Weekly recap: Elon Musk no longer loves Bitcoin, Ethereum 2.0 faces difficulties

Crypto market in numbers

Amid bearish market sentiment, trading volumes continue to decline after hitting all-time highs in the previous month. According to CoinGecko, on 7th June, they dropped below $115 billion. Such low trading volumes have not been seen since the beginning of this year.

EXMO data does not prove this statement: a much stronger trading volume decline was observed in late March and early April. But in general, this year, traders remain significantly more active than in 2020. A similar trading volume situation has been reported by The Block.

Despite the continuous BTC fall, Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility index remains unchanged since 30th May – at around 6%. The Bitcoin dominance index does not change either and stands at 41%. In the meantime, ETH’s correlation with BTC has reached a 10-month high of 88%, according to skew.com.

The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index remains in the ‘Extreme Fear’ zone and shows higher levels of negative sentiment, having dropped from 27 points on 4th June to 13 points on 8th June.

Gainers of the week (3rd – 9th June 2021)

Losers of the week (3rd – 9th June 2021)

The most traded coins (3rd – 9th June 2021)

TOP crypto market driving factors

Bitcoin (BTC) and the overall crypto market

▲ 03.06.2021 – Chinese media: Crypto trading is not illegal – people have the freedom to participate in trading, at their own risks.

▲ 03.06.2021 – Bitcoin 2021, billed as the largest off-line crypto event over the past two years, has started in Miami.

▲ 04.06.2021 – Glassnode: More Bitcoin supply is moving from short-term traders to long-term investors.

▼ 04.06.2021 – Elon Musk tweeted a series of Bitcoin-related meme images about break-ups.

▼ 04.06.2021 – Biden Administration puts anti-corruption at the center of foreign policy with focus on crypto.

▲ 05.06.2021 – Santiment: Whales keep accumulating bitcoin amid its price fall.

▼ 06.06.2021 – British wealth management company, Ruffer Investments, has announced significant profits after it sold all its BTC acquired for $600 million back in November 2020.

▼ 07.06.2021 – Former US President Donald Trump says he doesn’t like bitcoin ‘because it’s another currency competing against the dollar.’

▲ 07.06.2021 – MicroStrategy to raise $400 million debt to buy more bitcoin.

▼ 07.06.2021 – The Block: The number of Bitcoin nodes fell to a 3-year low.

▼ 07.06.2021 – CoinShares: Investors withdrew $140 million from Bitcoin-based products between 28th May and 4th June. Trading volume in such instruments decreased by 62% in early June.

▼ 07.06.2021 – Glassnode: 22,550 BTC was withdrawn from exchanges on 7th June. This is the largest net churn in 24 hours starting from November 2020.

▲09.06.2021 – During a day, MicroStrategy received more than $1.6 billion worth of orders for its latest deal to purchase bitcoin.

▲ 09.06.2021 – It’s official: El Salvador has become the first country in the world to formally adopt bitcoin as legal tender.

Ethereum (ETH)

▲ 02.06.2021 – CoinShares: Amid a market fall, investor demand for investment products based on Ethereum continued to rise, totaling a record of $27 million.

▼ 02.06.2021 – Vitalik Buterin admits Ethereum 2.0 is delayed. He says, “We thought it would take one year to do the proof-of-stake, but it actually takes six years.”

▲ 04.06.2021 – One of the oldest US banks, BankProv, provides financing for ETH-backed loans.

▲ 06.06.2021 – Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch an Ethereum (ETH) node on the International Space Station (ISS).

▲ 07.06.2021 – IntoTheBlock: ETH balance on exchanges continues to plunge.

▲ 07.06.2021 – CoinShares lists physical Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin ETPs on Germany’s Börse Xetra exchange.

▲ 07.06.2021 – CoinShares: ETH inflows into investment products totaled $33 between 28th May – 4th June. Since the beginning of the year, Ethereum has seen record $1 billion inflows into investment products.

▲ 08.06.2021 – IntoTheBlock: Crypto exchanges keep seeing high ETH outflows. A total outflow of 528 000 ETH has been registered over the past week.

Cardano (ADA)

▲ 03.06.2021 – IOHK and Nervos partner to build the first cross-chain bridge to Cardano before the end of July 2021.

▲ 04.06.2021 – New data shows $43 billion ADA are being staked now, which is more than 70% of all ADA.

▲ 07.06.2021 – Cardano-based products saw total inflows of $4.5 million between 28th May – 4th June.

Dogecoin (DOGE)

▲ 02.06.2021 – Daymak to launch the world’s first electric car with crypto-mining capabilities by 2023.

▲ 03.06.2021 – Coinbase adds Dogecoin to its pro trading platform.

▲ 03.06.2021 – German taxi company, Tesla Taxi Aschaffenburg, announced that it now accepts payments for rides in Dogecoin, Bitcoin and Ethereum.

▲ 07.06.2021 – Cardano saw total inflows of $4.5 million into investment products between 28th May – 4th June.

Litecoin (LTC)

▲ 07.06.2021 – CoinShares lists physical Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin ETPs on Germany’s Börse Xetra exchange.

Polkadot (DOT)

▲ 02.06.2021 – Asia-based private venture capital firm, Master Ventures, launched a $30 million fund for crypto projects.

XRP (XRP)

▼ 02.06.2021 – The head of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, admitted the company’s abandonment of XRP and the option of creating an alternative product. However, the company is still intended to vigorously fight the SEC in court.

