Crypto Week Ahead: Bitcoin, Ethereum Continue To Trade Sideways As XRP Win-Led Rally Fizzles Out

Over the past seven days, Bitcoin (BTC) price achieved a high of $30,291.25.

BTC dominance, at the time of writing, stood at 48.60 percent. ( Image Source :Mohamed Hassan/Pixabay )

Last week, following a ruling by a judge in the Southern District of New York, XRP, the token associated with Ripple, witnessed a substantial surge in its value. The judge's declaration that XRP is not definitively classified as a security sparked a rally in almost all cryptocurrency prices, impacting the crypto market positively. However, that rally seems to have fizzled out this week. Bitcoin (BTC), the oldest and still the most relevant cryptocurrency in the world, dipped below the $30,000 mark, as the overall market cap dipped down to $1.19 trillion. While the overall market sentiment remains neutral, some volatility could be expected in the coming 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 17), the overall crypto market cap stood at $1.21 trillion. BTC price stood at around $30,300, ETH price stood at around $1,930. 

A week later, the overall market cap saw a notable slump, dipping to $1.19 trillion.

DeFi's total volume stands at $2.46 billion, at 9.84 percent of the total market 24-hour volume. In the case of stablecoins, the overall volume stands at $21.64 billion, at 86.73 percent of the total 24-hour market volume. As per CoinMarketCap, the overall market fear and greed index stood at Neutral, at 56 points (out of 100).

BTC dominance, at the time of writing, stood at 48.60 percent.

Over the past seven days, Bitcoin achieved a high of $30,291.25 (on July 17) and a low of $29,685.78 (July 18), seeing a notable dip.

Ethereum, on the other hand, saw a high of $1,902.48 (July 24) and a low of $1,865.06 (July 24).

Crypto Events To Note

FTX Trading has taken legal action against its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, and several former executives of the cryptocurrency exchange, alleging that they misappropriated more than $1 billion before FTX faced bankruptcy. The lawsuit was filed in a Delaware bankruptcy court and includes Caroline Ellison, who was in charge of Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research hedge fund, Zixiao "Gary" Wang, the former FTX technology chief, and Nishad Singh, the former FTX engineering director, as defendants.

According to FTX's complaint, the defendants engaged in a continuous misappropriation of funds to support various personal ventures, such as luxury condominiums, political contributions, speculative investments, and other "pet projects." This alleged behaviour led to what FTX describes as "one of the largest financial frauds in history." The period during which these fraudulent transfers took place spans from February 2020 to November 2022, coinciding with FTX's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing. FTX asserts that these transfers can be challenged and undone, or "avoided," under both the U.S. bankruptcy code and Delaware law.

Furthermore, an American IT management company, JumpCloud, recently disclosed that it fell victim to a cyberattack by a North Korean government-backed hacking group. The attack, which occurred in late June, allowed the hackers to gain access to JumpCloud's systems. Afterwards, the hackers utilised this unauthorised access to target a small number of JumpCloud's clients, according to a blog post by the company.

JumpCloud refrained from revealing the identities of the affected customers. However, leading cybersecurity firms, CrowdStrike Holdings and Mandiant have been assisting JumpCloud and one of its clients, respectively. Both cybersecurity companies have identified the attackers as a group known for their focus on cryptocurrency theft.

It is worth noting that the attackers' modus operandi appears to involve using compromised IT management companies as a launching point for further attacks on cryptocurrency-related entities. As the investigation continues, cybersecurity experts are closely monitoring the situation to mitigate any potential risks and strengthen defences against such malicious activities.

Lastly, in a crypto-positive development, the Indonesian government has recently unveiled a national crypto asset exchange to enhance regulatory oversight and safeguard the interests of crypto investors, according to an official announcement this week.

The primary objective behind the launch of this exchange and clearing house is to provide regulators with access to comprehensive transaction records. By doing so, they aim to strengthen monitoring measures in the rapidly growing crypto sector, especially during a time when there is a transitioning regulatory landscape, as mentioned by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti).

It's important to note that while Indonesia prohibits the use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, it allows individuals to invest in these digital assets. Notably, investment in cryptocurrencies has witnessed substantial growth during the pandemic. As of June, data indicated that approximately 17.54 million people in Indonesia had invested in these digital assets, surpassing the number of investors registered with the country's stock exchange. This surge in crypto investments has highlighted the need for robust regulatory mechanisms and heightened vigilance to safeguard the interests of investors and ensure the stability of the market.

With the introduction of the national crypto asset bourse, the Indonesian government aims to create a more secure and transparent environment for crypto transactions, thereby fostering confidence among investors and facilitating the responsible growth of the crypto market in the country.

What Crypto Traders Are Saying About Current Market Scenario

Mudrex co-founder and CEO Edul Patel told ABP Live, “Bitcoin has been trading below the $30,000 level for the past few days. Even though after the XRP’s partial victory, it did gain momentum, it could not last long due to increasing selling pressure. The decline during the weekend could be due to the US SEC chair expressing disappointment with the defeat of XRP’s case. Currently, investors and traders are eyeing the FOMC’s decision on interest-rate policy due on Wednesday. We might see some volatility this week.”

WazirX Vice President Rajagopal Menon offered his take, “Last week, Bitcoin faced a decline, falling below $30,000, amid limited institutional interest and ETFs' inability to boost the markets. The crypto landscape experienced a challenging period as investors closely monitored the developments in the 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.