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Ethereum's 'emergency' plan
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El Salvador is getting rich on Bitcoin with $85M in profits
Key points:
Bitcoin’s latest ATH of over $72,000 is good news for El Salvador’s BTC holdings.
Its BTC buying spree began back in September 2021.
News - Over three years after Central America’s El Salvador started buying Bitcoin on the market, it would seem that its strategy is finally paying some dividends. Thanks to the cryptocurrency’s latest market exploits, the country’s crypto-portfolio is now worth over $207 million.
What changed? For a long time after El Salvador designated Bitcoin as legal tender, there was a lot of criticism directed at President Nayib Bukele. Especially after the country started purchasing BTCs on the market. This criticism grew louder once Bitcoin fell from a high of $69,000 to under $20,000.
However, Bukele’s gamble has since paid off. El Salvador’s Bitcoin treasury is now $85 million in profits.
Some analysts believe Bitcoin and the larger crypto-market are still in the early stages of a bull rally. In fact, many expect BTC to hit $100,000 soon too. While this would mean higher profits for El Salvador’s treasury, it would also mean the country would be in a position to pay off its loans from the IMF and the World Bank.
A lot of Bitcoin business - El Salvador’s relationship with Bitcoin isn’t limited to holding BTCs in its treasury either. In fact, the country is generating a lot of money from not just BTC mining services, but also from facilitating conversions from BTC to USD.
Additionally, the nation-state recently passed a migration law that allows expedited citizenship to those making Bitcoin donations to government programmes.
That being said, it’s too soon to say whether the recent success of El Salvador’s Bitcoin programme will be emulated by other developing countries around the world.
Ethereum surges past $4000 as Buterin preps for ‘emergency’
Key points:
The world’s largest altcoin surged past the $4,000-mark after a significant 24-hour hike.
Subsequently, Ethereum in profit climbed to a new high.
News - Soon after Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, climbed to a new ATH past $72,000, Ethereum followed suit. While ETH, at the time of writing, is well away from its own ATH, the altcoin hiked well enough to go past the psychological level of $4,000 on the charts.
A new ATH and profits incoming? Ethereum’s ATH of over $4,800 is out of reach at the moment. However, given the market’s bullishness and ETH’s own price performance, that level might soon be breached. Such has been the altcoin’s price movement of late.
At the time of writing, for instance, over 90% of Ethereum supply was in a state of profit. This marked a complete turnaround from how it was back in 2022 when most of the supply was held at a loss.
That’s not all either, with ETH’s funding rate climbing to its second-highest level in over a year - A sign of buyers’ interest. Finally, Ethereum’s Open Interest soared to its highest level in a year too.
A ‘quantum emergency’ - Despite ETH’s bullish price performance, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin remains wary of contingencies that might have an impact on the network. His most recent concern is a ‘quantum emergency.’
According to Buterin, developers are actively pursuing quantum-resistant solutions to protect the network in case ‘bad actors’ have access to quantum computers.
One of these solutions would be a ‘recovery hard fork’ which would involve users possibly downloading new wallet software. Here, it’s worth noting that Buterin was very clear that any such solution would not involve users losing any funds they might have.
XRP recovers after outflows from Binance climb to 75M
Key points:
XRP’s outflows from Binance happened over a series of batches.
These outflows coincided with a period of bullish recovery for XRP.
News - After reviewing large transactions on Whale Alert, AMBCrypto found that over 75M XRP tokens have flowed out of Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto-exchanges. On the face of it, this is a bullish development, especially since higher outflows lower the risk of sell-offs on exchanges.
Finally on the bull market bandwagon? Compared to its peers in the crypto-market, XRP hasn’t performed well on the charts lately. The last few days saw that change though with the crypto recording significant gains over a 48-hour period. In fact, this bout of price appreciation coincided with the aforementioned outflows from Binance.
With outflows greater than inflows at the moment, there is good reason to expect XRP will continue to appreciate. At least in the near term. Additionally, there has been a latent fall in circulation too - A sign that points to low selling possibilities.
That being said, XRP’s price levels carry some risk too. At press time, the crypto’s Cumulative Liquidation Levels Delta had a bullish bias, with many short traders expected to face liquidations if XRP hikes higher.
XRP not for ‘moon boys’ - Interestingly enough, all these developments happened in the background of Ripple CTO David Schwartz talking about XRP’s ‘gradual appreciation.’
According to the exec, XRP’s growth over the years is not an anomaly, with even Bitcoin exhibiting ‘gradual appreciation’ on the price charts. He went on to add that one shouldn’t take additional risk if a holder views cryptos as merely lottery tickets.
