Crypto Market Outlook – The Trend of Crypto Events on July 12, 2023

The crypto market outlook as of July 12 shows the bulls are fighting to sustain the value from the previous day. Though some crypto assets have slipped down to post some losses, the majority are still trading within the green.

With a focus on reaching the $31,000 level, Bitcoin has been advancing fiercely over the past day, reaching the $30,800 region. Most altcoins are still holding strongly to their consolidated value over the past day, while showing a slight price surge.

The positive outturn from digital assets spurred the overall market cap to climb higher within the $1.19 trillion region. Other market sectors are quite on the controversial side regarding the significant positive trend in the broader crypto market.

Current Trend of The Digital Asset Market

The bulls have regained dominance in the crypto market in the past day and are still trying to sustain the positive trend. The cumulative crypto market cap increased 0.65% over the past 24 hours as the value reached $1.197 trillion.

Despite the considerable prices of most crypto assets, the total crypto market 24-hour trading volume plummeted by 20.02%, pushing it to $24.4 billion.

The Fear and Greed Index is currently reading 57 placing the market sentiment at NEUTRAL. This means that investors’ engagement reflects neither aggressiveness nor coldness.

Here are the trends of some key sectors of the crypto market as of July 12.

Bitcoin Market

Bitcoin has crossed the $30,800 mark while trying to soar higher. 

At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $30,824.46, reflecting a surge of 0.87% over the past 24 hours. Its market cap indicated a considerable regain and sits at $598.83 billion.

Based on its impressive performance, Bitcoin’s dominance over the altcoins surged slightly by 0.10% to 49.99%.

However, Bitcoin saw a drop of over 20% in its 24-hour trading volume, pushing the volume to $11.84 billion. The value reflects that approximately 384,236 BTC tokens were traded within 24 hours.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is currently ranking as the third most trending crypto asset, after Pepe and Shiba Inu.

Market Trend for Major Altcoins

Several altcoins are participating within the market following the prevailing bullish trend.

Ethereum is still showing increasing focus to break into the $1,900 level. ETH increased 0.43% over the past day as the price shoot to $1,891.81%.

Its progressive upward trend reflects in its market cap, currently at $227.41 billion. Also, the second-largest crypto token by market cap boasts a market dominance of 19.0%.

Ethereum’s 24-hour trading volume plummeted by more than 17% to $5.01 billion. It indicates that 2,683,972 ETH coins were traded within the past 24 hours.

With each passing hour, most tokens gradually lose their reclaimed value and slide into the red. But some recorded a slight increase over the past 24 hours.

At the time of writing, BNB surged by 0.69%, XRP by 0.22%, Cardano (ADA) by 0.84%, Solana (SOL) by 0.62%, Dogecoin (DOGE) by 0.59%, and Shiba Inu by 0.09%.

Polkadot (DOT), Tron (TRX), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) witnessed a significant surge of 2.76%, 1.21%, and 4.16%, respectively, over the past day. Some tokens that plummeted include Litecoin (LTC) by 0.55%, Polygon (MATIC) by 0.16%, Toncoin (TON) by 1.50%, and others.

As of July 12, data from CoinMarketcap posted Conflux (CFX) as the top gainer, with a post of 11.11%. Aave (AAVE) and 1inch Network (1INCH) emerged as the second and third top gainers, with an increase of 6.98% and 6.50%, respectively.

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) saw a decrease of 15.88% to become the top loser of the day.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Market

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market is quite on the gloomy side, with some of the coins posting a price drop.

According to CoinMarketCap, the DeFi market cap plummeted by 6.98% over the past day, taking the value to $43.62 billion.

Also, the 24-hour trading volume dipped by 6.93% to hit $2 billion. The overall trend in the DeFi market created a twist on the token list.

Dai (DAI) has taken the first position in the ranking of DeFi tokens by market cap. DAI boasts a market cap of $4.65 billion following a 0.06% surge in its price over the past day.

