Blockchain

According to a recent CoinGecko report, Binance, the world’s largest centralized exchange (CEX) by trading volume, has retained its market leadership position in 2023. 

Despite facing increased regulatory scrutiny and undergoing significant leadership changes, Binance maintained a market share of 43.7% and saw its spot trading volume rise to $427.1 billion in December 2023, representing a 37.5% month-on-month (MoM) increase.

Binance Trading Volume Reached $3.8 Trillion In 2023

According to CoinGecko’s report, Binance started the year with a commanding 63.5% market share but experienced a gradual decline throughout 2023, ending with a 43.7% market share in December. 

While Binance still dominated the market with 52.6% of the total spot trading volume in 2023, the exchange’s relative market share decline was notable. In absolute terms, Binance generated $3.8 trillion in trading volume throughout the year.

As previously reported, Binance faced significant regulatory pressure throughout 2023, culminating in a settlement agreement in November that required the exchange to pay a $4.3 billion fine to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) for alleged financial breaches. 

As part of the settlement, Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), also agreed to step down. Richard Teng has assumed the role of the company’s head, while CZ remains restricted from traveling outside the jurisdiction of the United States as the legal battle unfolds. 

Upbit And OKX Follow Closely

Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, managed to maintain its position as the second-largest centralized exchange in 2023, with a 9.5% market share and $687.0 billion in spot trading volume for the year.

According to the report, Upbit benefited from the Kimchi Premium, which resulted in strong local demand and premium prices for crypto assets. 

The exchange’s monthly spot trading volume hit a yearly high of $90.7 billion in December, with a 93.5% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase.

Conversely, OKX secured the third position among centralized exchanges in 2023, with a 6.7% market share and $485.9 billion in trading volume. Throughout the year, OKX experienced a steady increase in market share, starting at 5.1% in January and ending at 8.9% in December. The exchange’s trading volume in Q4 reached $177.9 billion, reflecting a notable 151.6% QoQ gain.

Among the top 10 centralized exchanges, CoinGecko reports that MEXC recorded the highest growth in Q4 2023, with trading volume surging by 203.7% to $90.4 billion. 

Bybit followed closely with a growth rate of 162.1% ($107.5 billion), while KuCoin experienced a growth rate of 161.2% ($49.2 billion). KuCoin regained its spot in the Top 10 in Q4 after briefly losing it in Q3, with a market share of 3.3% at the end of December.

Binance Coin (BNB) has successfully maintained its position above the $300 threshold, with the current trading price standing at $304. This represents a 1.8% decrease in price over the past 24 hours.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

Over the last few years, El Salvador has been making considerable efforts to become Latin America’s crypto hub. Today, two and a half years after adopting Bitcoin as a legal currency in the country, Bitfinex Securities announced the launch of Bitfinex Securities El Salvador S.A., the first platform to offer tokenized securities.

Launching The First Licensed Digital Asset Platform In El Salvador

On January 31, 2024, Bitfinex Securities officially became the first registered and licensed digital assets service provider to launch in El Salvador, and it’s now accepting customer applications. 

Last year, El Salvador approved the Digital Asset Securities Law, allowing Bitfinex Securities to apply for and receive approval for the first digital assets license under this regulatory framework.

This new law, as Juan Carlos Reyes, President of the National Commission of Digital Assets (NCDA), explained:

(…) carved out digital assets regulation from the traditional financial regulator and created the national commission of digital assets, that oversees the supervision and regulation of the ecosystem.

Additionally, the NCDA Chair recalled the positive experience with the firm and praised it for its ‘regulatory high standards’ and ‘world-class’ knowledge of compliance.

In the announcement, Bitfinex Securities highlighted the “substantial leap for financial innovation in Latin America” that the development of the tokenized securities industry in El Salvador suggests. The firm also announced it has established a pipeline of potential issuances that it expects to come to the market throughout the year.

