Crypto Weekly: 27 February – 5 March 2023
Ethereum is set to test its Shanghai-Capella upgrade on 28 February with the primary goal of enabling node validator to withdraw ETH staked as stETH from the Beacon Chain layer to the execution layer.
Lido Finance reports the largest ever daily stake inflow ever, with more than 150,000 ETH (almost $240 million in value) staked. According to the announcement, this week also represents the highest week by staked amount in almost a year since last. Since the beginning of February, Lido Finance has been preparing for its V2 update, which will allow Lido users to unstake their stETH and receive ETH at a 1:1 ratio for ETH.
According to the on-chain data from Dune Analytics, daily transactions on Layer 2 scaling solution Arbiturm reached 1.4 million on 21 February, surpassing the Ethereum mainnet, which recorded 1.05 million. Since the beginning of the year, daily transactions on the popular Layer-2 blockchain have been on an uptrend surging by over 273% in less than two months.
Crypto exchange Coinbase announced the launch of Base — its own Ethereum Layer-2 network. Coinbase claims its new network will offer a low-cost, secure, developer-friendly environment for building decentralized apps (DApps) on the blockchain. Base is designed to be a bridge for users into the crypto economy, offering access to other L1 ecosystems like Solana and making it interoperable with other chains. Base will be built on the “OP Stack” used by Optimism.
A new report from DappRadar revealed that during the first month of 2023, blockchain gaming made up 48% of all DApp activity. January also saw the market caps for top gaming tokens increase by 122% on average, with Gala (GALA), the digital utility token of the Gala Games ecosystem, surging by 218%.
A report from Blockdata highlights consecutive quarterly drops in funding through 2022, following booming VCVC funding into the wider Web3 space through 2021. According to the data, there was a 34% decline in VCVC funding value from Q3 2022 to Q4 2022, with the last quarter of the year also down drastically compared with Q1 and Q2, dropping by 67% and 53%, respectively. Blockdata suggested several factors for declining crypto and blockchain-related VCVC funding last year, with the fallout from the LUNA and FTX collapse being the leading contributors in shaken investor confidence.
Mastercard announced its partnership with Immersve to allow users in Australia and New Zealand to make USDC payments from their existing Web3 wallets to make direct payments, which will get converted to fiat and be used to settle transactions on Mastercard’s network in real-time.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is set to introduce a rule that will allow retail traders to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum after years of regulatory restrictions. Additionally, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission recently outlined a new crypto license regime that will allow centralized exchanges to operate in the region. Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a cryptocurrency hub is reportedly seeing subtle support from the Chinese government, in what could be seen as a contrast to the mainland’s hard-line anti-crypto stance.
Music streaming giant Spotify is testing a new service called “token-enabled playlists,” which allows holders of NFTs to connect their wallets and listen to curated music. NFT holders can connect to their MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Rainbow, Ledger Live or Zerion wallets to their Spotify account as part of the pilot program. Currently, the service is available to Android users in the USUS, U.K., Germany, Australia, and New Zealand.
Weekly Technical Analysis: 27 February – 5 March 2023
Bitcoin (BTC)
BTC has been unable to break through its $25,000 resistance, causing a correction coming into this week. Keep a careful eye on whether BTC’s critical support at the $21,500 level can remain intact. A broken support could ruin hopes of a BTC recovery. This week look for BTC to tend sideways as it attempts to accumulate enough momentum to break through its resistance.
Ethereum (ETH)
Coming into this week, ETH has failed to break through the $1,800 mark, and traders will have to keep an eye on if its support at $1,500 can remain intact this week. If support holds strong, ETH has the opportunity to recover and hopefully challenge its $2,000 resistance level; however, its upcoming Shanghai-Capella upgrade could cause prices to fluctuate.
Velo (VELO)
VELO is up by +107.3% over the past week and has managed to maintain its recovery. Traders will likely look to buy when prices dip. Support and resistance for VELO are set at 0.30 baht and 0.65 baht, respectively. If VELO can successfully challenge its uptrend, look for it to embark on an uptrend moving forward.
Yearn.finance (YFI)
YFI is up by +31.2% over the past week and is showing signs of a long-term bullish reversal. Support is set at 30,000 baht, which will likely be an entry point for many traders looking to buy YFI this week. If support remains intact, look for YFI to test its resistance level at 38,000 baht.
Trading and Investment Considerations For The Week
US PMI and PCE figures released last week were more positive than expected, causing the US dollar to strengthen in response. The rising USD has negatively affected various assets in different markets, including Bitcoin, which has seen a correction coming into this week. Despite the drop, Bitcoin’s price managed to remain above its critical support level at $21,500 and overall has performed better than gold and the US stock market in this period. This indicates that there is still substantial buying pressure for Bitcoin.
This week US Jobless Claims numbers will be released on Thursday, 2 March. The common expectation is that figures will come out around the 197,000 mark compared to last month’s 192,000 figure.
If the Jobless Claims numbers are higher than expected, this could benefit the crypto market, as it would signal slowing economic growth and could cause the FED to slow down its interest rate hikes. In contrast, lower-than-expected numbers would potentially give the FED the justification they need to continue enacting its hawkish monetary policy.
Liquid staking protocol altcoins like LDO have performed well since the start of this year. Interest in Ethereum staking and demand for liquid ETH staking protocols seems to be high, particularly with the impending completion of the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade.
Additionally, Layer-2 protocols and tokens will likely also benefit from continued Ethereum upgrades, with reduced fees likely incentivizing both developers to build further Web3 use cases as well as users to adopt.
Disclaimer:
-Cryptocurrency and Digital tokens are highly risky; investors may lose all investment money. Investors should study information carefully and make investments according to own risk profile.
– Past Returns/Past Performance does not guarantee future returns/performance.
*Materials on Bitazza Weekly Newsletter are intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. The views, information, or opinions expressed are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Bitazza and its employees. The information contained herein is not intended to be a source of advice or financial analysis with respect to the material presented, and the information and/or documents contained in this website do not constitute investment advice.
Sources:
https://u.today/optimism-op-jumps-11-with-new-upgrade-in-sight-heres-what-to-expect
https://cointelegraph.com/news/dbs-bank-to-offer-cryptocurrency-trading-in-hong-kong
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ebay-nft-platform-knownorigin-launches-creator-smart-contract
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