A Dogecoin-sponsored car crashed into a wall at a NASCAR race on June 19, coinciding with a crash in the price of Dogecoin.
During a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Nashville, US, the Dogecoin-sponsored Chevrolet Camaro collided with a wall, narrowly avoiding taking out another car in the process. The so-called “Dogecar” finished the race in last place.
But despite crashing out of the race, the Dogecar became a hot topic on Twitter, reaching #26 most trending worldwide. As one hopeful Reddit user noted, any publicity is good publicity. Then again, tell that to Iron Finance.
The price of Dogecoin dropped to 26 US cents, its lowest in over a month. Source: TradingView
Around the same time as the car crash, the price of Dogecoin fell to 26 US cents, the lowest since May 19. It is unlikely there is much of a correlation between the two events, given that most of the market is in the red at the moment.
Dogecar Driver Remains Upbeat
The driver of the DogeCar, Stefan Parsons, waxed positive about the whole experience:
Thanks to everyone for the support this weekend. Weâll take the positives away and learn from it. Been a rough couple weeks but we will build on it and be better for next time! Proud of the whole @TeamBJMcLeod crew for the effort we showed this weekend.
Stefan Parsons
Dogecoin Price Has Been Diving for Months
The Dogecoin Army have long called for the cryptocurrency to hit US$1 which, until recently, seemed utterly impossible. But Dogecoin skyrocketed over 20,000% this year alone to an all-time high of 74 US cents on May 8. Since then, however, it has been travelling steadily south. Some analysts and traders consider Elon Musk going on Saturday Night Live to promote Dogecoin to be a blatant “top signal” not only for Dogecoin, but the entire crypto market.
Richest man in the world went on television to do a skit about dog coin
Letâs take a closer look at this weekâs altcoins showing breakout signals. Weâll dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you.
1. Elrond (EGLD)
Elrond is a blockchain protocol that seeks to offer extremely fast transaction speeds by using sharding. The project describes itself as a technology ecosystem for the new internet, which includes fintech, decentralised finance and the Internet of Things. Its smart contracts execution platform is reportedly capable of 15,000 transactions per second, six-second latency and a $0.001 transaction cost.
EGLD Price Analysis
At the time of writing, EGLD is ranked the 63rd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is A$94. Letâs take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
EGLD‘s stunning – nearly 4,000% – climb since Q4 2020 has since retraced 73%, finding some support near A$87.05.
Retracements toward the monthly open, possibly running stops near $141.15 and $147.60, are likely to be capped between $145.25 and $153.64. A break through this level may find another area of resistance near the gap and old swing lows near $161.62 – possibly spiking up to $177.82.
The price appears to be struggling to maintain support between $113.23 and $98.69, making the swing lows near $100.85, $87.05, and $76.99 likely shorter-term targets.
A run on these lows could find another area of support near $73.95. If this area fails to hold, a drop to the lower end of the monthly gap around $39.54 may be on the cards, with $34.02 offering some hope of support.
2. Mina Protocol (MINA)
Mina Protocol is a minimal âsuccinct blockchainâ built to curtail computational requirements in order to run DApps more efficiently. Mina has been described as the worldâs lightest blockchain, since its size is designed to remain constant despite growth in usage. Furthermore, it remains balanced in terms of security and decentralisation. Mina is working on achieving an efficient distributed payment system that enables users to natively verify the platform right from the genesis block. Its technical whitepaper calls this a âsuccinct blockchainâ.
Mina Price Analysis
At the time of writing, MINA is ranked the 233rd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is A$2.08. Letâs take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
MINA has continued its steady downtrend. Meanwhile, the chart offers bulls no strong support for long entries.
The recent low at A$2.39 is likely to be swept – a region that offers a glimmer of hope for support based on some methods of measuring moves. However, bulls are likely to wait for more signs of support and a market structure shift before entering long positions.
Resistance rests just overhead between $2.77 and $3.26. The gap at $3.04 offers a high probability target for any potential downtrend retracements.
A more substantial bullish shift in the markets could help the price run the stops near $4.11 into resistance, beginning near $4.19. Any move upward is likely to find a cap near $5.51, although the current chart offers no hints that a movement this large should occur anytime soon.
3. Orion Protocol (ORN)
Orion aims to solve the difficulties in performing profitable transactions associated with the lack of liquidity on the majority of crypto exchanges. This is the case for both centralised and decentralised exchanges. Orionâs solution to this is to aggregate exchangesâ order books into one simple-to-use-and-understand terminal.