Avalanche (AVAX) maintains the second position in the list of DeFi tokens with a market cap of $4.57 billion. AVAX plummeted by 1.08% over the past 24 hours as the value hit $13.23.

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) lost its hold at the top of the list yesterday. WBTC is in the third position with a market cap of $4.0 billion. It decreased almost 16% over the past day, taking the token’s price to $25,571.04.

Some of the DeFi tokens with a drop in price over the past day include Lido DAO (LDO), Maker (MKR), Curve DAO Token (CRV), Injective (INJ), PancakeSwap (CAKE), and others.

Stablecoins Market

As of July 12, the stablecoins market reflects a slight shift from the trend within the broader crypto market. 

Though the coins are designed to exhibit stability, their price movement highlights a little deviation from the expected pattern. The stablecoins market cap plummeted by 0.1% over the past day, sliding to $126.82 billion. 

The market’s 24-hour trading volume dropped 20.75% to hit $23.68 billion. The stablecoin market volume constitutes 91.54% of the overall crypto market volume over the past 24 hours.

Tether USDT is still maintaining its lead in the list of stablecoins with a market cap of over $83.38 billion. It saw a drop of 20.62% in its 24-hour trading volume, taking the value to $17.39 billion.

With a market cap of $27 billion, USD Coin (USDC) ranks second top stablecoin. But it posted a trading volume of $2.61 billion, indicating a drop of 19.41% over the 24 hours.

Some of the stablecoins that de-pegged from their fiat currency value include Dai (DAI), USDD, Pax Dollar (USDP), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Frax (FRAX), TerraClassic USD (USTC), and others.

NFT Market

The NFT market has no significant positive outlook as of July 12. The NFT market cap is currently at $2.55 billion.

The sales volume plummeted by 1.77% over the past 24 hours, taking the value to $20.35 million. The number of sales also dropped 15.31% over the past day, with the total sales hitting 60,245. The NFTs highlighted a change in their previous positions according to CoinMarketCap’s ranking.

Surprisingly, the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has regained the first position in the list of NFTs with a trading volume of 1,005.75 ETH. The volume increased by 39.57% over the past 24 hours. Also, its average price surged by 1.07% over the past day to hit 34.68 ETH.

Dreadfulz now occupies the second position in the list of NFTs with a 24-hour trading volume of 905.82 ETH, which spiked by 4,22%. Its average price is 113.23 ETH, following an increase of 30.27% over the past 24 hours.

MinablePunks is currently ranking as the third top NFT with a 24-hour trading volume of 779.57 ETH, which dipped by 1.31%. It boasts an average price of 194.89 ETH, indicating a drop of 1.31% over the past day.

Crypto Market News and Events For Today

Here are some news and events within the crypto market as of July 12.

Celsius Initiates Lawsuit For $150M Recovery From Staking Platform StakeHound

The bankrupt crypto lending firm Celsius Network initiated a lawsuit against StakeHound, a digital asset staking platform. The action came after the staking company did not return about $150 million worth of assets previously owned by Celsius.

In its filed document, Celsius explained that it placed some crypto tokens worth $150 million under the staking platform. These include 40 million Polygon (MATIC), 66,000 Polkadot (DOT), 35,000 Ether (ETH), and 25,000 staked ETH (stETH).

Celsius got ‘stTokens’ in exchange for all its tokens on StakeHound. The received assets could be either returned to StakeHound or deployed on other investments. But according to the court filing, Celsius alleged that StakeHound is demanding arbitration against it. 

After being confronted with its breaches of duty, the staking platform maintained that it’s not obligated to exchange native ETH for the stTokens with Celsius.

Further, Celsuis noted that the StakeHound arbitration filing violates section 362 of the US Bankruptcy Code (aka the automatic stay rule). According to the rule, creditors cannot take legal action against or accept debt from a firm or individual that filed for bankruptcy.

