Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | September 4, 2023

Crypto Market Update

Written by Van

Table of Contents

Blockchain and Protocol Updates

• Ethereum's Proposed On-Chain Judiciary
• London Stock Exchange Eyes Blockchain Trading
• Solana's Co-Founder Advocates for FTX Token Redistribution
• dYdX Gears Up for Next-Gen Transition

Country-Specific Developments

• Turks Embrace Crypto Amid Economic Woes
• South Korea Targets North Korean Crypto Assets
• China's Legal Shift on Cryptocurrency Ownership
• Singapore's New President Skeptical of Crypto

Crypto Exchanges and Platforms

• Binance's Product Head Steps Down
• Bitcoin Whales Go on a Shopping Spree
• Mixed Fortunes in Digital-Asset Investments
• Stake.com Faces Suspect Withdrawals

Token and Asset Performance

• Synthetix Token SNX Surges Amid Mystery Binance Withdrawals
• Stellar's XLM Sees Sudden Price Surge
• Vitalik's MKR Sale Shakes MakerDAO
• Rising U.S. Rates Impact Aave's Performance
• Bearish Indicators Loom Over Bitcoin
• Shiba Inu's Layer-2 Network Hits Milestone

Legal and Security Concerns

• Gala Games in Legal Limbo Amid Price Crash
• Vitalik's Ethereum Moves Keep Market Guessing

Celebrity and Pop Culture Intersections

• Musk's Dogecoin Adventure Hits Biography
• Ronaldo's NFT Reveal Adds Spice to Soccer

Ethereum's Proposed On-Chain Judiciary

Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski has proposed the creation of an "Ethereum Supreme Court" to handle disputes and emergency upgrades in a hierarchical on-chain court system. Gluchowski believes that such a court system would protect protocols against political interference and elevate the role of Ethereum as a powerful network state. 

The Ethereum Supreme Court would serve as the final stop for parties to dispute smart contract issues and would require a strong social consensus to function effectively. Gluchowski and the team at zkSync are willing to fund research into the proposal.

London Stock Exchange Eyes Blockchain Trading

The London Stock Exchange Group plans to offer blockchain-based trading of traditional financial assets. The project aims to make the buying, selling, and holding of traditional assets more efficient using blockchain technology, while still maintaining regulation and oversight. 

The company is exploring the possibility of creating a separate entity for the blockchain-based markets business and is in talks with regulators and government bodies.

Solana's Co-Founder Advocates for FTX Token Redistribution

Anatoly Yakovenko, co-creator of Solana, has called for the redistribution of SOL tokens held in FTX's reserves to the exchange's former customers. The move would compensate FTX customers and benefit the Solana network by attracting new participants. 

FTX collapsed in 2022 following alleged criminal mismanagement, leaving customers uncertain about the fate of their assets. Yakovenko's proposal aims to rectify the damage caused by the collapse and revitalize Solana.

dYdX Gears Up for Next-Gen Transition

Decentralized derivatives platform dYdX has received near-unanimous community support to transition to version 4 and adopt DYDX as the Layer 1 token for its own blockchain. This move will involve migrating the DYDX token from Ethereum to a Layer 1 appchain in the Cosmos ecosystem. 

dYdX is a leading platform in the decentralized derivatives market, offering perpetuals trading with a trading volume of over $1 trillion since its launch in 2020. In version 4, every validator on the network will operate an offchain orderbook. 

Turks Embrace Crypto Amid Economic Woes

Over half of Turkey's adult population has invested in cryptocurrencies to protect their wealth from inflation and currency devaluation, according to a KuCoin report. The survey revealed that 52% of Turkish adults aged 18 to 60 invested in cryptocurrencies, up from 40% in November 2021. 

Bitcoin was the most popular investment, attracting 71% of overall crypto investors, followed by Ethereum at 45% and stablecoins at 33%. The majority of respondents invest in cryptocurrencies for long-term wealth creation.