▼ 04.06.2021 – Last month Ripple’s first CTO, Jed McCaleb, sold over 453 million XRP tokens.

▲ 07.06.2021 – CoinShares: Inflows to XRP-based products totaled $7 million between 28th May – 4th June.

▲ 08.06.2021 – Ripple CTO, David Schwartz, proposed introducing federated sidechains for XRP Ledger smart contracts.

Crypto market trends

Bitcoin vs. Ethereum

? Bloomberg crypto outlook: Ethereum is on track to surpass Bitcoin’s market cap this year. According to Coin Metrics, this May, Ethereum has already overtaken Bitcoin in trading volumes.

? Co-founder of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey, believes that bitcoin will become the native currency for the internet, stating ‘the only reason Square got involved with bitcoin is to that end’.

According to Dorsey, Square is looking into building a hardware bitcoin wallet that would give consumers greater control over the cryptocurrency they own. He added that integration with the Cash App is ‘obvious’ but ‘only part of the solution’.

Mining

? Blockchain technology company, Blockstream Mining, announced that Jack Dorsey’s Square will invest $5 million to build an open-source, solar-powered bitcoin mining facility at one of Blockstream’s U.S. sites.

? The9 Limited, a China-based Internet company, signs an agreement to acquire Montcrypto, a clean energy cryptocurrency mining firm.

? Gryphon Digital Mining, a privately held company focused on mining bitcoin, using 100% renewable energy, is going public on Nasdaq.

? Norton 360 antivirus now allows users to mine Ethereum on laptops or computers.

Regulation

? Developing countries continue to further adopt cryptocurrencies at the state level. El Salvador has become the first country in the world to officially classify bitcoin as legal currency. The Paraguayan government plans to work on a project involving bitcoin and PayPal. Eduardo Murat Hinojosa, a member of the Mexican legislature, will propose a legal framework for crypto assets in the House of Representatives.

? The United States continues to take cryptocurrency regulation to the international level. President Joe Biden is placing global anti-corruption efforts at the center of U.S. foreign policy. The first National Security Study Memorandum of Biden’s presidency instructs agencies to prioritise efforts to identify and tackle corruption worldwide.

White House National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, said he hoped the G7 nations would come up with an ‘action plan’ to increase their collective defenses against ransomware attacks and deal with the challenges posed by cryptocurrency.

? South Korea’s National Tax Service announced that Korean residents with accounts in foreign crypto exchanges may have to report their holdings for tax purposes starting 2022. A week earlier, the United States announced plans to expand the requirements for foreign cryptocurrency exchanges and brokers.

? China has stepped up its crackdown on bitcoin trading and mining, blocking a slew of cryptocurrency-related accounts on the Twitter-like, Weibo platform. The official Xinhua news agency has published articles exposing a series of crypto-related scams. State broadcaster CCTV has said cryptocurrency is a lightly regulated asset often used in black market trade, money laundering, arms smuggling, gambling and drug dealing.

Financial regulators in China’s southern Hainan province have cautioned investors against illegal fundraising schemes involving cryptocurrency and blockchain.

? Irish Member of the European Parliament, Chris McManus, proposed 45 amendments to European legislation aimed at tightening regulation of cryptocurrencies in the EU. For instance, he proposed that all digital asset issuers operating in Europe should obtain a license from the appropriate central bank or other regulatory bodies.

CBDC vs. Stablecoins

? Stablecoins continue to attract much regulatory attention. The Bank of England stated that stablecoins will require greater regulation, in case their popularity continues to increase and have the ability to impact financial stability. While the UK’s central bank and government are highly interested in CBDC, they have not yet made a decision on whether to introduce a CBDC in the UK.

? Following a meeting in London, G7 central bankers and finance ministers reiterated that no global stablecoin should begin operation unless it is properly regulated and stated they are working on common CBDC principles.

? In its annual review of the international role of the Euro, the European Central Bank notes that attention should be paid to the financial stability risks that might arise if large tech companies launch their own digital currencies and a central bank does not offer a CBDC.

Acceptance of cryptocurrencies

? The growing crypto popularity encourages companies to integrate crypto technologies into their products. According to media reports, OnePlus may be working on introducing its cryptocurrency wallet.

? Daymak, a Canadian Tesla competitor, will add crypto mining capability to its new Spiritus electric vehicle. Daymak is also accepting Spiritus pre-order payments in various cryptocurrencies.

? Google has reversed its ban on crypto wallet and exchange advertisements in the United States. However, advertisers must now meet specified requirements and be certified by Google.

? Following Apple, Amazon seeks a head of product on the Amazon Managed Blockchain team, who is ‘passionate about blockchain and decentralized networks’ and can build innovative ‘business use cases’ across decentralised finance.

? Gaming giant, Razer, offered the possibility of accepting cryptocurrencies payments. The upcoming Grand Theft Auto release (GTA 6) is rumored to reward players with in-game bitcoins after completing some missions successfully. Developers also plan to add a broker for different cryptocurrencies. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players can already use Bitcoin for esports betting as well as win bitcoins and withdraw them.

EXMO news

EXM Coin price increased by 50% to 10 cents per coin on the night of 6th June. At the beginning of the week, the price stabilised at 8 cents with a correction to 7 cents on 8th June.

That’s all for this week! Follow EXMO on YouTube, Twitter, and Telegram to stay tuned to the main events and trends in the crypto market.