Crypto Today: Ethereum outperforms Bitcoin and XRP as BlackRock files to reduce Bitcoin ETF withdrawal time
Fxstreet
Sep 23, 2024 5:21 PM
- Bitcoin's price corrected toward $63,000, Ethereum targets $2,817 resistance, XRP needs investors to stage buying momentum.
- The crypto market is set for over $600 million worth of token unlocks within the next two weeks.
- BlackRock filed an amendment to reduce withdrawal time for its spot Bitcoin ETF.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP updates
- Bitcoin (BTC) traded above $64,500 on Monday for the first time in nearly a month before seeing a slight correction. The largest asset by market capitalization trades just above $63,000 at the time of writing. Bitcoin could extend its gains to $65,378 if it sustains its move above the $62,000 psychological level.
- Ethereum (ETH) has continued to outperform Bitcoin since the Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to cut rates. The top altcoin broke a key rectangle's resistance at $2,595 and is trading around $2,650, up 3.5% on the day. As a result, $2,595 now serves as support, and ETH could rally to $2,817 if the new support level is maintained.
- Ripple's XRP trades around $0.588 at press time after failing to sustain a move above the $0.60 psychological level over the weekend. XRP may retest its daily resistance at $0.626 if investors restage their buying momentum.
ETH/BTC/XRP/USDT 1-hour chart
Market updates
The crypto market will witness over $600 million in token unlocks from several top projects within the next two weeks, per token analytics platform Token Unlocks data.
Token unlocks can lead to price declines in cryptocurrencies if demand fails to catch up with the new supply.
The unlock value for this week is roughly ~$48 million, led by VENOM, Yield Guild Games (YGG) and tokens from the recently formed Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI) — Fetch.ai (FET) and SingularityNet (AGIX). Next week's unlocks are heavier, with SUI, Solana (SOL), Worldcoin (WLD), Immutable X (IMX) and Zetachain (ZETA) expecting a supply increase worth about $568 million.
In other news, DefiLlama founder @Oxngmi said in an X post on Monday that Coinbase's recently launched wrapped Bitcoin token cbBTC is "way below standard in terms of transparency." He explained that DefiLlama hasn't listed cbBTC because Coinbase has failed to provide users a Proof-of-Reserve (PoR) to check if the issued tokens are backed.
this tbh, almost every single bridge (including WBTC) provides a Proof of Reserves so you can check that the issued coins are backed
— 0xngmi (@0xngmi) September 23, 2024
But Coinbase doesn't, cbBTC is way below the standard in terms of transparency https://t.co/JhnXeZkgor
Meanwhile, BlackRock filed an amendment with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to adjust withdrawal times for its spot Bitcoin ETF. The amended filing required its custodian, Coinbase, to process BTC withdrawals to a public blockchain address within 12 hours of request. This follows the SEC's approval for Nasdaq to list options on BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF.
Additionally, crypto ETFs saw a combined net flow of $321 million last week, with Bitcoin ETFs recording $284 million in net inflows.
Category of the day: Artificial Intelligence tokens
Artificial Intelligence tokens: Coingecko
Bitcoin, altcoins, stablecoins FAQs
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, a virtual currency designed to serve as money. This form of payment cannot be controlled by any one person, group, or entity, which eliminates the need for third-party participation during financial transactions.
Altcoins are any cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin, but some also regard Ethereum as a non-altcoin because it is from these two cryptocurrencies that forking happens. If this is true, then Litecoin is the first altcoin, forked from the Bitcoin protocol and, therefore, an “improved” version of it.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable price, with their value backed by a reserve of the asset it represents. To achieve this, the value of any one stablecoin is pegged to a commodity or financial instrument, such as the US Dollar (USD), with its supply regulated by an algorithm or demand. The main goal of stablecoins is to provide an on/off-ramp for investors willing to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins also allow investors to store value since cryptocurrencies, in general, are subject to volatility.
Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined. It provides a clear picture of Bitcoin’s interest among investors. A high BTC dominance typically happens before and during a bull run, in which investors resort to investing in relatively stable and high market capitalization cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. A drop in BTC dominance usually means that investors are moving their capital and/or profits to altcoins in a quest for higher returns, which usually triggers an explosion of altcoin rallies.