Compared to other meme coins and large caps in the crypto space, the Dogecoin performance has been quite lackluster, to say the least. Even as Bitcoin sets an out toward its previous highs, Dogecoin price has been muted. Bit this could change soon as one analyst sees a reversal coming.

Dogecoin Price Has Entered The Buy Zone

Since falling back below the $0.09 level, the dogecoin bulls have struggled to maintain control of the price. With bearish and selling pressure mounting, the best-case scenario was that the meme coin would once again enter an accumulation zone that could help provide support.

According to a crypto analyst who goes by CryptoCheck on TradingView, the DOGE price may have finally entered this buy zone. The analyst analyzes the DOGE price on different time frames such as the four-hour and the weekly frame, coming up with a rather bullish narrative for the coin.

On the 4-hour timeframe, the meme coin showed a lot of strength as a recovery rocked the crypto market. Then moving on to the weekly timeframe, the analyst points out that Dogecoin is currently flashing a buy signal for investors to get back in. This buy signal comes between the $0.078 and $0.084 levels.

Now, the levels highlighted for buying here coincide with the analysis from crypto analyst Skew who explained that the risk-reward above $0.087 is higher for investors who are looking to get in on the asset. These levels could present the best buying opportunity before the next leg-up.

DOGE Price Could Fly 800%

CryptoCheck’s analyst also predicts a lot of potential upside for the Dogecoin price. They point out that DOGE has gone from a joke to a prominent crypto and this is thanks to the community which has continued to support its growth and development.

Given the chart position, there is a lot of upside potential for the meme coin going forward in 2024. Some of the developments that could propel this price surge include the fact that Elon Musk’s X is getting ready to launch a peer-to-peer payments platform this year. As always, expectations are that Dogecoin could play a huge role in this.

However, while the analyst sees a lot of potential in the future of the altcoin, they explains that DOGE is still quite bearish in the short term. “The price needs to establish support before going higher, and the downward trend means that support hasn’t been found at the current levels,” CryptoCheck explains.

A notable shift in market sentiment has recently been observed, particularly around the Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) narrative. YouTube analyst Crypto Banter, in a recent analysis, suggests that the initial excitement surrounding Bitcoin spot ETFs is waning, leading to a change in investor behavior.

According to Crypto Banter, despite significant trading volumes in spot Bitcoin ETFs, which totaled $4.6 billion with Grayscale (GBTC) leading the pack, there’s more than meets the eye.

Analyst Predicts Pullback Amid Local Top Signs

A deeper look into the analyst’s video reveals that GBTC’s sales are primarily attributed to its higher fees and the locking up of “older Bitcoin,” indicating minimal new inflows. According to the analyst, this lack of new capital could trigger market apprehension, leading to a sell-off.

The analyst’s technical and fundamental analysis points to signs of a local top forming, with particular reference to the CME Bitcoin Futures launch. However, the analyst clarifies that this does not signal a cycle top or the wrap of the bull run but suggests a possible pullback in the meantime, as indicated by BTC’s daily candle close.

The analyst noted in the video:

The trend is still very much towards the upside but as soon as price starts to break down below [the] key levels we’re probably going lower $38,000 and then $30,000 next.

Looking at the bigger picture, the upcoming Bitcoin halving, set to occur later in April, is expected to propel demand and, consequently, the price of Bitcoin, according to the analyst.

The analyst further acknowledges that while the market has witnessed a significant upward trend, these have been interspersed with substantial corrections, some as severe as 40%. While a correction of this magnitude isn’t forecasted, the analyst suggests a pullback in the 20-30% range is plausible.

Behind Bitcoin Bearish Turn

Bitcoin has shown bearish price action, decreasing by 5% in the last 24 hours, with a trading price of $43,791. This downturn follows a recent spike above $48,000, spurred by the live trading of spot Bitcoin ETF trading in the United States on Thursday.

