Sentiment in cryptocurrency markets is a tad better on Tuesday. Markets are getting a modest lift from China reopening bets as authorities there shift their focus on ramping up Covid-19 vaccination in vulnerable groups.
This would be a welcomed shift in policy that some hope might be a precursor to a departure from the country’s Zero Covid strategy that has been disruptive to global markets.
Total cryptocurrency market capitalization was last a little over 1.5% higher at just under $790 billion. Bitcoin was last changing hands in the mid-$16,000s and just under its 21 Day Moving Average (DMA) at $16,500, up about 1.0% on Tuesday. Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was last up closer to 3.5% after breaking back above $1,200.
However, major cryptocurrency prices remain largely locked within recent ranges as investors await important macro events later this week. There will be a lot of focus on US economic data and the outlook for Fed policy, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaking on Wednesday and various key US labor market and inflation readings set for release before the end of the week. These cryptos have been doing well, despite the market downturn.
Dash 2 Trade (D2T)
Crypto investors interested in supporting an early-stage but highly promising cryptocurrency trading platform should consider investing in Dash 2 Trade’s token pre-sale. Dash 2 Trade is a world-class crypto analytics and social trading platform. The platform offers its users a number of unique tools, including social indicators, presale analytics and a strategy backtesting suite.
Dash 2 Trade could well become one of the most popular crypto trading platforms in the coming years, which could create big demand for its D2T token, which users need to hold to access the platform’s features.
Dash 2 Trade has now sold over 85% of stage 3 pre-sale tokens available at $0.0513, meaning the platform has now raised more than $7.4 million. The D2T token price will be lifted to $0.0533 at the next stage of the sale, which is likely to happen soon.
The Litecoin blockchain’s LTC cryptocurrency has been an outperformer in the last few weeks, rising despite the ongoing fallout from FTX’s abrupt collapse earlier this month. Where Bitcoin is set to end the month with losses of around 20%, Litecoin looks likely to post a 40% gain.
LTC/USD was last changing hands around the $76 per token mark, down nearly 10% from last week’s highs around $83, but still up nearly 60% from its earlier monthly lows around $48. Its latest leg higher last week confirmed a break above its 200DMA. The fact that LTC was able to find solid support at its summer 2022 highs in the upper $67-70 area likely opens the door for a run higher toward the next significant area of technical resistance, around $92.
LTC/USD bulls eye a push into the $90s per token. Source: TradingView
RobotEra (TARO)
Amid the ongoing struggles of high-profile names like Decentraland and The Sandbox, cryptocurrency investors are looking to support new, alternative blockchain-based metaverse projects. RobotEra is one of 2022’s hottest up-and-coming projects. RobotEra is a sandbox-style planetary reconstruction metaverse that incorporates various play-to-earn features.
Investors should consider taking a look at RobotEra’s recently launched TARO token pre-sale. If RobotEra gains significant traction in the years ahead, that could create big demand for the token, which functions as the in-game currency. As of 29 November, RobotEra has raised nearly $280,000. Once it reaches $1.8 million in TARO pre-sales, the pre-sale will enter its second stage, with the price of TARO tokens rising from 0.020 USDT to 0.025 USDT.
Chainlink’s LINK token broke back above its 200DMA at $7.16 on Tuesday, taking its gains in the last eight days to over 30%. The cryptocurrency has surged in the last few days after finding support in the mid-$5.00s around previous annual lows. Technicians will now be targeting a re-test of the next key area of upside resistance in the mid-$9.0s.
LINK/USD pushes above 200DMA, opening the door to run towards $9. Source: TradingView
Calvaria (RIA)
Major blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity lost significant traction in 2022. As a result, many investors interested in the crypto gaming space are looking for alternative avenues. Calvaria, an up-and-coming play-to-earn battle card crypto game, could be a good alternative. Calvaria seeks to boost crypto adoption by creating a bridge between the real world and crypto, a fun and accessible crypto game.
Investors should consider Cavalaria’s RIA token pre-sale. Calvaria has now raised $2.1 million and is in the final stage of its fundraising process. Only 31% of pre-sale tokens remain up for grabs.
The market is currently in a news-driven environment where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agenda rather than fundamentals.
Bitfinex analysts have warned crypto investors to be cautious as bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery over the weekend is not a sign that its correction is over; the asset could witness more bloodshed in the near term.
In the latest Bitfinex Alpha report, experts deemed the market’s reaction this week critical, especially as supply alleviated over the weekend could return when traditional markets open.
“No Man’s Land”
Since Saturday, bitcoin has risen almost 10% from $57,600 to $63,000, closing last week in the green. The asset has surged above the 125-day range low of $60,200, which it broke through earlier this month after news of the German government’s massive BTC selling hit the market.
Market sentiment began to improve after reports that wallets linked to the German government were almost empty. However, the positive sentiment may not be sustained for long as the BTC the German authorities moved to trading desks and exchanges are yet to be sold.
While the supply from Germany appears to have been factored into bitcoin’s market price, Bitfinex analysts believe the end of selling pressure depends on how the involved trading desks execute their trades in the coming days.
Although the shift in sentiment underscores the market’s capacity to integrate new information and adjust expectations quickly, analysts think the market’s reaction over the first two trading days of the week cannot be overlooked for two reasons.
First, the low support level in the $60,200 range has now become a potential resistance line. Second, trading patterns over the past three months suggest that weekends are usually favorable for markets, especially on Saturdays when supply pressure seems to subside.
“We are now in no man’s land until we get clear resolution above or below this level,” the analysts said.
A News-Driven Environment
Besides the potential resistance level and three-month weekend trading pattern, the market is currently in a news-driven environment, where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agendas rather than fundamentals.
