Bitcoin’s epic ‘23 exit

Author

Unhashed by AMBCrypto
December 29, 2023

 

Reading time: 7 minutes

‘Join Drake at Stake’ is an event in partnership with the hip-hop icon that contains some exclusive livestream giveaways. Here players can play Drake's favourite games and sports to truly entrench themselves in Drizzy's playstyle. 

Drake has been a long-time member of the Stake community. A player storming the ranks of the VIP program, Drake fell in love with both the platform and the perks associated with their VIP program. 

Stake.com is one of the largest crypto platforms and sportsbooks that offers users a chance to play with $300 by just investing $100 on the platform. JOIN NOW to choose from more than 3000 games from the best providers in the gaming industry. 

Bitcoin closes 2023 with a 159% YTD surge, Ethereum follows at 98%

Key points

  • A look at Bitcoin's daily chart showed a strong support at $42,279

  • On 27 December, ETH moved past the key resistance level of $2,290

News - A recent post by Santiment highlighted that the performances of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in 2023 have been the century's most remarkable.

An overview of the top cryptos’ 2023 - At the start of the year, the crypto market was  recovering from the FTX collapse that had sent prices plummeting. At the time, Bitcoin BTC was valued under $17,000, and ETH traded slightly above $1,200.

Towards the end of Q1, the collapse of major U.S. banking institutions triggered a shift, benefiting the crypto market, especially BTC and ETH, as the withdrawn liquidity influenced prices favorably.

Additionally, optimism around a potential spot ETF played a key role in keeping both ETH and BTC in the green throughout the year. Moreover, despite delays by the U.S. SEC, numerous firms applying for both cryptocurrencies' ETFs influenced investment inflows, signaling institutional confidence in their performance.

Where do the cryptos stand today? At press time, BTC was trading at 42,791, and ETH was priced at $2,367. In a year-to-date comparison, BTC was seen to have surged by 159%, while ETH followed with a 98% increase.

U.S. Judge backs SEC in unregistered securities case against Terraform Labs and CEO Do Kwon

Key points

  • The SEC had accused Kwon of orchestrating a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that resulted in a market value loss of at least $40 billion in 2022

  • A jury trial to decide these fraud claims is scheduled for January

News - A U.S. federal judge has sided with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a case against Terraform Labs and its former CEO, Do Kwon. The judge granted summary judgment, supporting the SEC's claim that Terraform Labs and Kwon sold LUNA, UST, and MIR as unregistered securities. 

The court ruled LUNA satisfied the Howey test, citing a previous comment from Kwon encouraging holders to expect profits solely from Terraform and Kwon's efforts. It also found MIR convincingly passing the Howey test, as investors expected profits from Terraform's work on the Mirror Protocol.

What's more - Judge Rakoff ruled in favor of the defendants regarding the claim of selling unregistered security-based swaps. 

The SEC had claimed that Do Kwon and Terraform Labs, through the Mirror Protocol, engaged in transactions related to security-based swaps by enabling the creation of "mAssets." However, the court disagreed, stating that mAssets do not meet the legal criteria for being considered security-based swaps. 

For context - M-Assets are blockchain assets that mimic real-world assets based on on-chain exchange prices.

Polkadot's December fee surge sparks a 57% increase in DOT's price

Key points

  • The increase in Polkadot's transaction fees was accompanied by a more than 2x boost in daily active users, with an average of 15.3k users engaging with the network on a daily basis during that period

  • There was a 26% surge in DOT's Open Interest (OI) in the past week, indicating a flow of new capital into its derivatives market

News - In December, the Polkadot [DOT] multichain protocol experienced a notable increase in on-chain activity.

As per AMBCrypto's analysis, the relay chain witnessed a remarkable surge in weekly transaction fees, reaching an all-time high of $2.6 million between December 18th and 25th, marking a 1218% increase from the previous week. 

For clarification, the relay chain functions as the network's governing layer, securing and connecting several parachains.

What fueled this surge? According to popular crypto researcher and pseudonymous figure Emperor Osmo on X, the upswing was a result of heightened demand for inscriptions. Here, it is worth noting that inscriptions played a central role in driving up transactions and fees across various networks in December.

