Crypto Week Ahead: Bitcoin May Ride ETF-High To Remain Afloat

Over the past seven days, Bitcoin (BTC) price achieved a high of $31,710.11.

Bitcoin (BTC), the oldest and still the most relevant cryptocurrency in the world, managed to cross the $31,000 mark late last week. There were a couple of factors that led to the sudden rally. For starters, Ripple's XRP token experienced a significant surge in value after a recent ruling by a judge in the Southern District of New York, who declared that it is not necessarily security, which led to a rally in nearly all crypto prices across the board. Furthermore, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received an official application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), spreading a rather positive sentiment among investors towards the world’s oldest crypto. It’s safe to speculate that Bitcoin will continue consolidating around the $30,200 mark in the coming few days. 

Before we proceed further, readers should note that the overall crypto market and coin prices are extremely volatile in nature. There are no foolproof methods to ascertain how cryptocurrencies are expected to behave in the future. This article is aimed at helping investors stay on top of the current market scenarios and the biggest events that have already taken place as well as some upcoming occurrences that are worth noting. Investors are advised to do their own research before taking any call. 

Crypto Prices Over The Past Week

Last Monday (July 10), the overall crypto market cap stood at $1.17 trillion. BTC price stood at around $30,180, ETH price stood at around $1,860. 

A week later, the overall market cap saw a notable spike, jumping to $1.21 trillion.

DeFi's total volume stands at $2.48 billion, at 9.90 percent of the total market 24-hour volume. In the case of stablecoins, the overall volume stands at $21.88 billion, at 87.56 percent of the total 24-hour market volume. As per CoinMarketCap, the overall market fear and greed index stood at Neutral, at 57 points (out of 100).

BTC dominance, at the time of writing, stood at 48.49 percent.

Over the past seven days, Bitcoin achieved a high of $31,710.11 (on July 14) and a low of $30,071.31 (July 15), showing signs of a much-needed rally.

Ethereum, on the other hand, saw a high of $2,022.32 (July 14) and a low of $1,861.38 (July 10).

Crypto Events To Note

In a major crypto-positive development, BlackRock has officially submitted an application for a Bitcoin ETF to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This significant development marks a crucial step in the process of evaluating the proposed rule change. The filing, made approximately one month ago, generated optimism in the cryptocurrency market and led to similar filings from other prominent players in the industry, such as Invesco, Wisdom Tree, Bitwise, and Fidelity. Notably, Fidelity's previous application, along with those from other contenders, was rejected by the SEC last year.

In a not-so-positive development, leading exchange Binance has reportedly implemented a reduction in its workforce following a series of executive departures. The Wall Street Journal initially reported on the job cuts, stating that over 1,000 employees have been let go in recent weeks, potentially resulting in a reduction of more than one-third of the exchange's staff. A Reuters source familiar with the situation later confirmed the job cuts.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao responded to the reports via a tweet, stating that involuntary terminations occur as part of the company's ongoing efforts to enhance talent density. He clarified that the numbers mentioned in the media reports are inaccurate and added that the exchange is still actively hiring.

In another notable development closer home, HDFC Bank announced late last week that it has successfully onboarded more than 100,000 customers and 170,000 merchants in pilot programs involving the central bank digital currency (CBDC). In a statement, HDFC Bank revealed that it has integrated the CBDC, known as e-rupee, with the United Payments Interface (UPI) for both merchants and customers. This integration allows for payments to be made using a single Quick Response (QR) code, supporting transactions through both the CBDC and UPI. Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar stated on Tuesday that the central bank aims to achieve a target of one million CBDC transactions per day by the end of this year, a significant increase from the current range of 5,000 to 10,000 transactions.

What Crypto Traders Are Saying About Current Market Scenario

Mudrex co-founder and CEO Edul Patel told ABP Live, “After a favourable US Federal court ruling in favour of Ripple, Bitcoin rose the previous week and has since been consolidating at the $30,200 level. If buyers lose the important zone of $30,000 level, there is a chance to see the support and further correction at the $29,000 level. In order to sustain BTC above the key level, the bulls must act promptly and make consistent efforts to sustain the price above $31,000. On the other hand, Ethereum is presently trading above $1,900, and might trade within the narrow range of $1,900 to $1,950 this week.”

WazirX Vice President Rajagopal Menon offered his take, “The crypto market remained tight with an ongoing resistance level for the past few weeks. The ecosystem is in anticipation of the approval of BTC ETF, especially after Ripple’s victory against SEC last week which boosted the altcoin market.”

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Disclaimer: Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is subject to market risks. Readers are advised to seek expert advice and read offer document(s) along with related important literature on the subject carefully before making any kind of investment whatsoever. Cryptocurrency market predictions are speculative and any investment made shall be at the sole cost and risk of the readers.