Crypto Market Outlook – The Trend of Events on July 17, 2023

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The crypto market outlook as of July 17 indicates a downtrend for most crypto assets. The bears are gradually creeping into the picture after the weekend.

Bitcoin has lost its anchor on the $31,000 mark as the bear pressure kept pulling it lower. Similarly, most altcoins are playing in the red as they post some losses in value.

Subsequently, the crypto market cap declined by 0.15% over the past 24 hours. Other market sectors like DeFi, stablecoins, and NFT are caught in today’s bearish trend.

Current Trend of The Digital Asset Market

After its massive price rally following the news of Ripple’s win over the SEC, there’s a slight retraction in the crypto market. Most assets have lost some of their value.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, the cumulative market cap is currently at $1.21 trillion. The market recorded a drop of 0.15% over the past 24 hours.

Further, the crypto market saw an increase of 8.54% in its total trading volume over the past 24 hours, pushing the volume to $26.42 billion.

Also, the Fear and Greed Index is currently reading 57 out of 100, showing that the market sentiment is NEUTRAL. Here are the major crypto market sectors and their trend as of July 17.

Bitcoin Market

Bitcoin’s dominance over the crypto market gradually slows as the crypto community shifts its focus. Many participants in the industry believed that its currently the “altcoin season” following Ripple’s win and XRP price explosion.

Conversely, the primary crypto asset has been shedding off its value through the weekend. At 6:00 EST, BTC is trading at $30,189.58, indicating a decrease of 0.40% over the past 24 hours. Its market cap has slid to $586.95 billion.

Bitcoin recorded a surge of 10.27% in its 24-hour trading volume, taking its value to $8.69 billion. The value showed that about 287,509 BTC tokens were traded over the past 24 hours.

The primary token recorded a slight surge of 0.03% in its market dominance over the past day as the value hit 48.52%. BTC has declined to become the eighth most trending crypto asset, according to CoinMarketCap.

Market Trend for Major Altcoins

The outlook for the altcoins reflects a shift to gloominess as most tokens recorded a drop in value. Ethereum is trading at $1,902.98, highlighting a drop of 1.54% over the past 24 hours. It now boasts a market cap of $228.75 billion.

ETH witnessed an increase of 7.05% in its trading volume over the past 24 hours as it hit $4.62 billion. This indicates that 2,455,889 ETH coins were traded within the past day.

Despite its explosive price rally over the past few days, XRP is gradually losing its bullish pressure. It has followed the current bearish trend in the broader crypto market.

The price of XRP is hovering around $0.7314, reflecting a drop of 2.14% over the past 24 hours. The token is still maintaining its stance as the fourth-largest crypto asset with a market cap of $38.42 billion.

Investors’ interest in XRP is still on the spur as the token witnessed a surge of 41.04% in its 24-hour trading volume. The value is currently at $3.76 billion, indicating that over 4.99 billion XRP coins have been traded over the past day. XRP is still ranked as the most trending crypto asset by CoinMarketCap.

Several altcoins recorded a significant dip over the past day. BNB plummeted by 3.63%, Litecoin by 4.19%, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) by 3.88%, Cardano (ADA) by 3.16%, Solana (SOL) by 3.04%, Dogecoin (DOGE) by 2.95%, and Shiba Inu by (SHIB) by 3.53%.

Tron (TRX) witnessed a slight decline of 0.68% over the past day. Also, Polygon (MATIC) and Polkadot (DOT) dropped by 2.31% and 1.78%, respectively.

As of July 17, 1inch Network (1INCH) emerged the top gainer with a surge of 8.71% in its price, according to CoinMarketCap. Basic Attention (BAT) and Algorand (ALGO) took the second and third positions in the gainers list with an increase of 5.92% and 5.23%, respectively.

Conversely, Compound (COMP) became the top loser for the day with a drop of 8.14%.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Market

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market is reflecting a slightly positive performance in some aspects amid the gloomy disposition of the broader crypto market.

The DeFi market recorded a whopping increase of 33.70% in its market cap, reaching $46.03 billion.