How did this impact DOT? It is no secret that a portion of the network's total fees benefits DOT tokenholders, who govern the protocol. Thus, as expected, the surge in fees led to an increased demand for DOT. This resulted in DOT rising by 14.65% over the past week and nearly 57% since the beginning of December.

Argentina's new government unveils plans to legalize undeclared crypto

Key points

  • In a public statement, the Argentine president once described Bitcoin as a move aimed at giving control of money back to its original creator, the private sector

  • However, since assuming office, he has not made any public statements regarding digital assets

News - Argentina's recently established government, led by self-proclaimed Libertarian Javier Milei, has announced plans to facilitate the legalization of cryptocurrency holdings, even for those who have overdue tax declarations.

What's the process? Introduced on 27 December, the Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, within a section focusing on the "asset regularization scheme," outlines the types of assets taxpayers can legalize without the need for "additional documentation" regarding their origin.

Under this regularization scheme, all taxpayers are required to pay a flat tax on their assets: 5% if they declare holdings by 31 March 2024, 10% from April to 30 June 2024, and 15% from July to 30 September 2024.

Worth noting - In December, Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Worship, Diana Mondino, stated that a decree focused on economic reform and deregulation would permit the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the country, under specific conditions.

Crypto scams uncovered

  • Active for only a few months in 2017, Bitpetite lured investors with promises of daily returns for Bitcoin deposits. As expected, the platform abruptly shut down, leaving many investors with substantial financial losses as the operators vanished with their funds.

  • PlusToken, an Asian-focused Ponzi scheme disguised as a crypto platform, promised high returns, attracting millions of users and billions in crypto. It abruptly ceased withdrawals in 2019, leading to arrests, and is believed to have defrauded investors of more than $2 billion.

  • Launched in 2017 by Faruk Fatih Özer, Thodex, a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange, experienced a sudden closure in April 2021, citing an emergency "6-hour maintenance period." Despite the initial timeframe, the shutdown lasted for five days, ultimately leading to the platform's permanent shutdown. Özer promptly fled Turkey and never returned, absconding with over $2 billion from over 100,000 investors.

Top 3 coins of the day

Uniswap (UNI)

  • In November, UNI managed to break out of the $4.5 resistance level, resulting in the price gaining momentum and further breaking out of multiple resistance levels.

  • The price later faced rejection at $6.52, after which it traded sideways in a consolidated range between $6 and $6.52 for over three weeks.

What you should know - Over the last 7 days, Uniswap has increased by 25.1%. At press time, UNI was trading at $7.73, with a 0.5 increase in its price in the past 24 hours. The Fear & Greed Index displayed a score of 77 (extreme greed), suggesting that investors are exhibiting high levels of optimism and risk appetite in the current market conditions. The MACD projected a rising histogram, indicating a bullish market sentiment.

PancakeSwap (CAKE)

  • PancakeSwap’s previous All Time High was on 30 April 2021 where CAKE was priced at $43.96.

  • The current uptrend started shortly after PancakeSwap introduced its gaming marketplace on 15 November 2023.

What you should know - For the last 7 days, CAKE has been in a good upward trend, thus increasing by 43.5%. In the past 24 hours, the crypto increased by 6.1%, reaching a press time trading price of $3.58. The RSI was seen at 79.07, indicating overbought market conditions. Historically, CAKE has experienced strong resistance near the $4.68 mark, with every attempt to surpass this level leading to considerable pullbacks.

Solana (SOL)

  • The bulls moved past the psychological resistance of $100 on 23 December.

  • The recent uptrend allowed the token to earn a spot on the top five cryptos list as it overtook XRP.

What you should know - SOL has been in a strong uptrend for the past several days, rising by 13.4% over the past week. At the time of writing, the coin was trading at $107.30, after gaining 3.3% in the last 24 hours. The price having turned down from its $126 level on 25 December, indicated that the bears are trying to regain control. However, the positive CMF reading suggested a buying bias in the market.

How was today's newsletter?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.