TL;DR

XRP recently lost nearly 20% of its value amid a broader market correction affecting major cryptocurrencies.

However, several analysts remain optimistic, predicting a significant rally in the range of $1-$4.

Where is XRP Headed?

The cryptocurrency market experienced a severe correction in the past few days, with leading digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and many more, plunging to multi-week lows.

Ripple’s native token – XRP – was also among those that headed south, losing almost 20% of its value over a seven-day scale.

XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko

Numerous analysts, though, remain unfazed by the negative trend, forecasting an impressive rally in the following months. The popular X user Ash Crypto recently outlined targets for 2025, claiming that XRP may skyrocket to the $3-$5 range. 

Dark Defender chipped in, too, predicting a fresh bull run for the asset should it overcome the crucial resistance zone of $0.52. “We might be experiencing the darkest hours before the dawn. I trust what I have; I trust Ripple & XRP,” the X user added.

Previous XRP Predictions

There are many other analysts who expect XRP’s valuation to take off soon. One example is EGRAG CRYPTO, who argued that the ongoing correction is “for buying, not for crying.” According to the analyst, the token “finds itself in a unique position, caught between bullish sentiment and bearish pressure,” and is poised to ignite like a rocket.

Last week, EGRAG CRYPTO suggested that XRP’s price trajectory has formed a so-called “three camel humps,” which could trigger a bull run to the range of $1-$1.30.

Mikybull Crypto and the YouTube content creator D.I.Y Investing were also bullish. The former believes the coin is gearing up for an ascent toward $4, whereas the latter thinks XRP is on the verge of exploding to a new all-time high.

Multiple elements hint the asset may experience a significant resurgence this year, such as a positive outcome of the lawsuit between Ripple and the US SEC. Check out our dedicated video below to explore the additional factors:

The post Popular Analyst Predicts an ATH for Ripple (XRP) in 2025: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Preliminary data from Farside Investors revealed that four of the new spot Bitcoin ETFs had another day of zero flows on April 16.

These were Bitwise (BITB), Invesco Galaxy (BTCO), WisdomTree (BTCW), and Hashdex (DEFI).

Additionally, Grayscale’s GBTC and ARK 21Shares’ ARKB had outflows of $79.4 million and $12.9 million respectively.

Nevertheless, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said this was perfectly normal.

To all those people emailing us, saying we have a bug, because that many flows cannot be zero and its too much of a coincidence. See this thread from @JSeyff

Bitcoiners clearly do not understand ETFs, we are so early… https://t.co/aLhTiJX3IS

— Farside Investors (@FarsideUK) April 16, 2024

Why Zeros Don’t Matter

On April 16, Seyffart said that on any given day, the vast majority of ETFs will have a flow number of zero, adding that “this is very normal.”

He said that there are around 3,500 ETFs in the US, and on April 15, 2,903 of them had a flow of exactly zero. Moreover, nine of the newly launched eleven spot Bitcoin ETFs, including Fidelity (FBTC), had a flow of zero that day.

He explained that shares are produced or destroyed in creation units, which only happens when there is a mismatch in supply and demand.

“That mismatch has to be large enough to justify tapping the underlying market,” and a bigger mismatch than a creation unit, he added.

Moreover, creation units are the lots that ETF shares are created and redeemed in. Every ETF can have different-sized creation units. In the case of the spot Bitcoin ETFs, they are blocks of shares ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 shares, he said.

“A creation or redemption will only happen if there is a large enough mismatch in supply and demand AND the cost to make a market by doing that creation or redemption is lower than simply hedging and making markets the old fashioned way.”

Okay too many questions about #Bitcoin ETFs and zero flows — a few quick thoughts:

1. On any given day, the vast majority of ETFs will have a flow number of ZERO — this is very normal. There are ~3,500 ETFs in the US. Yesterday 2,903 of them had a flow of exactly zero

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) April 16, 2024

Third Day of Outflows

Minor mismatches will see the market makers handle trading of shares just like they would a stock, Seyffart explained. However, “it needs to be lopsided and more than a creation unit in either direction for market makers to tap the underlying market,” he added.

Therefore, when these mismatches are large enough, there will be significant inflows or outflows of the underlying asset, and when they are too small, there will be zeros.

Nevertheless, April 16 was the third trading day in a row with an outflow as a net aggregate of $58 million left spot Bitcoin ETFs. This was due to a tiny inflow of $25.8 million for BlackRock (IBIT) and outflows from GBTC and ARKB.

The underlying asset, BTC, recovered marginally, briefly reclaiming $64,000 during the Wednesday Asian trading session, but slipped in the following hours.

The post Why Zero Flows for Spot Bitcoin ETFs Don’t Really Matter appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Throughout the past few days, Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market have experienced considerable declines. BTC tumbled toward $60K before recovering and crashing again, while most of the altcoins followed suit.

Renowned trader Rekt Capital stated that Bitcoin has demonstrated similar retrace patterns since the 2022 bear market bottom, witnessing 20% drops and one 18% retrace on one particular occasion.

Bitcoin’s current pullback — which the analyst estimates at 16% — almost equals the lows of the -18 % retrace that occurred earlier in March of this year. Each pullback was succeeded by a significant surge in price.

Source: X

On a similar note, crypto investor Trader Tardigrade says Bitcoin is going through a routine move. Since the beginning of the 2024 cycle, shakeouts have occurred several times, followed by a price surge.

