Bitcoin’s price has failed to keep up its upward momentum and has yet to set a new record high above the $75K level. Given the current price action, even a deeper correction is probable.

Technical Analysis

By TradingRage

The Daily Chart

On the daily chart, the price dropped below the $68K support level a few days ago. It has dropped back inside the large descending channel, making its recent breakout fake.

The $60K support level seems like a valid target for the upcoming weeks, and the 200-day moving average trending around the $56K mark can be the next target for the worst-case scenario.

Source: TradingView The 4-Hour Chart

Looking at the 4-hour timeframe, things seem more apparent. The price has been forming an ascending channel pattern around the $70K resistance zone. Yet, the channel is getting broken to the downside, which is a classical bearish reversal indication.

Meanwhile, the RSI has entered the oversold region, pointing to a potential bear trap. Therefore, if the market quickly climbs back inside the channel, the bearish scenario would fail, and a bullish reversal could be expected.

Source: TradingView On-Chain Analysis

By TradingRage

Exchange Reserve

While Bitcoin’s bullish momentum is seemingly fading, things are going strong in the background. This chart demonstrates the BTC exchange reserve metric, which measures the amount of Bitcoin held in exchange wallets.

A decline in exchange reserve typically shows dominating demand, while increases are associated with excessive supply.

The exchange reserve has been on a steep decline recently, significantly since the price recovered from the $60K level earlier in May. While the technicals do not favor a rally, the fundamentals of Bitcoin supply and demand seem strong and could lead to a price surge in the coming months.

Source: CryptoQuant

The post BTC Bears Set Sights on $60K But Fundamentals Remain Promising (Bitcoin Price Analysis) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The weekend dump dragged Litecoin’s price below $80 as the cryptocurrency experienced significant sell pressure.

The accumulation over the past couple of weeks failed to drive the price higher, but the latest data suggest two potentially bullish indicators for the altcoin, predicting a recovery.

Litecoin’s Active Addresses Spike

According to the popular crypto analytic platform, Santiment, the number of addresses interacting on the Litecoin network more than doubled starting from June 4th. This increase in active addresses, from an average of around 345k in May to around 704k in the past week, suggests a significant uptick in network activity and adoption, which is generally considered a positive sign.

Santiment’s insights further indicate that Litecoin’s RSI has entered into the “opportunity zone” region, implying that the asset may be oversold and potentially primed for a price rebound. Combined, the surge in active addresses alongside the favorable RSI reading could potentially signify a rally for Litecoin in the near future.

Despite this, concerns about sell pressure still exist. Another related analysis showed that around 432,070 addresses acquired a total of 6.67 million LTC, purchasing with the price range of $81-$83. This significant buying activity indicates a strong interest at this price level.

If Litecoin manages to climb back to this range, it is likely that some of these investors may try to sell their holdings in an attempt to break even. In such a scenario, a potential selling pressure could create a resistance around the $81-$83 range.

Milestones for Litecoin

Litecoin briefly emerged as the most active blockchain in the world, surpassing Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of active addresses, suggesting a surge in usage due to cost and time efficiency last week.

On June 6th, IntoTheBlock data revealed that the number of active Litecoin addresses reached the highest level since January. The total number of Litecoin transactions hit 426k during this period of increased network activity.

While a majority of this transaction uptick involved smaller transactions under $10, there was also noticeable rise across transactions of all sizes on the network as indicated by the blockchain intelligence firm.

The post Doubling Litecoin (LTC) Addresses Could Signal Bullish Move appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Polkadot (DOT) is trading at around $6.37 amid a market correction, with analysts predicting a potential rise if it surpasses key resistance zones.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicates the asset might be poised for an upward trend, with current levels suggesting it is not overbought.

Bears Might Get Disappointed

Polkadot’s DOT is yet another cryptocurrency heavily affected by the ongoing market correction. It currently trades at around $6.37 (per CoinGecko’s data), representing a 2% decline on a daily scale and 14% on a two-week basis.

One popular analyst who touched upon the asset’s downtrend is the X user Yakuza. He

claimed that last week’s volatility interpreted DOT’s bullish mode but argued that “the party isn’t over yet.”

The analyst outlined an important resistance level of approximately $7.90, which might be followed by a substantial ascent above $13 if overcome. 

“The bears are putting in extra hours to make sure we don’t scale these ranges before Q3. They’ll be extremely disappointed,” they added.

For their part, Block Diversity revealed entering the DOT ecosystem as an investor. The analyst hopped on the bandwagon when the asset was worth $4.90 and then increased the exposure when the asset reached $7.50 and subsequently dipped to $6.20. The X user stated that the stash will be kept for the long run:

“Messed up average buy approx $6.3. I am keeping this heavy bag for the long term. No sell in sight. PS: This is one of my biggest spot positions, followed by SKL, FIL, ZIL, ATOM, and XTZ.”

