Gainers

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), leading the crypto market, are currently maintaining narrow trading ranges as traders evaluate broader economic conditions following the halving event.

As of now, bitcoin is priced above $66,600, while ether is being exchanged at $3,240.

Following a period of turbulence, marked by geopolitical tensions and anticipation surrounding the bitcoin halving, a sense of stability has returned to the market. Both bullish and bearish sentiments are subdued, with neither side taking decisive control of price movements.

Thomas Kim, a trader at Presto, noted that market volatility has calmed somewhat post-halving. Recent three-day realized volatility has been lower than the implied volatility of BTC options, indicating that investors are still assessing macroeconomic factors.

Data from CoinGlass reveals that over the past 12 hours, liquidations totaling $52.46 million have occurred. While ether and BTC positions dominate, there are notable liquidations in other tokens like HBAR and PEPE.

Justin d’Anethan from Keyrock, a crypto market maker based in Asia, expressed in a Telegram interview that traders are currently indecisive, struggling to establish clear positions.

He mentioned a range of negative factors impacting the market, such as the SEC’s intentions to delay ETF applications, President Joe Biden’s remarks on crypto mining, and ongoing outflows from crypto investment products. However, d’Anethan also sees a potentially bullish aspect, suggesting that the recent pullback, triggered by leveraged long liquidations, has likely removed some speculative excess, leaving the market at a solid level with committed capital.

Coinglass data highlights that during Iran’s missile attack on Israel over the April 12-13 weekend, more than $1.4 billion worth of long positions were liquidated.

Considering the halving event, crypto investors appear reluctant to part with their assets, possibly positioning themselves for long-term price gains.

The weekend has been quite positive for Bitcoin as it continues its upward climb, reaching a five-day peak of just below $70,000.

Most alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, are also showing modest gains, with Ethereum (ETH) approaching $3,400 and Binance Coin (BNB) hovering close to $600.

BTC Targets $70K Bitcoin’s performance last weekend was notably strong, with the cryptocurrency holding steady around $70,000 and even flirting with $71,000 on Sunday evening. However, bearish pressure intensified at this point, leading to a sharp decline in Bitcoin’s price.

This downward trend saw BTC dropping to $68,500 by Monday and experiencing an even steeper fall to below $66,000 by Tuesday. The bearish momentum continued, with BTC hitting a ten-day low of under $64,500 by Wednesday.

But the bulls staged a comeback, initiating a notable rally that briefly pushed BTC above $69,000. Despite another rejection that drove prices down to $66,000 on Friday, the weekend brought renewed positivity. Bitcoin regained some lost ground, stabilizing around $67,000-$68,000 yesterday. Earlier today, a surge saw BTC briefly hitting $69,800, spurred by increased whale activity.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization now stands at $1.365 trillion on CoinGecko, with its dominance over other cryptocurrencies hovering around 50.3%.

WIF and DOGE Showing Strength Among the larger-cap altcoins, Dogecoin (DOGE) and WIF token have emerged as top performers. DOGE, the original meme coin, surged by almost 9% in a day, approaching $0.2. Predictions abound that DOGE could reach $1 during this bullish cycle.

WIF experienced a remarkable 12% surge, reaching $3.7, while MNT followed suit with a 6% increase, bringing it to $1.4.

Other larger-cap altcoins, including ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, ADA, and TON, also recorded modest gains of around 1-2% in a day. Further increases were seen in Avax (4.4%), SHIB (3.5%), and UNI (3%).

The total crypto market capitalization surpassed the $2.7 trillion mark after a $40 billion surge in a single day.

Bitcoin has once again reached the $70,000 mark after slipping below it yesterday, struggling to firmly break through during its recovery phase.

While Bitcoin made a significant move from around $64,000 to $66,000 over the weekend, it surged to $70,000 on Tuesday, kicking off the business week positively.

The bullish momentum drove BTC to nearly $72,000 on Wednesday, marking a new peak in 15 days. However, this peak was short-lived as the asset faced strong resistance and dropped to $68,400 shortly after.

Despite a subsequent recovery that brought it close to $72,000 again, Bitcoin faced another setback and dipped to $69,200 yesterday. Nevertheless, it has managed to reclaim most of its losses, currently hovering just above $70,000.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization is still around $20 billion shy of $1.4 trillion, with its dominance over alternative cryptocurrencies plateauing at 49.7% according to CoinGecko.

Meanwhile, Solana (SOL) has shown strength, inching closer to $200 once more, with a nearly 6% overnight gain. TON has also seen a similar increase, pushing its value well above $5.

Other cryptocurrencies like Ripple, Cardano, Avalanche, Polkadot, Chainlink, and Tron are also experiencing gains, albeit more modestly. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) continues its upward trend ahead of its second halving, now trading above $600.

On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and meme coins Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have seen slight declines.

The overall crypto market cap has remained relatively stable, currently standing below $2.8 trillion.

Tron, the blockchain notorious for its controversies, has found its footing as the preferred network for USDT transactions.