Dan Ripoll, managing director at Swan Bitcoin, sheds light on the current price dynamics, attributing them to the time brokerage firms’ compliance departments took to approve new products. Ripoll adds that large broker-dealers like Vanguard, UBS, Citi, and Merrill Lynch have restricted or completely disallowed their retail clients from purchasing spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Vanguard’s decision to prevent its customers from investing in the new BTC Spot ETFs, citing a misalignment with their “investment philosophy,” is pivotal in adopting Bitcoin ETFs.

This stance by the world’s second-largest asset manager, behind BlackRock, adds complexity to the spot Bitcoin ETF landscape. Ripoll expresses surprise at such ideological resistance, predicting a loss of customers for these firms due to this approach.

Matt Dines, Chief Investment Officer at Build Asset Management LLC, points out another fact: the capital from the day’s spot ETF volume has yet to impact the fund portfolio managers’ activities.

Dines mentioned that most creation orders from the day’s flows will only be settled the next morning, meaning the capital driving the current market hasn’t begun influencing the offers in the UTXO market yet. Notably, this delay could imply that the full effect of the spot ETF trading is yet to manifest in the market.

The dollars behind today’s spot ETF volume haven’t even hit the fund portfolio managers’ desks yet.

Most create orders behind today’s flows will get cash settled tomorrow morning T+1 … i.e. the capital behind today’s wave hasn’t even started lifting offers in the UTXO market. https://t.co/N9y4Tyod92

— Matt Dines (@BuildCIO) January 11, 2024

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

Litecoin, a cryptocurrency often referred to as the “silver to Bitcoin’s gold,” is gaining traction among analysts who predict its potential to outperform Bitcoin shortly. 

Tony “the Bull,” a certified chartist and the Head of Research at NewsBTC, took to X on January 12, laying out a bullish outlook for the 18th most valuable cryptocurrency. Citing its monthly candlestick formations, the analyst said what’s panning out are signs of an imminent breakout that could propel the coin higher in the coming weeks.

Litecoin About To Rip Higher?

Specifically, Tony “The Bull” said what’s printing out in the monthly chart is “insanely bullish” for Litecoin. This outlook is warming for Litecoin Bulls, considering its drab performance in 2023 when prices consolidated before tanking in the second half. 

The researcher also shared another chart, predicting that the crypto community is “close to witnessing something impressive.” The analyst’s enthusiasm echoes earlier assessment of Litecoin’s “SuperTrend” indicator, which seems to suggest significant price gains for Litecoin in the coming sessions.

Litecoin remains within a bearish formation, consolidating, as evident in the monthly chart. Of note, prices are still trending inside the bear bar of August 2023. Despite general optimism, Litecoin bulls have yet to reverse those losses and remain within a tight, flat-lining range, as evident in the monthly chart. 

Still, Litecoin might set a fresh trend depending on the breakout direction. Any upswing above $115 might ignite demand that may lift the coin towards May 2021 highs of around $400.

Spot Bitcoin ETF Didn’t Push BTC Above $50,000

Tony “The Bull”‘s bullish sentiment on Litecoin comes as Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, is trending lower, looking at the performance in the daily chart. Despite the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin prices have failed to break above the $50,000 resistance level. 

For now, the crypto community remains bullish. Bitcoin supporters earlier claimed the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs would trigger billions into the coin and broadly the sphere. The derivative product provides a legal channel for institutions to invest in Bitcoin. Still, the SEC chair Gary Gensler maintained that Bitcoin is a speculative asset despite the agency’s approval.

In contrast to Bitcoin’s lackluster performance, Litecoin has shown resilience, maintaining a firm stance amidst market volatility. This development suggests that Litecoin may be poised to outperform Bitcoin in the coming months. The LTCBTC chart shows Litecoin is up 21% versus Bitcoin, rallying from January lows. 

According to Crypto trader Mags, Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, has recently demonstrated a notable +55% surge, breaking out from a smaller broadening wedge pattern.