In doing so, Schwartz also discussed AMMs and staking as possible options for sustained growth.
Needless to say, his comments fueled quite a reaction, with some XRP proponents claiming that holders who wish to profit from market volatility are simply ‘moon boys.’
Former U.S. President Trump more flexible on Bitcoin, cryptos now
Key points:
After years of skepticism, Trump may be finally on board with cryptos.
His latest comments came on the back of cryptos being used to purchase his branded sneakers.
News - In an interview with CNBC, Former U.S President Donald Trump alluded to the notion that he is finally open to recognizing the worth and utility of cryptocurrencies in today’s market. These comments came on the back of many people using cryptos to purchase Trump-branded sneakers.
According to Trump, Bitcoin is just ‘an additional form of currency,’ one that has ‘taken on its own life.’ Additionally, while he claimed that he doesn’t hold any BTCs himself, he’s open to letting people use cryptos to pay for stuff.
Flip-flop in-chief - These comments are just Trump’s latest attempts to distance himself from his POVs from back when he was Commander-in-chief. Back when he was President, Trump famously called Bitcoin a ‘scam.’ In fact, he also reportedly directed his Treasury Secretary to ‘go after’ Bitcoin.
However, this attitude has changed over the course of the Biden Presidency. With SEC’s Gary Gensler and Biden himself too ambivalent about cryptos, Trump has taken the opportunity to position himself as someone who will be good for the crypto-market. In fact, less than three months ago, Trump claimed that he can ‘live with Bitcoin.’
This change in attitude can also be attributed to cryptos possibly being an election issue. More and more people are holding cryptos every day now. Crypto-holders come from all political ideologies and are spread across demographics too, meaning Trump has the opportunity to capitalize on a bipartisan concern.
CBDCs and freedoms - Here, it’s also worth looking at Trump’s views on CBDCs and specifically, how radically different they are from Biden’s.
While the current U.S President mandated exploring the idea of a Digital Dollar via an ordinance a few years ago, Trump has been resistant to that idea of late. In fact, he even characterized a CBDC as a ‘threat to American freedom.’
More stories from the crypto ecosystem
Interesting Facts
In the United States, people making over $100,000 annually constitute over 25% of all crypto-holders, but only 15% of the general population.
Over 21K cryptocurrencies have entered circulation since Bitcoin’s inception.
According to Digiconomist, 1 BTC transaction’s carbon footprint is equal to over 760K Visa transactions.
Top 3 coins of the day
XRP
Key points:
XRP’s value hiked by 18% over a 24-hour period.
XRP one of the latest top altcoins to record such a significant hike on the charts.
What you should know - Unlike its peers, XRP’s price appreciation on the charts is very recent. While the rest of the market was surging over the last few weeks, XRP’s movement was more gradual in nature. Even so, its 18% hike over a single 24-hour period came as a surprise to many holders. This hike was accompanied by a major uptick in volume too - XRP’s highest volumes since July 2023. There seemed to be other positives too, with exchange outflows exceeding inflows - A sign of falling selling pressure. These positives were underlined by the crypto’s bullish indicators, with the Parabolic SAR’s dotted markers found well below the price candles over the last 48 hours.
Solana (SOL)
Key points:
SOL is currently trading at a level unseen since January 2022.
Solana might see some corrections soon though
What you should know - Solana is well on its way to recovering its former glory, with the cryptocurrency closing in on its ATH of $259. Priced at just over $153 at press time, SOL registered a hike of 15% over the past week. SOL’s performance can be attributed to its increasing share of the DEX market and memecoins like WIF and BONK doing really well. On the price charts, there were bullish signs as the Bollinger Bands expanded around the price candles - An indication of upcoming volatility. On the contrary, the Relative Strength Index had a reading of close to 70, just leaning into the overbought zone. Whenever the RSI heads into this zone, the price is likely to correct itself. However, the long-term uptrend is unlikely to be affected.
Dogwifhat (WIF)
Key points:
After as astronomical hike, WIF has fallen by over 20% in the last two days
Sentiment and volumes are muted, compared to earlier in the month
What you should know - WIF has been one of the market’s standout performers over the last few weeks, with the crypto recording significant price appreciation on the charts. In fact, WIF’s performance had a corresponding impact on Solana too. However, the last two days saw the crypto encounter major corrections, with WIF down by over 20%. This decline coincided with a significant fall in market sentiment and volumes. At the time of writing, WIF’s downtrend seemed to be gaining steam. Especially since the Chaikin Money Flow was close to -0.20 - A sign of capital outflows in the market.
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