Bitcoin is trading below 30k, keeping the market stagnant as investors wait for movement. A new all-time high has been reached in the long-term Bitcoin holder metric. Huobi has received $200M USDT and $9M Ether from a whale. On Halving Day, Litecoin has taken a 6% plunge to fresh monthly lows. The NFT market is experiencing a downturn. PayPal has announced plans to issue a dollar-pegged crypto stablecoin based on Ethereum.
Cryptocurrency markets closed fairly flat on Monday, with bitcoin (BTC) up 0.57% to $29,165 and ether (ETH) up $1,826.Bullish traders are watching the upcoming U.S. consumer price index report for July for signs of continued inflation. It is expected to show a monthly increase of 0.2% and an annualized increase of 3.3%. In the background is the US Federal Reserve's historic tightening of monetary policy and the market's subsequent expectation of a rate cut, which is historically linked to recent fluctuations in the bitcoin price.
Long-term Bitcoin holders now control a record 14.599 million BTC. Over the past seven days, the total balance held in these wallets has increased by 43,949 Bitcoin or $1.274 billion in current prices.Long-term Bitcoin holders are addresses that have held coins for at least 155 days. Previous research shows that this type of address is statistically unlikely to spend, and thus, in Bitcoin slang, assumed to be HODLing. The amount held by long-term holders also accounts for 75% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply, suggesting investors are opting to hold onto their assets for extended periods of time.
In February, long-term Bitcoin holders controlled as much as 78% of the network’s circulating supply. Still, this sustained pattern of long-term holding may indicate a growing belief in the leading cryptocurrency’s potential to serve as both a store of value.
Additionally, 30% of Bitcoin has been moved to cold storage since 2020, resulting in a reduced supply on exchanges, which now hold a mere 2.26 million Bitcoin.
In the past week, Huobi's stablecoin exchange balances have decreased by 33% as traders withdrew $49 million in stables. According to data, Huobi's balance on Monday was around $2.5 billion, which is a decrease from $3.1 billion at the start of the year. On-chain data also suggests that some of the exchange's largest holdings are from tokens affiliated with the Justin Sun universe of companies and protocols.
TRX, which is TRON's token, accounts for 26.5% of the exchange's holdings, and HT, its exchange token, accounts for 20.32% of the holdings. Huobi holds highly liquid assets worth around $1 billion, including $886.92 million in bitcoin, $48.27 million in USDT, and $5.41 million in USDC.
On-chain data from today shows that a whale made two large deposits into Huobi, boosting the exchange's holdings of USDT and Ether. The whale transferred $200 million in USDT on Tuesday, followed by a second transaction of 5,000 ether (ETH), valued at $9.15 million. A Huobi spokesperson denied that the address belongs to Justin Sun, although the address is tagged as one of the top-10 holders of TRX token.
Litecoin (LTC) recently experienced a significant drop in price following its "halving" event. The native token of the Litecoin blockchain dropped to as low as $83, a level not seen since June 28th. This represents a decline of roughly 6% during the day, which is underperforming when compared to bitcoin (BTC).
Litecoin has undergone its third halving since 2011, and like Bitcoin halvings, this event occurs roughly every four years. The halving cuts the rewards for miners in half and reduces the issuance of new tokens. In crypto circles, LTC is often referred to as digital silver, in comparison to BTC's digital gold nickname.
However, LTC's price performance around halvings differs from BTC's behavior. Whereas Bitcoin has tended to move higher following halvings, the past two occasions for Litecoin have seen the crypto peak prior to the event and then slide lower for months afterward.
While many cryptocurrency enthusiasts hope that digital assets are entering a proverbial spring, one segment of the market remains in deep winter: non-functioning tokens.NFTs were an integral part of the cryptocurrency market mania of 2022, but their value has plummeted and they have not experienced much relief over the past year. The Bitwise Blue-Chip NFT Index Fund, which gives institutional investors access to the largest collections of NFTs, has fallen 28.8% since the start of the year, while bitcoin has risen 70% over the same period. Unsurprisingly, trading platforms have seen a decline in the number of active users per week and transaction volume since January 2022.Monthly Ethereum-based NFT volume on trading platforms has fallen from a high of $1.72 billion in February 2023 to $455 million in July 2023.
In other news,. global payments giant PayPal (PYPL) is entering the cryptocurrency market with its own U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), the company announced on Monday.The Ethereum-based token will soon be available to PayPal users in the U.S. This is the first time a major financial company is issuing its own stablecoin. Users can transfer PYUSD between PayPal and supported external digital wallets, use the tokens to pay for goods and services or convert any of PayPal's supported cryptocurrencies to and from PYUSD.PayPal said the stablecoin will be available to an "already large and growing community of external developers, wallets and web3 applications," and can be easily adopted by crypto exchanges.PYUSD will be issued by New York-based crypto financial-services firm Paxos Trust and will be fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasuries and similar cash equivalents. It is redeemable for dollars and can also be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies available on PayPal’s network, such as bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ether (ETH) and litecoin (LTC).
The most essential Fundraising news:
Orbital offers a solution for global enterprises to seamlessly integrate stablecoins, as well as other major cryptocurrencies and traditional currencies, into their existing payment systems. This enables businesses with exposure to emerging markets to expand their payment capabilities. Orbital's APIs provide an embedded finance solution for stablecoin payments.
For instance, companies can now easily receive cryptocurrency payments from their customers and easily convert them into traditional currencies like USD, GBP, and EUR. They can then settle the funds into their IBAN accounts within minutes. Furthermore, customers can now access new markets without having to set up a physical presence or domestic bank account. They can avoid the hassle of handling cryptocurrencies themselves if they choose to do so.
zkPass utilizes a combination of three different types of technology: zero-knowledge proofs, multi-party computation, and three-party transport layer security. This empowers users to share personal data on any website without compromising the privacy of their documents.
