Bitcoin’s (BTC) bounce fizzled out near $24,500 on Aug. 17, indicating that the recovery still faces stiff resistance from the bears. On-chain monitoring resource Material Indicators said the ask liquidity on the Fire Charts was similar to prior local tops. Another reason for caution among crypto investors was that the recovery in the S&P 500 was reaching extreme overbought levels in the near term. Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at asset manager Fidelity Investments, said that 88% of stocks in the S&P 500 were trading above their 50-day moving average, which was “stunning.” Some were also cautious as Michael …

Bitcoin (BTC) has been witnessing a tough battle between the bulls and the bears near the $25,000 level. A clear winner may not emerge in the short term due to a lack of a catalyst and because there is no major macro economic data scheduled for this week in the United States. Data points from Asia or Europe may increase volatility, but they are unlikely to start a new directional move. Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of Skybridge Capital, in an interview with CNBC, advised investors to ride out the current uncertainty in cryptocurrencies and “stay patient and stay …

The Acala Network’s aUSD stablecoin depegged by over 99% over the weekend and forced the Acala team to pause a hacker’s wallet, raising concerns about its claim of being decentralized. On Aug. 14, a hacker took advantage of a bug on the iBTC/aUSD liquidity pool which resulted in 1.2 billion aUSD being minted without collateral. This event crashed the USD-pegged stablecoin to a cent, and in response, the Acala team froze the erroneously minted tokens by placing the network in maintenance mode. The move also halted other features such as swaps, xcm (cross-chain communications on Polkadot), and the oracle pallet …

Bitcoin (BTC) could not overcome the barrier at $25,000 on Aug. 11 even though it had two catalysts in the form of a "favorable" Consumer Price Index print and news that BlackRock — the world's largest asset manager, overseeing over $10 trillion in total assets — had launched a spot Bitcoin investment product. In comparison, Ether (ETH) has managed to hold on to its recent gains on news that the Goerli testnet had successfully activated proof-of-stake, clearing the path for Ethereum’s mainnet transition planned for Sept. 15 or Sept. 16. Data from Santiment shows that Ether whale transactions have increased …

Interlay, a London-based blockchain firm, launched a Bitcoin (BTC)-based cross-chain bridge on Polkadot (DOT). Named interBTC (iBTC), the bridge allows the use of Bitcoin on non-native blockchains for decentralized finance (DeFi), cross-chain transfers and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), among others. interBTC operates as a BTC-backed stablecoin, secured by a decentralized network of overcollateralized vaults, which according to Interlay, resembles MakerDAO’s DAI token, a stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain. The iBTC vaults use mixed-asset collateral to insure BTC reserves, making iBTC redeemable 1:1 with BTC over the Bitcoin blockchain. As a preventive measure during unforeseen vault failure, the collateral is programmed to …

The Aug. 10 Consumer Price Index (CPI) report shows year-over-year inflation rose 8.5% in July and while this figure is below economists’ expectations of 8.7%, it is still high. Although inflation remains much higher than the Federal Reserve's 2% target, the marginal slowdown raises hopes that the rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have started to work. That has reduced the probability of a 75 basis point rate hike in the September meeting from 68% on Aug. 9 to 37.5% according to CME group data. Risky assets, including the cryptocurrency markets, responded positively to the CPI print. Compared to Bitcoin …

The United States equities markets and the cryptocurrency markets have started the week on a strong note, indicating that traders are not nervous about buying ahead of the important Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for July which will be released on Aug. 10. Another positive sign is that the recent recovery in Bitcoin (BTC) has not tempted investors to exit their positions in fear of another leg down. Glassnode data shows that the percentage of supply that has stayed dormant for three or more years rose to a new all-time high of 38.426% on Aug. 8. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) continue to capture the imagination of the cryptocurrency space, with some of the most popular projects attracting hundreds of millions of dollars from investors. Projects like Cryptopunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club epitomize the exclusivity of the most lucrative collections, with each NFT far from accessible to the average investor. A new campaign intends to give a wider base of investors a stake in some of the most valuable NFTs by fractionalizing ownership to reinstate accessibility. Unique Network, an NFT infrastructure running on the Kusama and Polkadot networks, will split the ownership of a Cryptopunk to …

The recovery in the cryptocurrency markets is being led by Bitcoin (BTC), which has risen above the $21,000 level. However, BlockTrends analyst Caue Oliveira said that on-chain data shows a decline in “whale activity” since the month of May, barring the flurry of activity during the Terra (LUNA) — since renamed Terra Classic (LUNC) — collapse. A survey conducted in China shows that most participants believe that Bitcoin could fall much further. About 40% of the participants said they would buy Bitcoin if the price dropped to $10,000. Only 8% of the voters showed interest in buying Bitcoin if it …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has massive potential to transform traditional financial services. Data from Emergen Research recently found that the global DeFi platform market size is expected to reach $507 billion by 2028. Moreover, the total value locked within DeFi currently exceeds $75 billion, demonstrating fast-paced growth compared to previous months this year. Yet, DeFi’s potential may still not be realized by business leaders unfamiliar with the blockchain ecosystem. This notion is highlighted in Alex Tapscott’s recent book, Digital Asset Revolution. Tapscott, co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute and managing director at Ninepoint Digital Asset Group, told Cointelegraph that he believes …

The United States Consumer Price Index soared to 9.1% in June, exceeding expectations of an 8.8% rise year-on-year. Currently, the Fed funds futures point to an 81 basis points rate hike for July, suggesting that some participants anticipate a 100 basis points hike. Several on-chain indicators have been pointing to a likely bottom in Bitcoin (BTC) but the analysts from market intelligence firm Glassnode are not convinced that the low has been made. In “The Week On-Chain” report on July 11, the analysts said that the market may have to fall further “to fully test investor resolve, and enable the …

The United States dollar index (DXY) resumed its strong uptrend on July 11, indicating that investors are preparing for the July 13 CPI report to be hotter than expected. A survey of economists by Bloomberg estimates that in June consumer prices surged to 8.8%, a four-decade high. Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of derivatives trading platform BitMEX, believes that the U.S. dollar and the euro were moving towards hitting parity. If that happens, the central banks will have to adopt yield curve control, which could lead to the disintegration of the currency and ultimately benefit Bitcoin (BTC). Glassnode analyst James …