Cryptocurrency Latest News and Price Trend Analysis
Across the past week, the cryptocurrency market has primarily begun to decline, with red candlesticks commonplace throughout the past week. This has led to losses of up to 15% across the top 100, with very deviating from this negative trend.
In line with this bearish sentiment, the South Dakotan house of representatives members are seeking to amend the UCC to ban the use of cryptocurrencies, yet this does not extend to the use cases of CBDCs, thus sparking outrage amongst crypto communities. Deviating from this bearish sentiment, BTC miner Riot Platforms, Inc. has reported a notable rise in output and the tripling of their hash rate throughout 2022. Similarly, one of Russia’s biggest banks, Moscow Credit Bank, has issued a blockchain-based bank guarantee denominated in the Chinese Yuan, with this branded as the first in the country.
The Latest News
Bitcoin Miner Riot Reports Output Rise
The Bitcoin mining powerhouse, Riot Platforms, Inc., has reported revenue of $259.2 million for 2022, which has been attributed to the increased Bitcoin production and a full year of hosting and engineering revenues. The miner produced a total of 5,554 BTC, up 46% from the previous year, which Riot has stated was a result of their ‘industry-leading financial strength’ which puts it in a strong position to continue executing its ‘aggressive growth plans’. In addition, Riot has also reported that they have tripled their hash rate capacity.
On the flip side, Riot’s mining revenue slipped, yet Riot CEO, Jason Les, has cited BTC’s valuation decrease as the reason for this decline. Yet, due to an accounting change related to the way BTC is represented on balance sheets, Riot reported in a filing with the SEC, that its former financial statements for 2020 and 2021 ‘should no longer be relied upon’, yet this is set to be amended in a 10-K filing for 2022.
Building F, a BTC Mining Building In Riot’s Facility (Image Courtesy of Bloomberg)
South Dakotan Proposed UCC Amendment Bans Crypto
South Dakotan Republican, Mike Stevens, has recently introduced a 117-page amendment to the House of Representatives that seeks to change the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to limit the definition of money to exclude cryptocurrencies. However, CBDCs are set to still be defined as ‘money’ under this legislation, acting as some form of caveat to this motion. Stevens has defined money as a ‘medium of exchange that is currently authorized or adopted by a domestic or a foreign government’ but went on to specify that the ‘term does not include an electronic record’, particularly one that operated prior to the authorization and adoption of the government.
This bill starkly contrasts the recent ‘CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act’ introduced to the House of Representatives by Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer, who is often viewed as a proponent of crypto. As a result of Steven’s proposal, many politicians and crypto figureheads have taken to the internet to express their distaste for the US government warming to CBDCs and rejecting wider cryptocurrencies.
Anti-Crypto Illustrative Art (Image Courtesy of Asia Blockchain Review)
Russian Bank Issues On-Chain Bank Guarantee In Chinese Yuan
Earlier this week, Moscow Credit Bank issued a first-of-its-kind blockchain-based bank guarantee denominated in the Chinese yuan. The bank guarantee exceeds 100 million Chinese yuan (or $114,600 at the time of writing). The transaction was conducted through the Masterchain blockchain platform, the Russian national blockchain network which facilitates national digital transfers. This bank guarantee is anticipated to act as a financial safeguard in the event of lending operations, yet if a payment is made under the guarantee, the beneficiary will receive Russian rubles at the exchange rate agreed by the organizing parties, in spite of the guarantee being pegged to the yuan.
This cross-border cryptocurrency adoption initiative comes in light of Russia’s central bank preparing to launch the first consumer pilot for its CBDC on April 1st of this year. The digital ruble is expected to be facilitated by 13 local banks and several merchants across the nation.
Masterchain Logo (Image Courtesy of TAdviser)
Current Project Trends
Based on data provided by CoinMarketCap, the top-gaining project across the past week was focused on integrating application scenarios in a variety of aspects and from multiple perspectives, to seek ways in which blockchain technology can address and resolve problems across a plethora of networks, with these networks lacking the capacity to solve them. This asset is called Orient Walt, and has increased by a staggering 113.28% in a single day, leading it to reach $0.017.
The Current BTC Trend
Weekly BTC price Data (Data Courtesy of Gate.io)
Bitcoin has been subject to immense volatility that propelled it below its 7-day SMA and plunged it from the $24k region to a weekly low of $22,408.30 across the past week as seen in the cryptocurrency exchange like Gate.io. Fortunately, BTC began to regain its footing above this region and begin to move further into the $23k, leading it to trade hands at an average of $22.5k across the week, with BTC closing on this value on the 2nd.