Also, its trading volume rose to $3.26 billion following a 33.69% increase over the past 24 hours. The DeFi market volume represents about 11.42% of the total crypto market 24-hour trading volume.

Despite the bearish trend in the market, DeFi tokens showed a twist in their ranking as of July 17.

Avalanche (AVAX) has risen to first in the list of all DeFi tokens. Currently, AVAX boasts a market cap of $4.91 billion.

However, AVAX witnessed a drop of 2.30% over the past 24 hours, taking the value to $14.21. Also, its 24-hour trading volume plummeted by 23.15% to hit $133.06 million.

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) has become the second top DeFi token with a market cap of $4.77 billion. WBTC is trading at $30,209.40, showing a decrease of 0.36% over the past 24 hours.

WBTC recorded a surge of 16.04% in its trading volume over the past 24 hours, with a value reaching $74.86 million. Dai (DAI) comes behind WBTC as the third top DeFi token with a market cap of $4.65 billion. It dipped by 0.06%, with the price hitting 0.9993.

Most DeFi coins witnessed a drop in price over the past day. Lido DAO (LDO) dipped by 8.90%, Chainlink (LINK) by 2.98%, Aave (AAVE) by 3.43%, Maker (MKR) by 5.92%, Internet Computer (ICP) by 2.48%, Compound by 9.42% and other.

A few DeFi tokens, like Uniswap (UNI), Terra Classic (LUNC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Gnosis (GNO), SushiSwap (SUSHI), and others, saw a surge over the past day.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Phoenix/WETH emerged as today’s Biggest DEX pair gainers, posting an increase of 9,999.99%. ETH2.0/WETH is the top loser DEX pair for the day, with a decrease of 100.00%.

Stablecoins Market

While trying to maintain the stability attached to their nature, the stablecoins indicate a difference in their overall performance today. The stablecoins market recorded a slight decrease of 0.03% in its market as the value reached $126.90 billion.

The market’s 24-hour trading volume is currently at $25.55 billion, reflecting a whopping increase of 19.55%. The stablecoins market volume constitutes 88.38% of the cumulative crypto market trading volume over the past day. Tether USDT is still at the top of the list of stablecoins, with a market cap of $83.65 million.

It recorded a surge of 20.16% in its trading volume over the past 24 hours, pushing the value to $19.96 billion. The value shows that more than 20.05 billion USDT coins were traded over the past day.

The second largest stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), boasts a market cap of $27.7 billion. Its trading volume hit $2.45 billion following an increase of over 23%, reflecting about 2,457,263,407 USDC tokens traded.

With the prevailing bearish trend in the crypto market, some stablecoins de-pegged from their fiat currency value. These include Dai (DAI), TrueUSD (TUSD), USDD, Pax Dollar (USDP), Gemini USD (GUSD), Frax (FRAX), Liquity USD (LUSD), and others.

NFT Market

The performance in the NFT market as of July 17 indicates a mixed trend.

The NFT market cap is currently at $2.68 billion. It witnessed a massive surge of 42.31% in its sales volume over the past day, with the value reaching $27.14 million. The total sales have reached 56,547, indicating a whopping drop of 23.14% over the past 24 hours.

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) emerged as the top NFT with a 24-hour volume of 1,179.37 ETH. The trading volume witnessed a massive surge of 455.68%. But its average price plummeted by 1.94% over the past 24 hours to hit 34.69 ETH.

Dreadfulz became the second top NFT collection with a 24-hour volume of 866.74 ETH, which dipped slightly by 0.47%. It boasts an average price of 78.79 ETH, reflecting a 27.61% decrease over the past day.

Crypto Market News and Events for Today

Here are some news and events within the crypto market as of July 17.

Binance Concludes Its Integration of Bitcoin on Lightning Network

The largest global crypto exchange Binance has concluded the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN).

The integration is expected to bring a positive outcome for activities related to deposits and withdrawals on the exchange’s platform.

Binance announced the completion of the LN through a blog post on July 17. This integration brings Binance into the train of exchanges using the LN, such as Kraken, Bitfinex, and OKX.

