Cryptorank recently released a report on the crypto market’s performance in Q2 2023. Uncertainty was the theme of this period, with major regulatory and institutional happenings.
Most high-cap crypto projects barely gained
Cryptorank’s heat map depicts misfortune in crypto between April and June. While some high-cap projects registered stellar performances, there was mediocrity in most of the market.
Bitcoin relished a momentary triumph in the period, closing at $30.5k, a 10% gain from the opening value of $28.3k. Of course, the period was not characterized by all upsoars. There were also moments of descent.
As the quarter faded away, Bitcoin increasingly gained more dominance. Dawning the quarter with 46.39% dominance, the coin gently attracted more crypto investors closing at 50.47%. The dominance growth can be partly attributed to price gains as other cryptos plummeted.
Ethereum markets displayed a similar demeanor to Bitcoin’s. It earned a rise of roughly 7% between April and June. At the quarter’s dawn, Ethereum traded at $1821, but towards the end, this coin was valued at $1948. In a similar taste but more hyper price performance, Bitcoin cash surged by 129%.
There was a transmission of the small gains seen in large-cap to lower-cap tokens in the period. For instance, Air Protocol, a crypto service platform, surged 302%. OMAX, a DeFi network, surged 294%. Other big gainers were STAIKA (143%) and Games for a Living (138%).
Bitcoin’s performance versus traditional assets. Source: Cryptorank
Then come the losers. The ambiguity of crypto markets was disclosed as more top-cap coins recorded losses. Red and darker shades of red were the most prevalent market patterns in Q2.
The market negativity cost SOL, XRP, LINK, ETC, DOT and ATOM some minute percentage of their value. MATIC and ALGO were also subject to mass plummets dropping by 37% and 41%, respectively.
The turmoil that hit crypto markets in Q2 was way less than that reported in preceding periods. In Q2 2022, Bitcoin’s return dropped by over 56%. In a similar period in 2021, Bitcoin’s return plunged by 40%.
Despite Bitcoin and Ethereum seemingly gaining, the numbers from the report suggest punctured investor confidence as most of the crypto space lost value.
Bitcoin vs traditional assets
The ambitious crypto coin has rivalled some of the best traditional investment assets since its birth. Born to offer payments, Bitcoin is gradually becoming a gold substitute.
Bitcoin’s performance versus traditional assets. Source: Cryptorank
In the first half of the year, Bitcoin thrived against many of its rivals. Based on data, the coin has gained 84% in value since the year dawned. In this period, NASDAQ gained 31%, S&P gained 15%, Gold 4% and Silver -5%.
A Trendy quarter?
Q2 had no shortage of big developments and unique trends. Some industry-shifting developments include;
Bitcoin Spot ETF
The world of Bitcoin products was rejuvenated with a new bigger player joining the race for spot ETFs. Blackrock, the largest investment manager, filed for a Bitcoin spot ETF in mid-June.
Blackrock’s filing triggered a market frenzy, with several other companies, including Ark Invest, Invesco, and Valkyrie Investments, going for such applications. Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust saw a massive valuation rise in Q2. This was a consequence of rumours that Fidelity Investments would purchase the trust.
Bitcoin ordinals mania
The ordinals’ craze brought a recharge to Bitcoin markets. Although ordinals gained life in Q1, the second quarter gazed at the peak of these new assets.
Bitcoin’s activity reached new heights when BRC-20 tokens came into the picture. In early May, the Bitcoin-based meme coins hysteria impeded transaction processing. Accordingly, Binance was forced to halt Bitcoin transactions twice, citing network issues.
Consequently, Bitcoin transaction fees climaxed to about $30. The fee surge revived long-dead conversations about Bitcoin transaction charges.
Shanghai upgrade aftermath
Ethereum completed its Shanghai upgrade in April, opening the gates for investors to withdraw staked ETH. Initially, many expected the upgrade to trigger lumpsum withdrawals. However, three months later, the staked ETH’s value only increased to about $23 million.
The regulatory onslaught continues
Regulatory ambiguity persisted with the SEC hastily attacking crypto projects. The US ombudsman has maintained a negative attitude towards cryptocurrency. The regulators seemingly accelerated their crypto attacks in Q2.
In a shocking turn of events, the SEC filed lawsuits against Changpeng Zhao, Binance and Coinbase, all within 24 hours. Imagine the crypto community’s reaction ensuing the events.
While attempting to bring assets under its umbrella, the SEC labelled several more crypto coins as securities. This is an attempt to bring these assets under its umbrella.
CBDCs are still the talk of the town, but the development remains stagnated in the US, China, the UK, and Nigeria.
Tether has minted another billion USDT coins on Tron Network to satisfy chain swap demands.
USDT has increased its market value by $2.6 billion in 90 days, while USDC lost its market value by $4.6 billion
USDT now has a stablecoin market dominance of 65%
As demand rises, Tether USDT has increased its market value by $2.6 billion. As a result, Tether has minted 1 billion more coins on Tron Network to satisfy the blockchain’s USDT chain swap demands.
Tether USDT market value rises by $2.6B in 90 days, achieving a 65% market dominance
The minted amount will be spent as inventory for the next period of issuance requests and chain swaps on the Tron Network. A chain swap is a process where traders transfer assets from one blockchain to another. For instance, you can swap USDT from Tron Network to BNB Chain network.