BTC Still On Track for 2024 Cycle Top

Meanwhile, renowned Bitcoin analyst CryptoCon shared an optimistic view regarding Bitcoin’s current difficulty breaking above resistance from all-time highs. He states that, despite certain metrics being at overheated levels, Bitcoin’s position remains lined up for a cycle top expected by December 2024.

“In 2017 and 2020 leading up to ATHs MVRV faced some difficulty at this exact point. Our position still lines up perfectly for a cycle top that is one year accelerated in December 2024.”

#Bitcoin continues to face resistance at ATHs, but according to the MVRV-Z, that’s normal!

In 2017 and 2020 leading up to ATHs MVRV faced some difficulty at this exact point.

Our position still lines up perfectly for a cycle top that is one year accelerated in December 2024.… pic.twitter.com/qiGwfnBjhV

— CryptoCon (@CryptoCon_) April 13, 2024

The consensus between analysts and market observers is that these types of pullbacks are “normal,” as history shows that BTC’s price has corrected ahead of previous halvings.

The post Here’s Why Pullbacks Preceed Major Returns for Bitcoin: Analysts appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The first quarter of 2024 witnessed over $824 million across 67 hacks as bad actors became more active in targeting high-profile individuals and projects.

According to the latest Hacken report shared with CryptoPotato, breaches in access control emerged as the most frequent category of hacks in terms of both frequency and financial impact, with $682 million being siphoned away. This constituted 83% of the total funds stolen during Q1 2024, spread across 26 separate incidents.

Access Control Breaches Reign

Four major incidents alone comprised 66% of the total losses. These included the $290 million breach at the gaming platform Playdapp, the $112 million incident involving Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s wallet hack, the $80 million hack of the Orbit chain bridge, and the $63 million exploit of Munchables, a Web3 gaming protocol on Blast.

Each of these breaches was characterized by unauthorized access, which essentially highlighted access control breaches as the most impactful exploit type during Q1 that allowed hackers to infiltrate critical system components.

Token projects also bore the brunt of hacking activity, with 19 reported incidents, followed by other projects at 10 incidents and lending protocols at 9 incidents. Gaming platforms, led by Playdapp’s substantial losses, suffered the most significant financial hits, followed by Munchables.

Breached wallets belonging to notable individuals, DAOs, tokens, bridges, and CeFi platforms constituted the second-largest category of losses, exemplified by incidents involving figures like Chris Larsen, Jeffrey Zirlin, and AirDAO.

Ray of Hope?

Despite the staggering losses during the first quarter, Hacken found that approximately $444 million was successfully recovered or frozen from various hacks and exploits, equivalent to 54% of the amount stolen. The firm noted that such a recovery effort marks a notable advancement in the industry’s responsiveness to such incidents.

Measures like hackers returning funds for bounties, as seen in the Seneca Protocol hack and Dolomite case, and intervention by white hat hackers, such as @coffeebabe_eth disrupting and returning funds in the Blueberry protocol hack, contributed to this recovery.

The proactive steps taken by project teams and white hat hackers played a crucial role in recovering stolen funds and minimizing further disruptions. While the total amount hacked in this period was substantial, recovering more than half of the stolen funds represents a significant positive development for security and resilience in the industry.

While speaking to CryptoPotato, Edgar Pavlovski, Hacken’s Senior Blockchain Researcher, explained,

“The beginning of this year spawned more of the same – losing control of one’s private key remains the largest vector of attack, accounting for 83% of all funds lost. On the bright side, more than half of all stolen funds were either returned or frozen. This represents big advancement compared to previous years, and we expect this dynamic to continue improving over time.”

The post Web3 Hackers Target Big Fish, But Sector’s Recovery Hits 54%: Hacken appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin’s price movements continue to be quite underwhelming as the asset failed to overcome the $64,000 level and has remained just below it.

Most altcoins are also quite sluggish, with ADA and BCH charting minor losses, while NEAR and PEPE have gained the most.

Bitcoin’s Uncertainty Continues

The primary cryptocurrency went through a highly violent weekend in which it first slumped by six grand on Friday evening to $65,000 before another decline drove it south to just over $61,000 a day later. Both of these collapses were blamed on external events like the US Fed’s most recent comments and Iran’s retaliation against Israel.

Bitcoin started to recover some ground on Sunday and Monday morning and jumped to just over $67,000. However, that was short-lived, and the cryptocurrency started losing value almost immediately.

It has been unable to regain any traction since then and now stands below $64,000 after another failed attempt to overcome that line. Its market capitalization has slipped to $1.250 trillion, but its dominance over the altcoins remains just over 51.5% on CG.

Bitcoin’s fourth halving, an event generally regarded as a catalyst for future price increases, is just days ahead. It would be interesting to follow how the asset will perform in the next 72 hours or so leading to the event.

BTCUSD. Source: TradingView NEAR, PEPE Stand Alone

Most altcoins slumped hard during the weekend crash, with numerous double-digit drops seen by almost all altcoins on both days. Although they have bounced off the lows, the situation is still quite gloomy.

ETH, BNB, ADA, AVAX, BCH, DOT, and LINK are still in the red from the larger-cap alts, while only SOL, XRP, TON, DOGE, and SHIB have produced insignificant gains.

The most substantial price increases come from NEAR Protocol’s native token and the popular meme coin – PEPE. The former has jumped by about 6% in a day, while the latter by 5%.

