community projects at the discretion of the wallet holder.

4. Retain the funds while halting any negative commentary about the ecosystem.

Per a screenshot shared by the member, the results were decisive, with 84.95% of participants opting for the first choice. The proposal to burn the funds received 15.05% of the vote, while the remaining options were rejected.

Notably, the vote aligns with sentiments expressed by Kusama in a blog over the weekend, where he underscored the importance of community involvement, emphasizing, “The genius of Shib is the power of the community.”

He also assured that the funds will be managed by trusted signers and used according to future community votes, underscoring the DAO’s commitment to transparent and democratic decision-making. Notably, late last month, the pundit hinted at stepping down alongside other ecosystem developers to help Shiba Inu achieve full decentralization.

Last week, Shiba Inu’s head of marketing, Lucie, also emphasized the importance of DAO participation in shaping the community’s future. 

“This transition will empower every holder, regardless of the size of their stake, to have a say in the community’s direction,” she had tweeted, echoing the same message on Monday.

That said, this vote is part of a broader initiative to decentralize the Shiba Inu ecosystem’s governance. ZyCrypto reported that the DAO’s role is expected to evolve, with Shibarium’s Layer 2 solution tokens, BONE, and LEASH, contributing to the governance process. BONE holders will prioritize educational and innovative initiatives, while LEASH holders will focus on inclusivity and transparency.

Meanwhile, despite these governance advancements, SHIB’s market performance has been lackluster. It has experienced a 6% drop over the past week. At press time, the token was trading at $0.00001319, reflecting a 1.45% decline over the last 24 hours.

A Bitcoin whale took full advantage of the latest crypto market mayhem, which saw BTC retrace below the $57,000 level. Even as the flagship cryptocurrency dropped to a little below 22% under its current all-time high, the whale scooped up BTC worth roughly $49 million.

Bitcoin Whale Accumulation

According to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, a whale recently purchased BTC worth $30.82 million. The whale has been undeterred by the price weakness in cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin dropped over 3 percent to $55,847 on Sept.5 after failing to secure a strong foothold above $58,000 on Wednesday. The price of the largest and oldest crypto by market cap reached $65,000 on Aug. 25 and has been plummeting ever since, with the downturn characterized by short-lived shallow rallies.

Lookonchain observed that the whale acquired 862 BTC valued at around $49 million at an average price of $56,933 over the past three days.

A whale bought 545 $BTC($30.82M) again after the $BTC price dropped!This whale has bought 862 $BTC($49M) from the bottom at an average price of $56,993 in the past 3 days.Address:bc1qg32kay34ma85prkvxwtx3gxlm9w5yaeffz8djs pic.twitter.com/qu2eesnqMk

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 4, 2024

Notably, this is not the first time whales have bought the dip in recent times. Fellow on-chain analytics firm Santiment observed in an X post that whales and sharks with between 10 and 10K BTC have stacked 133.3K Bitcoin over the last month as smaller traders panic-sold their bags.

The accumulation of BTC by whales and sharks indicates a firm belief in Bitcoin’s long-term value despite short-term volatility. At press time, Bitcoin was changing hands at $56,038.29.

Relief Rally Soon?

The Bitcoin price has demoralized new investors and disappointed bulls since its last lifetime high of $73,737 on March 14. Notably, the apex crypto has failed to reclaim that ATH despite the latest block subsidy halving in April, an event that has historically propelled the price higher.

Data tracking firm CryptoQuant noted that BTC price action will remain “frustrating” despite the forthcoming U.S. interest rate cuts.

“Due to the expected US base rate cut on September 18, a short-term rebound due to positive market sentiment can be expected, but if the market atmosphere is not significantly reversed, it is highly likely that frustrating movements will continue in 2024,” contributor Crypto Dan said in a blog.

Attorneys representing Ripple filed a letter requesting to stay the monetary portion of Judge Analisa Torres’ Aug.7 final judgment ordering the San Francisco-based fintech firm to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) $125 million.

The SEC agreed to the request to delay payment of the judgment, and District Judge Torres has subsequently approved the Proposed Order. Overall, the filing suggests the regulator may choose to appeal the ruling in the lengthy XRP case.

XRP Lawsuit Heading Toward Appeal?

In the latest development in the Ripple vs SEC legal battle, Ripple’s legal team indicated that the SEC had consented to a request to delay payment of the $125 million fine after September 6. Ripple proposed the company puts 111% of the $125M (approximately $139 million) into an interest-bearing account managed by a law firm until “30 days after the time to appeal or the resolution of any appeal” has come to pass.

As per the filing, Ripple “shall retain beneficial ownership of the Fund and all accrued interest but shall have no control over the Fund.” If the SEC fails to appeal, the funds will be released from the account to the regulator upon the deadline passing.