Despite the successful integration on the LN, Binance customers can still complete their transactions on BTC deposits and withdrawals through other networks on the platform.

These include Bitcoin, BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20), Ethereum ERC-20, BTC (SegWit), and BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2). LN is a layer 2 payment protocol that increases node transaction speed while maintaining lower fees.

The protocol, developed on the Bitcoin blockchain, helps increase users’ experience by resolving BTC scalability challenges. So, it facilitates and increases customers’ adoption of the given crypto assets.

According to data from Ambross, the Binance node connects to other exchanges like OKX, Bitfinex, and Kraken. Also, the Binance node contains the smallest unit of BTC, with a cumulative capacity of 3 million Sats.

Binance quest to integrate LN came after it witnessed some challenges with an increased volume of pending transactions in May. The issue resulted in the exchange halting BTC withdrawals temporarily as the network congestion and gas fees spiked.

Indonesia To Revolutionize Crypto Transactions By Launching National Exchange

With a revolutionary move on crypto, Indonesia plans to launch a national crypto exchange. The platform would be dedicated to crypto trading with more focus on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) and others.

A local news outlet, Tempo, reported about Indonesia’s plan to launch the crypto exchange.

Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (CFTRA), also known as Bappebti, stated the crypto exchange will commence operation before ending July.

According to the head of Bappebti, Didid Noordiatmoko, there are ongoing discussions regarding the exchange’s launch. The regulator has completed discussions and decisions relating to the exchange rules and the Know Your Customer (KYC) process.

Also, CFTRA has tested the integrated application that would be used for crypto trading on the exchange platform. According to Didid, the integration tests between exchanges, depository, clearinghouses, and traders, were completed on July 13, 2023.

The regulator is working toward allowing the sales of crypto assets only for local transactions while maintaining a corresponding global market advancement. This includes crypto prices as approved by Bappebti.

The move from Indonesia to launch a national crypto exchange started in 2021. During the period, some owners of a state-backed telecom firm announced a partnership venture with Binance toward launching a joint crypto exchange. Also, the Indonesian government revealed its plan for rolling out the exchange in 2022.

Similarly, the Ministry of Trade reopened discussions about the crypto exchange by the beginning of 2023. They initially planned to launch the platform in June, but it was not up by the end of the month.

With the present target set for July ending, several analysts and industry stakeholders are still waiting for the launch of the national crypto exchange in the country.

Ripple’s General Counsel Hints US Banks Expected to Embrace XRP Following Its WIN

The recent victory for Ripple in its lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brings more reactions from many people. Ripple’s general counsel Stu Alderoty hints that US banks and other financial firms would embrace XRP after the win.

The ruling on the SEC vs Ripple case has greatly impacted XRP and the entire crypto market. XRP’s price explosion within a few hours after the decision gave a shift in its stance within the crypto market and even on other altcoins.

Some crypto exchanges that delisted XRP before now have started indicating interest in the token for its re-listing. While Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Kraken have re-listed XRP for US investors, Gemini plans to list XRP in both spot and derivatives trading.

In an interview with CNBC, Ripple’s general counsel Stu Alderoty stated his belief in the broader adoption of XRP. He hints that US banks and other financial companies would indicate interest in XRP for cross-border transactions.

Alderoty revealed that he will be meeting with some US financial firms in Q3 this year on the potential use of Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product. Notably, XRP, as Ripple’s native token, is used for ODL transactions.

He mentioned that the court’s decision would give finance firms the confidence to use XRP in cross-border payments. Alderoty said, “I hope this quarter will lead to many conversations with customers in the United States and we hope we get positive results from those conversations.”

The counsel noted that Ripple focused most of its transactions outside the US during the lawsuit with the SEC. He mentioned though the ruling classified corporate XRP sales as security, it would not affect the present operational processes of Ripple.

Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC has lasted for almost 3 years, with the regulatory alleging that XRP is a security. However, Ripple argued that its token is not a security.

FSB Concludes Recommendations for A Global Crypto Framework

The international organization monitoring the world’s financial system, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), creates a global crypto regulatory framework. The framework tagged G20 comprises recommended guidelines for the 20 top economies of the world and is based on the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation.”