The total crypto market cap, though, still remains quite shaky and is close to breaking below $2.4 trillion on CG.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto

The post BTC Still Shaky Below $64K Days Ahead of Halving, NEAR Soars 6% (Market Watch) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin (BTC) becomes more scarce after each halving, but the next event that takes place in the next four days will make the digital assets twice as rare as gold, according to analysts at the leading crypto exchange, Bybit.

A report on what to expect before and after the Bitcoin halving revealed that BTC will experience a supply squeeze after the event, as the reserves on all centralized exchanges may be consumed within nine months.

Twice as Rare as Gold

Bybit said the Bitcoin stock-to-flow (S2F) model substantiates its claims as the metric has shown that BTC becomes scarcer than gold after each halving. The S2F ratio is calculated by dividing the circulating supply of a commodity by its annual production to derive a scarcity gauge.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s S2F ratio hovered around 56, while that of gold is 60. After the halving, Bitcoin’s ratio is expected to double to 112.

Halving slows supply by reducing the rate of BTC production, and a supply squeeze may be inevitable. Bitcoin is already seeing early signs of a short squeeze, which will worsen post-halving.

The BTC supply for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) usually comes from centralized exchanges as investors realize their profitable positions and miners sell their block rewards. When mining rewards are slashed and investors HODL their assets in cold storage or decentralized wallets, miners would refrain from selling quickly, and the sell-side supply flowing into the exchanges will decline.

A Complex Cycle

Currently, roughly two million bitcoins are in centralized exchange reserves. Assuming spot Bitcoin ETFs see daily inflows of $500 million, around 7,142 BTC will leave exchange reserves daily, indicating that the reserves will only last nine months after the halving.

“With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that Bitcoin’s price may continue to climb before the halving, or even afterward, as the supply squeeze propels the price to another new record,” Bybit said.

Although halvings are known to trigger bitcoin price rises, analysts see this cycle as complex and remain uncertain about the effect of the upcoming event as BTC already recorded a new high. Some believe the post-halving rally will be less remarkable than the market has experienced after past events.

Nevertheless, market experts believe demand will drive the BTC post-halving surge this time as spot Bitcoin ETFs achieve their full potential.

The post Bitcoin to Become Twice as Rare as Gold After the Halving: Bybit appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Shiba Inu (SHIB) experienced a 6% price increase today, making it the best performer among the top 20 cryptocurrencies.

Its rally occurs amidst a broader positive trend in the meme coin market, where other assets like DOGE and MEW also recorded gains.

The Possible Reasons

The second-largest meme coin – Shiba Inu (SHIB) – is among the best-performing cryptocurrencies (at least from the top 20 list) today (April 17), with its price spiking by 6% on a daily scale.

SHIB Price, Source: CoinGecko

Its rally could be attributed to numerous important factors, such as the massive burn rate increase. As CryptoPotato reported, the team behind Shiba Inu burned almost 800 million tokens in the past week, while the destroyed assets throughout March surpassed the 15.5 billion mark. The program’s ultimate goal is to reduce SHIB’s tremendous supply, making it scarcer and potentially more valuable in time.

Another element that might have played a role is the resurgence of the layer-2 scaling solution – Shibarium. Daily transactions on the network have headed north lately, while the total number of transactions has surpassed the 400 million level.

Shibarium was introduced last summer and aims to elevate Shiba Inu above its rivals in the meme coin niche by improving speed, lowering transaction fees, and enhancing scalability. If you are curious to learn more about the feature, take a look at our dedicated video below:

Overall Meme Coin Revival

SHIB’s latest price rally coincides with a green wave that reigns across the meme coin cohort. Leading assets of that type, such as Dogecoin (DOGE), dogwifhat (WIF), Floki Inu (FLOKI), and Bonk Inu (BONK) have charted some gains in the past 24 hours, albeit not as substantial as Shiba Inu’s.

The best performer in the realm is once again the Solana-based meme coin Cat in a Dogs World (MEW), whose valuation jumped by 40%. Other notable gainers include PEPE (8%), PUPS (19%), and SLERF (13%).

The post Why is the Shiba Inu (SHIB) Price Up Today? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Hong Kong regulators recently approved spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded fund applications, but Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas predicts that the local ETF market may not perform as well as the US due to the current lack of big players and the possibility of high fees.

According to Balchunas, the Hong Kong Bitcoin and Ether ETF market may generate $500 million in inflows, which is small compared to the over $15 billion from BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF product alone in the United States.

Hong Kong Spot BTC ETF Smaller than the US

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on April 15 granted in-principle approval for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF products from China Asset Management, Harvest Global Investments, and Bosera Asset Management in partnership with HashKey Capital.

While the spot crypto approvals are a major milestone for Hong Kong, which is determined to position itself as a central digital assets hub, there are speculations that the city-state may not witness large inflows like in the United States.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, in a tweet, predicted that the Hong Kong ETF market could see an inflow of $500 million, debating another prediction that estimated $25 billion.

According to Balchunas, key factors such as the absence of major players in the Hong Kong ETF market and the possibility of these issuers charging high fees could hinder demand for the products.

The ETF analysts added that the potential local issuers are small compared to the behemoths in the United States. The US boasts financial giants such as the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, and Fidelity, which has nearly $5 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

In terms of fees, one to two percent, as speculated by Balchunas, may prove uncompetitive for Hong Kong Bitcoin ETF issuers, with US ETF providers offering 0.25% and lower.

