Our digest didn’t come out last week by force of circumstance, so we’ll try to catch up. Bitcoin continues to move horizontally, the NFT market is recovering, Terra developers are trying to revive their brainchild, Binance has been activated, and crypto winter is canceled. In short, CoinsPaid Media has prepared for you a selection of the most significant market events that happened from May 21 to June 9.
Bitcoin (BTC) Shows Flat Movement
For the last two weeks, Bitcoin has been in a horizontal movement ranging around $3,000. By the end of Friday, May 20, its price had dropped below $29,000 ($28,884). During the next week, BTC quotations went up to $30,500 ($30,483 on Monday) and dipped below $28,500 ($28,380 on Friday).
On Monday, May 30, quotations went up, and Bitcoin was trading above $31,000 ($31,219) by the end of the day. On Tuesday, the growth continued, and during its peak, the price of the first cryptocurrency rose above $32,000 ($32,194), followed by a decline. By Wednesday, the value of BTC fell back to the area of $29,500 ($29,513). During the next two days, there were no significant fluctuations. Bitcoin quotes gradually grew, and by Friday morning, June 3, the first cryptocurrency is trading at around $30,500 ($30,518).
The following factors influenced the price of Bitcoin:
- worsening economic growth forecasts around the world;
- geopolitical tensions, which are also observed in many regions of the world;
- the continuing high correlation of the first cryptocurrency with the quotations of U.S. stock indexes.
The latter factor also influenced Bitcoin’s temporary growth in recent days, but the Fear and Greed Index shows that the overall mood of crypto investors is highly negative, so there is no reason to expect strong growth in the near future.
NFTs Are in Spotlight
Despite the precipitous drop in global interest in NFTs, the non-fungible token market continues to grow strongly in May 2022:
- Marketplace eBay announced the launch of its first NFT collection on the OneOf platform.
- Kanye West’s representatives have registered cryptocurrency trademarks associated, among other things, with NFTs.
- Jim Carrey officially declared that he bought his first NFT.
But the most high-profile event of the past two weeks was the successful launch of the marginal NFT collection Goblintown, whose tokens were given away for free at the start, but by the end of the second week, they were worth at least $12,500.
Terra 2.0 Launch
The Terra project developers have started a new blockchain called Phoenix-1. The old blockchain is now called Terra Classic and its tokens are named LUNC. However, the community members were left disappointed. Not everyone received the new LUNA tokens during the airdrop, and the value of the tokens was paltry compared to the losses resulting from the recent Terraform Labs collapse. Nevertheless, the project team is already making plans to launch a decentralized Phoenix Finance exchange based on the new Terra blockchain and the subsequent launch of an algorithmic stablecoin.
Binance Activity
A lot of activity was seen around Binance.
- The launch of a payment and trading services platform based on licenses obtained earlier in Dubai and Bahrain was announced.
- The exchange’s representatives signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry. As part of the cooperation, Binance specialists are expected to advise the country on crypto regulation, as well as help find solutions for the integration of banking infrastructure in the cryptocurrency market.
- Binance was licensed as a service provider for the digital asset market in Italy.
Moreover, Binance developers unveiled an updated roadmap for the BNB Chain core network by late 2022, and the Binance Labs division launched a $500 million fund to develop Web 3.0 projects.
Is Crypto Winter Off the Table?
In an interview with Crikey, Dogecoin (DOGE) co-founder Jackson Palmer ruled out crypto winter, noting the “heaps of money” being funneled in by digital asset promoters. However, he expressed regret that the crypto market won’t burst any time soon, noting the growth of outright fraud and “cynicism” regarding making money from cryptocurrencies.
But the crypto market growth is not only due to speculation and deception. Since the beginning of 2022, the Lightning Network (LN) has increased its capacity by more than 15%. It is a second-tier network that scales the original Bitcoin blockchain, reducing transaction costs and improving payment privacy. Its capacity growth is a consequence of the demand for BTC specifically as a currency and not just as a means of accumulation and speculation.
Note that this is not all the crypto news over the past two weeks, but only a cursory overview of the most high-profile newsbreaks. More updates can be found on our website and social networks daily!