Previous Forecasts and Important On-Chain Metrics

Another analyst who envisioned a DOT rally in the event of overcoming a certain resistance zone is Michael van de Poppe. He outlined his prediction last week, envisioning a rally to as high as $17 should the asset cross the $9.30 mark. 

Crypto Thanos chipped in, too, assuming that everything between $6 and $7.50 is part of DOT’s accumulation phase. The crypto enthusiast has high hopes for the token based on certain fundamentals such as “supersession of the old model of parachain auctions,” “radical change in the use,” reduction of inflation via the burning of fees, and others.

One major on-chain indicator signaling that DOT’s value might indeed be poised for an uptick is the Relative Strength Index (RSI). This momentum oscillator helps determine whether the coin is overbought or oversold, thus showing potential reversal points.

It ranges from 0 to 100, as anything above 70 suggests that a price correction could be imminent. Data shows that RSI has been hovering below that level since May 22, currently positioned at 32.

DOT RSI, Source: Crypto Waves

 

The post Polkadot Crashes Toward $6 But Some Remain Optimistic, What’s Next? (DOT Price Prediction) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Despite an attempt at making higher highs in early June, momentum has shifted in favour of sellers.

Key Support levels: $0.000018

Key Resistance levels: $0.000025  

1. SHIB Loses Key Level

Market participants were hoping SHIB can hold the $0.000025 level as a key support that can send the price to new highs. Unfortunately, this was short-lived. Sellers took back control of the price action and turned this level into a key resistance.

Chart by TradingView 2. Bulls on the Defensive

With the $0.000025 level lost to sellers, bulls had no option but to retreat to the next key level at $0.000018 which is currently acting as support. The price action is also bearish and has been making lower lows in the past week.

Chart by TradingView 3. Bearish Momentum Picking Up

June may have started on an optimistic note, but it soon turned around as momentum shifted bearish. This can also be seen on the weekly MACD. The histogram is making lower lows and the moving averages are in a free fall right now. Watch the key support at $0.000018 which could attempt to stop this sell-off.

Chart by TradingView

The post Why is the Shiba Inu (SHIB) Price Down Today? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

While XRP investors have been hoping for the coin’s price to rally for the past few months, the exact opposite is occurring at the moment. Yet, this shakeout might just be the final phase before a new uptrend.

Ripple Price Analysis

By TradingRage

The USDT Paired Chart

Against USDT, XRP has consolidated inside a large symmetrical triangle over the past couple of months. However, the market has fallen below the pattern recently, and the $0.5 support level has also broken down.

If the price does not quickly climb back above this level, a short-term decline toward the $0.4 support zone could be expected.

Source: TradingView The BTC Paired Chart

The XRP/BTC pair’s daily chart shows a multi-quarter downtrend. XRP has been declining against BTC since November last year when the price failed to break above the 200-day moving average.

Recently, Ripple briefly tested the 600 SAT support and is currently consolidating between it and the 800 SAT resistance zone.

While there is still no sign of a rebound, with the RSI indicator recovering from the oversold region, the market could finally move higher toward the 200-day moving average around the 1000 SAT mark. This is, of course, if the 600 SAT level holds.

Source: TradingView

The post XRP Nosedives 9% as Bears Are Already Looking at $0.4 But is it Too Soon? (Ripple Price Analysis) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Despite a recent dip below $67,000, industry participants remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s potential resurgence and future gains.

Upcoming US CPI data and the FOMC meeting could significantly impact BTC’s price, with analysts expecting possible upward movement.

The Optimistic Scenarios

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to almost $72,000 earlier this month, allowing some industry participants to speculate that a new all-time high could be just around the corner. Instead of a fresh peak, though, the asset headed south in the past several hours, dipping below the $67,000 mark and hurting over-leveraged traders.

BTC Price, Source: CoinGecko

However, numerous analysts remain optimistic that the negative trend is a momentary event that might soon be replaced by another resurgence. The X user Mags claimed that BTC has been forming “a descending broadening wedge pattern,” which often leads to “an explosive move on the breakout.”

Crypto Rover—an X user with almost 800,000 followers—was even more bullish. He reminded that the US SEC has already approved spot BTC and spot ETH ETFs, predicting that “crypto is going only up from here.” The analyst went even further, setting the staggering target of $500,000 for a single BTC sometime in the near future.

Shortly after his bold forecast, Crypto Rover presented a chart showing that retail investors are yet to jump on the bandwagon, while FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is at a relatively low level. According to him, this means that the bull market has not even started.

Earlier this month, the market intelligence platform Santiment shared a similar pattern, signaling that euphoria among traders is still far from its peak zones observed in previous bull cycles. In the context of crypto, FOMO refers to the fear of missing out on potential investment gains in a particular digital asset that has been performing quite well.