As previously reported by CryptoPotato, Grayscale, which currently charges 1.5% for a management fee on its spot Bitcoin ETF, said there would be a reduction over time, following the maturity of the ETF market.

The company’s management fee is significantly higher than its rivals and has seen continuous outflows compared to competitors such as BlackRock, which continues to record gains.

When Spot Ethereum ETF in the United States?

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong spot Bitcoin ETF market could see an uptick if bigger players are involved and mainland Chinese investors are allowed access to the product, according to Balchunas.

Although the US spot Bitcoin ETF market is larger than Hong Kong’s, the latter may have an edge over the United States, being one of the first jurisdictions with an approved spot Ethereum ETF.

Since greenlighting almost a dozen applications in January 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission seems to be reluctant to give its approval for a similar product tracking the price of Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

BlackRock, Grayscale, Frank Templeton, Fidelity, and Invesco are among the applicants for a spot Ether ETF. The American regulator recently delayed its decision on Ethereum filings from BlackRock and Fidelity after previous delays on other applications.

However, some analysts believe the SEC’s approval of a spot Ethereum ETF in the United States may not happen in 2024.

The post Bloomberg Analyst Issues a Warning for the Upcoming Hong Kong Bitcoin, Ethereum ETFs appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The neutralization of funding rates in crypto perpetual markets following the drawdown suggested that the correction was healthy and that volatility may eventually decline.

With the Bitcoin halving a few days away, the amount of BTC leaving centralized exchanges has risen to levels not seen for more than 15 months. At the same time, the number of BTC that have not moved in over a year has declined significantly.

According to the Bitfinex Alpha report, these on-chain activities come as Bitcoin recovers from a two-day plunge that triggered a massive liquidation cascade over the weekend.

BTC Exchange Outflows Surge

The net amount of BTC that exited exchanges on April 12 was the highest seen since January 2023. Bitfinex analysts found that investors transferred 6,767 BTC on Friday, signaling a large movement to cold storage in anticipation of potential price rises after the halving. Conversely, the decline in one-year-plus inactive supply suggests that the market is at a point of inflection.

In the last month, long-term holders (those holding their BTC for more than 155 days) have been selling their assets at roughly 16,800 BTC daily. Analysts have discovered a similarity between the actions of BTC holders currently and in December 2020, shortly before the market recorded a major pump.

Bitfinex said this trend is often a precursor to a market downturn and usually lasts about seven months. The pattern suggests this cycle may experience a similar growth phase and that the market may be six months away from the BTC peak. However, this cycle may differ as prices have risen, with BTC recording a new all-time high before the halving.

Notably, long-term holder supply gradually falls before BTC reaches its peak.

Bitcoin Recovers From Weekend Bloodbath

At the time of writing, BTC hovered around $63,000, slightly up from its weekend bottom of $61,200. The market saw liquidations of more than $1.8 billion in long and short positions between Friday and Saturday as it reacted to Iran’s launch of drones and missiles against Israel.

However, the neutralization of funding rates in crypto perpetual markets following the drawdown suggested that the correction was healthy and that volatility may eventually reduce. Bitfinex said Bitcoin’s rebound to the $65,000 level afterward indicated that the market took the sell-down in its stride.

The post Bitcoin Exchange Outflows Intensify as Market Recovers From Weekend Wipeout: Bitfinex appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

The Shiba Inu burn rate exploded again, an effort aimed to reduce the asset’s circulating supply and make SHIB more valuable in time.

However, the price remains deep in red territory amid an overall market collapse. 

SHIB Burn Rate Takes Off

The team behind the popular meme coin – Shiba Inu – keeps removing a substantial amount of tokens from circulation. Data shows that the burn rate has skyrocketed by almost 500% in the past 24 hours and 193% on a weekly scale. This resulted in over 774 million SHIB assets being destroyed.

The program’s ultimate goal is to reduce the coin’s tremendous supply, making it scarcer and potentially more valuable in the future. 

As CryptoPotato reported, the burn rate exploded by 50,000% at one point in April, while the amount of tokens removed from circulation throughout March surpassed 15.5 billion (a 2,300% increase compared to the figure observed in February).

Despite those efforts, the price of Shiba Inu is down 8% in the last 24 hours and 25% weekly (per CoinGecko’s data). Its downtrend coincides with a broader market decline, with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and multiple other cryptocurrencies nosediving as of late.

SHIB Price, Source: CoinGecko Shibarium’s Role

Another essential element that can positively impact SHIB’s value in the future is the advancement of the layer-2 scaling solution – Shibarium. The network experienced a significant revival in the past several days, with the number of daily transactions and active accounts heading north.

Officially introduced last summer, the feature is designed to foster the development of the meme coin by reducing transaction costs, improving speed, and enhancing scalability.

CryptoPotato reported numerous milestones that Shibarium achieved over the past few months. For example, total blocks on the network exceeded the 4 million level, whereas total transactions crossed 400 million. Those willing to learn more about the feature can take a look at our dedicated video below:

The post Huge Increase in Shiba Inu Burn Rate: Can the SHIB Price Rebound? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The upcoming Bitcoin halving event is expected to follow the pattern of “buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news,” according to the Crypto.com CEO.