The Orion Protocolâs goal is to help users get the best returns out of their investments while also lowering the risks associated with using multiple exchanges.
ORN Price Analysis
At the time of writing, ORN is ranked the 236th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is A$8.54. Letâs take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
After an 83% retracement from its March highs, ORN found a temporary low near A$6.53. A recent move above $12.61 could be the first sign of a bullish shift – but could also signal a stop run before the next drop lower.
If the market adopts a more bullish tone, the price could run through the most recent swing high. If this bounce occurs, it would likely find some resistance near $13.85, possibly reaching up to $16.51.
However, a move below the closest support near $6.558 makes stop runs on the swing lows near $7.63 and $6.53 likely. A confluence of several levels near $5.71 could provide a temporary bounce. Still, a sustained bearish market will likely target $5.18 and even $2.39.
Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?
These three Altcoins have the high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on USDT or BTC pairs. And if youâre looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.
Mining rigs of a super computer are pictured inside the bitcoin factory 'Genesis Farming' near Reykjavik, on March 16, 2018. - At the heart of Iceland's breathtaking lava fields stands one of the world's largest bitcoin factories at a secret location rich in renewable energy which runs the computers creating the virtual currency. (Photo by Halldor KOLBEINS / AFP)
Nvidia graphic card prices in China have fallen as much as two-thirds on Chinese e-commerce websites following the government’s crackdown on cryptocurrency mining.
As per a June 21 report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), medium to advanced card prices fell on various e-commerce websites after Sichuan officials ordered the shutdown of several crypto mining facilities. The Nvidia Quadro P1000 model, an entry-level graphics card, was priced at 2,429 yuan (US$376) on JD.com, a popular online retailer in China.
The Asus RTX3060, which is a more advanced card, dropped from 13,499 yuan to 4,699 on June 21 on JD.com-operated online retailer site Tmall.
Mining Companies Pushed Overseas
Some miners plan to relocate from Guangzhou to US state Maryland, moving three tonnes of Bitcoin mining machines, according to a tweet from CNBC representative Eunice Yoon.
#China logistics firm in Guangzhou confirms to @CNBC itâs airlifting 3,000kg (6,600lbs) #bitcoin mining machines to Maryland, USA. Fenghua International advertises products delivered to door, tax on both ends cleared. Price per kilo: as low as $9.37! #cryptocurrenciespic.twitter.com/8yUjZjhpkk
Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Sichuan were the three biggest provinces for crypto miners thanks to cheap electricity. But these areas have become hostile environments despite miners using hydroelectric energy instead of coal. This has pushed BTC mining companies overseas, some now looking at North America, Central Asia or South America.
One of the most attractive alternatives for miners is South America, which is becoming a mining hub as more countries follow El Salvadorâs decision to make Bitcoin legal tender and facilitate BTC mining with wasted geothermal energy.
A DeFi token called TITAN has dropped to almost zero in price after suffering a bank run this week, plunging from US$65 to 0.00000003. Mark Cuban, who was staking liquidity for the token, is now asking for stablecoin regulation after losing a “small percentage” of his portfolio in the crash.
The TITAN token is part of a Stablecoin project called Iron Finance. According to the post-mortem released by the protocol, around 10am UTC on June 16, large holders began to sell, which triggered other holders to follow suit.
Price went from US$65 to almost zero following panic sell-offs. Source: Slingshot Finance
What we just experienced is the worst thing that could happen to the protocol, a historical bank run in the modern high-tech crypto space.
Iron Finance report
Cuban Calls for DeFi Regulation
Following the bank run, Cuban told Bloomberg there should be rules to determine what is a stablecoin and what level of collateralisation is acceptable. He added that part of his loss was his fault:
It is no different from the risk I take in angel investing […] The thing about DeFi is that it is all about revenue and math, and I was too lazy to do the math to determine what the key metrics were.
Mark Cuban
DeFi a Dangerous Space for Newcomers
It’s highly unlikely that regulations in the DeFi space occur as it would totally flip the idea of decentralised. However, it is a dangerous space for newcomers, especially those with a lot of capital to invest.
Many traders have lost substantial amounts of money due to mistakes such as sending funds to the incorrect address, like the DeFi trader who lost US$188,000, or being a victim of a rug pull or a hack, which have become increasingly common in the space.
One of the latest protocols to be hacked was DeFi100, which lost US$32 million in an alleged hack. However, rumours circulate that the project rug-pulled its investors.
With a Total Value Locked of over US$60 billion, more and more investors are exploring the DeFi world to take a chunk out of the high returns. However, new traders should educate themselves first and consider the risks of investing in DeFi.