The phenomenon can cause investors to enter the ecosystem emotionally rather than rationally. People may ignore vital due diligence and investment strategies, leading to impulsive buys at high prices. This, in turn, could propel crucial losses in the event of a severe market correction.

FOMO levels were notably high in 2021, when BTC jumped to almost $70,000 for the first time in its history. However, the jolly was short-lived, with the whole industry entering a devastating bear market in 2022.

These Events Can Become Game Changers

Another analyst who delved into the matter is Michael van de Poppe. He noted BTC’s downfall after being rejected at the $71K area, expecting a further plunge toward the $64,000-$65,000 range.

On the other hand, the crypto enthusiast believes the asset will head north once again following the upcoming US CPI data and FOMC meeting.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release the latest Consumer Price Index on June 12, while the Federal Open Market Committee meeting (which decides whether interest rates in America should be raised, lowered, or kept at the same level) is scheduled for the same date.

Both events have historically triggered enhanced volatility for the leading digital asset and the entire cryptocurrency sector.

Most experts believe that interest rates will remain unchanged at their current 5.25-5.50% benchmark. Prominent names, including Mike Novogratz (CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings), think BTC will head north once the Fed pivots from its anti-inflationary regime. 

Such a move would make money borrowing easier, which might translate into increased interest in risk-on assets such as cryptocurrencies.

The post More Pain to Come? Check Out These Recent Bitcoin Price Predictions appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Open-source blockchain platform Cardano is about to reach its most significant milestone since its inception: becoming a fully decentralized network with an advanced governance system.

According to an X post by the network’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, Cardano Node will reach version 9.0 this month, and the blockchain will be ushered into its next development era, Voltaire.

Cardano’s Most Significant Milestone

Hoskinson explained that Cardano is ready for the Chang fork and is waiting for 70% of its stake pool operators (SPOs) to install the new node. Afterward, the network will undergo a hard fork, welcoming it into the Age of Voltaire.

The Chang fork, named in honor of Phil Chang, an early leader in Cardano governance who passed away in 2022, will apply the technical capabilities of CIP-1694’s on-chain governance onto the mainnet.

Following the launch of the Chang fork and Cardano’s transition to the Voltaire era, the blockchain will have a governance system with annual budgets, a treasury, and input from community members. Hoskinson said the development would make Cardano a decentralized civilization with millions of residents worldwide.

“It’s been nearly ten years for some of us on this remarkable journey. I can’t believe that in a single decade, we built a nation. I’m proud of all of you. Cardano gives me hope for our industry and the world. Let’s spend the next decade making a big dent in the universe,” he added.

Cardano’s Development Stages

The Age of Voltaire is the last era in Cardano’s development stages. These eras are named after prominent computer science and poetry figures: Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Joseph Goguen, Matsuo Bashō, and Voltaire.

The Byron era saw the launch of Cardano as a proof-of-stake protocol after network participants used a peer-review and research model of formal development. In the Shelley era, developers focused on achieving more decentralization, security, and robustness. Goguen saw smart contracts going live on Cardano, while Bashō, the network’s current era, has been about scaling and optimization.

Voltaire will introduce community-run governance, voting, and treasury management. Community members holding the network’s native token, ADA, will be allowed to initiate and vote on proposals geared toward the development of the blockchain.

The post Cardano to Hit Most Significant Milestone in its History This Month: Hoskinson appeared first on CryptoPotato.

XRP failed to break the key resistance and is now found in a downtrend.

Key Support levels: $0.48, $0.43

Key Resistance levels: $0.54

1. XRP Rejected by Key Resistance

Buyers made several attempts to break the key resistance at $0.54. However, each time they were rejected by sellers. Because of this, the price action has turned bearish in the past week. If nothing changes, the support at $0.48 will likely be put under pressure in the coming days.

Chart by TradingView 2. Bears Dominate

Since last week, bears have dominated price action and volume. Buyers were simply unable to stop the downtrend, and whenever buy volume increased, it was insufficient to stop sellers. For this reason, the support at 48 cents could be challenged soon.

Chart by TradingView 3. Bearish Cross on MACD

The 3-day MACD made a bearish cross and this has encouraged sellers to continue their assault. The next key level of support after $0.48 is $0.43 should XRP stay on this downtrend. Buyers may also retreat there before attempting to make a stand to reverse this price action.

Chart by TradingView

The post Why is the XRP Price Down Today? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

With risk assets in the financial sector currently looking vulnerable, market experts have identified economic factors that could put bitcoin (BTC) in a similar light and push it into a “slow bleed environment.”

According to a Bitfinex Alpha report, risk assets are beginning to look vulnerable due to concerns that United States authorities may not cut interest rates soon. These assets, including BTC, were dented last week after regulators released stronger-than-expected jobs data. However, BTC was resilient and gracefully navigated the impact of the data due to the continued inflows into the U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) market.