In the midst of a fervent crypto market, Tron, whose native TRX token ranks 12th in the digital asset realm, is witnessing record-breaking daily protocol revenues, hovering around $2 million.

Justin Sun, the enigmatic founder of Tron, proudly announced this significant achievement on X.

Tron distinguishes itself in the crypto landscape by serving as the primary platform for stablecoin transfers. While this underscores its practical utility, Tron faces skepticism and lacks widespread support within the digital asset community. For instance, Circle, the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, recently announced its decision to cease support for the Tron blockchain.

Even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has voiced criticisms against Tron in the past.

Despite these challenges, Tron boasts the highest number of active users among blockchains, according to data from Coin98.

Like many digital assets, TRX has experienced a surge in 2024, witnessing a 30% increase in value this year, with the token currently priced at $0.14.

On Tuesday, several major cryptocurrencies saw a rally, driven by news of increasing adoption and speculation surrounding the approval of the first Ethereum-centric exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

By the end of the regular trading session, Bitcoin (BTC) had surged by 4.5%, Ethereum (ETH) had gained 1.8%, and Dogecoin (DOGE) had climbed by 12.2%.

Bitcoin’s price surpassed $57,000 for the first time since December 2021, buoyed by record inflows into Bitcoin ETFs. CoinShares reported that approximately $2.5 billion flowed into digital asset investment products last week, with Bitcoin funds accounting for 99% of these inflows. This surge in capital followed the historic decision by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve the first 13 applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

These approvals marked the end of months of speculation after the SEC chose not to appeal a federal court ruling in August, which prevented Grayscale Investments from converting its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF. With the onus back on the SEC, the approvals signaled a move forward in the Bitcoin ETF approval process.

Leading up to the SEC’s decision, traders took advantage of the broader crypto rally, recognizing ETFs as a more accessible investment option compared to traditional crypto accounts. ETFs can be traded throughout the day via online brokerages, eliminating the need for separate crypto accounts. Additionally, the approvals acted as a vote of confidence from a government agency in the legitimacy of crypto ETFs as an investment vehicle.

Despite an initial pullback after the launch of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs, the influx of capital from these ETFs, including the potential approval of an Ether ETF, could potentially increase the cryptocurrency market capitalization by over $1 trillion in the long term, according to CryptoQuant.

Looking ahead, crypto traders are focusing on May 23, 2024, the final deadline for the SEC to approve or deny spot Ether ETF applications from investment management companies like VanEck and Ark’s 21Shares.

Bitcoin prices remained relatively stable over the weekend, reflecting the ongoing trend of low volatility during weekend trading sessions. Instead, it was ether and certain ecosystem tokens that saw gains, driven by the growing narrative surrounding the relatively new ether ETF.

During the Asian morning hours on Monday, Bitcoin lingered around the $51,500 mark, while ether climbed back above the $3,100 level. Other cryptocurrencies like XRP, Cardano’s ADA, and Avalanche’s AVAX experienced slight declines of around 1% over the past 24 hours, whereas BNB Chain’s BNB saw a modest increase of 1.2%.

Tokens associated with the Ethereum layer-2 platform Mantle soared by 30%, reaching a record high of 93 cents. Although there wasn’t an immediate catalyst for this price surge, it coincided with the milestone of mantleETH (mETH), a staked version of ether, surpassing $1.5 billion in locked value last week.

In the midst of these developments, a trader suggested the possibility of a short-term correction for bitcoin, potentially pushing its price down to as low as $47,000.

Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro’s senior market analyst, highlighted the significance of the $51,000 level for bitcoin’s price movement. He noted that a failure to rebound from this level could initiate a deeper correction, possibly leading to a range between $47,000 and $49,000.

Kuptsikevich also pointed out that despite record highs in many global equity indices, the crypto market has been predominantly characterized by selling since Friday morning. This could indicate a heightened level of caution among investors, reflecting the sensitivity of the crypto market as an indicator of broader market sentiment.

Uniswap’s governance token, UNI, saw a sharp rise of up to 60% on Friday following a proposal to revamp the protocol’s governance system, spearheaded by Uniswap Foundation’s governance lead, Erin Koen.

The proposal aims to enhance Uniswap’s governance structure and introduce rewards for UNI token holders who staked and delegated their tokens.

“I propose upgrading the protocol to ensure that UNI token holders who have staked and delegated their tokens receive rewards through its fee mechanism,” expressed Erin Koen in a post on X.

This proposal marks a significant shift for Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange by trading volume, diverging from last year’s attempt to distribute accrued fees to token holders. In June, the Uniswap community rejected a proposal to activate fees for several liquidity pools and distribute a portion of the revenue to token holders. However, in October, the exchange initiated a 0.15% fee on crypto swaps involving ETH, USDC, and other tokens on the platform’s interface.

If approved in a community vote, Friday’s proposed overhaul would allow for the automatic and fair distribution of protocol fees to UNI token holders who have staked and delegated their votes.

UNI’s price surged to $12, marking a nearly 60% increase over the past 24 hours and reaching its highest point since April 2022. This substantial rise contrasted with the relatively stable prices of bitcoin (BTC) .