Through its filing, Celsius stated that StakeHound should be mandated to return all Celsius’ assets immediately. 

Also, the document expects the staking platform to take full responsibility for compensating all damages due to breaches of contractual duties.

Recall that Celsius lost 35,000 ETH when StakeHound ‘misplaced’ private keys for about 38,000 ETH in 2022. The latter has debated that it has no bound to pay back the lost tokens.

Google Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Privacy Policy on AI Data Scraping

The giant tech firm Google is facing a class action lawsuit over its privacy policy on AI data scraping. 

The filed court document alleged that the tech company is now misusing large amounts of data, including copyrighted documents, in AI training.

About eight persons filed the lawsuit while claiming to represent millions of other Google users, including copyright holders and internet users. 

The plaintiffs alleged that users had witnessed the violation of their privacy and property rights following recent Google’s privacy policy updates.

The lawsuit alleged that Google has secretly harvested users’ data to develop its AI products without consent. The filing document stated that the tech firm stole all the data created or shared on the internet for personal gain.

The new privacy policy updates allow Google to access and take all publicly displayed data for artificial intelligence (AI) training.

LBRY Judge Passed Ruling Regarding That Stance Secondary Crypto Sales as Securities; Could It Affect Ripple?

The tension is building up around the blockchain company Ripple with a recent position of the court’s judgment on secondary digital asset sales. Judge Paul Bardadoro of the US District Court of New Hampshire gave no rule relating to the secondary sales of LBRY Credits (LBC).

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the decentralized finance platform LBRY, alleging that the secondary sale of LBRY Credits is security.

Judge Barbadoro stated: “Accordingly, I take no position whether the registration requirement applies to secondary market offerings of LBC.”

The recent ruling is expected to provide a legal precedent for the ongoing Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit since December 2023. The presiding Judge, Analisa Torres, is expected to give the final ruling on the case in a few months.

Notably, a secondary market is a platform for investors to buy and sell assets, but a primary market deal with a direct purchase from the issuing firm of the asset. The ruling from Judge Barbadoro has spurred several reactions within the crypto community.

The prominent US lawyer and XRP holders’ attorney, John Deaton, took to Twitter to comment on the recent trend. Deaton disclosed that he contacted Barbadoro in the past for the judge to clarify if LBC sale accounts for security.

The lawyer mentioned that Barbadoro stated that there’s no litigation of specific issue on the case, and so would maintain ‘judicial restraint.’

In the earlier appeal hearing of the case, Judge Barbadoro had stated that LBC could only be tagged security if the sale is completed directly.

During the period, the SEC also agreed that secondary market LBC sales aren’t a security. The regulator won a summary judgment in Nov 2022 and opted for a $22 million settlement at an appeal hearing on Jan this year.

However, SEC turned the value in May, requesting that the court scale up a fine of $111,000 on LBRY. The regulator highlighted LBRY’s near-defunct status and lack of funds as reasons for its change.

Numerous Filings for Spot BTC ETF Create ‘Moment of Validation’ For Bitcoin, Says Grayscale CEO

Several applications for a spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) have recently been coming from institutional investors. Top companies, like the global largest asset manager BlackRock, are among those that filed for BTC ETF in the industry.

The CEO of Grayscale Investments, Michael Sonnenshein, says that the applications for BTC ETF stand as a ‘moment of validation’ for Bitcoin. The CEO laid out his opinion during an interview on CBDC’s Last Call on July 12.

Sonnenshein concealed the notion that BlackRock’s presence in the BTC ETF race is ‘uncool.’ He stated that it contributes to validating Bitcoin as an asset class.

Sonnenshein stated: “To see, literally, the largest asset manager in the world publicly commit to advancing their crypto efforts only lends to the validity of the asset class and the staying power it has.”

As of June, up to seven top institutional companies have filed for a spot BTC ETF in the US. These include BlackRock, ARK Invest, Valkyrie, Fidelity, and others.