Any appeal would mean that the XRP lawsuit was not yet over after being first filed by the SEC in late 2020. Ripple aims to acquire maximum interest from the SEC if the securities watchdog ends up appealing and losing the case.

District Judge Analisa Torres approved the request to put the funds into an escrow account to allow more time for either party to appeal the landmark ruling. It’s worth mentioning that under court guidelines, either side is allowed 60 days to file an appeal “if the United States or an officer or agency of the U.S. is a party.”

Appeal Ruling Unlikely Until 2026

Pro-XRP lawyer and founder of Hodl Law Fred Rispoli told his followers that there is no need to freak out over the SEC appeal likely by Oct.7. Rispoli suggested that even if the presiding judge grants the appeal, the ruling on the appeal would not come until 2026, thus lowering its immediate impact.

According to the attorney, the SEC filing lawsuits against digital asset exchanges and alleging several tokens are unregistered securities has weakened its case. Furthermore, he believes the regulator could withdraw its appeal at any time depending on who is chair. “If it’s Hester, I say 80% chance appeal would be dropped,” Rispoli added.

The popular lawyer further suggested that if Ripple or XRP fail to succeed now, it won’t be due to the possible SEC appeal, implying that other factors will play a key role in their trajectory in the near future.

It’s worth mentioning that Ripple’s Chief Legal officer previously asserted that the SEC has only a 10% chance of winning if it decided to go the appeal route.

Scottie Pippen, a 6-time NBA champion, has stirred a flurry of reactions among crypto community members after revealing a vivid dream he had. Pippen said in an X post that Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic Bitcoin creator, told him in his dream that Bitcoin was going to hit a new all-time high by early November.

The bizarre post came as the price of Bitcoin nosedived below the $56,000 mark following a dismal day for U.S. stocks.

The Dream With Satoshi

Scottie Pippen took to the X platform on Sept. 4 to share that Satoshi Nakamoto had shown up in his dream to predict that the apex crypto would reach $84,650 on November 5th.

Satoshi Nakamoto visited me in my dream last night and predicted that #Bitcoin would be at $84,650 on November 5, 2024. Not financial advice.

— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) September 3, 2024

Pippen’s assertion was particularly interesting as it coincided with Bitcoin dropping to $55,746, its lowest level since Aug. 8, erasing all the gains from last month. BTC subsequently recouped some losses, changing hands at around $58,101 as of press time.

The NBA legend’s prediction mainly attracted mockery from X users. “Ok then, weird grifter guy running Scottie Pippen’s account,” said Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus, popularly known as Shibetoshi Nakamoto on Twitter.

For Bitcoin to hit Pippen’s $84,650 dream target price, it must climb by over 45% within the next two months. However, the consensus among crypto pundits is that BTC’s frustrating price movement will likely continue for the rest of 2024 despite the incoming financial policy easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Pippen’s Journey Into Crypto

Scottie Pippen forayed into the crypto space in 2022 by debuting his own non-fungible token (NFT) collection.

In June, the former professional basketball player sought advice from his followers on whether to invest in Ether (ETH) or Solana’s SOL, further indicating his growing interest in cryptocurrencies. 

Moreover, there was speculation about Pippen launching his meme-based cryptocurrency. He, however, ultimately revealed the tokenization of the iconic 1991 NBA championship ball on the blockchain, which sparked a fierce backlash from crypto fans.

Suffice it to say that Pippen’s X post from earlier today appears to be another failed attempt to increase his presence in the cryptoverse.

In a notable development for the crypto community, the Polygon team has officially kicked off the transition from the MATIC token to the new POL token, marking a significant milestone for the second-layer blockchain network.

The transition, first announced in July, started being executed on Wednesday. MATIC holders saw their coins automatically converted to POL at a 1:1 ratio.

“We interrupt your doomscroll with another reminder – MATIC will be upgraded to POL tomorrow,” the Polygon team tweeted on Wednesday, accompanied by a blog outlining the technical upgrade.

According to the blog, the migration from MATIC to POL is a critical step in aligning Polygon with its vision as an “aggregated network of blockchains.” Notably, in the initial phase, POL will succeed MATIC as the native gas and staking token for the Polygon Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network, with plans for the new token to play a crucial role in the future AggLayer affiliate blockchain aggregation system.

“The technical upgrade from MATIC to POL marks a critical juncture for Polygon networks, enhancing utility and aligning with the vision of Polygon as an aggregated network of blockchains,” the blog post stated, with the Polygon team sharing further details on the migration.

That said, it is important to note that the transition was necessitated by the intentional burning of the MATIC upgrade keys years ago, effectively preventing any further changes to the token.

