Bitcoin Gains Amid Rising Inflation in the U.S as Cardano Developers Prepare for the Vasil Hard Fork; will ETH become a Security after Ethereum 2.0 Migration?
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are not investment advice. Do your research.
Key Highlights
- Bitcoin is steady despite rising inflation in the U.S.
- Ethereum 2.0 migration is on course, but is ETH a security?
- Cardano developers are preparing to upgrade via Vasil
- Celsius Network files for bankruptcy
Crypto Trending News: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Celsius Network, and 3AC
Bitcoin prices are steady when writing, printing higher despite news from the U.S. that the inflation reading stands at a 40-year high.
With inflation at 9.1 percent, the odds of the FED hiking interest by 100 bps is increasing, a concern for the financial markets, especially crypto.
The markets are responding to the realization that inflation might, after all, not be transient as Jerome Powell and the FED initially thought.
More drastic measures might be implemented to restore confidence and slow down runaway inflation. Any intervention by the central bank may significantly impact the market, even forcing Bitcoin to new 2022 lows.
Steady Bitcoin prices are propping up Ethereum and other altcoins. Thus far, Ethereum prices are stable above the psychological $1k level. However, ETH’s medium-term performance depends on fundamental factors. At the top is whether Ethereum will transition successfully to a staking model, eliminating miners. The migration to ETH 2.0 also provides a chance for Ethereum to integrate on-chain scaling solutions in the long term through Sharding.
While positive, there are concerns that ETH would end up being an investment contract compliant with Howey Test criteria and, therefore, under the purview of the U.S. SEC.
Vitalik Buterin has since come out to pour cold water on analysts’ commentary.
Cardano is relatively firm versus other crypto assets when writing. Although it is in red in the previous trading week, ADA holders are confident of a sharp recovery in the weeks ahead. Cardano developers are preparing to implement a Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) event and upgrade via Vasil.
The system enhancement under Basho will introduce several performance improvements, including diffusion pipelining for faster block propagation and thus throughput, and changes to the Plutus programming language.
Even though leading crypto protocols are sound fundamentally, there are concerns that the crisis facing CeFi platforms like the Celsius Network and Voyager, crypto lending firms that have both filed for bankruptcy in New York, would cause a contagion, wreaking havoc on Bitcoin, ETH, and altcoins.
Falling crypto assets and their exposure to the now bankrupt crypto hedge fund, Three Arrow Capital (3AC), seem to have worsened their illiquidity.
Bitcoin Price Analysis
Bitcoin prices are up three percent on the previous trading day, soaking in selling pressure.
Technically, the candlestick arrangement in the daily chart favors sellers. BTC prices are within a tight $3.2k trade range, with caps at $22k on the upper side and $18.8k on the lower end. In a possible distribution inside the bear range of the first half of June 2022, sellers are firmly in charge despite supportive Bitcoin fundamentals.
BTC bulls must successfully reject attempts to push prices lower below the $18.8k multi-week support level for buyers to take charge. Any confirmation of the July 13 bullish engulfing bar with rising trading volumes may draw demand, lifting BTC to $22k in a refreshing expansion.
Conversely, sharp losses below $18.8k with rising trading volumes reversing gains of July 13 may trigger a sell-off, pushing BTC towards $15k—or worse, in a bear continuation pattern confirming losses of early June 2022.
Technical charts courtesy of Trading View