Bitcoin ETF Approval Provides An Optimistic Outlook

“We are delighted to be able to announce the launch of Bitfinex Securities in El Salvador,” said Paolo Ardoino, Chief Technology Officer of Bitfinex Securities. He expressed his excitement to take part in the “forefront of this financial revolution,” stating:

This is not only an important market for Bitfinex given its adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender and the fostering of a Bitcoin-based economy, but it also gives El Salvador the opportunity to attract global investment flows, as issuers put out competitively priced securities offerings.

The launch of the Bitfinex Securities El Salvador platform follows the approval of the spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 10. The successful launch of Bitcoin-based ETFs in the US makes the firm expect a significant demand for exposure to other regulated digital asset services.

Jesse Knutson, Bitfinex Securities Head of Operation, highlighted in his statement the progress that El Salvador has made since 2021:

Following up on El Salvador’s groundbreaking policy work and legislative frameworks over the past two and a half years, the official launch of Bitfinex Securities El Salvador is another important step in the evolution of capital markets and an important global proof of concept.

Knutson also expressed optimism over the “recent surge of institutional investor interest in Bitcoin-focused financial products.”

XRP experienced a significant price drop early Wednesday amidst rumors of a potential exploit. The XRP price dropped more than 4% to $0.4853 but later recovered to $0.500 following a clarification from one of Ripple’s co-founders.

Personal XRP Accounts Impacted, Not Ripple’s

Initial reports suggested that Ripple had suffered a significant security breach, which was brought to light by decentralized finance (DeFi) investigator ZachXBT. These reports raised concerns about the overall security of the Ripple protocol.

According to investigations, the breach resulted in the theft of more than 213 million XRP tokens, valued at over $112 million. The stolen funds were reportedly laundered through cryptocurrency exchanges, including MEXC, Gate, Binance, Kraken, OKX, HTX, and HitBTC.

However, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify the situation. In a recent post, Larsen stated: 

Yesterday, there was unauthorized access to a few of my personal XRP accounts (not Ripple) – we were quickly able to catch the problem and notify exchanges to freeze the affected addresses. Law enforcement is already involved.

XRP Price Analysis

Despite the recent security concerns, XRP is trading at $0.5085, marking a 3.4% decrease in the past 24 hours. However, beyond the Ripple co-founder’s personal account exploit, the XRP price has experienced a significant decline over the past month.

Over the last seven days, the token has seen a minor 1.3% drop. The decline has deepened in the previous fourteen days with a 10% decrease. This is more problematic for XRP enthusiasts because the price has lost significant ground over the past 30 days, with an 18% dip.

Nevertheless, XRP bull and crypto analyst EGRAG Crypto provides an intriguing price analysis that could potentially encourage investors toward a price recovery if the token manages to hold and consolidate above the $0.500 level.

According to EGRAG, a handful of chart analysts have noted that after wave 1 of the Elliott Wave theory, wave 2 could retrace up to 90% of wave 1. The initial targets of $0.85 to $1 were successfully reached during the July pump, with the price reaching around $0.93 after Ripple’s partial victory against the SEC in its ongoing legal battle over XRP classification.

Currently, EGRAG suggests that a “wicking event” down to $0.41 is possible, considering a 10%-15% fluctuation due to the volatile nature of the crypto markets.

However, the analyst points out that the upside lies in the upcoming Wave 3, which is influenced by Wave 1 and typically has a ratio of 1.618 compared to Wave 1.

If all of this plays out, EGRAG ultimately sees the next short-term target for XRP being the all-time high (ATH) at $5. If the original wave count is adjusted, the range could be between $2.2 and $2.8.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

Renowned billionaire investor Tim Draper has again captured the crypto community’s attention with his bullish stance on Bitcoin. Despite missing his previous forecast 2018, where he predicted Bitcoin would hit $250,000 by 2022, Draper remains steadfast in his belief in Bitcoin’s potential.

Bitcoin To Hit $250,000 By 2025

In a recent Bloomberg interview, Draper first humorously acknowledged his missed prediction, joking: “Well, I don’t know why anybody is still listening to me if I missed that one.” Yet, this missed forecast hasn’t dampened his optimism; Draper is doubling on his prediction, projecting that Bitcoin will reach the quarter-million mark by 2025.