“The main reason the upgrade was technically necessary is because the MATIC upgrade keys were intentionally burned years ago. That basically means we can’t make changes to that token,” Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron stated in an interview on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the new POL token is expected to change Polygon’s tokenomics, including a reduced annual emission rate of 2% of the total supply. A portion of the issued POL coins will also be used to reward Polygon’s Proof Of Stake (PoS) validators, while the remainder will be directed to the project’s treasury to fund ecosystem development, including a grant program.

Centralized exchanges have already begun rolling out support for the MATIC to POL migration. Binance announced its plans to remove MATIC pairs from its platform on September 10 and replace them with the new POL token on September 13.

Notably, amid the transition, the price of MATIC remained relatively steady, with the coin trading around the $0.38 price range for most of the day despite a 5.34% drop over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) could slump further to $50,000, according to former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes. In a Wednesday blog post, Hayes shared his revised outlook for Bitcoin’s price movement, contradicting his earlier bullish stance.

In his blog, “Boom Times… Delayed,” Hayes detailed the factors influencing his prediction, warning that cryptocurrency may face a decline due to tightening liquidity conditions. Notably, the pundit highlighted the impact of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies, particularly its influence on the liquidity available for risk assets like Bitcoin.

“As soon as the Reverse Repo Program (RRP) started rising to the tune of $120 billion, Bitcoin swooned. A rising RRP sterilizes money as it sits inert on the Fed’s balance sheet, unable to be re-leveraged within the global financial system,” wrote Hayes.

The Reverse Repo Program (RRP) is a tool the Federal Reserve uses to manage short-term interest rates and control the money supply in the financial system. When the RRP rate rises, Bitcoin’s price may drop as investors move funds to safer, higher-yield options. If the RRP rate falls, more liquidity enters the market, which can drive Bitcoin’s price up.

He further pointed out that the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates and its reluctance to continue hiking rates could lead to further reductions in liquidity, adversely affecting Bitcoin. He also noted that being highly sensitive to dollar liquidity conditions, Bitcoin might struggle to maintain its current levels if the RRP balances continue to rise.

“Assuming the Fed doesn’t cut rates before the September meeting, I expect T-bill yields to stay firmly below those of the RRP. As such, RRP balances should continue to rise, and Bitcoin, at best, will chop around these levels and, at worst, slowly leak lower towards $50,000.” He emphasized.

Hayes also expressed concern over the potential ripple effects on altcoins like Ether, XRP, Cardano, Solana, and the like, predicting they might experience an even worse route. He mentioned that the decline in Bitcoin’s price could trigger a broader sell-off in the altcoin market, exacerbating investors’ losses.

“Between now and then, Bitcoin will, at best, continue to chop, and altcoins could dive deeper into the gutter,” Hayes wrote, underscoring the volatility that could grip the market in the coming weeks.

Interestingly, Hayes’ latest forecast marks a significant departure from his earlier prediction just last month, in which he anticipated Bitcoin rising to $100,000 by the end of the year. In a blog on August 12, Hayes attributed his bullish outlook to expected liquidity injections by the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve.

That said, albeit his current bearish stand, Hayes noted he remains long-term bullish on Bitcoin, emphasizing that he is not selling his crypto holdings but remains poised to buy more at opportune moments.

Bitcoin was trading at $58,032 at press time, reflecting a 0.18% drop over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) has reclaimed levels above $57K, but network activity remains low, with the current trend mimicking past bearish trends. 

The king of cryptos was trading at $57,948 at the time of writing after a slight 1.3% gain in 24 hours. Trading volumes have jumped by more than 30%, as seen on CoinMarketCap.

While the trend is showing signs of a rebound, activity on the Bitcoin network is not supporting the uptrend, and gains are solely in the hands of broader market sentiment.

According to a CryptoQuant analysis, the number of addresses in the Bitcoin network dropped to record lows in 2024. Active addresses on the network are currently at levels that were last seen three years ago.

This decline indicates waning interest in Bitcoin, and it could precede a decline in volatility. If network usage does not significantly change, BTC will continue trading rangebound.

Since March, BTC has moved between $50K and $73K, with no significant breakouts. If volatility returns in the market, the trend will be confirmed, either downward or upward.

Where is Bitcoin Headed?

According to one analyst on X, Bitcoin’s price has been trending lower with lower highs in recent months. To rally higher, BTC needs to break out above $68,000 and out of the trendline. Failure to do so will cause BTC prices to continue to dip.

The Stochastic Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the weekly timeframe is at 17. This shows that BTC is currently in the oversold territory, and traders might start buying the dip in anticipation of a price jump.

Bearish momentum is also seen on the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram bars, which have been predominantly red since May.

While the extended bearish momentum might soon reach exhaustion and support a trend reversal, demand for Bitcoin remains notably low as both the stochastic RSI and MACD lines are below the signal lines.

