Market Highlights
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced another rollercoaster week after a large dip in price on Monday, following a sell-off from digital asset fund manager Grayscale. This was likely driven by investors in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which recently converted to a Bitcoin ETF following SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) approval, exiting their positions in droves.
However, as Grayscale’s selling pressure eased off towards the end of the week, BTC’s price began to rebound, leading to a full recovery. BTC closed the week at US$43,196, up 8.5% over the last seven days.
Ethereum
While BTC was able to recoup its losses from earlier in the week, the broader crypto market had taken a hit. Ethereum (ETH) was particularly affected, falling to a low of $US2,168. The drop in price was further perpetuated by the SEC’s decision to to delay BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF application, as per its filing submitted on Wednesday.
ETH slowly recovered over the weekend however still closed the week down 0.8%, at $US2,305.
Altcoins
In contrast to last week, market sectors rebounded aggressively with Smart Contract Platforms increasing by 10.7% over the last seven days. This was followed closely by Web3 and DeFi which added on 8.9% and 5.1%, respectively.
Altcoin performance was dominated by Smart Contract Platforms this week, making up four of the six top performers. Sui (SUI) and Conflux (CFX) were up 53.3% and 32.4%, respectively while Avalanche (AVAX) and Solana (SOL) rallied 21.0% and 21.9%, respectively. Sui’s rise in price likely comes from its recent integration with leading payments infrastructure provider, Banxa, while Avalanche’s surge can be attributed to its recently announced scaling solution, Vryx.
Internet-of-Things (IoT) based solutions, Helium (HNT) and IOTA (IOTA) also rallied 34.1% and 19.1%, respectively. Helium’s jump in price most likely stems from a recent partnership with Mexican telecom service provider, Telefonica which will rollout hotspots throughout Mexico.
In Other News
- On Thursday, blockchain developers introduced a novel platform with the aim of propelling Bitcoin into the contemporary realm of DeFi—an industry that the original crypto network has predominantly stayed distant from.
This fresh platform, named BitcoinOS, is positioned as a "public good" that employs "sovryn rollups" to establish a foundational layer for decentralised applications on the Bitcoin network. According to its founders, any developer can contribute to BitcoinOS and construct new tools using their preferred programming language.
- The United States has disclosed intentions to auction approximately US$117 million in Bitcoin (BTC) seized from a convicted drug trafficker, Ryan Farace, who conducted operations on the now-closed Silk Road dark web marketplace. A forfeiture notice from earlier this month is now available online, with the government noting that it plans to "dispose" of the cryptocurrency.
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