Draper cites his misjudgment of the US government’s conservative stance on cryptocurrency regulation as the reason behind his previous prediction not materializing. However, he emphasizes the increasing adoption of Bitcoin in countries with unstable currencies.

Draper notes the growing preference for conducting business in Bitcoin over traditional currencies like the US dollar, especially in regions where the dollar is often associated with criminal activities. His vision for Bitcoin extends beyond a mere store of value; he anticipates a future where Bitcoin becomes a universally accepted currency, fundamentally transforming financial transactions.

Draper noted:

I actually think there will be a moment in time when I can buy my food, clothing, and shelter all in Bitcoin, and people won’t want dollars anymore.

It is worth noting that Tim Draper further foresees a “transformative shift” in the worldwide financial landscape, where Bitcoin’s limited supply and resistance to political interference render it a more dependable and stable currency choice.

Here’s why Draper Associates Founder Tim Draper is still bullish on Bitcoin https://t.co/pGnc9lUzVf pic.twitter.com/ac3NMJjCPx

— Bloomberg (@business) January 30, 2024

Draper sees a parallel between Bitcoin’s growth trajectory and Microsoft’s initial stages, forecasting Bitcoin’s rise as a central platform for diverse financial innovations, notably in the realms of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which he refers to as “organelles.”

Industry Titans BTC Forecast Align

Draper’s bold predictions echo those of other industry figures, like the founder of the hedge fund Skybridge, Anthony Scaramucci, who projects that Bitcoin could reach as high as $400,000, nearing half of gold’s market capitalization. This prediction suggests a potential tenfold increase, dramatically shifting the landscape of digital assets.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s influence is already being felt in traditional finance. Recent data from JP Morgan shows a significant inflow into Bitcoin funds. In contrast, gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experience a concurrent outflow, indicating a shift in investor preference from traditional to digital assets.

Gold flow consistently moving out while btc flows move in pic.twitter.com/Y1A75nAZBa

— Tom Dunleavy (@dunleavy89) January 31, 2024

Amid these developments, Bitcoin’s market performance continues to exhibit resilience and growth. Over the past week, the cryptocurrency has seen a 6.1% increase, trading at around $43,056 at the time of writing.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

A crypto analyst, Eric, believes Ethereum (ETH) could spike to $20,000 in the upcoming bull run. The analyst said the potential launch of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States will propel this upswing.

Ethereum To $20,000 Possible

In a post on X, Eric cited Ethereum’s historical tendency to mirror Bitcoin (BTC), albeit with a one-cycle lag. In the previous bull market, the analyst noted that Bitcoin surged 22-fold from $3,100 to $69,000. Therefore, if Ethereum follows a similar trajectory, reaching $20,000 would be a realistic possibility.

As the analyst noted, Ethereum’s recent bear market bottom of $880 in 2022, if extrapolated using the 22x growth rate seen in BTC, places the coin at $19,360. However, the analyst believes Ethereum might surpass expectations, making $20,000 a base and a psychological round number to monitor closely. 

Supporting this forecast is the possible approval of a spot Ethereum ETFs. Like the spot Bitcoin ETF, this authorization will likely attract institutional investors and significantly boost Ethereum prices and liquidity. Institutional investors can gain exposure to Ethereum through these complex derivative products without the complexities of directly trading or storing the coin.

While the optimism remains, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will likely follow the same path it took before approving the first spot of Bitcoin ETFs in January. For context, the strict agency failed to approve any spot Bitcoin ETF for over ten years, citing market manipulation risks and the absence of proper monitoring tools.

Will The US SEC Approve A Spot Ethereum ETF?

However, in a recent statement by The Block, Standard Chartered, a global bank, said the US SEC will likely approve Ethereum ETF’s first spot in May 2023. By then, the bank added, ETH prices will be trading at around $4,000, propelled by general market optimism. 