Glassnode on-chain analysis is showing a possible reverse in exchange flows, indicating investors are looking to hold again.
Crypto Supply is Moving Back to Wallets
According to analysis done by Glassnode, there has been a reduction in supply held in exchange wallets. This means there are more cryptos being taken out of exchanges in the past month than being put in to trade with.
The analysis looks at the supply in all major exchange wallets, including Binance, Coinbase and Huobi, among others. The red bars indicate supply leaving exchange wallets, and green bars show supply moving into exchange wallets.
To some, this is an indication that investors are reverting to HODL mode by putting their digital assets back into their wallets. On June 18, the outflow increased to nearly six times the previous measurement.
Glassnode also recently released an article explaining why the bull run is far from over, based on patterns of accumulation and distribution.
Exchanges Have Been Booming
During the past two months, the amount of cryptos held in exchange wallets have been at a one-year-high. This could have been due to high volatility created by the media at large, as well as regulatory scrutiny that has made holders nervous and ready to sell. This is also why web traffic on crypto exchanges has been off the charts.
The crypto market attracts new investors eager to make money out of volatile assets. However, it’s important to remember which factors can affect the price of Bitcoin and, by extension, the rest of the market.
Tech entrepreneur Alex Mashinsky (CEO of fintech platform Celsius Network) is confident that Bitcoin will resume tracking upwards, continuing its bullish macro trend.
Not even Elon Musk can stop Bitcoin’s dominance; as Musk’s credibility and influence are finally wearing thin on the crypto community, those who understand Bitcoin better – like Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky – have chipped in with their two Satoshis’ worth.
BTC to Push Upwards of $100,000 by End of Year
Just weeks ago euphoria in the market was at an all-time high, though Mashinsky correctly predicted that Bitcoin could see a harsh correction in the US$30K range. Many did not want to believe it or hear about it but, as we now know, it did happen. Although this near 50% drop was the most severe Bitcoin has sustained so far, overall the projection for its end-of-year price targets remains optimistic.
Mashinsky interviewed by Michelle Makori, editor-in-chief of Kitco News, June 14
Donning a HODL T-Shirt for a recent interview on Kitco News, Mashinsky explained – now all the highly leveraged traders have been flushed out, Bitcoin’s price has settled and found key resistance levels. HODLers unite!
We’ve flushed all the leverage in the system and found support at $30k and now we’re rebuilding upwards in price acceleration.
Alex Mashinsky
Mashinsky Dubs Musk a “Tourist”
Other “A+ ambassadors” for Bitcoin include the likes of Michael Saylor and Jack Dorsey (both of whom attended the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami earlier in June). Sadly for Elon, he isn’t in that club. Mashinsky playfully called him a “tourist”, inferring that Musk is dabbling in crypto for the wrong reasons (ie, to further his own interests, not to help others).
Forty percent of all the US dollars created were minted in the last 12 months.
Alex Mashinsky
Inflation on the Rise
The US and other countries have recently printed excessive amounts of paper money, giving serious concerns over growing inflation rates and what all this really means. A $1 million Bitcoin may not actually be that far off, now that institutions and entire countries are coming on board the crypto train. With El Salvador, Nigeria (and more to follow) adopting Bitcoin as legal currency, the global financial system is at the mercy of Bitcoin.
Today we have approximately 100 million participants in the Bitcoin system worldwide.
Goldman Sachs investors donât seem to agree on whether Bitcoin (BTC) is an investable asset or not.
The multinational investment bank issued a report on June 15 called âDigital Assets: Beauty Is Not in the Eye of the Beholderâ – concluding that Bitcoin is no longer an investable asset.
The Goldman Sachs Investment Strategy Group should sign off its research pieces on crypto with "Have Fun Staying Poor". pic.twitter.com/TiedRBxWhI
This new report was issued by the bankâs Investment Strategy Group and contradicts its plans to launch crypto investment services in Q2 for its wealthiest clients. As reported, Goldman Sachs began trading Bitcoin futures on June 18 in a partnership with Galaxy Digital.
Further, the report concludes that Bitcoin itself is not digital gold, as gold is not a âreliable store of valueâ:
The argument that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are a digital version of gold does not confer any value to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, because gold itself is not a consistent or reliable store of value.
Crypto May Not Be As Viable an Investment as Many Thought
This also contradicts Goldman Sachs’ May 21 report called âCrypto, a New Assets Class?â where several experts in the crypto field, such as Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz, were gathered to analyse the current market, outlining a positive future for cryptocurrencies and stating that they were a new alternative investment.