Mags shared insights on this significant price movement, observing Bitcoin’s breakout and suggesting a mid-term target at the “upper trendline resistance of a larger broadening wedge.”

This surge notably results from several catalysts in play, such as the surging interest of institutional investors and the US approval of spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).

Upcoming Options Expiry Impact’s Bitcoin Price

However, Bitcoin has seen a slight downturn following its recent surge over the past 24 hours. Despite being significantly up over the past month, the asset has declined by nearly 10% in the past day, with its current trading volume slightly decreasing to $44 billion from over $50 billion yesterday.

This sudden dip can largely be attributed to the imminent expiration of options. According to the options trading platform Greeks.live, a substantial 36,000 BTC options are set to expire soon, featuring a Put Call Ratio of 0.9.

Notably, the ‘Put Call Ratio’ serves as a sentiment indicator, assessing the market mood by comparing the volume of put options to call options. It is calculated by dividing the number of traded put options by the number of traded call options.

Put options grant the holder the right (but not the obligation) to sell a specified amount of an underlying asset at a predetermined price within a specific timeframe. Conversely, call options allow the holder the right (but not the obligation) to buy a specified amount of an underlying asset at a set price within a specific timeframe.

The Put Call Ratio is interpreted in two ways: a high ratio (greater than 1) and a low ratio (less than 1). A low ratio suggests more call options are being bought than put options, indicating bullish market sentiment as more traders expect the market to rise.

Conversely, a high ratio indicates that more put options are being bought than call options, suggesting bearish market sentiment as more traders anticipate a market decline.

Jan12 Options Data
36,000 BTC options are about to expire with a Put Call Ratio of 0.9, a Maxpain point of $45,000 and a notional value of $1.68 billion.
262,000 ETH options are due to expire with a Put Call Ratio of 0.64, a Maxpain point of $2,400 and a notional value of $680… pic.twitter.com/LSKNGKVjrH

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) January 12, 2024

With Bitcoin’s Put Call Ratio currently at 0.9, as reported by Greeks.live, it implies that traders are leaning towards a bearish move for Bitcoin. This anticipated decline may contribute to Bitcoin’s current dip, despite the recent commencement of spot Bitcoin ETF trading in the US.

Bitcoin’s Bullish Potential

Despite the current dip, market analysts suggest this downturn might be short-lived. As highlighted by crypto trader Mags, the breakout from a smaller broadening wedge pattern signifies a bullish sentiment in the short term.

The +55% surge marks a recovery from previous lows and prepares the stage for a potential ascent toward the upper trendline of a larger broadening wedge. Such a pattern hints that Bitcoin could be primed for further substantial price movements shortly.

Additionally, the ‘Max Pain’ point, as identified by Greeks.live, is currently pegged at $45,000 for Bitcoin, holding a total notional value of $1.68 billion. This point, where option holders face the most financial loss, is a critical indicator of the market’s potential direction.

According to Greeks.live’s analysis, the nearing expiry of 36,000 BTC options implies that the market is poised for significant movements. In anticipation of these dynamics, Greeks.live reported a shift in trading strategies has been observed, with a growing emphasis on ‘LONG GAMMA’ approaches.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

Amidst regulatory scrutiny and leadership changes, Binance Coin (BNB) lost its footing in the liquidity race, slipping to 13th place in Q4 2023, according to Kaiko data on January 11. This surprising development contrasts BNB’s position as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, raising questions about its general liquidity.

Dogecoin Flips BNB In Liquidity Rankings

Kaiko’s findings, based on spot trading data from multiple exchanges, revealed that Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and Dogecoin (DOGE) emerged as the top four most liquid cryptocurrencies in Q4 2023. 

Liquidity is a metric that shows how easily a given asset can be traded without significant price impacts. One of the biggest assumptions is that a crypto asset higher up the market cap ranking is more liquid. However, as Kaiko data shows, this is not usually the case, as factors such as exchange listing play a big role.