The exec believes that in the long term, however, the halving, which is currently slated for April 20, will positively impact Bitcoin’s price.

Bitcoin Halving’s Long-Term Impact Will Be Positive

In a recent Bloomberg interview, Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, shared his thoughts on the Bitcoin halving, saying that while there will be selling pressure initially, the long-term impact will be positive on the asset’s price.

The upcoming halving is expected to reduce the mining rewards by half, a challenge for miners. Many miners have been preparing for months, accumulating BTC and upgrading their equipment to meet the increased computational demands that come post-halving.

The halving event has been followed historically with price increases, perhaps fueled by the reduced new Bitcoin supply. Nonetheless, some skeptics doubt the likelihood of a repeat performance, especially given BTC’s recent record high in mid-March.

Despite short-term uncertainties, Marszalek remains optimistic about the six months following the halving, predicting “pretty decent action” in the Bitcoin market.

Industry Experts on Bitcoin Halving’s Impact

Last week, Marathon CEO Fred Thiel reiterated that Bitcoin’s much-anticipated halving might already be partly reflected in the market. Thiel noted that the approval of ETFs has attracted capital into the market and may have accelerated the typical price appreciation expected three to six months after the halving.

Billionaire Arthur Hayes also took a cautious stance on the upcoming Bitcoin halving and its impact on the price. While many experts anticipate a substantial rally post-halving, Hayes believes the price action before and after the event could be negative.

Coinbase has echoed similar sentiments, warning of a likely challenge in an upward momentum due to traders awaiting a price surge ahead of the Bitcoin halving, especially considering the time of year.

However, industry figures like Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse maintain an optimistic outlook. Garlinghouse predicts that the total market cap of crypto assets will double this year, mainly due to spot Bitcoin ETFs and the upcoming halving.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is currently trading at $62,800, down 5.5% in the last 24 hours and 11.1% over the previous week, according to CoinGecko data. The rest of the crypto market has followed this sentiment, with the global crypto market cap dropping 6% in the last day to $2.4 trillion.

The post Bitcoin to Face Enhanced Selling Pressure Ahead of Halving, Crypto Exec Says appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Binance will introduce new perpetual contracts with high-leverage options, enhancing its futures trading platform.

Despite these additions, the involved cryptocurrencies face declines in a generally falling market.

What’s New?

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange will expand the list of trading options offered on Binance Futures to enhance users’ experience. It will launch the ARB/USDC and NEO/USDC perpetual contracts with up to 50x leverage, while FIL/USDC will allow up to 75x leverage. The three choices will be available to traders from April 18.

Binance warned that it may adjust the specifications of the upcoming options, including the funding fee, tick size, maximum leverage, and initial margin, “based on marker risk conditions.” 

The company will also activate the multi-assets mode on the those perpetual contracts, allowing clients to use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as a margin. 

Despite the additional support toward Arbitrum, NEO, and Filecoin, the affected assets remain in red territory amid a severe market decline. ARB is down 8% for the day, NEO has retraced by 13%, while FIL has lost around 6% of its valuation.

Binance’s Previous Amendments

The firm has made numerous similar changes and updates to its platform in the past several months. It delisted the popular privacy coin Monero (XMR) and three other altcoins – Aragon (ANT), Multichain (MULTI), and Vai (VAI) in March. On the other hand, it added Filecoin (FIL), NEAR Protocol (NEAR), Stellar (XLM), EOS (EOS), Injective (INJ), and Alien Worlds (TLM) as new loanable assets on Binance Loans.

Earlier this month, the exchange opened trading and enabled Spot Algo Orders Trading Bots services for the USDT/MXN pair.

Shortly after, it included 18 new loanable assets, such as dogwifhat (WIF) and Pepe (PEPE), Hedera (HBAR), IOTA (IOTA), and Celestia (TIA) to Binance Loans, whereas Saga (SAGA) and Tensor (TNSR) were added to its VIP Loan section.

The post Important Binance Announcement Affecting Some Altcoin Traders: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Arkham’s latest data revealed that the top five identified crypto whales with publicly known wallet addresses collectively hold approximately $3.5 billion in digital assets.

A few sit on a digital treasure trove but have no way to access it.

Locked Out of Crypto Fortune

This list features some of the most prominent names in the industry, with figures like TRON’s Justin Sun, LHV Bank’s Rain Lõhmus, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, German-born programmer and former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, and crypto venture capitalist James Fickel standing at the forefront.

However, a significant portion of this wealth is currently inaccessible. Rain Lõhmus and Stefan Thomas find themselves in a peculiar position, unable to tap into their massive holdings due to lost passwords to their digital wallets. Their stash currently stands at around $793 million and $452 million, respectively. That’s around 35% or $1.24 billion of the total holdings of the top five identified whales.

Private keys serve as the digital signature that grants access to users’ crypto holdings. It essentially acts as the sole means of control and ownership over that fund, and hence, their loss equates to a virtual lockout from one’s assets, rendering them effectively inaccessible and irretrievable.

Numerous individuals have possessed these funds since the inception of Bitcoin ten years ago, a time when there was little confidence that the crypto industry could hold any significant value.

Lõhmus, for one, allegedly misplaced his private keys, which left him unable to access the funds. He even admitted to owning a wallet containing 250,000 ETH, a sum he raked in during ICO 2014, but had not put any effort into retrieving it.