Forthcoming U.S. Meeting and Report

Since May 13, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have been on a 19-day inflow streak, which was broken just yesterday (June 10). The continued inflows played a significant role in underpinning bitcoin’s price on Friday after the digital currency dropped by more than three grand within an hour.

Analysts said that while the ETF inflows are bolstering bitcoin’s price, the trend could be disrupted in the coming week due to inflation signals that may emerge after the U.S. Consumer Price Index report. In addition, the forthcoming U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting on interest rates could also impact the ETF flows.

“The outcomes of these near-term economic signals could impact continued inflows and put BTC into a ranging or slow bleed environment,” Bitfinex said.

Besides the forthcoming meeting and report, funding rates are currently high in bitcoin perpetual futures markets, indicating that traders are paying a premium to open long positions. The rising bitcoin CME futures open interest (OI) and the ETF inflows suggest that traders are leveraging the arbitrage opportunity between futures and spot markets.

Bitcoin OI across major crypto exchanges hit an all-time high of $36.8 billion on June 6, and despite the price correction on Friday, OI is currently above $36 billion. Bitfinex likened the Friday plunge to a leverage flush, which wiped out many leveraged long positions on altcoins and neutralized funding rates.

Bitcoin Unable to Push Past Range High

Despite positive ETF flows offsetting the pressure on BTC, the asset has been unable to push past its range high. Before the plunge on Friday, BTC rallied to a range high at over $71,500 for the first time since the sub-$57,000 range low deviation was reached in May.

While Bitfinex does not expect a major decline immediately, bitcoin’s failure to move past range highs remains a cause for concern.

The post These Economic Factors Could Put Bitcoin in a ‘Slow Bleed Environment’ (Bitfinex) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Shiba Inu’s burn rate surged by 2,800% in the past 24 hours.

Despite increased burn efforts and advancements in the layer-2 scaling solution, Shibarium, SHIB’s price remains down, reflecting the overall market correction.

SHIB’s Burning Efforts

Shiba Inu’s burn rate exploded by 2,800% in the past 24 hours, resulting in almost 8 million tokens removed from circulation. Data shows that over 50% of the amount was destroyed in a single transaction approximately 17 hours ago. 

The burning program aims to reduce the tremendous supply of the meme coin and create potential value appreciation through scarcity. SHIB has a maximum supply of 999,982,363,413,352 tokens, with more than 41% already sent to a null address.

The mechanism is rather complicated and involves both automatic and manual burns. If you want to learn more about it, feel free to read our dedicated guide here. Not long ago, the team behind the meme coin introduced “a transformative token mechanism” to automate the entire system.

However, it’s worth noting that SHIB remains deep in the red, plummeting by 3% on a daily scale and 6% weekly (per CoinGecko’s data). Its pullback coincides with an overall market correction, where Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled to as low as $67,500, while Ethereum (ETH) neared the $3,500 mark. 

The fluctuation in the burn rate might have been caused by someone moving to liquidate their position during times of market uncertainty and increased volatility.

The post SHIB Price Tanks but This Metric Soars by 2800% appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The cryptocurrency market continues declining following the crash that happened late last week. The total capitalization was pushed below $2.6 trillion on the back of significant losses by Bitcoin an most of the altcoins.

Bitcoin’s Price Plummets Toward $67K

At the time of this writing, BTC is trading at around $67,500, having plunged all the way down to around $67,200 on Binance. The move paints a 2.7% decline in the past 24 hours.

Source: CoinGecko

Data from the popular analytics resource Coinglass shows that the total liquidations for the past 24 hours stand at around $170 million. Most of them, expectedly, are long positions. In fact, over 92% of all positions across the leading derivatives platforms are longs. Leading is Binance with around $65 million of total liquidations, followed by OKX and Huobi.

Some Altcoins Have It Worse

A lot of the large-cap altcoins are painting steeper declines compared to Bitcoin. As seen in the chart below, SOL is down 3.6%, SHIB is down 3.6%, ETH – 3.7%, PEPE – 3.8%, TON – 3%, BNB – 5%, and so forth.

Source: Quantify Crypto

As CryptoPotato reported earlier, meme coins are going through a bloodbath as well. Coins like PEOPLE, PONKE, BRETT, DOGE, FLOKI, SHIB, and others – are all trading well in the red.

It’s interesting to see if this is a short-term correction or if the decline will continue throughout the rest of the summer months.

Meanwhile, today’s best performer is Injective (INJ), which increased by 10%. This follows an announcement of improved tokenomics that took place a few days ago.

The popular TON-based meme coin Notcoin (NOT) is the one that plunged the most out of the top 100. NOT is down 14.7% in the past 24 hours. Wormhole and BRETT follow suite with 11.6% and 9.4% declines, respectively.