DOGE flipping BNB in liquidity dynamics may be attributed to a combination of factors, including regulatory concerns surrounding Binance, leadership changes within the company, and the status of Dogecoin. DOGE is the first meme coin, and over the years, it has continued to cement its place as the world’s largest meme coin by market cap despite heavy competition. To illustrate, despite the popularity of alternatives like PepeCoin (PEPE) or Bonk coin (BONK), none has managed to flip DOGE.

Binance Legal Battles, Price Recovers Steadily

In 2023, Binance grappled with legal battles and internal restructuring. In early June 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against the exchange, alleging that it had violated securities laws by selling unregistered securities. Additionally, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao stepped down from his executive role in late Q4 2023, further adding to the exchange’s uncertainty.

Despite its legal troubles, Binance agreed to pay a $4.3 billion settlement with the SEC and other US agencies in late 2023. While this settlement may have eased some regulatory concerns, it is unclear whether it will be enough to restore BNB’s liquidity position. 

Related Reading: Ethereum Classic (ETC) Explodes Over 50% In Massive Price Jump – Here’s Why

So far, looking at the daily chart, BNB has been trending higher, quickly shaking off the weakness of late November 2023. After Changpeng Zhao, the founder, exited as the CEO, BNB prices sharply fell. However, without follow-through and the community remaining optimistic about the platform’s prospects, prices recovered as the broader crypto scene rose, hoping the SEC would approve the first spot Bitcoin ETF.

BNB is up 37% from November 2023 lows and is stable, looking at the performance in the daily chart. As a bull flag forms, it is unclear whether the coin will break higher above $340, establishing new 2024 highs or contract following Bitcoin.

Crypto analyst Michaël Van De Poppe recently made a bullish prediction for the Ethereum price against Bitcoin in the near future, noting the path for this to happen. According to a social media post by the analyst, price action on the ETH/BTC pair for the next months will center around spot Bitcoin ETFs, with a rotation into ETH also in the prediction.

Analyst’s Prediction of 100% Ethereum Price Rise Against Bitcoin

Michaël Van De Poppe recently took to X to share a chart of Ethereum’s price performance against Bitcoin (ETH/BTC pair) on the weekly timeframe. Price action on the chart forms green (bullish) candles during periods of Ethereum’s performance over Bitcoin, while red (bearish) candles are formed during periods of Ethereum’s underperformance against Bitcoin.

Taking a look at the chart shared by Van De Poppe shows that Ethereum’s performance on the ETH/BTC pair has been on a decline since the middle of 2022. This decline particularly increased during the last quarter of 2023, as the enthusiasm regarding spot Bitcoin ETFs led to a surge in the price of Bitcoin. Consequently, the analyst noted that Ethereum’s price performance against Bitcoin is now around the 2022 low of 0.04922.

According to Van De Poppe, the approval of the long-awaited spot Bitcoin ETFs could lead to the creation of another liquidation candle on ETH/BTC to eventually take the liquidity around the 2022 low. This would eventually lead to a rotation into Ethereum, combined with a bullish weekly divergence.  

As a result, the ETH/BTC pair would be propelled to a target just above 0.12 by the rotation, signifying an increase of more than 100%. Notably, the last time ETH reached this level on the ETH/BTC pair was during the crypto’s first major bull run in 2018. 

#Ethereum approaches the low of 2022 and is likely going to take the liquidity there.

If an ETF approval for #Bitcoin happens, I think we’ll have a liquidation candle on ETH/BTC and after that a rotation into Ethereum, combined with a bullish weekly divergence. pic.twitter.com/kGq91S7kq9

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) January 9, 2024

The Rotation Game Has Started

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been approved by the SEC on Wednesday, causing the price of Bitcoin to spike to $48,600, its highest point since April 2022. However, the price of Bitcoin has stalled and is now trading at $45,839, about where it was when the news of the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs came out.

At the same time, Ethereum rose over $2,500 to reach $2,600, its highest point since April 2022. Ethereum has maintained this gain to outperform Bitcoin and is trading at $2,618 at the time of writing.