During an interview, the founder of the Estonian bank had expressed willingness to consider offers from experts who might assist him in reclaiming his lost cryptocurrency wealth.

Irony in IronKey: Even Ripple’s Ex-CTO Can’t Crack Vault

Former Ripple executive Thomas received 7,002 BTC in 2011 as payment for creating an educational video about Bitcoin, only to later lose access to the funds after forgetting the password to an IronKey encrypted hard drive containing the private keys the same year.

A major breakthrough came in the form of crypto security experts at Unciphered, who offered potential assistance in October 2023, claiming they could bypass Thomas’s IronKey and help him regain access to his Bitcoin fortune. However, Thomas declined Unciphered’s help and instead reportedly engaged two other teams – cybersecurity firm Naxo and independent researcher Chris Tarnovsky – offering them rewards for unlocking the drive.

There’s been no news of success from these parties so far.

The post Crypto’s Comedy of Errors: 2 Out of 5 Richest Whales Stranded Without Access appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Decentralized blockchain network Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) has successfully implemented threshold-Schnorr signatures to harness the potential of Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) and web3.

According to a release seen by CryptoPotato, the new cryptographic signature scheme will enable ICP smart contracts to etch the Bitcoin token standard, Runes, and trade BRC-20 tokens.

Implementing Threshold-Schnorr Signatures

Threshold-Schnorr is a digital signature scheme that enables the secure signing of transactions and messages on-chain by facilitating the common ownership of a private key by a group of network participants.

ICP said combining threshold-Schnorr-BIP340 with its integration with the Bitcoin network gives rise to new possibilities for decentralized applications that can leverage BTC’s liquidity and security. These services would not need centralized bridges and would be fully decentralized. The integration of the signature scheme supports basic and advanced use cases like decentralized exchanges and Bitcoin inscriptions.

After the next Bitcoin halving, mining will become less profitable as block rewards will be cut in half. Miners will have to rely on more transaction fees to stay afloat. Introducing innovative applications on Bitcoin will increase the value of blockspaces, resulting in more fees.

“It’s super exciting to see the growth and variety of applications building the Bitcoin economy and opening up the Web3 space over the past year. We’ve seen builders leveraging ICP to solve some of the core Bitcoin problems, like inscribing and trading images, getting yield on BTC, and expanding the community,” said Aisling Connolly, Senior Research Scientist of the DFINITY Foundation, the non-profit organization behind ICP.

Solving Problems in The Industry

Besides increasing use cases on the Bitcoin network, the integration of threshold-Schnorr will allow ICP smart contracts to inscribe ordinals in a decentralized way, send, receive, and bridge BRC-20 tokens, and sign Taproot transactions.

Connolly said the integration aims to solve orchestration problems in the crypto industry by adding functionality, speed, and security to interactions on and beyond Bitcoin. The full implementation will be launched by summer.

Meanwhile, developers are increasingly using ICP as the Bitcoin layer zero to build several applications. Projects such as Bioniq, Dopamine Finance, and Taler DAO are already functional on the network, with others like Omnity set to launch later this month.

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TL;DR

Ethereum (ETH) leads in a particular ranking following the approval of Ethereum ETFs in Hong Kong.

Despite this success, the asset’s price has recently declined by 5% in 24 hours and 15% weekly, with analysts indicating critical levels for potential recovery in its value.

ETH Ranks First

The market intelligence platform Santiment revealed that Ethereum (ETH) has garnered much attention lately, experiencing the fastest rise in discussion rate in the crypto community. Beam (BEAM) was placed second, while the biggest stablecoin by market capitalization, Tether (USDT), rounded up the top three.

Other popular cryptocurrencies included in the list are Cat in a Dogs World (MEW), Avalanche (AVAX), Toncoin (TON), and Ondo (ONDO).

According to Santiment, the main reason for the interest in ETH is the recent approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in Hong Kong. 

As CryptoPotato reported earlier this week, the regulators of China’s special administrative region gave the thumbs up on several such products: a move that reflects the city-state’s intention to emerge as a global crypto hub.

ETH Price Outlook

While Ethereum remains quite popular among industry participants, the native token of the blockchain platform—ETH—has suffered a severe setback lately. Its price is down 5% in the last 24 hours and 15% on a weekly scale. Its downtrend comes at the time of a broader market decline, with Bitcoin (BTC) witnessing similar losses.

ETH Price, Source: CoinGecko

The popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital recently claimed that ETH’s price trajectory is “repeating the downside wick of mid-2021.” The trader believes that a new bullish momentum depends on a weekly close which needs to fit into depicted area of over $2,800.

$ETH dropped into the orange circle (~$2800), repeating the downside wick of mid-2021

For #ETH regain bullish momentum, it would need to Weekly Close inside the orange boxed area and retest is as new support#Crypto #Ethereum https://t.co/BXxxficG4y pic.twitter.com/7g4LGOftfd

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) April 15, 2024

The X user Crypto Tony chipped in, too, arguing that “holding $3,040 is super important for the bulls.”

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Bitcoin suffered yet another tumble, losing roughly 10% over the past week. Despite these volatile price movements, Santiment’s latest analysis reveals that key stakeholders aren’t budging on their BTC holdings.

While looming concerns and FUD spreading within trading circles as the April 19th halving approaches exist, it is also important to note that certain whale groups have demonstrated significant confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term potential.

