Market Troubles, ETH Deflation, NFTs Cool Off
- The market experienced a deep leverage wipeout a few hours ago. Over $2.1B of liquidations were reported by exchanges per Skew Analytics, and the real number is likely higher. BTC and ETH price decreased by a double digit percentage over the last 24 hours.
- The crypto market experienced a flash crash as BTC moved downwards to ~$42k and ETH to ~$3k. ETH and BTC eventually bounced back to ~$47k and ~$3.5k respectively. A negative feedback loop of liquidations seems to be the primary cause, as the market punished over-leveraged apes.
- Given the steep rise in open interest over the last week, these liquidations give the market a meaningful leverage reset.
- The biggest culprit for ETH’s deflationary day is the recent NFT frenzy. NFT gas wars have become a common occurrence as everyone races to mint and flip NFTs. Loot (for adventurers) and its derivatives have been extremely popular over the past few days.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin Play Starts With a Price Crash, Technical Difficulties
- A 10% price crash and technical issues with the government’s official Chivo Wallet have marred the debut of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador.
- The labor pains associated with Bitcoin becoming legal tender in El Salvador have been rough: Protests in the streets, critics arrested by police without charge, rebuke from international organizations, and a state of national uncertainty have set the tone over the last 90 days—ever since President Nayib Bukele set the country down this path.
- The government’s official Bitcoin wallet, known as the “Chivo Wallet,” is currently unavailable on the official Android app store, so those looking to use it must turn to third-party stores with less transparent security policies. The government is recommending that its citizens use Huawei’s App Gallery.
Solana Flips XRP as SOL Outpaces Bitcoin, Ethereum Crash Recovery
- While most of the market reels from this morning’s sudden downturn, SOL has jumped up another spot in the Top 10.
- Solana is now up 12% over the last 24 hours to a current price of $177 per coin, according to data from CoinGecko. It’s the only non-stablecoin in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap to be in the green over the last day, as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and other coins saw sizable declines this morning.
- Now, Solana has leapfrogged Ripple’s XRP to become the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by total market cap, at a current cap of $51.3 billion compared to XRP’s $51.1 billion. Solana only flipped Dogecoin for the #7 slot last week, and wasn’t even in the top 10 until last month. XRP is currently down more than 20% over the last 24 hours at a current price of $1.10.
NBA All Star Steph Curry Joins Crypto Exchange FTX as Global Ambassador
- Just this weekend, NBA All Star Steph Curry was asking for advice about how to get started in cryptocurrency.
- The Golden State Warriors point guard has signed a deal to be a “global ambassador” for FTX Trading Limited, which runs the FTX global crypto exchange and FTX US exchange.
El Salvador buys the dip as Bitcoin price flash crashes to $42.9K
- Volatility returned to the cryptocurrency market in a “buy the rumor, sell the fact” scenario for Bitcoin. El Salvador appears unfazed, as President Nayib Bukele bought the dip.
- Less than five minutes after the initial buy-the-dip tweet, Bukele said that the “discount is ending” for Bitcoin. He also thanked the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, for helping his country “save a million in printed paper” on his government’s Bitcoin purchase. For context, the IMF has come out against El Salvador’s Bitcoin foray. Its warnings about El Salvador’s initiative may have contributed to the recent bout of market volatility.
The Sandbox bought the Bored Ape #3749 “The Captain” for 740 ETH