According to another post on social media by Michaël Van De Poppe price action since the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs suggests that the rotation is already happening on the ETH/BTC pair.

“The rotation game is happening already,” he stated, adding a $3,500 price target for ETH.

The rotation game is happening already.

A massive weekly bullish divergence on the $ETH / $BTC pair suggesting that we’re going to have a strong run on Ethereum, and altcoins.

We’re at January 2016, good times ahead. Ethereum to $3,500. pic.twitter.com/H72vZDFNFR

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) January 11, 2024

Investors are now anticipating the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, which could also drive up the price of ETH.

Bitcoin had earlier shown a sharp rally toward the $49,000 mark, but the asset was quick to retrace the entire surge as the Coinbase Premium turned negative.

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Gap Plunged Into Negative During Past Day

As pointed out by CryptoQuant Netherlands community manager Maartunn in a post on X, the Coinbase Premium Gap has now turned notably negative after being mostly positive for the last few days.

The “Coinbase Premium Gap” refers to the difference between the Bitcoin prices listed on the cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase (USD pair) and Binance (USDT pair).

This indicator’s value basically provides hints about how the buying or selling behaviors on these two largest platforms in the sector differ from each other right now.

When the metric has a positive value, it means that the price listed on Coinbase is higher than on Binance currently. Such a trend implies the former platform’s users are participating in a higher amount of buying (or lower amount of selling) than the Binance users.

On the other hand, the indicator being positive suggests that Binance might be observing a higher degree of buying pressure at the moment as the price listed on the exchange is greater.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Gap since the start of the year:

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Gap has observed a sharp plunge down into the negative territory during the past day or so. Before this plummet, the indicator had been mostly at positive values since the start of the year.

There were a few dips into the red zone earlier as well, but the indicator only attained minor negative values during these drops. This time, though, the premium is down to significantly negative levels.

The price surges this year were being driven by the buyers on Coinbase, as the price rose every time the premium did as well. Coinbase is popularly known to be used by US institutional investors, so the green premium suggested that these large entities were buying, most likely in anticipation of the ETFs, which finally gained approval on January 10th.

A while after this approval, BTC went on to sharply rally toward the $49,000 level, but the asset’s run was very short-lived as its price plummeted hard back towards the price prior to the move, thus erasing all the gains.

The Coinbase Premium Gap had been notably positive alongside the surge, but the indicator then showed its plunge into the negative territory alongside this quick retrace. It would appear that some American institutional traders may have used the opportunity to harvest their profits.

BTC Price

Bitcoin has been moving sideways since the quick rally and drawdown, as its price is still floating around the $45,800 level.

The Solana Foundation has unveiled a roadmap for 2024, focusing on innovation, developer engagement and network scalability. “2024 is the year of Solana,” the foundation proclaimed, focusing on the key milestones achieved and strategic goals for the year in the statement.

The “Solana Foundation’s State of Developer Ecosystem Report” highlights a surge in developer activity, with over “2,500 active developers committing to open source repositories” and an impressive increase in developer retention, rising “from 31% to over 50% throughout the previous year.”

The report further elucidated the evolution of Solana’s infrastructure, which in 2023 saw a leap in maturity with the deployment of “program frameworks for Rust, Python, and more,” as well as “SDKs available for 10 languages, laying a solid foundation for diverse dApp development.” Solana Labs’ innovative GameShift API has been a game-changer, a piece of “app-specific tooling” designed to revolutionize the gaming space on Solana’s blockchain.

On-chain data provided by Messari reinforces the network’s growth narrative, citing “a 65% quarter-over-quarter increase in daily average non-voting transactions, reaching 40.7 million, and a remarkable 102% quarter-over-quarter rise in average daily fee payers, amounting to 190,000.”

The roadmap also unveils forthcoming advancements poised to redefine blockchain capabilities. First, Solana aims to introduce “token extensions to empower more complex and multifaceted tokenomics.”