Bitcoin Investors Hold Steady

The accumulation trend is evident by the data suggesting that wallets holding between 100 to 1,000 BTC purchased 43,489 coins, equivalent to $2.75 billion since March 1st.

A similar pattern was seen across wallets with holdings ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 BTC, which amassed 80,544 coins, totaling $5.1 billion during the same period. Wallets holding between 10,000 to 100,000 BTC also accumulated 91,732 coins, worth around $5.8 billion.

This data compiled by the crypto analytic platform essentially suggests that despite short-term market turbulence, large-scale investors remain committed to Bitcoin, indicating a strong underlying bullish sentiment towards the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Experts believe that the market is currently in an uptrend. As such, the accumulation stage is expected to continue till the halving as Bitcoin trades within the 60,000-59,0000 zone.

Additionally, Intotheblock revealed that Bitcoin is currently sitting right atop a crucial demand zone, which indicates a potentially strong level of support. With over a million addresses historically acquiring over 530,000 BTC at an average price of $64.3k, this area holds significant importance as a potential stronghold for the cryptocurrency’s price. However, in case of a downside break, the next major demand zone is around the $56,000 level.

ETF Demand Stagnates

While on-chain accumulation remains strong, the same cannot be said for spot Bitcoin ETF demand, which appears to have stagnated, even when excluding ETF settlement transactions, according to CryptoQuant’s analysis.

The spot Bitcoin ETFs bled with outflows except for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which was the only fund recording inflows of $73.4 million on April 15th.

Digital asset investment products recorded outflows of $126 million last week, with Bitcoin accounting for $110 million as investors maintained caution.

The post Bitcoin Drops 10% Weekly But Big Players Stay in the Game appeared first on CryptoPotato.

TL;DR

Shiba Inu’s price has dropped 25% over the past week, but essential factors indicate that a fresh rally could be just around the corner.

One such element is the upcoming Bitcoin halving, which is expected to take place later this week.

Whales on the Move

Shiba Inu is among the worst-affected cryptocurrencies during the ongoing market decline, with the SHIB price tumbling by 25% weekly. However, some optimistic indicators signal that the valuation might head north in the short term.

One such factor is the increased whale activity, with numerous large investors purchasing a substantial amount of tokens. 

As observed on Etherscan, a whale amassed over 107 billion assets from Coinbase on April 14 when SHIB dropped to a six-week low. Other big investors also jumped on the bandwagon, buying billions of tokens in the following days.

Such moves from whales can positively impact the SHIB’s value since purchasing a significant amount of assets reduces the available supply on the market, making it scarcer. Large transactions from investors of that type may also influence positive market sentiment, potentially triggering enthusiasm among industry participants. 

Abandoning Exchanges

Another element worth observing is the Shiba Inu exchange netflow, which charted massive red candles in the last several days (according to CryptoQuant’s data).

SHIB Exchange Netflow, Source: CryptoQuant

Shifting from centralized exchanges to self-custody methods is considered bullish for the asset’s price since it decreases the immediate selling pressure.

The BTC Halving

Last but not least, we will touch upon the approaching Bitcoin halving (scheduled for the end of this week). The ground-breaking event that takes place roughly every four years slashes in half the rewards distributed to miners for validating blocks on the blockchain. 

It leads to a decreased rate at which new BTC are created and enter circulation. For its part, the subsequent scarcity can push the asset’s price up (assuming demand rises or stays the same).

Historically, the halving has been followed by a huge resurgence of the primary cryptocurrency and the entire digital asset market, meaning Shiba Inu can benefit, too.

Those willing to learn more about the event and prepare for it, feel free to check our dedicated video below:

The post Three Reasons Why the Shiba Inu (SHIB) Price Can Take Off Soon Despite Recent Crashes appeared first on CryptoPotato.

For the second trading day in a row, nine of the eleven newly launched spot Bitcoin ETFs have had a fund flow of zero.

Only Grayscale and BlackRock have had flows on April 12 and 15 as every other fund was inactive, according to preliminary data from Farside Investors.

The continued outflow of funds from Grayscale’s GBTC also means that the net aggregate has flipped negative again for the last two trading days.

General crypto asset investment products have also been outflowing, losing $126 million over the past week, according to CoinShares.

Don’t get your hopes up guys. This is a $110.1 million OUT flow for the day. lol https://t.co/KEJ2v5JZox

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) April 15, 2024

ETF Flows Stagnating

BlackRock’s industry-leading IBIT fund continues to keep crypto ETF markets buoyed with inflows, however, these are shrinking. On April 15, IBIT saw an inflow of $73.4 million, the fourth double-digit inflow this month.

However, this wasn’t enough to negate the $110 million outflow from GBTC, which resulted in a net outflow of $36.7 million for all Bitcoin ETFs yesterday.

Grayscale’s flagship fund has now hemorrhaged 308,379 BTC worth around $19 billion at current prices. This equates to around half of the total BTC the fund held before it converted to a spot ETF in mid-January.

Fidelity’s FBTC fund had another zero flow day, ending its inflow streak on Friday.

Nevertheless, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju pointed out that despite ETF demand stagnating over the past month, “on-chain accumulation remains very active, even when excluding ETF settlement transactions.”