The organization recently published the framework in two guideline documents containing two recommendation sets.

The first is the high-level recommendations for general crypto regulation. The second is the revised high-level recommendations for a global stablecoin, which relates to any stablecoin usable in more than one country.

According to FSB, crypto platforms should separate customers’ crypto assets from personal funds. Also, they should distinguish their operations to prevent issues from conflict of interest.

On their part, crypto regulators are expected to monitor strictly cross-border transactions and cooperations and to employ the right regulatory measures.

Further, FSB is particular about the implication of privacy in the crypto space regarding local regulators and their oversight. While emphasizing the place of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and their functionalities, the international body maintained that they should not frustrate the identification of activities from any entity of affiliated entities.

For global stablecoins, FSB recommends that stablecoin issuers have at least a “governance body, ” an identifiable and responsible legal entity or individual. Also, it stated that the issuers must keep their reverse assets at the minimal proportional ratio of 1:1. There could only be a deviation when there are enough prudential requirements for the issuer’s holding, which is equivalent to commercial bank standards.

Additionally, FSB stated: “Authorities should not permit the operation of a GSC arrangement in their jurisdiction unless the GSC arrangement meets all of their jurisdiction’s regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements, including affirmative approval.”

Scam Alert: Shiba Inu Team Reveals It’s Not the Developer of UNLEASH Token

The Shiba Inu team has warned the SHIB community about the potential scam regarding UNLEASH token. The team revealed that it didn’t create the token, which is probably a scam.

The scam alert from the SHIB team came through a Twitter post on July 17 following some claims that the new token is related to the Shiba Inu ecosystem. The team reported that the scam is trying to link the token to Shibarium, the Shiba Inu Layer 2 blockchain.

Through the post, the team revealed that it has no connection with the deployer of the new token. It warned the SHIB Army to completely avoid deals from scam coins that claim to be part of the SHIB ecosystem.

Some reasons could make some crypto enthusiasts that believe that UNLEASH belongs to Shibarium. The Layer 2 blockchain has a token known as Doge Killer (LEASH), which some fans could mistakenly link the resemblance to the tokens’ names.

However, UNLEASH token is a meme coin its website defines as an open-source crypto squad offering users the dankest AI tools. It claims to enhance customers’ experience with adventurous encounters through mind-bending models and mind-blowing datasets. The website makes no connection with Shibarium in its narration.

Besides SHIB and LEASE, Shibarium boasts two other meme tokens: BONE and TREAT. The Shiba Inu lead developer Shytoshi Kusama, also working on Shibarium, described the functionalities and usage of all tokens in the Shiba Inu ecosystem.

According to Kusama, SHIB is used to govern the Shiba Inu community. BONE governs and supports the technology that controls the SHIB community.

TREAT is solely for the governance and improvement of all projects developed on Shibarium by the community. LEASE handles community protection and the provision of exclusivity.

Terra (LUNA) Chain to Halt Operation Due To Upcoming Upgrade

According to its Twitter post on July 17, Terra (LUNA) plans to halt its chain operation temporarily. The tweet revealed that the stop enables the chain to complete a major upgrade.

The Terra community voted to pass the Phoenix software upgrade known as Terra Core v2.4.0, having a total turnout of 53.7%. Proposal 4737 received community approval with 98.22% “Yes” and 1.78% ” NO ” votes.

The announcement from Terra indicated that the Terra (LUNA) chain will halt at block height 5994365, which is expected to occur on July 18 at 1:00 PM UTC.

Terra stated that it would not anticipate an extension in the downtime period but promised to notify its users once the chain commences block production on the noted day.

The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance has pledged its support for the Terra (LUNA) Network during its upgrade. Subsequently, deposits and withdrawals of LUNA tokens will be halted by an hour earlier on July 18 (at noon UTC). But the network upgrade is not expected to affect LUNA trading.

The upgrade news is creating a positive spark in the value of LUNA, the token for the new Terra 2.0 chain. LUNA witnessed a 10% price surge within the past 24 hours.

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