The approval of the applications would bring both institutional and retail investors in the country to a simplified and legal means of getting exposure to Bitcoin’s price. The key point is not investors could get returns from the primary crypto asset without owning the token. 

Sonnenshein explained the transparency and security of the ETF as the wrapper on assets, both for stocks and commodities. The CEO noted that ETF has been a necessary and relevant access point for many assets.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Sells Some Coinbase Shares Amid Price Surge

The prominent US Investment veteran Cathie Wood has gotten some gains through a recent sale of some ARK Invest holdings of Coinbase. The asset manager sold off part of its stash of Coinbase shares as the price rose above $90.

ARK has disposed of about 135,152 COIN (Coinbase shares) worth $12 million as of late trading hours of July 11. The shares are part of the holdings of the firm’s major exchange-traded fund, the ARK Innovation ETF. The trade notification indicated that the sold amount represents about 0.144 of the fund’s total holdings.

The fund made the sale when the price of Coinbase shares witnessed a drastic spike as of July 11. The stock price surged from $82 and climbed to $90.9 but later closed at $89 after Wood had completed its sale.

Data from Tradingview showed that Coinbase stock has recorded over 60% increase over the past 30 days. Its year-to-date (YTD) surge is over 140%.

The recent sale of Coinbase stock accounts for the second time Wood is gathering profits from COIN this year. 

Recall that ARK disposed of about 160,887 Coinbase shares in March from its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF. The sale, which was done at $84 per share, amounted to $13.5 million.

New York Prosecutor Charges Security Engineer for A $9M Exploit Of A DeFi Exchange

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, has charged a security engineer to exploit a decentralized finance (DeFi) exchange.

The announcement came as the first criminal case that involved a hack on a smart contract by a decentralized exchange. The case led to the arrest of Shakeeb Ahmed, a former security engineer for an international technology company. 

Ahmed was accused of using a smart contract bug to steal about $9 million worth of crypto assets from the exchange and its users. According to prosecutor Williams, the exploit occurred in July 2022, with its target at a Solana-based decentralized exchange.

Notably, the hacker exploited a vulnerability in the platform’s smart contracts. This led to the generation of inflated fees with flash loans. Subsequently, the funds were drained from the DEX and moved through multiple complex transactions to launder the funds. 

The attacker used a separate blockchain to swap the assets and later transferred them through several other blockchains and international crypto exchanges. 

Though Willaims withheld the name of the exploited DEX, a backward trace in 2022 indicated that it could be Crème Finance. The Solana-based liquidity protocol was exploited on July 2 last year, resulting in the loss of about $9.6 million worth of crypto assets.

The hacker later returned most of the stolen funds but was granted a white hat bounty value of $1.6 million.

New Tool Allows Bitcoin Holders to Store Private Keys as Colors

A new tool is now available for the Bitcoin community, allowing token holders to hide their keys with rainbows. The new color tool protects users’ coins from thieves and the government that could seize their holdings.

The prominent Bitcoin developer Entero Positivo launched the tool known as BIP39Colors in June. It is an open-source tool for converting BIP39 mnemonic phrases into a series of colors and vice versa.

According to Positivo, the tool can convert a 12-word phrase to 8 colors and a 24-word phrase to 16 colors. Subsequently, BTC holders can convert their colors back to the original seed.

BIP39 is a standard that generates the user’s seed phrase, an ordered set of 12 to 24 words. The words contain the information required to create a user’s private key and access a BTC wallet.

Standardization of mnemonic phrases aims to simplify the process of crypto recovery in cases of loss of a wallet device. It helps convert complex private keys to a set of readable words.

Before now, several wallet providers preach that users should have a written version of their 12 words on paper to ensure no one else sees it. However, such words are obvious to crypto hackers and thieves once they come across them, as explained by Positivo.

So, using colors is a stronger security option for concealing a private key since colors are everywhere. It will be challenging for a thief to decipher a color-hidden private key.