This development comes as Tether USDT gains more stablecoin market dominance to 65% while the second largest stablecoin by market cap is losing its demand. Tether’s USDT gained $2.6B in market cap over the past 90 days, while Circle’s USDC lost $4.6 B in the same period.
In the news, Tether is also increasing its footprint in crypto investments. As such, it’s setting up its USDT coin for adoption even more. However, it still hasn’t received total trust from the crypto industry following a series of crypto collapses less than a year ago.
Standard Chartered, one of the world’s largest banking institutions, has predicted Bitcoin to hit $50K by the end of 2023 and $120K by the end of 2024
The bank had initially published a $100K price tag forecast by the end of 2024, noting that “crypto winter” had ended.
The development comes days after Hong Kong mentioned the bank when asking financial services providers to warm up to crypto.
Standard Chartered has expressed confidence that Bitcoin will soar in price in 2024. It expects the coin to hit $50K in 2023 and $120K in 2024. Its analysis expects miners to hold more of their supply and fewer coins to be available in the market.
$800 billion Standard Chartered predicts Bitcoin to hit the $120K price by 2025
According to Standard Chartered, Bitcoin will have a stronger market cycle going into 2024. The bank had initially expected the rice of the coin to hit $100K in 2024 but has changed its mind based on growing demand predicting it to hit $120K before 2025.
According to Standard Chartered’s analysis, the surge in bitcoin prices will come with increased hoarding of the coin from major investors and bitcoin miners. It added that the increased profitability for miners per Bitcoin would allow them to sell fewer coins to maintain a steady cash flow, thus making the coin prospects even better.
Hong Kong authorities had mentioned Standard Chartered in a Q2 2023 meeting where the authorities required the banks in its area of jurisdiction to warm up to crypto. At the time, Standard Chartered was not offering any crypto services in Hong Kong, but current developments that have convinced the bank that the coin is set to gain value continually may leave the door open.
Keep watching Fintech Express for more updates on this and other fintech-related developments.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao believes that the next bull run will begin in 2025
His claims come at a time when Bitcoin price hit its highest point in 2023
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao delivered his forecast for the market performance during a Twitter Space on July 5, explaining that the next crypto bull run will be seen in 2025.
Crypto’s 4-year cycles to repeat itself: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao
Historical bitcoin bull run trigger, halving cycle is not in line with the global financial markets outlook this time. It is set to be carried out 296 days from now. However, the global financial outlook could be more friendly as most countries are dealing with rising living costs.
“The year after Bitcoin halving is usually the bull year.“ he said
However, the next halving happens in 2024, meaning the markets would rise from then, climaxing in 2025 if all other factors remain constant. Remember that nothing is promised, and the market prospects could change. Keep watching Fintech Express for more updates on this and other fintech-related developments.
Bitcoin has set a new high in 2023 after breaching the $31,450 mark
The bitcoin price is rallying as the market moves closer to the 2024 bitcoin halving cycle
Bitcoin price rallied to the highest point on July 6, 2023, as the market approaches the eagerly awaited Bitcoin halving period in 2024. It has been noticed that as Bitcoin gains more security from the halving periods, more market buy pressure is seen, which increases the price.
All eyes on the Bitcoin price as buy momentum builds
Bitcoin halving increases the network’s security by raising the hashing rate, which cuts mining rewards by half. It’s a cycle that happens every four years in the Bitcoin community and is always seen as bullish.
Bitcoin price has been rising in tandem with the occurrence of halving sessions. A mild bull run begins every year before a halving occurs, with it becoming stronger post the halving session. On July 6, 2023, Bitcoin price rose to a record high for the year as the days left to the next halving dropped below 300 to 296.
This momentum is expected to sustain or increase slightly over the remaining months of the year as long as other factors like regulation and macro-finance stay stable. However, there are no promises on whether the market will repeat history or create a divergent course. Therefore it’s advisable to keep researching and learning more about the market to make more informed and riskless decisions.
Crypto hacking spree continues as developers lack proper solutions to track looters as $300 M is stolen in Q2 2023
Year-over-year losses to crypto hacks have dropped by 58%
Crypto hacks have persisted into 2023 though a noticeable drop of 58% YoY has occurred. A report by Certik, however, shows that $300 million was stolen from the industry in Q2 2023.
Crypto hacks are reducing, but it’s not time to celebrate yet
Th report by Certik shows that between April and July 2023, a total of $100 million was being siphoned out of the crypto industry by hackers each month. The whole amount was siphoned in 212 security breach occasions.
Certik also noted that this time the amount stolen in the year is much lower than 2022’s $745 million in the same period, a 58% decline. However, this drop in total losses came with new developments. The amount lost in scams rose to around $70 million in the period, a more than 50% increase from Q1 2023, which recorded a loss of $31 million.
Certik also recorded an increasingly concerning rise in losses across BNB Chain ecosystems. BNB Chain had a rough 2022 after a bridge was hacked, almost losing half a billion dollars. The new report shows that it recorded the largest incidents with 119 ($70.7 million), while Ethereum came second with 55 incidents ($65 million).
Keep watching Fintech Express for more updates on crypto and other fintech-related developments.
