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- WIF & SHIB's triple-digit gains
WIF & SHIB's triple-digit gains
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SEC delays decision on BlackRock, Fidelity’s spot Ethereum ETF proposals
Key Points:
SEC made its decision via its 4th March filings.
SEC can delay its decision upto 3 times.
News - The SEC won’t be making a decision to approve or reject BlackRock or Fidelity’s spot Ether ETF proposals anytime soon. This follows the SEC’s previous declaration of delay back in January.
The “only date that matters” - In its latest filings, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that it will wait before deciding on BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust and Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund.
With the SEC finally approving spot Bitcoin ETFs back in January, many expected spot ETH ETFs to follow suit too. Despite the delay, however, most remain optimistic, with Bloomberg’s James Seyffart claiming that the deadline for VanEck’s spot ETH ETF on 23rd May is the “only date that matters.”
If and when spot ETH ETFs are approved, it will be on the back of great market optimism, with the altcoin hiking by over 14% in the last 7 days alone.
ETH’s price movement following the Ethereum Foundation’s undisclosed 500 ETH transfer to Cumberland is a case in point. While some claimed the Foundation intended to sell the coins, most continue to HODL. In fact, ETH didn’t even fall below $3,500 on the back of this update.
Onward to $4000? - At the moment, exchange outflows hold a minor advantage over exchange inflows. If outflows continue to outpace inflows, ETH could be encouraged to climb higher on the charts. Maybe even to $4000.
According to AMBCrypto’s analysis of Ethereum’s Liquidation heatmap, if buying pressure continues to build, the way to $4000 will be fairly clear for the world’s largest altcoin.
Tether’s USDT hits $100B circulation milestone after launching new recovery tool
Key Points:
Dollar-pegged stablecoin’s circulation has risen by 9% this year.
This hike has been driven by a corresponding surge in demand for Bitcoin [BTC].
News - Tether’s USDT became the first stablecoin in the crypto-market to cross the circulating supply milestone of $100 billion. With Bitcoin now close to breaching its previous all-time high of over $69,000, the stablecoin is in a good spot to capitalize on its position as the market’s biggest market share.
A significantly profitable future - While USDT has done well on the back of growing demand for BTC, it’s also worth looking at the stablecoin’s own reserves. According to Bloomberg, for instance, over 76% of USDT’s reserves were in the form of short-term U.S. Treasury bills. These assets lately have generated significant yields, contributing to Tether’s increasing profitability.
The stablecoin is also assisted by the fact that at the moment, it holds a dominant share of over 70% in the stablecoin market. Its biggest competitor - USDC - holds a share of just over 19%.
The larger stablecoin market itself has been booming lately, with the same hitting a 15-month high of $141 billion in valuation.
Tether’s investments in ventures like Bitcoin mining have also yielded positive results. All these results have gone a long way towards tempering the criticism directed at the stablecoin, namely, issues with the transparency of its reserves.
Tether’s bold recovery plan - On the back of such positive news, Tether has also announced a blockchain recovery tool “to ensure uninterrupted accessibility for our holders, and safeguarding users accessibility to their USDT.”
The tool will allow USDT to migrate between blockchains after recovery is initiated by affected users if a blockchain becomes “unusable or unreliable or unresponsive”. Users will be able to verify ownership of addresses on an unresponsive blockchain and a recipient address on a supported blockchain before the USDT is transferred between them.
Animal and meme-driven cryptos rule the roost with triple-digit gains
Key Points:
Dog, cat, and frog-themed cryptos are among the month’s top gainers.
Dog-themed memecoins continue to hold the lead on the market cap front.
News - Bitcoin, Ethereum, and most of the world’s biggest cryptocurrencies are doing well on the back of positive market sentiment. However, so are the lesser-known ones, including the market’s many animal-themed cryptos. Whether they are dog-themed like SHIB and DOGE or frog-themed like PEPE, all of these are capitalizing on market’s bullishness.
Dog v. Cat v. Frog - With most of the market doing well, tribalism has set in, with animal-themed cryptos being positioned to perform better than the other. The same can be underlined by the parallel performances of dog, cat, and frog-themed cryptos over the last few weeks.
For the canines, Solana-based dogwifhat [WIF] has been the biggest gainer, appreciating by over 600% since February alone. Memecoin heavyweights SHIB and DOGE didn’t do as well but did see similar hikes on the price charts. While SHIB is up by over 275% over the last 7 days, DOGE hiked by “just” 105%.
