The price of Binance coin (BNB) has fallen to $266.46 today, representing a 2.5% drop in 24 hours. However, its current level marks a slight rise of 1% for the last seven days, with the exchange utility token having been affected by the ongoing FTX collapse.
These movements come amid Nansen’s latest quarterly report on BNB, which found that BNB Chain remained the busiest layer-one platform in terms of the total number of transactions in Q3 2022. This highlights the potential BNB has to rally following a return to more positive and bullish market conditions, with the size of BNB Chain and of Binance itself giving it strong grounds to return to growth sooner or later.
Binance Coin Price Prediction as BNB Turns Green for the Week – Time to Buy?
Despite returning to the green in terms of its seven-day action, BNB is down by 17% in the last 14 days and by 4% in the last 30. Its technical indicators reflect this insofar as they reveal an ongoing dip in momentum.
BNB’s relative strength index (purple) has dropped to 40 and is still pointing downwards, suggesting potential further losses. Similarly, its 30-day moving average (red) appears to be at a crest in relation to its 200-day average (blue) and may begin falling downwards soon.
In other words, a purely technical analysis would suggest that BNB has a little further to drop before it begins a more decisive recovery. This would also be supported by a more fundamental analysis of wider market conditions, with the FTX bankruptcy drama continuing to weigh down prices.
It’s likely that FTX’s collapse will continue dragging down the market for at least several weeks yet. Yesterday, for example, Genesis announced that its lending arm would be suspending withdrawals, raising fears of wider contagion within the ecosystem.
Indeed, a variety of exchanges and platforms have faced a run on withdrawals in the wake of FTX’s demise, creating a distinct possibility of additional collapses. While it’s unlikely that this would directly impact Binance, it would nonetheless dampen investor confidence further and result in additional falls for BNB.
Still, the bigger picture indicates that BNB will return to growth once the dust has settled and the cryptocurrency market regains some positivity. As mentioned above, Nansen’s latest quarterly report found that BNB Chain expanded noticeably in the previous quarter, with numerous projects launching on its platform, including Wombat Exchange, Stader, and Helio Protocol.
On top of this, BNB Chain averaged around 2.5 million to 5 million transactions every day in the previous quarter, compared to 1 million to 1.8 million for Ethereum. This illustrates how the size and value of the platform, which is only likely to continue growing in the future.
As such, even if BNB is due to fall a little more in the near future, the long-term picture suggests steady growth, with its all-time high of $686.31 (from May 2021) more than reachable once the global economy has escaped its current downturn.
Presale Coins
The thing is, investors may be waiting some time for the global economy to mount a significant and sustainable recovery, meaning that we may not see new ATHs for BNB until well into 2023 (or later). However, one source of above-average gains this year has been newer altcoins, particularly those holding presales and then listing.
Such coins have posted impressive gains upon listing this year, and while not every new coin is guaranteed success, the following selection highlights new projects with some promising fundamentals. All three of these coins are due to close their respective sales by the end of the year (or in Q1 2023), at which point all will enjoy exchange listings.
Dash 2 Trade (D2T)
Dash 2 Trade is an Ethereum-based trading intelligence platform that will launch in Q1 2023, providing investors with real-time market data and social indicators in order to help them make more informed decisions.
Also running on Ethereum, RobotEra (TARO) is developing a Sandbox-like Metaverse in which gamers play as robots and participate in the creation of its virtual world. Its alpha version is due by the end of Q1 2023, at which point it will enable players to create land, buildings, and other in-game items, all represented (and tradable) as NFTs.
Investors can participate in the sale of its TARO token by heading over to its website and buying with either USDT or ETH, with 1 TARO currently going for 0.020 USDT. This price will increase to $0.025 in the second stage of its presale.
Calvaria (RIA) is a play-to-earn video game in which players can collect, battle with and trade NFT-based cards. Under development for around a year, its alpha is due early next year. Interestingly, it will enable gamers to play it without having to hold any crypto, something which could make it more accessible to a wider pool of users.
In addition, its native token RIA can be used to purchase in-game items and for staking, giving it a strong use case within its ecosystem. The presale for the token has raised just over $1.7 million and is currently in its fourth stage, during which 40 RIA can be had for 1 USDT.
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.