The bank notes that the failure of the agency to classify ETH as a security further adds weight to this expectation. At the same time, Grayscale Investments, which is issuing Grayscale Ethereum Trusts (ETHE), wants to convert this product into an ETF. Each share traded at around $20 as of January 30.

Earlier, Grayscale won against the US SEC’s arguments, wishing to prevent the conversion of their Bitcoin Trust into an ETF. This win set the ball rolling for the eventual approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. 

Additionally, the fact that Ethereum Futures ETFs were recently approved and listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is a net positive, paving the way for a potential listing in May 2024. 

After months of experiencing slow growth, the Shiba Inu native token SHIB has begun riding the bull market wave and surging with new gains. As a result, a crypto analyst has predicted new highs for the doggy-themed cryptocurrency, estimating the price of SHIB to reach $0.00001.

Analyst Foresees Bullish Trajectory For Shiba Inu

Crypto analyst and investor SHIB Knight took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday to discuss SHIB’s recent price movements. Lately, the doggy-themed token has been witnessing significant price increases, pushing it closer to the coveted $0.00001 price mark. 

According to CoinMarketCap, SHIB has recorded about 1.32% in gains over the last seven days and is trading at a price of $0.000009 at the time of writing. 

Martinez shared a chart illustrating SHIB/Tether’s price movements. He disclosed that the price of SHIB was experiencing a technical breakout on a two-hour chart from the downtrend that has been plaguing the cryptocurrency market. This suggests that the Shiba Inu token may be on its way to a price recovery after experiencing significant declines despite its flourishing ecosystem and community.

Subsequently, SHIB Knight shared another chart showing SHIB’s price movement with an arrow pointing toward a surge to $0.000014. The crypto analyst predicted that SHIB could pump at any time, suggesting that investors should stay alert and keep watch of the cryptocurrency’s present bullish outlook. 

Analyst Predicts SHIB To Surge To $0.01

As the crypto market gradually exits bearish trends that have been causing the declines of many altcoins, SHIB has positioned itself at the forefront of the potential market recovery, preparing for the anticipated 2024 bull run. 

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez disclosed in an X post that SHIB is gearing up for a significant upswing that could push it to unprecedented highs. Martinez shared a chart initially published on TradingView, illustrating the price trends and movements of SHIB from November 2023 to February 2024. 

The chart revealed red and green zones in Shiba Inu’s token price trend. Relying on his analysis of these price movements, Martinez predicted that the value of SHIB could climb as high as $0.010 or potentially surpass that price mark to $0.011. The occurrence of this event could signify a potential breakthrough for the cryptocurrency as SHIB has only been able to achieve an all-time high of $0.0009 since its inception. 

On-chain data shows the XRP whales have made some moves in the past day. Here’s what these humongous entities have been up to.

XRP Whales Have Made Some Exchange-Related Transfers During Past Day

According to data from the on-chain transaction tracker service Whale Alert, three large transactions have been spotted on the XRP network during the last 24 hours.

The first of these transfers involved the movement of about 28.7 million XRP across the blockchain, worth around $14.7 million when the transaction went through.

Given the scale of the move, it’s likely that a whale entity was behind it. Owing to their large holdings, the whales can be influential beings on the network, so their moves can be worth following, as they may cause noticeable fluctuations in the market.

What a whale’s transfer may imply for the cryptocurrency depends on the intent behind it. Below are the details regarding this first XRP whale transfer, which may shed some light on its context.

As is visible above, the sending address in the case of this XRP whale transaction was an unknown wallet. At the same time, the receiver was an address attached to the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp.

“Unknown wallets” refer to addresses unaffiliated with any known central entity. As such, they are generally the investors’ personal, self-custodial wallets.

In this transfer, it would appear that the whale shifted their coins from their address to Bitstamp, suggesting they wanted to use one of the platform’s services. This can include selling, although it’s not a certainty.

If the whale was looking to sell, the transfer could naturally have bearish consequences for the asset. Just like this transfer, the second one from the last 24 hours was also an exchange inflow, this time towards Binance.

