Bitazza Crypto Weekly: The World’s Tech Firms to Continue Focus on Web3 in 2023 -

Crypto Weekly: 8 – 14 January 2023

Shopify expanded its NFT integration on Thursday, allowing millions of merchants to begin designing, minting and selling Avalanche-based NFTs. The new integration streamlines the NFT process for buyers and sellers to facilitate NFT trading with minimal technical knowledge, according to Shopify. The e-commerce giant launched its first NFT integration in July 2021, allowing merchants to sell NFTs directly from their stores instead of through third-party marketplaces.

Mastercard and Polygon are partnering and have announced a Web3 spotlight program dubbed “The Mastercard Artist Accelerator” to develop, empower, and connect musical artists with mentors and fans by leveraging the connectivity and building their community/brand in the emerging Web3 and NFT space.

Japan-based gaming giant Square Enix has reaffirmed their commitment to developing blockchain games despite the crypto bear market. Square Enix is allegedly developing multiple blockchain games based on original IPs and plans to announce other games throughout 2023.

Ethereum developers plan to release a public test network for the Shanghai upgrade, which will include code allowing withdrawals of Ether staked in the Beacon Chain since December 2020 by the end of February. The developers specifically noted that this upgrade would focus exclusively on ETH withdrawals, scraping plans to incorporate other EIPs in order to ensure an on-schedule deployment of the Shanghai hard fork.

According to data analytics, the Ethereum chain saw a 338% increase in total transaction volume in 2022, totaling $408.5 million and allowing the Smart Contract platform leader to surpass Bitcoin’s $93.1 million volume in total transactions. However, while Ethereum may be ahead in terms of transactions and activity, Bitcoin remains the most-searched cryptocurrency online.

Data from Dune Analytics revealed that the Ethereum-based distributed domain name service registered more than 2.82 million names as of January 2nd, 2023. September 2022 saw the most ENS registrations, with more than 430,000 unique domains registered.

Lido Finance has overtaken MakerDAO as the DeFi protocol with the highest TVL. According to data from DefiLlama, Lido’s liquid staking protocol now commands $5.9 billion in TVL, overtaking MakerDAO’s $5.89 billion and AAVE’s $3.7 billion.

According to a new CoinShares report, institutional crypto investment dropped 95% to $433 million in 2022, representing the lowest point since 2018. However, the weekly outflow of capital in 2022 was still lower than in 2018.

Weekly Technical Analysis: 8 – 14 January 2023

Bitcoin (BTC)

BTC has been trending sideways since the start of 2023. Keep an eye on if prices break through either support at its previous low of $15,500 or resistance at $17,500 during this period of stagnation. In comparison, BTC has underperformed compared to select altcoins.

Ethereum (ETH)

ETH is showing signs of a potential short-term uptrend as it creates new highs while creating higher lows. If ETH prices can remain above $1,200 level, ETH will look to test its first resistance at the $1,500 level. A Buy on Dip approach may prove to be popular for ETH traders this week.

Gala (GALA)

GALA is up by +99.9% over the past week, thanks to a major two-day surge. Keep an eye on the 1 baht support level; if support can remain intact, GALA may have enough momentum to fuel an upwards recovery. GALA will be looking to break through resistance at 1.60 baht.

Lido Finance (LDO)

LDO is up by +78.3% over the past week due to news that the liquid staking protocol has become the number one DeFi protocol in terms of TVL. However, considering the drastic price increase, traders are advised to exercise high caution. Short-term support and resistance are set at 52 baht and 80 baht, respectively.

Trading and Investment Considerations For The Week

This week, the FED chair will speak, which could provide some insight into the direction of monetary policy this year. Additionally, December’s CPI figures will be released this coming Thursday; if inflation falls from November’s figure of 7.1% to 6.5%, as many are expecting, the markets may see an uptick.

The Bitcoin Dominance Index continues to fall as various altcoins prove to be more profitable for speculative traders as larger-cap coins like BTC and ETH remain erratic. Despite the positive performances of some altcoins, the overall trend of the market is still bearish. Traders are advised to exercise high caution and to perhaps consider focusing on short-term trades until technical indicators suggest a reversal for the market.

Many investors are keeping a close watch on whether a potential “January Effect” could trigger a temporary rally for the US stock market that could benefit Bitcoin prices. Regardless, later this month, earning reports are set to be released, which could affect the crypto market, particularly when it comes to companies directly or indirectly associated with the crypto market or projects such as Tesla or MicroStrategy.

We may potentially see a short-term rally soon; however, longer-term stability seems unlikely until additional factors are apparent that could galvanize the market. Therefore, traders should perhaps focus on identifying shorter-term trading strategies and trends and avoid chasing the market.

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://cointelegraph.com/news/brazil-passes-law-to-legalize-crypto-as-a-payment-method

https://cointelegraph.com/news/russias-sber-bank-integrates-metamask-into-its-blockchain-platform

https://cryptopotato.com/animoca-brands-unveils-2b-metaverse-fund/

https://cryptopotato.com/lines-crypto-exchange-bitfront-to-shut-down-amid-bear-market

https://finbold.com/telegram-set-to-build-crypto-exchange-in-response-to-ftx-collapse/

https://www.theblock.co/post/191352/decentralized-crypto-exchange-volumes-nearly-double-in-november-amid-ftx-debacle

https://cointelegraph.com/news/uniswap-launches-nft-marketplace-aggregator

https://www.theblock.co/post/190900/opensea-nft-creators-earned-1-billion-royalties

https://cointelegraph.com/news/opera-crypto-browser-to-enable-instant-nft-minting-through-launchpad

https://cointelegraph.com/news/avalanche-to-power-alibaba-cloud-s-infrastructure-services-in-asia

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