(Source: TradingView) 

Bitcoin might also need to collect liquidity at $49,000 before resuming an uptrend. Such a drop could happen if support at $55,800 fails. 

Moreover, institutions remain uninterested in buying the dip; some are even selling. According to Lookonchain, the crypto asset management firm Ceffu has deposited $182M of Bitcoin into Binance since August 26.

Looking at the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) market also shows declining market interest. Data from SoSoValue shows Bitcoin ETFs have recorded consecutive outflows since August 27.

This shows insufficient demand to support a Bitcoin rally, and the price could continue to show weakness.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has expressed his enthusiasm for the forthcoming enhancements to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which aim to improve its programmability and utility.

Garlinghouse’s comments follow a Monday blog post by Ripple, which outlined the company’s commitment to expanding the programmability of the XRP Ledger. Notably, this move aims to equip developers, entrepreneurs, and users with the tools needed to create more customizable applications, thereby accelerating innovation within the ecosystem.

The blog post outlined two key advancements that will enhance the XRPL’s programmability: the introduction of native smart contract capabilities on the XRP Ledger Mainnet and the upcoming deployment of the XRPL EVM Sidechain. The latter is expected to go live in the coming months and offer Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, which will allow developers to use familiar tools and programming languages.

Notably, these developments are set to create a robust, versatile ecosystem capable of supporting a wide range of applications, from tradfi to cutting-edge DeFi solutions. Ripple further emphasized the importance of these upgrades.

“Programmability on the XRP Ledger will improve through two key developments: the introduction of native smart contract capabilities on the XRP Ledger Mainnet, which is currently in the research phase, as well as the introduction of the XRPL EVM Sidechain, expected to go live in the coming months,” the blog stated.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Garlinghouse echoed these sentiments, expressing his excitement about the future of Ripple.

“With new programmability in the works for the XRP Ledger (something the XRP community has rightly been asking for) and the growing opportunity for Ripple’s enterprise products to serve crypto-native customers, the foundations of crypto infrastructure serving real-world use cases are steadily becoming more robust by the day,” Garlinghouse stated.

On the other hand, David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, also weighed in on the upgrades, expressing his excitement about the possibilities the new native and sidechain programmability could bring to the XRP Ledger.

When asked by a community member about the use of sidechains, Schwartz responded, “I’ve recently become convinced that it’s possible to come up with a proposal for smart contracts on XRPL that is small and safe enough to deploy on mainnet without significant risk to things like transaction price stability and performance for payments.”

That said, by integrating Ethereum-compatible smart contracts via a new sidechain, Ripple is positioning the XRPL to support more complex applications and drive greater interoperability across multiple blockchain networks, particularly in 2025.

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to trade under pressure on Tuesday following a further decline earlier last week when its price dipped below the crucial $60,000 threshold, a historical support zone.

This drop, triggered by exchange inflows by whales on Tuesday following the arrest of Telegram CEO in France, led to a surge in trading volumes as market panic set in. At press time, however, Bitcoin had stabilized and was hovering around $57,998, marking a 2.64 decline over the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) whales have been actively accumulating despite this momentary calm after the storm. According to the crypto analytics platform Santiment, these large holders have collectively acquired Bitcoin worth about $7.8 billion in less than a month. This accumulation spree unfolded amid a significant price downturn, which saw the drop in BTC to as low as $49,140 on August 5.

Interestingly, as per Santiment, while smaller traders are offloading their Bitcoin holdings in response to the price drop, these larger holders were taking advantage of the downturn to increase their holdings.

“Bitcoin currently sits at $58.9K, which is apparently just fine for whale and shark holders. Over the past month, wallets with 10-10K BTC have collectively accumulated 133.3K more coins while smaller traders continue to impatiently drop their holdings to them.” Wrote Santiment.

That said, despite the current accumulation of whales being seen as a precursor to a potential rebound, analysts are divided on what the near future holds for Bitcoin. Analyst Rachel Lucas of BTC Markets attributed the decline to a combination of factors, including an oversold US dollar index and negative seasonality. The pundit, thus, did not rule out the possibility of Bitcoin falling further to around $56,000 if the price remains below its 50-day moving average of $61,991.

On the other hand, analyst Alan Santana stated on TradingView that he is preparing for what he calls the “2024 Bitcoin Crash,” suggesting that Bitcoin could drop to $49,000, which lies around the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement level from the bullish wave seen between September 2023 and March 2024. He further noted that the 0.618 Fibonacci level, now around $43,500, could serve as critical support, likely prompting a natural bounce or pullback.

On the contrary, another analyst, “Cobra Vanguard,” pointed to a bullish price channel on the BTC weekly chart. He further emphasized that Bitcoin may have completed its fourth downward wave and could be on the verge of breaking through the ascending triangle to complete its fifth wave, sending its price to around $120,000.