For the felines, Solana-based POPCAT was the best performer, surging by over 1200% in the last 30 days.
PEPE is the most well-known of the frog-themed cryptos in the market today. According to CoinGecko, the crypto has risen by over 275% in the last 7 days. This bout of price movement may have been supported by the actions of two whales who added PEPE tokens worth millions to their portfolios over the last 48 hours. Outside of that, whale transactions for PEPE have spiked significantly too.
What next? Until a few months ago, most of these lesser cryptos were thought to be “dead.” However, they’ve risen since and risen well on the back of the crypto-market’s general bullishness. With Bitcoin closing in on its ATH, the halving looming, and a possible spot ETH ETF around the corner, these animal-themed cryptos might just hit new heights.
Taiwan to table new digital currency regulation laws in September
Key Points:
New draft bill expected to have more “effective” regulations for digital markets.
Bill is likely to be tabled in the month of September.
News - According to local reports, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission [FSC] will present a new draft for digital asset regulations in September. The same was revealed by Huang Tien-mu, Chairman of the FSC, in a recent speech.
Another step towards legislative regulation - According to Tien-mu, this new draft bill is aimed at making sure investors are better protected against the risk of potential fraud in digital markets. The speech also highlighted that there will be heavy fines and penalties if merchants try to defraud investors.
Here, it is worth noting that the exec’s speech comes on the back of the Taiwanese parliament being presented a Virtual Assets Regulation bill last October. The bill in question had similar provisions but drew a few questions on the enforcement front.
That’s not all either, with the FSC Chair also alluding to the possible approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs within the existing regulatory purview.
A self-regulating example - Taiwan is one of the world’s few jurisdictions that have openly advocated self-regulations by crypto-entities themselves. In fact, back in September 2023, the likes of BitsreetX, Rybit, and Xrex joined hands for the same purpose.
At the time, these entities vowed to stand for advocating the industry’s best interest, while also working hand in hand with regulators.
More stories from the crypto ecosystem
Interesting Facts
Bitcoin is the official currency of Liberland, a micronation proclaimed on 13th April 2015 by Czech politician Vít Jedlička. In fact, Liberland advertises itself as a ‘crypto-friendly sovereign state’ that runs fully on chain.
According to reports, there is a social media post about Bitcoin every three seconds.
As of October 2023, hackers have stolen over $77 billion worth of cryptocurrencies since June 2013.
Top 3 coins of the day
Theta Token (THETA)
Key Points:
THETA has risen by over 70% in the last 7 days.
THETA is now close to trading around its 2-year high.
What you should know - At the time of writing, THETA was trading at $3.11 on the price charts, after appreciating by 71.74% in a week. The crypto capitalized on the general market’s bullishness to register notable gains on a week-on-week basis post-mid-February. This was evidenced by the Moving Average, with the same positioned below THETA’s price candles. Additionally, the Parabolic SAR’s dotted markers highlighted bullishness too with their placement under the price candles.
BTT
Key Points:
Like THETA, BTT’s 7-day hike has been worth over 70%.
However, volumes were on the muted side over the last few days.
What you should know - Valued at a price of $0.00000191 at press time, BTT has revisited the uptrend it started navigating back in December. However, it has yet to break well past its previous peak on the price charts. While the token has risen by over 70% over the past week, its indicators were a little too ambivalent to help identify where the market will head next. For example - The Chaikin Money Flow, after falling below zero, was inching towards it again. This suggested that capital inflows were soon going to flash green. Additionally, while BTT’s most recent hike has been significant, its corresponding volumes haven’t been as high as what was seen back in December 2023.
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Key Points:
Ethereum Classic was among the market’s “smaller” gainers with gains of over 30%.
Signs of correction seemed to be looming too.
What you should know - On the back of a 34% hike, Ethereum Classic is now trading at a price level last seen back in September 2022. There may be several reasons behind ETC’s hike. Yes, the larger market is exceedingly bullish right now but outside of that, ETC’s movement may have to do with the fact that the Spiral hard fork was a success. Additionally, with spot ETH ETFs in the news lately, one can guess there has been a spillover effect on Ethereum Classic too. That being said, ETC’s indicators are worth looking at. While the volumes seemed to be receding gradually, the RSI was well into the overbought zone. This could trigger a sell signal for ETC holders.
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