Since selling pressure concerns are not yet completely obsolete due to upcoming Mt Gox creditor distributions, Bitfinex analysts expect such headlines to continue to have some impact on price movements. As such, the analysts urged investors to exercise caution in their trading strategies.
BlackRock’s IBIT led with $117.25 million in inflows on July 15, also being the most traded Bitcoin ETF.
The US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a daily net inflow of $301 million on July 15th. This extended their winning streak to seven consecutive days amidst a broader market recovery.
None of the ETFs recorded outflows for the day.
Bitcoin ETFs Rake in $16.11B in Net Inflows Since Jan
According to the data compiled by SoSoValue, BlackRock’s IBIT, the top spot Bitcoin ETF by net asset value, recorded the largest net inflows of the day at $117.25 million. IBIT was also the most actively traded Bitcoin ETF on Monday, with a volume of $1.24 billion. Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB came in close behind with net inflows of $117.19 million.
Fidelity’s FBTC experienced net inflows of $36.15 million on Monday, while Bitwise’s BITB saw $15.24 million in inflows. VanEck’s HODL, Invesco and Galaxy Digital’s BTCO, and Franklin Templeton’s EZBC funds also recorded net inflows. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s GBTC and other ETFs, such as Valkyrie’s BRRR, WisdomTree’s BTCW, and Hashdex’s DEFI, registered no flows for the day.
A total of $2.26 billion was traded on Monday. The trading volume for these ETFs was less than in March when it exceeded $8 billion on some days. Meanwhile, these funds have collectively attracted $16.11 billion in net inflow since their January launch.
What’s Next For Bitcoin?
Earlier this month, bitcoin’s price decline was mainly due to fears of massive selling pressure from Mt. Gox and the German government’s BTC sales.
But the assassination attempt on pro-crypto former US President and presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump at Saturday’s rally seemed to spark a recovery in the world’s largest digital asset, and experts are bullish on the asset’s price trajectory going forward. Bitcoin surged more than 9% over the past week and was currently trading slightly below $64,000.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt discussed bitcoin’s price outlook, suggesting a potential major rally. He referred to a pattern he terms “Hump->Slump->Bump->Dump->Pump” and highlighted that the July 5 double top attempt was a bear trap, confirmed by the July 13 close. He sees a likely continued upward trend but warned that a close below $56,000 would negate this bullish view.
“Bitcoin $BTC could be unfolding its often-repeated Hump…Slump…Bump…Dump…Pump chart construction. Jul 5 attempt at the double top was a bear trap, confirmed by Jul 13 close. Most likely scenario now is that bears are trapped. Close below $56k negates this interpretation”
PeckShield alert reveals LI.FI’s protocol vulnerability is similar to a March 2022 attack, with the same bug recurring.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform LI.FI protocol has suffered an exploit amounting to over $8 million.
Cyvers Alerts reported detecting suspicious transactions within the LI.FI cross-chain transaction aggregator.
LI.FI Issues Warning After $8 Million Exploit
LI.FI confirmed the breach in a statement on July 16 via X: “Please do not interact with any http://LI.FI powered applications for now! We’re investigating a potential exploit.” The team clarified that users who did not set infinite approval are not at risk, emphasizing that only those who manually set infinite approvals seem to be affected.
According to Cyvers Alerts, more than $8 million in user funds have been stolen, with the majority being stablecoins. According to on-chain data, the hacker’s wallet holds 1,715 Ether (ETH) valued at $5.8 million and USDC, USDT, and DAI stablecoins.
Cyvers Alerts advised users to revoke relevant authorizations immediately, noting that the attacker is actively converting USDC and USDT into ETH.
Crypto security firm Decurity provided insights into the exploit, stating that it involves the LI.FI bridge. “The root cause is a possibility of an arbitrary call with user-controlled data via depositToGasZipERC20() in GasZipFacet, which was deployed 5 days ago,” Decurity explained on X.
“In general, the risks behind routers, cross-chain swaps, etc. are about token approvals. Raw native assets like (unwrapped) ETH are safe from these kinds of hacks b/c they don’t have approvals as an option. Most users & wallets also no longer do “infinite approvals” which gives a smart contract total control on removing any amount of their tokens. It’s important to understand which tokens you’re approving to which contracts.
This dashboard looks for all transactions of a user that intersects Lifi. Not all of these transactions indicate risk- but you can see how, broadly, integrations & layers of tech (like how Metamask bridge uses Lifi on BSC) can complicate how users do or don’t put their assets at risk. Revoke Cash is the most well known approval manager app.
But it’s also good security practice to simply rotate your address. New addresses start with 0 approvals, so starting fresh by moving your tokens to a fresh address is another good security practice.” – commented Carlos Mercado, Data Scientist at Flipside Crypto.
Recent Exploit Mirrors March 2022 Attack
Further analysis by PeckShield alert revealed that the vulnerability is similar to a previous attack on LI.FI’s protocol that occurred on March 20, 2022. That incident saw a bad actor exploit LI.FI’s smart contract, specifically the swapping feature, before bridging.
The attacker manipulated the system to call token contracts directly within their contract’s context, making users who had given infinite approval vulnerable. This exploit resulted in the theft of approximately 205 ETH from 29 wallets, affecting tokens such as USDC, MATIC, RPL, GNO, USDT, MVI, AUDIO, AAVE, JRT, and DAI.
“The bug is basically the same. Are we learning anything from the past lesson(s)?” PeckShield Alert said in a July 16 X post.
Following the 2022 incident, LI.FI disabled all swap methods in its smart contract and worked on developing a fix to prevent future vulnerabilities. However, the recurrence of a similar exploit raises concerns about the platform’s security measures and whether adequate steps were taken to address the vulnerabilities identified in the previous breach.
LI.FI is a liquidity aggregation protocol that allows users to trade across various blockchains, venues, and bridges.