This transaction involved an amount of 100 million XRP ($51.3 million), making it almost four times the size of the previous one. This may be a troublesome sign for the cryptocurrency if these whales sell here.

However, the third and the latest of the whale transactions could offset a bit of negative effect (if any) that may arise out of these exchange inflows.

Unlike the other two whale transactions, this is an exchange outflow transaction, going out of Binance and toward an unknown wallet. A closer inspection of the addresses involved reveals that the same Binance address took part in both this and the second transfer.

This could suggest that the whale who made the large deposit to Binance has now made this withdrawal. The investor has only withdrawn 20.6 million XRP ($10.5 million), which is significantly less than the amount they deposited earlier.

XRP Price

XRP has dived around 5% in the past day, and the coin’s price is now floating around $0.5. Given this trend, it’s possible that at least some of the amount the whales deposited today was for selling.

Since the Shiba Inu (SHIB) reached a local high of $0.00001193 on December 16 last year, the price has been in a downtrend characterized by a series of lower highs and lower lows. However, renowned crypto analyst Ali Martinez has now discovered a rare bullish signal that could end this trend.

Shiba Inu Price Flashes Rare Bullish Signal

A recent analysis by Martinez (@ali_charts) indicates a potential bullish movement for Shiba Inu (SHIB) based on the TD Sequential indicator. Martinez’s chart, shared via X (formerly Twitter), shows SHIB in a 3-day timeframe against Tether (USDT) on the Binance exchange.

The TD Sequential indicator is a tool used to identify potential price points where an asset’s price is likely to experience an inflection – either a reversal or a continuation of the current trend. On Martinez’s chart, the indicator has presented a “buy signal,” specifically showing a green nine. This suggests the possibility that the current bearish trend could pause, and a bullish trend may ensue.

The chart exhibits a series of green and red candlesticks representing the price movements of SHIB over time. Green candlesticks indicate periods where the closing price was higher than the opening price, while red candlesticks show the opposite. The presence of a green nine suggests that after a succession of price declines over nine periods, the trend may be exhausted, and buyers may soon enter the market.

Martinez points out that the SHIB price is currently hovering around a Fibonacci retracement level of 0.5, at approximately $0.009281. Fibonacci retracement levels are horizontal lines that indicate where possible support and resistance levels might be located.

These are critical because they can indicate areas where the price of an asset may experience pullbacks or continuations. The chart also shows Fibonacci retracement levels at 0.236 ($0.010696), 0.382 ($0.009913), 0.618 ($0.008648), and 0.786 ($0.007747).

The chart analysis by Martinez highlights the potential for SHIB to rise to the $0.010 mark or even extend gains toward $0.011. These price levels are significant as they align with the 0.236 and 0.382 Fibonacci retracement levels, respectively, which may act as resistance points. A breach above these levels could validate the bullish signal provided by the TD Sequential indicator.

Marinez stated, “The TD Sequential indicator has proven remarkably precise in predicting Shiba Inu price movements. Currently, it’s flashing a buy signal, hinting that SHIB could be gearing up for an upswing. Keep an eye out, as SHIB could climb to $0.010 or potentially even reach $0.011!”

More Confirmation Needed

As the crypto market watches closely, the bullish signal for Shiba Inu at this juncture is noteworthy. However, as with any market prediction, it’s important to note that technical indicators are not infallible and should be considered as part of a broader strategy that includes fundamental analysis, market sentiment, and other technical indicators.

A look at the 4-hour chart of SHIB/USD shows that the price is still in a descending parallel trend channel. Yesterday, Tuesday, the Shiba Inu price was again rejected at the top of the trend channel. A breakout (at around $0.00000930) could be crucial to reinforce the TD9 signal.

Crypto analyst Santiago Santos recently drew parallels between the Solana and Ethereum networks. As part of his analysis, Santos suggested that Solana had an advantage over Ethereum, something which he believes could cause the former to catch up with the latter soon enough. 