The post Bitcoin Plummets Toward $67K but These Coins Have it Worse (Market Watch) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant correction on June 11, affecting both major digital assets and meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Beercoin (BEER) stood out by reaching an all-time high despite the downturn, highlighting the unpredictable and volatile nature of the sector.

Memes are Bleeding

The cryptocurrency market started the week on the right foot, recovering some losses that had been registered in the past several days. However, another severe correction occurred on June 11, with Bitcoin (BTC) plunging below $68,000 and Ethereum (ETH) dropping to almost $3,500.

The situation in the meme coin sector is no better. The leaders in terms of market capitalization – Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) – are down 3% each on a daily scale, while Pepe (PEPE) and Floki Inu (FLOKI) witnessed more painful declines. 

The frog-themed Brett (BRETT), which was on a massive bull run in the past several days, headed south, too. Its price is currently hovering around $0.16, a 9% pullback in the past 24 hours but still a 33% weekly increase.

One of the few meme coins defying the negative market trend is Beercoin (BEER). Several hours ago, its value reached an all-time high of approximately $0.00057044. Currently, it trades at roughly $0.0004969, a whopping 450% spike on a 14-day basis.

BEER Price, Source: CoinGecko

ConstitutionDAO (PEOPLE), PONKE (PONKE), and Apu Apustaja (APU) are among the few other gainers, seeing minor price resurgence.

A Stark Warning for Investors

The meme coin sector is capable of spewing tokens that experience substantial price increases in a short period of time, thus benefiting savvy traders who enter the ecosystem in the early days. There are numerous examples of people who made millions (at least in paper profits) due to dealing with the asset class.

The latest pullback in the sector, though, should also serve as a major alert that jumping on the bandwagon can lead to crucial losses because of the enhanced volatility. 

Please take a look at our dedicated video to check the most common mistakes that successful traders need to avoid when delving into the matter:

 

The post Meme Coin Bloodbath: PEPE, FLOKI, and BRETT Among the Poorest Perfomers appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Despite hints of waning hype, the US spot Bitcoin ETFs, including GBTC, had a strong start to June. During the first week alone, these ETFs collectively purchased 25,729 BTC.

Data also shows that in January, these ETFs acquired 33,456 BTC, followed by 116,561 BTC in February and 65,456 in March. April, on the other hand, saw an outflow of 6,074 BTC. The figure subsequently recovered in May when it recorded 25,729 BTC.

Interestingly, the amount of bitcoins purchased by these investment vehicles in the first week of June was recorded to be almost as much as the entire month of May, as per the data shared by HODL15Capital.

Since their launch in mid-January, these spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted a total of almost $15.7 billion in net inflows from investors. This figure also includes the $17.93 billion in net outflows experienced by Grayscale’s GBTC during the same period.

These 11 ETFs collectively manage more than $61 billion in total assets under management (AUM) with BlackRock and Fidelity in the lead in the US.

Moreover, the US-based spot ETFs were on a spectacular streak of 19 consecutive days, with only inflows. However, that record came to an end exactly a month after it started.

Farside data shows that the ETFs had $64.9 million taken out on June 10. As expected, the biggest loser was Grayscale’s GBTC, which saw nearly $40 million taken out. IBIT and BITB were among the few that actually saw minor inflows.

Interestingly, bitcoin’s price started to tumble in the past 12 hours amid the outflows from the ETFs. The asset went from just over $70,000 to under $68,000 in hours, leaving $170 million in liquidations and dragging the entire market with it.

The post Bitcoin ETF Inflow Streak Ends After 19 Days, but June’s Opening Week Rivaled May’s Total appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin’s price tried to take down the coveted $70,000 level last night but was violently rejected and pushed back down by over two grand in an hour or so.

The altcoins have also turned red, triggering an $80 billion loss to the total crypto market cap. The total value of liquidated positions has risen to roughly $170 million on a daily scale.

CryptoPotato reported yesterday that BTC’s price actions were quite dull during the weekend, but Monday began on a more positive note. The afternoon was even more bullish for the asset as it attempted a charge against the psychological resistance at $70,000.

Despite briefly breaching that level, the bears were quick to intercept the move and didn’t allow a decisive victory. Just the opposite, BTC started losing value almost immediately and dumped by over two grand within an hour or so.

This culminated in a price drop to its lowest level since June 3 of $67,500. Its market cap has also plummeted to $1.335 trillion on CG.

Bitcoin/Price/Chart 11.06.2024. Source: TradingView

The alternative coins are in an even worse state. Ethereum has lost 3.5% on the day and is down to $3.560. Similar declines are evident from SOL, DOGE, TON, SHIB, and LINK.

Binance Coin, which was last week’s top performer, has dumped by more than 7% in the past 24 hours. As a result, BNB is down to under $620.