This technology can be applied to various use cases, including decentralized identity passes, healthcare data marketplaces with a focus on privacy, and DeFi protocols that utilize off-chain data for credit applications.
The funding will be allocated to support the development of zkPass' pre-alpha testnet, which presently has 190,000 signups on its waitlist.
VIP3 is a comprehensive Web3 membership and benefits platform that links Web3 users to active dapps. By obtaining the VIP3 on-chain SBT membership card, users can enjoy a range of bonuses and discounts from VIP3's benefits partners. These benefits include, but are not limited to, discounts on trading fees, whitelist access, airdrops, gas subsidies, and more. In return, partners receive increased exposure for their products and access to genuine users. This mutually beneficial outcome encourages partners to continue collaborating with VIP3, allowing company to offer users even more premium benefits and privileges.
Currently, VIP3 has established partnerships with over 30 platforms, including but not limited to Binance, OKX, Tokenpocket, .bit, ReadOn, 0xMahjong, Kucoin, MEXC, Bitget, Unemeta, and Sparkle. As the number of VIP3 users continues to grow, the number of partner platforms will also increase steadily.
Coinbase has officially announced the launch of its own Layer 2 network on the Ethereum blockchain, named Base. Let's delve into what Base is and what to expect from this innovation.
Many cryptocurrency exchanges are establishing their own networks to optimize trading and expedite payment processing. They create an internal utility token on the L2 blockchain to enhance market liquidity and reduce exchange fees. Additionally, the exchange's internal token often serves as a means of payment and a decentralization tool, as it formally functions as an instrument for voting on important project decisions.
However, Coinbase has chosen to deviate from the conventional algorithm of creating and using its proprietary exchange network.
For the creation of Base, Coinbase looked to OP Stack, a modular and open-source framework developed by the team behind Optimism. As the Ethereum ecosystem embraces a new phase of rollup-focused development, OP Stack has gained popularity among Layer 2 developers seeking to implement optimistic rollups.
Although the Base Mainnet will operate as a distinct network from Optimism, the decision to utilize OP Stack ensures a strong degree of interoperability between the two Layer 2 solutions.
From the project's inception, the Base development team has maintained a close collaboration with OP Labs, a fundamental developer of OP Stack. Additionally, these two initiatives share a common approach to Ethereum scaling. With a shared vision for a decentralized and interoperable "Superchain" composed of Layer 2 solutions, Base is aligned with the movement initiated by Optimism.
Highlighting this Superchain concept, the Base developers have committed to distributing a portion of the network's transaction fees with the Optimism Collective.
You might be curious about the token used by Base. However, in contrast to other Layer 2 solutions, Base operates without its own dedicated network token, and there are no intentions to introduce one.
This tokenless approach is made possible largely due to the backing of Coinbase, which lends credibility to the Base chain. Unlike similar solutions, the project has refrained from offering a token-based incentive for locking assets within Base.
Since the Mainnet launch, the total value locked (TVL) on the Base blockchain has surged to more than 68,000 ETH, equivalent to around $124 million in USD. It's likely that a significant portion of this has originated from Coinbase, which aims to enhance liquidity on the network.
Opting against introducing an inherent Base token aligns with the philosophy of maintaining a strong connection to Ethereum. In an effort to attract Ethereum developers, Base has pursued a strategy of emulating its attributes closely, while simultaneously expanding its capabilities to be on par with other Layer 2 solutions.
Coinbase provided the funding for the development of Base, with plans to utilize the blockchain to support various forthcoming products.
Despite this initial driving force, the overarching vision for Base is to construct an inclusive ecosystem that attracts diverse applications. In this aspect, it draws parallels to the BNB chain, which originated from Binance's endeavors but now operates mostly independently from its creator.
Similar to Binance, Coinbase boasts a prominent standing as one of the most recognizable names in the cryptocurrency realm. Base aims to harness this brand recognition to draw in users.
Undoubtedly, with $120 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets on its platform and millions of active users, Coinbase possesses the potential to bring substantial value to Base. However, for Base to realize its ambition of engaging a billion Web3 users, it must showcase utility beyond the confined domain of cryptocurrency trading.
To achieve this, Base has already welcomed several testnet participants and extended an invitation to new developers to join its network.
Coinbase's involvement in Base has drawn criticism, suggesting that the project might be seen as being under the control of a private corporation. The cryptocurrency space is known for its skepticism toward blockchain initiatives that deviate from the principles of decentralization.
Currently, the sole sequencer within the Base network is Coinbase. In simpler terms, the company's managed servers hold exclusive responsibility for validating transactions.
Nevertheless, Base has outlined a roadmap for achieving decentralization in the upcoming months and years. Moving forward, its operations and governance will gradually shift toward a structure more akin to Ethereum's.
As an interim step, the initial measure will involve transferring decision-making authority from the core Base developers to a "security council" that represents key stakeholders. As the Base ecosystem expands, it plans to implement more inclusive governance mechanisms that better represent the diversity of participants within the network.
In Ethereum jargon, there are two types of “accounts”. Contract accounts execute code upon the receipt of a transaction. Meanwhile, externally owned accounts (EOAs) function as addresses that send and receive Ether.
Users interact with Ethereum using EOAs, which is the only way to initiate a transaction or execute a smart contract. The concept of account abstraction describes situations in which a user interacts with the network without owning the underlying account.
In other words, it allows third-party EOAs to execute transactions on behalf of someone else. This means users can engage with smart contracts without having to pay gas fees or worry about storing private keys.
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