Weekly News Digest for Aug 24–30. Market Update | by Bitcoin.com | Aug, 2024

Market Update

This past week, the cryptocurrency market saw dynamic price action driven by macroeconomic news and mixed market signals. Bitcoin initially surged to $64,853 after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at potential rate cuts, lifting the entire crypto market. Ethereum also gained, with NFT sales on the Ethereum blockchain increasing by 24%. However, Bitcoin faced resistance around the $64,000 to $65,000 range, slipping back as low as $58,000 amid a lack of strong buying conviction, while Ethereum struggled to breach critical resistance at $2,800, the plummeted as low as $2400. TON tumbled by 21% following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. Despite the week’s bullish start, faltering global demand and declining buying interest pose challenges for sustained upward momentum.

Top Stories of the Week

Bitcoin Inflows Reach $543 Million as Powell Suggests Rate Cuts, Coinshares Reports
Coinshares reported that bitcoin inflows surged to $543 million following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on potential interest rate cuts at the Jackson Hole Symposium. The majority of the influx occurred after Powell’s remarks, demonstrating a strong correlation between market behavior and U.S. interest rate expectations. Despite ethereum experiencing outflows of $36 million, the overall growth in crypto fund inflows indicates shifting investor sentiment between bitcoin and ethereum.

Bitcoin Investors Face Diverging Fortunes as Long-Term Holders Stay Steady, Glassnode Reveals
Bitcoin’s market dominance has risen to 56%, with long-term holders accumulating steadily and averaging $138 million in daily profits despite market volatility, per Glassnode’s onchain analysis. While long-term holders continue to “HODL,” short-term holders are realizing losses, risking a heightened sentiment for panic selling. Glassnode’s report suggests that the resilience of long-term holders is balancing out the market, mitigating the negative impact of the newer investors’ reactions to the downturn.

Stablecoin Market Grows by $1.3B in 5 Days as Tether Leads the Charge
The stablecoin market has seen a $1.3 billion growth in value over the past five days, with the tether (USDT) network’s supply increasing by 820 million. Tether’s market cap has risen by $25.96 billion since the beginning of the year, while First Digital’s FDUSD and Paypal’s PYUSD have also seen significant supply increases. Despite some stablecoins experiencing a drop in supply, the overall market continues to grow, nearing previous all-time highs and highlighting stablecoins’ importance in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Tim Draper Leads $2.5 Million Funding Round for Ark Labs to Advance Bitcoin Payment Solutions
Ark Labs has received $2.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Tim Draper to develop its Ark protocol, which streamlines bitcoin transactions for easier global commerce. The funding will be used for the Ark protocol’s advancement, team growth, and to foster partnerships, aiming to make bitcoin a more viable payment method alongside complementing the Lightning Network’s enterprise focus. Ark Labs plans for the protocol to enhance the user experience and support products like the Ark Node bitcoin wallet, set for a beta release in September.

Binance Launches Mobile Money Feature for Crypto Transactions in Africa
Binance has introduced its One Click Buy and Sell service for cryptocurrencies, partnering with Transfi to offer this feature to users in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia through mobile money accounts. The service is designed to foster financial inclusion for those without traditional bank accounts, with a focus on security through stringent KYC protocols. This expansion is in line with Binance’s goal to promote global financial freedom and access to the digital economy.

Bitcoin Sets New Transaction Milestones as Top Ten Busiest Days Occurred in 2024
In 2024, Bitcoin marked several new milestones, including the busiest transfer day on April 23 with over 927,000 transactions and experiencing the top ten busiest days for transfers primarily after April. The blockchain recorded high activity with days like July 21 and 23 seeing over 800,000 transactions each, marking the second and third busiest days, respectively. The surge in daily transactions continued with significant activity in August, ensuring multiple dates were added to the top ten list, showcasing Bitcoin’s growing impact on both decentralized and traditional finance sectors.

Crypto Market Surges by $623B in 2024 as Bitcoin Climbs $20K Higher
Since the start of 2024, the crypto market has increased by $623 billion, with Bitcoin and Ethereum experiencing significant increases in value. The top ten cryptocurrencies now have a combined value of nearly $1.976 trillion, with some coins like toncoin entering the top rankings while others like avalanche have dropped. The dynamic changes in the market reflect its maturation and the variable behaviors of its participants.

U.S. Bitcoin ETFs Surge by $202M While Ethereum ETFs Bleed $13M in Outflows
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs experienced a significant inflow of $202.51 million, marking the eighth day of consecutive gains, while ethereum ETFs faced $13.23 million in outflows on the same day. Blackrock’s IBIT led the bitcoin ETFs with an inflow of $224.06 million, while asset manager Bitwise’s BITB saw the most significant loss among ethereum ETFs with $16.61 million outflows. Overall, the inflow for bitcoin ETFs reached a total net influx of $18.08 billion, whereas ethereum ETFs suffered a total net outflow of $477.88 million since July 23.