South Korea Targets North Korean Crypto Assets

South Korea is reportedly planning to submit a bill that would track and freeze North Korean crypto assets used for funding illicit weapons programs. The bill aims to enhance the country's cybersecurity framework and includes measures to track and neutralize stolen crypto assets. 

North Korean hackers have been responsible for significant crypto thefts, with an estimated $2 billion lost since 2018. The United States FBI has also flagged Bitcoin wallets connected to North Korean hacking groups.

China's Legal Shift on Cryptocurrency Ownership

A local court in Xiamen, China has deemed cryptocurrency to be property under the country's legal framework. The court stated that crypto has "economic attributes" and people have the right to own it, unless it is used for illegal activities or gained unlawfully. 

This opinion adds to the complexities surrounding China's stance on crypto, which has seen contradictory regulatory actions in recent years. In Hong Kong, however, the High Court has also deemed crypto as property, establishing clearer rules for digital assets.

Singapore's New President Skeptical of Crypto

Tharman Shanmugaratnam has been elected as the president of Singapore with over 70% of the vote. He previously served as the chair of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and has been critical of cryptocurrencies, calling them highly volatile and risky. As president, he will be a largely ceremonial figure representing the country in diplomatic functions.

Binance's Product Head Steps Down

Binance's head of product, Mayur Kamat, has resigned after almost two years. He cited the need to take a break after years of non-stop product work. This departure comes as Binance faces increased scrutiny from global regulators. Several other executives have also left the company recently.  

Bitcoin Whales Go on a Shopping Spree

New data reveals that large Bitcoin holders have acquired over $1.5 billion worth of BTC in the past two weeks. The number of investors holding at least 10 BTC is at a three-year high of 157,324. 

Concurrently, the market caps of the top six stablecoins have grown by $663.2 million since August 22nd, indicating a potential market reversal. With Bitcoin's current trading status at $25,900, it's a focal point in the conversation about crypto price movements.

Mixed Fortunes in Digital-Asset Investments

Digital-asset investment products experienced outflows of $11.2 million last week, extending a seven-week streak of negative sentiment and reaching a total outflow of $342 million. However, bitcoin products saw inflows of $3.8 million following Grayscale's legal victory against the SEC. 

Trading volumes surged to $2.8 billion. Bitcoin and Solana products were exceptions to the outflows trend, while Polygon and Ether products faced significant outflows. Germany led in outflows, while Switzerland saw the most inflows.

Stake.com Faces Suspect Withdrawals

Crypto gambling site Stake experienced $16 million in suspicious withdrawals, including $3.9 million in Tether and $9.8 million in Ether. The funds were transferred to an account labeled "Stake.com Hacker" and then distributed to multiple accounts. This incident follows similar attacks on crypto gambling sites earlier in 2023. Stake has not yet provided an official statement regarding the incident.  

Synthetix Token SNX Surges Amid Mystery Binance Withdrawals

SNX, the token of Synthetix, rose 10.8%, with $96M in volume in the past 24 hours. A newly-created wallet withdrew $7.7M of SNX tokens from Binance, suggesting buying activity. The same wallet also withdrew $3.9M worth of LPT tokens, causing a 13.14% surge. 

Stellar's XLM Sees Sudden Price Surge

XLM's 5% surge in the last 24h is a hot topic on cryptocurrency charts, pushing Stellar's native token to new heights. Its price reached a weekly high of $0.125, making it the world's 22nd largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $3.4 billion. It is still unclear what caused the spike, but it followed a Twitter post teasing that "something cool is dropping in 10 days." 

Stellar aims to facilitate cross-border payments and has formed partnerships with companies such as Circle and MoneyGram International. It has also joined the Bytecode Alliance to make the platform more accessible.

Vitalik's MKR Sale Shakes MakerDAO

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold off his 500 MKR holdings for the first time in two years, triggering a 7% price downswing. There are rumors circulating that Vitalik made a transaction as a form of objection to Rune Christensen, one of the co-founders of MakerDAO, who suggested creating a native chain using Solana codebase. 