Even more painful declines come from the likes of NOT (-19%), W (-15%), JASMY (-11%), BRETT (-10%), and others.

The total value of liquidated positions in the past 12 hours is up to $120 million and $170 million on a daily scale. More than 75,000 traders have been wrecked within the same timeframe.

Interestingly, ETH is responsible for the largest piece of the pie and the single-biggest liquidated position involved ether as well. It was worth more than $6.5 million and took place on Binance.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Dumps Below $68K in Minutes, Liquidating Over 75K Traders appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Sandwich bots have been wreaking havoc on the Solana network for quite some time. In a bid to crack down on these attacks, the Solana Foundation has decided to remove a group of validator operators from its delegation program.

The decision was made due to the involvement of these operators in carrying out “sandwich attacks” on Solana users.

Solana Foundation’s Final Word

In the foundation’s official Discord channel, the Solana Validator Relations Lead, Tim Garcia, said these decisions are final, and enforcement action will continue as they detect operators participating in mempool activities that enable sandwich attacks.

“Anyone found engaging in such activity will be rejected from the program, and any stake from the Foundation will be immediately and permanently removed.”

According to Mert Mumtaz, who happens to be the co-founder of Solana RPC provider Helius, this move aims to ensure that the foundation does not delegate to validators who conduct malicious attacks targeting retail users.

Mumtaz clarified that sandwich attacks are a malicious form of maximal extractable value (MEV) attack that ensures that retail users always get the worst prices while the attackers extract all the profit. While Solana’s design natively prevents such attacks, some actors modified their validators to enable sandwiching.

He further stated that stake pools will likely adopt similar policies against sandwich attacks in the future.

“Sandwich Attacks”

The foundation’s decision comes as a welcome respite considering the fact that sandwich attacks is one of the most common types of MEV wherein bots scan the Solana network for users attempting to purchase a token. The bots then jump ahead in the transaction queue and place a large order for that token before the user’s order is processed.

Such a tactic drives up the token’s price. Once the user’s trade goes through at the inflated price, the bots sell their tokens at the new higher price, profiting from the artificial price increase they triggered at the expense of the user.

The post Solana Foundations Takes Action Against Validators Enabling Sandwich Attacks appeared first on CryptoPotato.

On Sunday, Loopring, an Ethereum zero-knowledge roll-up protocol, announced a significant security vulnerability attack on its smart wallets, linked to the Loopring Official Guardian.

The project is collaborating with security and law enforcement agencies to investigate how the two-factor authentication system was compromised and to track down the cybercriminals.

Loopring Official Guardian Exposed

In a comprehensive announcement shared on platform X, Loopring disclosed that the attacker targeted a subset of the wallet, capitalizing on the vulnerabilities of the Official Guardian. As such, some wallets within Loopring fell victim to this security breach.

Incident Alert: Loopring Smart Wallets Compromised

A few hours ago, some Loopring Smart Wallets were targeted in a security breach. The attack exploited wallets with only one Guardian, specifically the Loopring Official Guardian. The hacker initiated a Recovery process,… pic.twitter.com/Y9mYC4j9QJ

— Loopring (@loopringorg) June 9, 2024

The malicious actor circumvented Loopring’s authorized Guardian services by impersonating wallet owners. This allowed them to initiate unauthorized recoveries on wallets that relied solely on the compromised Guardian without the permission of the actual users.

By specifically targeting the Official Guardian and 2FA service, the attacker siphoned substantial assets from several wallets.

Loopring and blockchain audit firm Cyvers Alert identified and publicly shared the two malicious wallets. Onchain data from Etherscan revealed that one of the hacker’s wallets seized about $5 million worth of assets from the compromised wallets. The wallet has already swapped the crypto for ETH and still holds 1,373 ETH worth $5 million.

It is important to note that not all wallets were exposed. Wallets employing multiple guardians or alternative third-party guardians were not affected by the recent exploit.

Commitment to Protect Investors

Loopring announced on their X platform that they are working with Mist security experts and law enforcement agencies to determine how their two-factor authentication service was compromised and to track down the malicious actors.

To protect users, Loopring has temporarily suspended all Guardian-related and 2FA-related operations, which has since stopped the compromise. The network encourages anyone with additional information about the exploit to come forward and commits to providing updates as the investigation progresses.

As per their report, they remain steadfast in showing their commitment to safeguarding the interests of their users.

According to data from Coingecko, Loopring’s native token, LRC, experienced a slight reaction when news of the attack emerged. It is currently trading at $0.2199, reflecting a 2.7% decrease in the past 24 hours and an 18% decrease over the past 7 days.

The post Loopring Smart Wallets Suffer a $5 Million Exploit appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ahmad Shadid, the founder of the decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) protocol io.net, has announced that he is stepping down as CEO “effective immediately.”