Second, a focus in 2024, will be on the launch of Firedancer, a new independent validator client for the Solana blockchain, built by Jump Crypto. It aims to support a higher number of concurrent transactions, increase network throughput, resilience, and efficiency, and address historical weaknesses in Solana’s peer-to-peer interface. Notably, Firedancer went live on the testnet in October 2023.

A third focus in the 2024 roadmap will be the development of Runtime v2 by Solana Labs, which aims to “significantly enhance the network’s performance and developer experience.”

This runtime is a concurrent transaction processor, handling transactions with specified data dependencies and explicit dynamic memory allocation. It introduces changes coordinated by epochs, influencing the cluster’s behavior. Moreover, Solana Core announced support for the Move programming language as a major modification in Runtime v2.

The Solana Foundation’s message via X echoes a commitment to innovation and community engagement: “The strength of the Solana ecosystem is amplified by our passionate community. With the community’s unwavering support, we are ready to accelerate into 2024 and solidify Solana’s position as the premier platform for blockchain development. It’s time to accelerate. Let’s keep building & make 2024 the year of Solana.”

Solana Price Prediction 2024: A Technical Analysis

A technical analysis of the Solana price action in the weekly chart (SOL/USD) offers predictions for 2024. Since mid-November, SOL’s price movement has been encapsulated within a parallel uptrend channel, indicative of a stable and consistent upward trajectory. The parallel lines representing support and resistance have guided the price action, providing clear levels for potential buy and sell points.

The Fibonacci retracement tool, applied from the swing high of around $262 to the swing low of $7.93, unveils key levels that may act as barriers or support in the future.

0.236 at $69.59: A retracement level that previously acted as resistance and has turned into support.
0.382 at $107.74: This level has been tested and is the next major price target of a weekly close.
0.5 at $138.57: From 2021 till early 2022, this price level acted as strong support, but was turned into resistance in April 2022.
0.618 at $169.41: Often considered the ‘golden ratio,’ this level is crucial for assessing trend continuation.
0.786 at $213.30: Breaching this level could signal strong bullish momentum.
1 at $269.22: As soon as SOL reaches its all-time high, the price discovery phase begins.

Extended Fibonacci levels, such as 1.618 at $430.69 and 2.618 at $691.98, offer aspirational targets should the uptrend persist. The latter would be an ultra-bullish price target.

The Exponential Moving Averages (EMA) for the 20, 50, 100, and 200 periods all lie below the current price, confirming the strength of the uptrend. A ‘golden cross’ is evident in mid-December with the 50-EMA crossing above the 100-EMA, traditionally a bullish signal.

The trading volume shows a constructive pattern, with higher volume seen on upswings, a positive sign for continued interest in SOL. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is positioned around 60, suggesting that while the momentum is upward, there is still room for growth before reaching overbought conditions.

The technical analysis, grounded in the weekly chart’s display of a parallel uptrend channel, robust Fibonacci levels, supportive moving averages, and healthy volume and RSI readings, paints a very optimistic price outlook for Solana in 2024.

The total number of XRP tokens burned just recently hit a major milestone. This has raised questions as to how much impact these burns can have on the value of the XRP tokens in circulation. Interestingly, Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz recently made some comments in this regard as he weighed in on whether or not XRP burns could affect the token’s value. 

12 Million XRP Now Wiped Out Of Circulation

Data from the XRP Scan shows that just over 12 million XRP tokens have now been burned and wiped out from circulation. This figure represents just 0.012% of XRP’s total available supply, which now stands at over 99.9 billion. Considering the magnitude of tokens still available, it is hard to imagine that the tokens burned so far can have so much impact on the token’s price.

It is also worth mentioning that the 12 million XRP burned so far is a cumulative total of all the tokens that have been wiped out from circulation since they were premined. As such, these tokens have been burned at separate times and not necessarily on a large scale. With this in mind, that could explain why the XRP community is calling for burns of Ripple’s XRP holdings. 