The report suggested that despite many advances in blockchain technology, this would become obsolete with time and many enterprises would turn away from it. It concluded by saying cryptocurrencies are not a “viable investment” for their clients:
After analysing various valuation methodologies and our multi-factor strategy asset allocation model, we have concluded that cryptocurrencies are not a viable investment for our clients.
Love it or hate it, Bitcoin just won’t turn up its toes. Despite being known for its high volatility, the asset hailed as ‘Gold 2.0’ has proven itself time and time again to be one of the best-performing assets, ever.
In spite of neverending FUD from high-profile haters and respected mainstream publications alike who declare Bitcoin dead, it continues to rise in value as its adoption by major Wall Street institutions grows.
When in Doubt, Just Zoom Out
The ‘Bitcoin Is Dead’ graph shows a history timeline, pulling from a database of news stories relating to Bitcoin scepticism, #RIPBTC.
I created âBitcoin Is Deadâ in hopes of playing a [tiny] role in telling its eventual story by tracking its most notable sceptics and documenting important pieces of its history. (Also I think freezing cold takes are pretty funny.)
If you want to have some fun, head over to bitcoinisdead.lol to play the very fun game of ‘Who Else Fcuked Up?’
Rumours of Bitcoin’s ‘Death’ Were Exaggerated
Bitcoin’s “death” can be tracked at Bitcoin Obituaries, a website that collates data from news articles and blogs. The highest number of “deaths” per single year (124) was recorded in 2017, when its market cap hit $100 billion for the first time.
From haters to lovers, major players in the financial industry – including Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Visa and PayPal – are guilty of condemning Bitcoin very publicly; now they all rally to support it. Maybe it’s FOMO (fear of missing out), or maybe it’s just smart. Big money is now doing backflips to get in on what’s becoming painfully obvious over time: Bitcoin is here to stay. Get in or stay out.
Over the past decade, Bitcoin has evolved from obscure digital collectible held by cypherpunks to globally recognised institutional asset being adopted by countries such as El Salvador as a currency. Over the past decade, its value has skyrocketed and, with a compound annual rate of return of over 200%, it has outperformed all other asset classes by a factor of at least 10.
In a tweet by an avid Bitcoin supporter, outlines Bitcoin’s adoption so far.
2014 – The biggest exchange at the time, Mount Gox, is hacked with 840,000 Bitcoins stolen, valued at roughly US$460 million.
2017 – Bitcoin forks and reaches a new all time high of $19, 834.
2020 – Bitcoin reaches a new all-time high of $28,949 and institional adoption accelerates. Insurance companies buy bitcoin, the first bitcoin fund is launched, the first bitcoin ETF is launched and MicroStrategy becomes the first listed company to convert corporate treasury into bitcoin.
Despite its exponential growth and increased global recognition, Bitcoin has had to overcome innumerable threats and challenges over the years. Notwithstanding, today it’s arguably as resilient and antifragile as ever.
While bitcoin remains somewhat de-risked relative to its early days, HODLing isn’t easy. If it was, everyone would do it:
Switzerlandâs Sygnum Bank will allow investors to dive into the decentralised finance world by launching custody and trading for several DeFi tokens.
According to a recent blog post, the bank will offer trading services for up to seven leading tokens in the DeFi market: Aave, Synthetix, UNI (Uniswap), Aragon, Curve, Maker, and 1inch Network.
This is the next step on our journey to enable a variety of yield-generating products in the digital-asset space. These can either be based on the proof-of-stake protocol, so staking itself, or also leveraging and decentralised lending to generate yield for our clients, which is a bit further out on the roadmap.
Thomas Eichenberger, Sygnum Bankâs head of business units
Sygnum is a digital assets bank founded on Swiss and Singaporean heritage
Banks Rush to Explore DeFi
With a TLV (Total Lock Value) of US$60 billion, banks are rushing to explore the DeFi world as more institutional investors show interest in investing in it. In a further note, Sygnum outlined that the fast-paced growth of the DeFi ecosystem will âplay an increasingly relevant role in shaping Future Financeâ.
Besides custody and trading, the institution also launched banking services for USDC and intends to launch yield-generating products for its institutional clients. This bridges the institutional space with the decentralised one in a regulated manner.
DeFi Personal Banking Set to Take Off
As DeFi expands across international financial markets, investor Mark Cuban believes DeFi can revolutionise the way people do banking in the future. Cuban claims that while DeFi is hard for the average person to understand at first, once it becomes as easy to use as credit cards there will be a massive take-off in adoption.
