The past week has not been favorable for the majority of cryptocurrency assets, with only four specific digital currencies recording gains. This week, ONDO appreciated by 13.2%, TON increased by 11.3%, PENDLE grew by 6%, and LEO saw a slight uptick of 0.5%. Market Update: A Tough Week for Crypto With Few Standouts The landscape […]
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Kiyosaki Reacts to $200 BTC Crash Prediction, Miners Offload BTC Ahead of Halving, and More — Week in Review
Robert Kiyosaki expressed his stance on potentially investing more in Bitcoin if its price plummets to $200, as economist Harry Dent has forecasted. Cryptoquant data reveals that Bitcoin miners are selling off their holdings in anticipation of the network’s upcoming halving event, which is expected to impact their rewards. JPMorgan has speculated that the SEC […]
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Bitcoin collateral for Ethena’s USDe synthetic dollar has exceeded $500 million less than a week after its introduction.
The platform’s website data showed approximately $537 million in Bitcoin reserves across various exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Deribit. The amount represents roughly 26% of its total asset reserve.
The other reserve assets include $714 million in Ethereum, $353 million in liquid-staked Ethereum, and $365 million in Tether’s USDT.
Seraphim Czecker, Ethena’s head of growth, said the substantial Bitcoin reserve was evidence that the platform is ready for the impending halving event. The halving is expected on roughly April 20 and will reduce Bitcoin’s block reward by 50% to 3.125 BTC.
Last week, Ethena onboarded BTC as a backing asset for USDe as part of efforts to create a safer product for its users. However, several market experts warned that the plan could pose a contagion risk for the broader crypto industry.
USDe adoption continues
As the platform’s Bitcoin collateral grows, USDe adoption is also witnessing an astronomic rise.
Data from CryptoSlate shows that USDe’s market capitalization has soared to $2.14 billion, with its trading volume during the past day at $364 million.
Its adoption from major DeFi projects like MakerDAO and Frax Finance has facilitated these high numbers.
Earlier today, Ethena Labs revealed that Frax Finance approved a $250 million liquidity pool to facilitate automated market operations (AMO) for minting new FRAX tokens.
According to Ethena Labs:
“As of yesterday FRAX has begun adding USDe POL which will create one of the deepest pools of dollar liquidity onchain, and enable FRAX to diversify their source of backing yield.”
Besides that, lending protocol Morpho Labs stated that MakerDAO, the issuer of the DAI stablecoin, allocated an additional $100 million in DAI tokens to its USDe/DAI and sUSDe/DAI markets on Morpho Blue.
It added:
“This follows Maker’s successful proposal to increase Spark’s MetaMorpho Vault DDM Maximum Debt Ceiling from $100 million to $1 billion DAI. The deployment of new DAI debt will happen progressively based on Block Analitica’s risk assessment, starting with the additional $100 million allocated today.”
The post Ethena’s USDe Bitcoin collateral exceeds $500 million in a week appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Former FTX Associates Enter Crosshairs, Bitcoin Halving Inches Closer, and More — Week in Review
After the sentencing of Sam Bankman-Fried to nearly 25 years in prison for his role in FTX’s financial mismanagement, attention shifts to his former associates. The cryptocurrency world eyes the upcoming Bitcoin halving, expected between April 18 to April 22, 2024. Blackrock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) sees its holdings skyrocket past 252,011 BTC. Ethena announces […]
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Crypto exchange Binance said its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace will discontinue support for Bitcoin NFTs by April 18, per an April 4 statement.
According to the exchange:
“Starting from 2024-04-18 06:00 (UTC), users will no longer be able to buy, deposit, bid on, or list NFTs on the Binance NFT Marketplace via the Bitcoin network. All impacted listing orders will be automatically canceled at 2024-04-18 06:00 (UTC).”
It added that its platform would stop supporting airdrops, benefits, or other utilities associated with the NFTs by April 10.
Notably, this decision is coming less than a year after the platform enabled support for these digital assets.
Why is Binance ending support for Bitcoin NFTs?
Binance explained that its decision was part of “ongoing efforts to streamline product offerings” in its NFT marketplace.
The firm did not comment on whether trading volumes or user demand affected its decision to end those services.
The exchange launched the NFT marketplace in 2021 amid the crypto market boom. While the marketplace enjoyed early successes due to its association with the exchange and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, the platform has struggled for considerable adoption compared to rivals like Blur.
Besides that, Binance is navigating regulatory issues across several jurisdictions, including the United States, where it agreed to pay a record fine of more than $4 billion and stop operating within the country.
These regulatory upheavals have prompted a rethink of the exchange’s operating style and the appointment of a seven-member board of directors led by Gabriel Abed, the former ambassador of Barbados to the UAE.
Bitcoin NFTs are thriving
Bitcoin-based NFTs have grown remarkably during the past year, fueled by the rising fascination with Ordinals.
Asset management firm Franklin Templeton pointed out that the innovations within Bitcoin’s ecosystem were primarily fueled by “Bitcoin NFTs, known as Ordinals, new fungible token standards such as BRC-20 and Runes, Bitcoin Layer 2s, and other Bitcoin DeFi primitives.”
Notably, data from CryptoSlam shows that Bitcoin’s NFT sales amounted to $6.37 million within the past 24 hours, marking the second-highest figure in the industry.
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Latest Alpha Market Report
Although the prices of crypto mining stocks and cryptocurrencies don’t always move in harmony, generally speaking, if cryptos are doing well so are the miners.
That was the dynamic this week, as the Great Crypto Rally of 2024 powered full steam ahead, and miners came along for the ride. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, CleanSpark (CLSK -8.22%) rose by nearly 9% over that stretch of time, Cipher Mining (CIFR -3.38%) advanced by almost 12%, and Hut 8 (HUT 11.97%) had quite the trajectory with a gain of just under 27%.