Solana’s Recent Run Similar To Ethereum’s ICO Boom

Santos mentioned in an X (formerly Twitter) post that Solana is “going through what Ethereum did during the ICO boom.” However, unlike then, when it was only whitepapers, Solana has applications seeing meaningful usage and growth, the analyst further claimed. This is one of the reasons why Santos believes that Solana will “converge on Ethereum faster than most believe.”

The crypto analyst was referring to Solana’s recent run, with the network seeing a lot of activity. Some of this activity has been credited to the applications and protocols being built on the Solana network. Particularly, the Decentralized Exchange (DEX) Jupiter has been drawing a lot of attention to Solana and even recently surpassed Ethereum’s Uniswap in daily trading volume. 

On the other hand, Ethereum is known to have generated significant buzz at the height of the ICO (Initial Coin Offering) boom, with a lot of projects swamping the network at the time. Notably, Ethereum’s Decentralized Finance (DeFi) landscape then happened to give the network an edge, a contributing factor to ETH’s rise to become the second largest crypto token. 

Santos’ recent comment echoes a growing belief in the crypto community that Solana may indeed be primed enough to take Ethereum’s place as the King of DeFi. Narratives that have continued to work in Solana’s favor include its speed and cost-effectiveness. 

Following Santos’ post, another X user hinted that Solana’s adoption rate would probably be higher than Ethereum’s, considering users don’t have to worry about high fees.

Solana To Hit $150 Soon?

The significant activity on the Solana network is believed to be one of the catalysts that could drive SOL’s price to $150. Several analysts have continued to highlight that price level as the next significant stop for the crypto token. Moreover, Jupiter is set to airdrop its JUP tokens on January 31.

This highly anticipated event will cause new money to flow into the Solana ecosystem, with SOL’s price likely to be positively impacted by this splurge of liquidity. Beyond Jupiter, other DeFi projects on Solana are making waves, and these projects could also launch their native tokens at some point in the year. 

At the time of writing, SOL is trading at just over $100, down over 2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

Bitcoin price had previously been showing extreme strength leading up until the debut of the first spot ETFs. That strength has since subsided, leading to a 20% correction in BTCUSD.

A popular technical indicator that measures momentum, however, could point to powerful continuation to the upside, but only if a certain level is breached. Keep reading to learn more about the Relative Strength Index and how the top cryptocurrency behaves once the market reaches an “overbought” level.

Bitcoin Approaches “Overbought” And Why This Isn’t A Bad Thing

The Relative Strength Index is a momentum-measuring tool that signals when a market is “overbought” or “oversold”. When a financial asset reaches such conditions, it often means the trend is about to change.

In Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the weekly RSI is often a signal that the asset is moving into its most powerful phase. For example, Bitcoin made it above a reading of 70 in October 2023, and only weeks later saw an over 60% rally to local 2024 highs.

Now 1W BTCUSD charts are showing an RSI reading of just below 70, pointing to a possible close back above the overbought level. If bulls can keep the top cryptocurrency by market cap above $43,650, the weekly RSI should close above the threshold.

BTCUSD Historical 1W Relative Strength Data

Historical data could possibly shed some light on what might happen if the weekly Relative Strength Index gets the close above 70 as anticipated.

Over the last ten years, Bitcoin saw a 1W RSI close above 70 a total of 13 times. This happened 8 times in 2016 and 2017, twice in 2019, and once each in 2020 and 2021. One additional instance occurred in 2023.

Of the 13 times, the average gain after the RSI closed above 70 to the peak of the movement was 107%. The largest rally was in 2020, bringing over 400% returns. The smallest rally was in 2016 and saw only a 20% gain.

After removing the largest and smallest outliers, the average drops down to around 61%. This could mean that Bitcoin could produce on average a move between 61 and 107%.

A 61% gain takes BTCUSD back to just under $68,000 and shy of a new all-time high, while a 107% move sets a new record closer to $90,000 per coin. The cryptocurrency is also potentially working on a bull flag pattern, with a target of around $77,000.