The global crypto market cap on Thursday increased by 0.94%, reaching $964.04 billion during the early European session. Contrarily, the 24-hour volume of all cryptocurrencies has dropped to $60.15 billion, a decrease of 0.90% from the previous day. However, major cryptocurrencies were trading in a narrow range.
DeFi accounted for $3.41B in 24-hour trading, or 5.67% of the whole cryptocurrency market. The total stablecoin volume was $55.75 billion, or 92.69% of the entire 24-hour volume of the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin’s price is rising, having jumped nearly 3.38% in seven days and now encountering immediate resistance near $20,450. At the same time, Ethereum’s price has increased by 2.13% in the last 24 hours to $1,365. Furthermore, MKR is in the spotlight after rising nearly 18% in the last seven days.
Bitcoin Price
The current Bitcoin price is $20,151.98, with a $3.6 billion 24-hour trading volume. Bitcoin is up 0.21% in the last 24 hours and 3.70% in the last seven days.
CoinMarketCap currently holds the top spot, with a live market capitalization of $386,331,986,076. The maximum supply is 21,000,000 BTC coins, with a circulating supply of 19,170,918.
Bitcoin has formed a descending triangle pattern, extending major resistance near the $20,478 level. The descending triangle pattern typically breaks on the lower side, but the 50-day moving average provides immediate support near the $20,000 psychological level.
Bitcoin Price Chart – Source: Tradingview
Leading technical indicators like the relative strength index (RSI) and moving average convergence and divergence (MACD) point to a buying trend.
As a result, a surge in Bitcoin demand has the potential to start an uptrend, and a break of the $20,450 resistance level can push BTC price up to $21,905 or 22,750 levels. On the downside, Bitcoin’s immediate support remains at $20,000, with $18,650 as an immediate support level below this.
Ethereum Price
The current price of Ethereum is $1,369.17, with a $11.5 billion 24-hour trading volume. Ethereum has gained 2.58% in the last 24 hours, and CoinMarketCap now ranks second, with a live market cap of $168 billion. There are 122,677,023 ETH tokens in circulation.
On the technical front, the ETH/USD pair is trading slightly bullish after rebounding from the $1,300 psychological support level. The upward trendline on the daily timeframe keeps Ether bullish and extends major support near the $1,270 level.
On the upside, ETH has formed a double-top pattern, extending an immediate resistance near $1,402 level. Ethereum has formed a tweezers bottom pattern, indicating the possibility of a bullish reversal. As a result, a bullish crossover above $1,402 could pave the way for an uptrend to continue until $1,575 or $1,650. A further upward breakout could take ETH to the $1,795 level.
Ethereum Price Chart – Source: Tradingview
The leading indicators, RSI and MACD, are above 50 and 0, indicating a stronger bullish bias in Ethereum. Investors will likely look for buying opportunities if the $1,402 level is breached.
Maker (MKR) Storms 18%
Altcoins are making headlines alongside leading crypto coins. Maker (MKR), in particular, is trading strongly bullish, having risen nearly 18% in the last seven days. Investors who rushed into MKR at the end of September are likely feeling good about their purchase after the strong surge in value over the past two weeks.
The current Maker price is $836.92, with a $40 million 24-hour trading volume. CoinMarketCap is now ranked #56 with an $818 million live market cap. There are currently 977,631 MKR coins in circulation, with a total supply of 1,005,577 MKR coins available.
Technically, the MKR/USD pair has already reached the 50% Fibonacci retracement level of $895. MKR has closed a Doji candle below the $895 resistance level, indicating that bulls have been exhausted and that MKR may experience a small bearish correction.
Maker Price Chart – Source: Tradingview
On the downside, the 50-day moving average at $754 is providing immediate support to MKR. The next support level remains at $709. On the other hand, a bullish breakout of the $887 level could take the MKR price to $968 or $1059.
Dollar Regains Strength Ahead of US Nonfarm Payrolls Tomorrow
The recent surge in US ADP figures may affect Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency industry. On Wednesday, payroll services provider ADP revealed that the US labor market had a stronger month than projected in September, with private employers adding more positions than expected.
The 208,000 jobs added by companies in September were more than the 200,000 predicted by Dow Jones and the 185,000 jobs added in August that were revised—despite a net loss of 29,000 jobs in the goods-producing sectors, manufacturing shedding 13,000 jobs and natural resources and mining losing 16,000.
With such a surge in US labor market data, investors are expecting strong US Nonfarm payroll figures on Friday. Stronger economic data typically have a negative impact on cryptocurrencies due to expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates more quickly.
New Altcoin News
New altcoins are making headlines alongside leading cryptocurrencies. Tamadoge, the new meme token, has gained nearly 472% from its all-time low of $0.01683. That’s making TAMA a clear winner, with massive gains and all the attention.
In addition to Tamadoge, IMPT is a new protocol that is being developed to make it easier for enterprises and individuals to track and control their carbon footprint. The protocol is intended to reward and incentivize users for their engagement. In just three days of its presale, IMPT has raised more than $1 million.
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.