#Bitcoin ETF demand has stagnated for 4 weeks, yet on-chain accumulation remains very active, even when excluding ETF settlement transactions. pic.twitter.com/PqMTzJrAym

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) April 16, 2024

The big ETF news this week was the approval of spot BTC and ETH ETFs in Hong Kong, which “serves as a testbed for China money to enter the system,” said Boxmining founder Michael Gu.

“US spot Bitcoin ETFs have more assets than the entire HK ETF market,” commented ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

Crypto Correction Continues

Nevertheless, the news from the Far East wasn’t enough to reverse the current market pullback, which has seen total capitalization shrink by a further 3.8% on the day.

The total cap is now at its lowest level since late February, falling to $2.5 trillion.

Bitcoin shed another 1.8% in a fall to $63,000 at the time of writing during Tuesday’s Asian trading session.

Ethereum was down 2% at $3,100 and many of the altcoins were getting hit harder. These include Solana (SOL) smashed 8%, and Toncoin (TON) dumping 7% on the day.

The post Spot Bitcoin ETF Flows Dry Up as Crypto Market Rout Continues appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin recovered a lot of ground yesterday and spiked to $67,000, but the landscape has changed once again in a bearish manner, and the asset plummeted hard today.

Most altcoins have followed suit with massive price declines, led by SOL, TON, BCH, and others.

Bitcoin’s Struggles Continue

It’s safe to say that the past few days haven’t gone exactly BTC’s way. The cryptocurrency stood above $70,000 on Friday morning but slumped hard later that day amid the Fed’s latest announcements in regard to its interest rate policy.

Bitcoin fell to $65,000 but managed to recover around two grand on Saturday morning. However, the scenario repeated to an even more violent low after Iran launched a retaliation attack against Israel on Saturday evening.

BTC slumped to a multi-week low of around $61,000. It bounced off on Sunday and especially on Monday and jumped to around $67,000 once again.

Yet, the bears seem to be in control just days ahead of the halving and propelled another leg down earlier today. This time, Bitcoin dropped to just under $62,000. Despite recovering over a grand since then. BTC is still over 4% down in the past 24 hours.

Its market capitalization has declined by about $50 billion to $1.250 trillion, and its dominance over the alts stands at 51.5% on CG.

BTCUSD. Source: TradingView Alts Suffer More

As it happened during the weekend, the market correction has hurt the altcoins even more. Ethereum went to $3,300 yesterday, but a 4% decline since then has pushed it back down to $3,100. Binance Coin, Ripple, Dogecoin, Cardano, Tron, and Polygon have charted similar losses.

The biggest losers from the larger-cap alts are SOL (-11%), TON (-10%), BCH (-12.5%), NEAR (-10%), and ICP (-8%).

Although most lower- and mid-cap alts are in a similar state, there’s one evident exception – OKB. OKX’s native token is up by 6.5% and sits close to $60.

The total crypto market cap has erased yesterday’s gains and is down by $100 billion to $2.430 trillion.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto

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The bull market euphoria appears to have come to a screeching halt as the crypto market correction continues and digital assets keep dumping.

On April 16, prominent market analyst “Cold Blooded Shiller” told his 269,000 followers on X that Bitcoin is “still the cloud that hangs over crypto.”

BTC has retreated 15% from its March 14 all-time high, but historical market cycles have seen corrections of more than 30%.

This could potentially send BTC prices back to around $51,000, which could send the rest of the altcoins into an even deeper freefall.

This is still the cloud that hangs over crypto imo, and it’s $BTC .

1. There is a lot more strength present currently. Whatever factors you align this to, ETF, fundamentals, halving, it’s notable that BTC is holding up.

2. There’s an acknowledgement that this is happening, and… https://t.co/kA1vT43ZYv pic.twitter.com/HBcY7D6Etg

— Cold Blooded Shiller (@ColdBloodShill) April 15, 2024

Correction Could Deepen

There was a 25% correction early in the 2021 cycle, which sent BTC prices tumbling from more than $40,000 to $30,000 within a month. It also dumped 53% later that year in a pullback from $63,000 in April to $30,000 in July.

So, a 30% retracement from $73,000 would take prices back to the $50,000 level, which wouldn’t seem out of place considering previous market movements.

On April 15, market analyst Willy Woo said that if support at $58,900 breaks, “we move to a bear market.”

Markets are “still weeks away from a proper bullish environment,” in the long term, he added.

Glassnode analyst “Checkmatey” also mentioned bear markets, stating that they start “when too many people buy too much coin, too high.” However, he remained a little more optimistic, stating that the market does not appear “top heavy.”

Moreover, the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index remains in the green zone, which means it is far too early to call a bear market, given the overall sentiment.

Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index is 65 ~ Greed Current price: $63,419 pic.twitter.com/hpqHnh89Op

— Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index (@BitcoinFear) April 16, 2024

Altcoins Bleeding

Analyst Luke Martin observed that many of the altcoins have nearly erased six months of gains in just a couple of weeks. “Some are only 15-20% away from bear market cycle lows,” he added.

Meanwhile, ‘Rekt Capital’ pointed out that there has always been a pre-halving retrace, and this cycle is no different.

#BTC

There always is a Pre-Halving Retrace and this has been the case across all Bitcoin cycles

This time is no different$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/rz9TTq6li7 pic.twitter.com/FIJ6CJA3Jo

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) April 15, 2024

BTC prices were trading down 2.8% on the day at $63,354 at the time of writing. The wider market had dropped 3% with total capitalization down to $2.41 trillion as altcoins got hit harder.

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