However, MakerDAO whales have been buying the dip, with one whale moving $12.3 million worth of MKR tokens into self-custody. Other whales have also increased their holdings, defying Vitalik's exit. This defiance has led to a 4% bounce in the MKR price and suggests bullish sentiment towards the proposed MakerDAO native chain forked from Solana. 

Rising U.S. Rates Impact Aave's Performance

Aave's price has been on a bearish trend due to concerns about American interest rates. Money market funds in the US are providing higher yields compared to Aave, leading to rotation from crypto to US assets. Aave's challenge lies in the expectation of sustained high rates as inflation remains above the Fed's target.  

Bearish Indicators Loom Over Bitcoin

Bitcoin's price correction down to $22,000 is increasingly likely as BTC derivatives show bearish tendencies. The fading hype around a spot Bitcoin ETF and ongoing regulatory actions against exchanges like Binance and Coinbase have dampened investor sentiment. Bitcoin's lackluster performance may also be attributed to the U.S. Federal Reserve reducing liquidity from the markets. Derivatives data suggests a potential drop to $22,000 is the most likely scenario. 

In the past three months, exchanges have experienced more Bitcoin withdrawals than deposits, marking the longest streak of net withdrawals in Bitcoin's history. Possible explanations for this trend include holders choosing to hold onto their Bitcoin instead of trading or selling, increased caution towards central entities, and a desire for regulatory avoidance.

Shiba Inu's Layer-2 Network Hits Milestone

As Shibarium hits the new milestone of over 1 million live wallets, folks are scrambling to check crypto coin prices, curious about its impact on Shiba Inu's value. Robinhood, the California-based stock and crypto exchange, has become the fifth-largest custodian of Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens, with 34 trillion tokens worth $280 million. 

ShibariumScan.io, the blockchain data explorer for the Layer-2 mainnet, has also been renewed. Shiba Inu is currently trading at $0.00000771 with a 1.7% decline in the last 24 hours.   

Gala Games in Legal Limbo Amid Price Crash

GALA, the utility token of Gala Games, has experienced a 98% price decline over the past 18 months. The drop is attributed to a combination of market slowdown and internal conflicts within the company. Co-founders of Gala Games, Eric Schiermeyer and Wright Thurston, are suing each other in a Utah district court. 

Schiermeyer accuses Thurston of stealing $130 million in GALA tokens, while Thurston alleges Schiermeyer misused company funds. Both lawsuits seek the removal of the defendant and significant monetary compensation. 

Vitalik's Ethereum Moves Keep Market Guessing

As Ethereum's co-founder, Vitalik Buterin's high-value ETH transactions are causing ripples, making many keep an eye on the Ethereum market cap. Recently, he transferred 999 ETH ($1.64M) to an address that previously received 1,701 ETH from him.

Last year, his address got a whopping 70,000 ETH, partially distributed later. The moves spark speculation: Is it portfolio reshuffling, undisclosed partnerships, or something else? Regardless, Buterin's actions have a ripple effect in the crypto market.

Musk's Dogecoin Adventure Hits Biography

Elon Musk’s involvement in the Dogecoin crypto project will be discussed in his upcoming biography. The book will also cover his consideration of creating a blockchain-based social media platform and his funding of Dogecoin's development. 

Musk's love for Dogecoin has been well-known, and there is speculation about the potential integration of Dogecoin as a payment method on Twitter. DOGE's price has followed a similar trend to Bitcoin's over the past month.

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

Rocket Pool RPL (+12.08%)

Synthetix SNX (+10.81%)

Rollbit Coin RLB (+8.55%)

Losers:

Kaspa KAS (-3.99%)

KuCoin Token KCS (-3.77%)

Gala GALA (-3.45%)

NFT Market Map

Ronaldo's NFT Reveal Adds Spice to Soccer

Cristiano Ronaldo revealed in a lie detector test that he owns NFTs and plans to release more collections. The test was done in conjunction with the release of his second NFT collection with Binance. The collaboration aims to introduce Web3 to soccer fans through various NFT campaigns.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.