Following weeks of positive crypto price momentum and a market-wide rebound, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) found itself bumping up against strong resistance this week, pulling back from multi-month highs. Over the last seven sessions, BTC’s value slipped by 4.6%, sending the legacy crypto below the key $23,000 psychological level.
This week’s reversal in BTC’s price action was primarily sparked by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell cautioning that it will “take a long time” to bring the inflation under control. However, despite this week’s reversal, BTC’s 30-day return has surpassed 30%.
Meanwhile, market analysts are anticipating a renewed bull run in BTC, as the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR), which measures the supply of BTC and stablecoins denoted in BTC, has breached the upper limit for the third time in five years. This indicator implies that more users are redeeming their stablecoins for BTC instead of USD or another fiat currency.
Altcoin Liftoff Persists
While the broader market consolidates from weeks of gains, popular meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB) registered a stellar performance this week. After languishing for months and missing out on several market-wide rallies, the value of SHIB jumped by nearly 9.6% over the last seven trading sessions.
Shiba Inu’s promising comeback stems from the hype surrounding the upcoming debut of the token’s own blockchain - Shibarium - which will run on top of the Ethereum (ETH-USD) chain. Another key driver behind SHIB’s breakout performance is the recent listing of its new token, Bone Shibaswap (BONE), on the Bitget crypto exchange.
Beyond Shiba Inu, Lido DAO’s LDO token sustained its previous week’s rally. The LDO token added another 19% to its prior gains, taking its 30-day return to nearly 35%. Much of this week’s upward momentum for the LDO token was tied to the surge in ETH staking volume on the Ethereum network.
That said, the week’s outperformers included lesser-known altcoins -- The Graph (GRT) and SingularityNET (AGIX). The price of GRT increased by 87.30%, while AGIX registered a staggering 125.30% increase in its valuation.
Big data and artificial intelligence-themed tokens have been rising steadily since the beginning of 2023, helped in large part by the hype and frenzy surrounding AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) improved Bing + AI search engine, and Google’s forthcoming AI-backed products.
Solana and Aptos Face Steepening Losses
Besides a few noteworthy outperformers, the majority of the leading altcoins, including Ethereum, Binance Coin (BNB), Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Ripple (XRP-USD), reacted sharply to reversing market momentum.
Among the top 10 altcoins by market capitalization, Solana (SOL) emerged as the biggest underperformer, sliding 8.30% over the last seven trading sessions. However, despite the multi-week losing streak, investor interest in Solana is rising. There are several reasons behind this, including Chorus One protocol’s MEV integration and a freshly-unveiled partnership with Brave browser to expand its wallet support for Android and iOS.
Aptos (APT) also delivered an underwhelming performance over the last week, with the layer-1 PoS blockchain struggling to attract investors since the third quarter of 2022. Investor interest in the ecosystem is still in a spiraling decline, reflected by the dipping valuation of the APT token. Over the last seven sessions, APT stumbled around 20.40%, while its 24-hour trading volume plunged by 30.35%.
UK Crypto Ads in Crosshairs, Fujitsu Acceleration, and More
Amid tightening crypto regulations globally, the United Kingdom’s newly-proposed advertising guidelines have emerged as another potential setback for crypto firms. If the proposal receives approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority FCA), executives from local and overseas crypto firms may face as much as two years of prison for failing to meet specific requirements related to “digital assets” promotion.
Switching gears, as Web3 technology evolves rapidly, mainstream brands and organizations are joining hands to promote education and awareness related to the technology.
In the latest iteration, prominent Japanese tech brand Fujitsu has launched a new Web3 acceleration platform to support startups, partner companies, and Web3 entrepreneurs globally.
Meanwhile, the New York University School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) has partnered with the Near Foundation to launch its Web3 Learning Workshop for its students, faculty members, and industry partners.
Finally, following the devastating earthquake in Turkey that has left behind a trail of destruction and loss, crypto exchange Binance has announced an airdrop of $100 worth of BNB tokens for its users residing in the affected areas.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