He said that despite the allegations against him in the past, his resignation as CEO is to allow io.net to move forward without interference.

COO Tory Green Takes Over

“Today I am stepping down as the CEO of http://io.net, effective immediately.” Shadid posted to X on June 9.

He added that the current Chief Operating Officer, Tory Green, will assume the role of CEO, stating, “While there have been allegations regarding my past, I want to emphasize that I am stepping down as CEO to allow io.net to move forward without distraction and to focus on its growth and success.”

$IO Nation, Today I am stepping down as the CEO of https://t.co/pI9FcfdM87, effective immediately. https://t.co/pI9FcfdM87 has grown to be one of the fastest growing decentralized AI companies in the world. After careful consideration, I have decided that it is in the best…

— SHADID | $IO (@shadid_io) June 9, 2024

Shadid also revealed his intention to donate one million of io.net’s soon-to-be-released tokens from his personal holdings to the Internet of GPUs Foundation to “help grow the ecosystem.”

In a separate post on X, Tory Green responded to Shadid’s announcement, noting that under Ahmad’s leadership, io.net has evolved into one of the fastest-growing AI companies globally. Green emphasized that moving forward, the company will continue to pursue Ahmad’s vision of becoming the world’s largest AI compute network and making AI accessible worldwide.

I am honored to step into the role of CEO for https://t.co/OigQQimgcD, effective immediately.

Under @shadid_io ‘s leadership, https://t.co/OigQQimgcD has grown into one of the fastest growing AI companies in the world.

Going forward, we will continue to execute on the vision… https://t.co/12vRHJTMRG

— tory.io (@MTorygreen) June 9, 2024

Green highlighted the company’s achievements, noting that the network has onboarded approximately 20,000 cluster-ready GPUs and is serving AI companies like WonderAI, Krea, and Leonardo with end-to-end AI inference and model training workloads.

Green also assured stakeholders that the company’s operations had been smoothly transitioned under his oversight and mentioned that more details regarding the leadership team changes would be shared in the coming days.

IO Token Launch and Concerns

The io.net token, IO, will debut on Binance’s Launchpool on June 11 at 12:00 am UTC, with an initial release of 95,000,000 tokens and a total supply capped at 800,000,000 tokens.

Meanwhile, Shadid’s resignation has caused concerns that he might dump his IO tokens at launch and disappear. “Looks like a rug. He got his coins now he dumps on launch and disappears,” noted one X user.

However, Shadid has addressed these concerns by stating that his tokens are locked for four years and that no investor, adviser, or team member can sell their monthly vested tokens until June 2025.

The post Ahmad Shadid’s Departure as io.net CEO Is Not Because of Previous Allegations appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Shibarmy Scam Alerts warned about fraudulent websites targeting Shiba Inu users, urging verification of site legitimacy.

The Shiba Inu team previously cautioned about fake Dapps and deceptive offers, emphasizing double-checking URLs and avoiding suspicious links.

The Latest Alert

The X account focused on treats surrounding Shiba Inu and its native token SHIB – Shibarmy Scam Alerts – issued a stark warning to the community. The team claimed that multiple fraudulent websites have spread across the crypto space, posing substantial risks to people. Those websites were described as “a scam designed to steal your funds:” 

“There is no website you need to connect your wallet to so it can sync up with the network, refresh your rewards, fix any issues you may be having with liquidity pools.”

The team advised users to stay focused and always verify the legitimacy of a certain website before connecting their wallets. Using only official links from trusted sources was also labeled a top priority. 

Shiba Inu is one of the most popular meme coins and among the trendiest cryptocurrencies, which could explain why scammers target people from its community. The latest data shows that there are almost 1.4 million SHIB holders, with over 58% currently sitting on paper profits. The percentage was even higher a few weeks ago when the meme coin was at a better price condition.

As of the moment, SHIB is worth approximately $0.00002314 (per CoinGecko’s data), a 9% decline on a 14-day scale.

SHIB Price, Source: CoinGecko Previous Warnings

This is not the first time the Shiba Inu team cautions the community about potential dangers. Last year, Shibarmy Scam Alerts argued that scammers are “crafty” and can create decentralized applications (Dapps) that look nearly identical to legitimate platforms related to Shiba Inu (SHIB), Bone ShibaSwap (BONE), Doge Killer (LEASH), and other memecoins.  

“Always double-check the name and URL of the Dapp to make sure you’re using the official and trusted version,” they added.

The team also claimed that “sneaky” fraudsters pretend to represent “reputable projects or services,” thus luring people into sharing personal data and later becoming victims. As such, verifying the authenticity of each account and Dapp is of utmost importance. 

Earlier this year, Shibarium’s Marketing Strategist, using the X handle LUCIE, advised the community to take any suspicious links from prominent individuals or entities “announcing unexpected rewards” with a grain of salt. The SHIB official believes those offerings most likely come from hacked accounts, saying people should refrain from connecting their wallets to dubious websites.

