Bitcoin is mostly unchanged on November 17, but it remains under pressure as Genesis Trading, a crypto financial services firm, has suspended withdrawals from its loan section, citing the “extraordinary market instability” caused by Sam Bankman’s FTX collapse. Ethereum, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency, is also trading sideways, with a price range of $1,175 to $1,280.
The global crypto market cap fell over 1% to $835 billion the previous day, sending major cryptocurrencies into the red early on November 17. Over the last 24 hours, the total crypto market volume fell over 3% to $60.72 billion.
The total volume in DeFi was $3.30 billion, accounting for 5% of the total 24-hour volume in the crypto market. The total volume of all stablecoins was $57.26 billion, accounting for over 94% of the total 24-hour volume of the crypto market.
Let’s take a look at the top altcoin gainers and losers over the last 24 hours.
Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers
Chiliz (CHZ), Stacks (STX), and Arweave (AR) are three of the top 100 coins that have gained value in the last 24 hours. The CHZ price has soared by more than 13% to $0.2285, the STX price has grown by more than 5% to $0.2385, and the AR price has increased by nearly 5%.
Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers – Source: Coin360
Trust Wallet Token (TWT) has dropped more than 15% in the last 24 hours to trade at $1.96. GMX (GMX) has dropped by more than 12% in the last 24 hours to trade at $39.5.
Risk-off Triggers as Genesis Trading Halts Withdrawals
The cryptocurrency market is trading with a bearish sentiment following the news of Genesis trading, halting crypto withdrawals. Interim CEO Derar Islim informed customers that Genesis Global Trading’s lending arm would be temporarily suspending redemptions and new loan originations in the wake of FTX’s collapse.
Genesis Global Capital, the business unit in question, caters to institutional clients and had $2.8 billion in active loans as of the end of the third quarter of 2022, per the company’s website. Islim emphasized that Genesis Trading, the broker/dealer arm of Genesis Global Capital, has its own capital and is run separately from the lending arm.
Trading and custody services provided by Genesis are, he added, still running smoothly. On the call, Islim informed listeners that Genesis is looking into options for the lending unit, such as locating a new source of liquidity. Next week, Genesis will provide more information to its customers, he said.
The Digital Currency Group (DCG), which controls Genesis, also owns CoinDesk. A statement released by DCG’s vice president of communications and marketing, Amanda Cowie, read as follows:
“Today Genesis Global Capital, Genesis’ lending business, made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend redemptions and new loan originations.” This decision was made in response to the “extreme market dislocation and loss of industry confidence” caused by the FTX implosion.
Given the ongoing uncertainty in the cryptocurrency market, overall trading sentiment remains negative.
Bitcoin Price
The current Bitcoin price is $16,526, and the 24-hour trading volume is $34 billion. Bitcoin has increased by less than 2% in the last 24 hours. CoinMarketCap currently ranks first, with a live market cap of $349 billion, up from $324 billion.
It has a maximum supply of 21,000,000 BTC coins and a circulating supply of 19,208,887 BTC coins.
Bitcoin’s technical aspects haven’t changed significantly, as it continues to trade perfectly in accordance with our previous Bitcoin price projection. Bitcoin is stabilizing in a broad trading range of $18,000 to $16,000, with a breakout dictating future price action.
In the 4-hour timeframe, Bitcoin has completed a 38.2% Fibonacci retracement at the $18,100 level and is now stable. A positive crossover happens when the price increases above $18,100.
At this point, the Bitcoin price may be exposed to the 61.8% Fibonacci level of $19,350. Bitcoin might fall below $15,965 if it fails to break through the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement barrier of $18,250.
Bitcoin Price Chart – Source: Tradingview
The MACD has moved into the purchase zone, while the 50-day moving average and the relative strength index (RSI) remain bearish. If Bitcoin’s closing prices maintain below $18,000, the currency’s slide is likely to continue; close levels of support are $16,000 and $15,850.
Ethereum Price
The current price of Ethereum is $1,213, with a 24-hour trading volume of $12 billion. In the last 24 hours, Ethereum has plunged over 2.5%. With a live market cap of $148 billion, CoinMarketCap currently ranks second. It has a circulating supply of 122,373,866 ETH coins.
On the daily chart, a bullish retracement has occurred, and Ethereum has reclaimed the $1,262 mark. The 50-day moving average acts as an immediate resistance barrier for Ethereum. If the bullish crossover above $1,370 is maintained, the recovery might accelerate to $1,506 or $1,670.
Ethereum Price Chart – Source: Tradingview
Support is still around $1,170 or $1,095. If ETH falls below this level, it may approach $1,000, or $881, but this is improbable for the time being.
Crypto Presale With Huge Upside Potential
Dash 2 Trade (D2T)
Dash 2 Trade, created by the Learn 2 Trade service, provides investors with market-driven insights, trading signals, and prediction services. The cryptocurrency project intends to provide users with enough information to make profitable decisions.
D2T is an Ethereum-based trading intelligence platform that provides traders of all skill levels with real-time analytics and social data, allowing them to make more informed decisions.
It began its token sale three weeks ago and has already raised more than $6.4 million. It also announced its first CEX listing on LBank exchange. 1 D2T is currently worth 0.0513 USDT, but this is expected to rise to $0.0533 in the next stage of sales and $0.0662 in the final stage.
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.