BTC’s current price trajectory appears to be indicative of it beginning to fall further away from the $25k resistance zone and potentially establishing $24k as its new weekly resistance. This suggests that Bitcoin price is progressively declining and potentially correcting, leading the price to trade between $22.8k and $23.5k.
In light of this, Bitcoin’s MVRV (market value to realized value) entered the week at a relatively horizontal growth rate, signaling a brief period of stagnation. However, at the end of February, Bitcoin’s MVRV began to sharply incline, moving from an average of 1.175 to a weekly high of 1.18. However, this is a notable decrease from the week prior, which saw BTC’s MVRV exploring the 1.2 territories, suggesting that Bitcoin’s value is beginning to near undersold and undervalued territory once again.
5-Day BTC MVRV Data (Data Courtesy of Blockchain.com)
The Situation of ETH Staking
As of the 2nd of March, the situation of Ethereum staking remains relatively positive, particularly considering the imminent Ethereum Shanghai upgrade, which will grant all validators who have staked Ethereum to progressively unlock their tokens and subsequent yield earnt. In addition, the volume of Ethereum deposited to the Beacon Chain has continued to grow at a relatively steep rate since the start of 2023, with this extending into early March.
(Data Courtesy of Dune)
Here are some key figures from across the past week to consolidate this:
Total validators: 512,657
Depositor Addresses: 90,200
Total ETH Deposited: 16,353,927
Liquid Staking Percentage: 35.38%
Staked Share Of ETH Supply: 14.49%
In addition to the aforementioned, the wider cryptocurrency and finance market’s interest in liquid derivatives has soared, leading the LDO governance token (the native token of the DAO behind liquid staking provider Lido) to surge by 33% and its competitor, RPL, (the native token of Rocket Pool) to rise by 18%. This is likely due to their critical role in lowering the accessibility barriers for individuals to stake their Ethereum, by allowing users to stake any amount of Ether, with this assigned to a specific validator until the required amount of Ether is met.
The Current Macro Situation
UAE Identified As A ‘Country Of Focus’ As US Moves To Target Russian Economic Partners
Over the past day, it has become public knowledge that the USA has begun to look towards the UAE as a ‘country of focus’ as it moves to suppress Russia’s ties to the global economy. Elizabeth Rosenberg, the assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes stated: “We are specifically concerned about increases in trade with Russia in the kind of goods that can be used on the battlefield and those who are aiding designated Russian entities.” These comments come in light of growing concerns in the West that the UAE, alongside countries such as Turkey, is acting as Russia’s critical economic lifeline as Russia vs Ukraine conflict ensues.
It was reported that the UAE has been exporting goods, including US-export-controlled goods such as ‘semiconductor devices’ which accounted for 30% of the total value of all their exports, which the West believes could be used on the battlefield. As a result, Washington has reportedly become ‘increasingly frustrated’ with the UAE’s business model and is looking to further crack down on the nation.
What Could Be Coming In The Week Ahead?
With the market bearing a negative sentiment this week, it is likely that this will ensue in the coming week, yet, the underlying valuation trajectory for a majority of assets in the top 100 appears to be indicative of a progressive and gradual increase on a 3-monthly scale, which alludes to a progressively inclining market valuation on a long-term scale.
Disclaimer
In line with the Trust Project guidelines, please note that the information provided on this page is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other form of advice. It is important to only invest what you can afford to lose and to seek independent financial advice if you have any doubts. For further information, we suggest referring to the terms and conditions as well as the help and support pages provided by the issuer or advertiser. MetaversePost is committed to accurate, unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice.
About The Author
Damir is the team leader, product manager, and editor at Metaverse Post, covering topics such as AI/ML, AGI, LLMs, Metaverse, and Web3-related fields. His articles attract a massive audience of over a million users every month. He appears to be an expert with 10 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing. Damir has been mentioned in Mashable, Wired, Cointelegraph, The New Yorker, Inside.com, Entrepreneur, BeInCrypto, and other publications. He travels between the UAE, Turkey, Russia, and the CIS as a digital nomad. Damir earned a bachelor's degree in physics, which he believes has given him the critical thinking skills needed to be successful in the ever-changing landscape of the internet.
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Damir is the team leader, product manager, and editor at Metaverse Post, covering topics such as AI/ML, AGI, LLMs, Metaverse, and Web3-related fields. His articles attract a massive audience of over a million users every month. He appears to be an expert with 10 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing. Damir has been mentioned in Mashable, Wired, Cointelegraph, The New Yorker, Inside.com, Entrepreneur, BeInCrypto, and other publications. He travels between the UAE, Turkey, Russia, and the CIS as a digital nomad. Damir earned a bachelor's degree in physics, which he believes has given him the critical thinking skills needed to be successful in the ever-changing landscape of the internet.