The halving should boost Bitcoin demand
We’re getting very close to the latest halving of Bitcoin (BTC 0.04%). For those unfamiliar, a halving is an event in which the rewards for mining a cryptocurrency are, yes, cut in half.
The main goal of a halving is to reduce the supply of a coin or token, especially in the case of Bitcoin, whose supply will eventually be capped at 21 million coins. A halving occurs with the coin every time 210,000 blocks, representing sets of transactions, are created.
Specifically, miners will receive 3.125 Bitcoin for every new block on the chain they complete, down from the current 6.25. Most likely, the halving will occur at some point in April.
As any investor of any type of asset well knows, when the supply of a desirable good, service, or investment declines, demand tends to rise. This is the basic formula behind price rises.
So it’s no surprise to learn that Bitcoin’s price climbed notably just after its three previous halvings. In the most recent one in May 2020, six months after the event Bitcoin’s price was up by 79%. One year following the halving, it traded an eye-watering 547% higher.
Following the leader
There are no guarantees in the world of investing, of course, and we’ve all heard the warnings that past performance is no guarantor of future success. Right now, though, Bitcoin and any asset associated with it look like very solid bets.
The rush into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds has cooled, but their coffers are still bulging and helping to support the elevated price levels of the coin. The U.S. and global economies are continuing to provide gusty tailwinds, with inflation becoming less of a worry seemingly every day and Federal Reserve officials still apparently determined to cut interest rates, although not immediately.
Finally, for more than a few investors, Bitcoin is not only the asset representing the crypto space; it’s the only one they’re willing to buy. It helps that investing in those spot ETFs is quick and easy.
All this very much supports the work of Bitcoin miners. As long as investors continue to believe in Bitcoin, the price of those digital earth-diggers should keep defying gravity.
El Salvador Keeps Buying BTC, Top BTC Mining Rigs, Blackrock’s New ‘BUIDL’ Fund, and More — Week in Review
El Salvador continues its daily bitcoin purchases, aiming to keep buying until the cryptocurrency becomes too expensive. The top 10 bitcoin mining rigs of 2024 show significant profit margins due to recent value increases. Blackrock, has submitted a form to the SEC for the initiation of a tokenized investment fund called “BUIDL.” “Rich Dad Poor […]
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The crypto market is down as most cryptocurrencies have registered red numbers for the past few days. Expectations of making big profits out of the bullish sentiment are momentarily halted. And while many patiently wait for the prices to rise again, others are seemingly looking for different options to make their bags.
Crypto Presale Frenzy Sees Big Numbers
The “memecoin mania” has been at the forefront of the market, stealing the spotlight since February. As a result, investors might see a window of opportunity to profit from these tokens.
During the previous bull cycle, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) were at the center of the stage, with millions of dollars invested in the tokens. This time, the biggest memecoins by market cap are being outshined by some of the newer players.
Dogwifhat and other Solana-based tokens have led the way during this leg, registering massive gains in the last month. Recently, the presale and launch of Book of MEME (BOME), which started as a small experimental project, saw its surge to a $1 billion market cap in a few days.
The memecoin surge has now turned into a memecoin presale frenzy, with presale launching left and right after becoming the “meta” of the market.
PRE SALE META pic.twitter.com/z02vQWnnhz
— duss (@dussincook) March 18, 2024
The meta term, borrowed from the gaming community, refers to the Most Effective Tactic Available. As such, investors and scammers are equally attempting to take profit off the trend.
Crypto investigator ZachXBT revealed on X that the current “presale meta” trend has raised $122.5 million since March 12. Taking the BOME project as a starting point, the crypto detective counted 27 different presales from Solana-based memecoins since that date. These projects raised approximately 655,000 SOL, according to the crypto sleuth calculations.
I was interested to see how much SOL has been sent as a result of the presale meta and calculated >655,000 SOL ($122.5M) raised from 27 presales. pic.twitter.com/dvsW4TSoov
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) March 19, 2024
To put the numbers into perspective, ZachXBT highlighted that these figures only account for the projects on the Solana chain in the last seven days. This means that the calculations are only one part of the bigger image as the presales before March 12, and chains like Ethereum, Base, and BSC are excluded.
Memecoins Raising Millions In Minutes
The biggest raiser on the list was the SMOLE token by visual artist Dekadente. This project received 169,982 SOL during the presale and has seen notable support from the community.
Similarly, the recently launched Slerf raised over 50,000 SOL. However, the token faced a dramatic launch after its creator accidentally burned the tokens reserved for the presale participants airdrop.
Many of the presales raised millions in a matter of minutes, which hints at impressive participation from the crypto community. However, many suggest that the massive figures raised come from “fabricated fomo” and “insiders sending sol that they’ll eventually get back.”
Despite raising millions in SOL, the presale meta trend left investors with nothing. As the investigator highlights, many of the presales on his list have seen a “hard rug” or the tokens’ momentum quickly fading after launch. As a result, the presale participants’ investments vanished or diminished considerably.
depends if you mean hard rug or just presale contributors down bad
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) March 19, 2024
Moreover, scammers have taken their chance to profit off the presale frenzy. Phishing scams under the presale posts have skyrocketed, with impersonating accounts trying to drain investors’ wallets or collect whatever amount people meant to send to the presale addresses.
Members of the crypto community have expressed their concerns over the presale trend. Many crypto investors consider the trend might create memecoin fatigue, which could hurt the organic projects aiming for long-term stability.
SOL is trading at $177.9 in the 1-day chart. Source: SOLUSDT on Trading.view.com
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.