The post Shiba Inu (SHIB) Team With Major Warning to its Community: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Regulators will inevitably approve a Dogecoin ETF after both Bitcoin and Ethereum hit US public markets, according to BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes.

During a Sunday interview alongside Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal, the two investors reviewed their favorite meme coin and crypto picks this cycle, as well as the top risks currently looming over the industry.

Why Memecoins Will Keep WInning: Arthur Hayes

According to Hayes, meme coins still have plenty of runway this cycle, with the market bound to get “even crazier” as the Federal Reserve and US Treasury print more and more money.

“For the person who has just been initiated into crypto, it’s literally the easiest thing to understand,” said Hayes. “I don’t need to understand blockchain, and AI, and crypto, and cryptography.”

In a blog post last week, Hayes argued that the time had come to “go long Bitcoin and subsequently shitcoins,” in response to back-to-back interest rate cuts by both the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank. Historically speaking, low interest-rate environments bode well for stocks and Bitcoin, which causes capital to spill over into the riskier, more volatile memecoin market.

Both Hayes and Pal said they’ve got parts of their portfolio locked up in dog-themed coins including Dogecoin (DOGE), BONK, and dogwifhat (WIF).

The investors also agreed that Dogecoin would receive ETF approval in the United States by the end of the current bull market cycle.

“It’s the oldest memecoin, it’s on Robinhood,” said Hayes. “If you’re thinking about Tradfi getting into crypto and they’re gonna put an ETF on anything they can, it’s a high market cap thing. “

Dogecoin is currently up 136% over the past year. Since launching in December, WIF has mooned by nearly 1600%.

Trends To Watch This Cycle

Regarding other cryptos, Pal said he’s “ninety percent” into Solana, calling it “the right bet to have.” By contrast, Hayes said he predicts that Aptos – the 27th-ranked crypto by market cap size – to flip Solana “in the layer 1 game” within the next 1 to 3 years.

In terms of what to avoid, both men agreed that Cardano is a “narrative of the last cycle,” with Pal also taking a stab at Ripple (XRP).

The men also had similar worries about what could pose major risks to crypto during this cycle.

Both highlighted large centralized venues that control massive sections of the crypto market. Pal expressed concern over Derebit’s 90% market dominance in the options market, while Hayes argued that Coinbase and various banks – which control the Bitcoin backing the world’s largest Bitcoin ETFs – could lose customers a lot of money.

“If I’m gonna hack crypto, I’m going after one of these US custodians – one of these banks,” Hayes said. “Never have they had to custody an asset where if they lose it they can’t call up the Treasury or the Fed and get another bailout.”

The post Arthur Hayes Predicts Dogecoin Will Get An ETF This Cycle appeared first on CryptoPotato.

UwU Lend, a decentralized lending platform, has become the latest victim of a malicious hack. According to the blockchain security firm, Arkham, the lending protocol saw $19.3 million stolen by bad actors.

Although the cause of the hack is yet to be identified, some users claim that the project’s founder is the one behind the attack.

UwU Lend Loses $19.3M

UwU Lend was forked from the open-source codes for AAVE v2, an Ethereum-based lending protocol. It offers a cohort of services, such as lending, borrowing, and staking. Users are offered 100% of revenues generated by the platform, which are issued as a revenue-sharing token called UwU.

According to its official website, UwU Lend claims to have never been hacked since its inception in 2022. Still, it joins a long list of hacks swamping the DeFi sector.

On-chain data shows the bad actor transporting the stolen funds across several wallet addresses. A crypto user who reported the exploit on the blockchain explorer Etherscan stated that the bad actor used Curve LlamaLend as “exit liquidity” for the attack.

At the time of writing, UwU Lend’s developer team acknowledged the attack and reassured users that actions were being carried out to retrieve the stolen funds.

“The protocol was paused a little under an hour ago while the team investigates the situation. Please rest assured that we were made aware of the situation immediately and are taking all necessary steps, doing our best here. Stay tuned for further updates,” the project’s team wrote.

Insider Job?

With no post-mortem report identifying the cause of the attack, some users have accused the project’s founder as the brains behind the exploit.

Michael Patryn, the co-founder of a collapsed Canadian crypto exchange called QuadrigaCX, launched UwU Lend in September 2022. He was also caught moving millions of dollars worth of ETH from Wonderland DAO, where he served as treasurer. With his reappearance as UwU’s team lead, Patryn is identified by a moniker, Sifu.

Due to his rough past, some community members are suspicious that Sifu may be behind the funds’ loss. However, there is no evidence to back these claims.

The post DeFi Lender UwU Hacked for Nearly $20M in Fresh Exploit appeared first on CryptoPotato.