Ripple currently has over 40 billion XRP in escrow. Burning a significant portion of these tokens could have more effect on the token’s price than the 12 million burned so far. However, Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz doesn’t believe that this would yield “any real benefits.” He also alluded to how Stellar burning 55 billion XLM tokens in 2019 didn’t have much impact on the token’s price. 

Ripple’s XRP Holdings Might Not Be The Problem

Talks about Ripple burning or at least disposing of a significant portion of their XRP holdings continue to spring up in the XRP community. This is because of accusations that the crypto firm is responsible for XRP’s stagnant price based on the belief that they continue to dump their tokens on the market.   

These allegations, however, seem unfounded, considering that it has been reported that Ripple’s XRP sales do not have an impact on the token’s price on crypto exchanges. If anything, the crypto firm somehow provides stability to the ecosystem as they are known to perform buybacks at different periods. 

Ripple burning their escrowed tokens is also not an easy task, as Ripple’s CTO seemed to suggest in his latest remarks. It has been said in the past that Ripple will likely need the approval of validators to carry out these burns. 

A former Ripple Director had previously mentioned that Ripple could simply disable the master key on the destination account that receives these escrowed funds. However, there are no assurances that this could achieve the same purpose as the tokens being wiped out from circulation. 

The past week has been a triumphant one for Lido DAO, with its LDO token surging an impressive 22%, leaving a sluggish broader crypto market in its dust. This notable feat mirrors the 18% ascent of Ethereum, its underlying blockchain, showcasing a deep synergy between the leading liquid staking platform and its technological foundation.

But the good news doesn’t stop there. A staggering 87% of Lido DAO token holders are reaping the rewards of their investment, according to data from IntoTheBlock. This solid figure underscores the strong performance of LDO, attributed largely to its stellar weekly performance, as the crypto trading analytics platform noted.

Lido Holders Get Good Returns From Their Investment

Following a strong price move by $LDO this week, ~87% of LDO addresses are now in profit. pic.twitter.com/3rLodKvK21

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) January 10, 2024

Furthermore, Lido’s Total Value Locked (TVL), a crucial metric reflecting the amount of cryptocurrency deposited in its protocol, has also ballooned a remarkable 19% in tandem with the price hike.

Analysts attribute LDO’s ascent to a potent cocktail of factors. First and foremost, its symbiotic relationship with Ethereum. As the leading smart contract platform enjoys renewed momentum, projects built on its infrastructure – like Lido – relish the rising tide that lifts all boats.

Furthermore, Lido’s recent bounce back from a critical support level at $2.80 appears to have ignited a bullish fervor. Technical indicators whisper of a potential retest of the $3.60 resistance barrier, suggesting further upward potential.

Adding fuel to the fire is the skyrocketing demand for Ethereum staking. Lido’s user-friendly model allows investors to earn rewards on their ETH without locking them up for extended periods, a flexibility that resonates deeply with yield-hungry crypto enthusiasts. This, coupled with Lido’s robust platform and proven track record, is attracting new users at a steady pace.

Strong TVL Numbers Put Lido In Contention

The surging TVL is a testament to this burgeoning trust. As more users deposit their ETH on Lido, the total value locked in the protocol increases, further validating its platform and potentially attracting even more participants. This positive feedback loop could propel Lido towards solidifying its position as the premier Ethereum staking solution.

However, a note of prudent caution remains. Lido’s recent upswing hasn’t been entirely organic. The absence of major platform-specific developments raises questions about the rally’s long-term sustainability. Additionally, a large token sale earlier triggered a temporary dip, highlighting the potential for volatility.

Technical analysis also suggests that breaking the $3.60 resistance is crucial for continued upward momentum. Failure to do so could lead to a pullback, and investors should be prepared for such a scenario.

Ultimately, while Lido DAO is riding a wave of momentum, fueled by its association with Ethereum, its robust platform, and the ever-growing demand for liquid staking solutions, investors should approach with cautious optimism.

Featured image from Freepik