Digital Asset Regulation… is it Done??

The U.S. and the world in general need comprehensive frameworks regarding the regulation, trading, and issuance of digital assets. With regulation comes tax issues and regulatory guidelines. These guidelines will protect the consumer and encourage innovation, and assist in shaping the future of cryptocurrency.

The GENIUS Act was passed last week and set up a framework for stablecoins, which are digital tokens for payment… that are backed by a stablecoin issuer that will maintain a fixed amount (stable value) of monetary equivalence (e.g., U.S. dollar). As more institutional investors and countries adopt stablecoins for their treasuries and state banks, these new guidelines should reflect transparency and open access.

The new regulations are just a framework for what is coming. More comprehensive rules will be required to further the growing and complex crypto ecosystem, but it is evident that the U.S. is seeking to be the global leader.

Bitcoin Holding Strong

BTC has been resilient in the past week, defying the markets by bouncing back 6% after the U.S. incursion into Iran a couple of days ago. Last week, the Fed hinted that it may cut interest rates, which could see BTC soar. Oil prices have pulled back dramatically since yesterday, and analysts are predicting BTC might hit an all-time high of 120k USD in the coming weeks because of these factors. While there was some panic selling of BTC around 105k USD (and below), long-term hodlers saw this as an opportunity to increase their positions and bought the dip.

The possibility of war made BTC flinch, and it could happen again because of real-world events and macroeconomic fluctuations, but BTC has held up remarkably well. BTC is currently trading at 105k USD and looks poised to reach higher highs in the coming days.

Is ETH the Trigger for Altcoin Season?

Ethereum is the largest altcoin in the crypto market and should activate the altcoin season. If history repeats itself, back in July 2021, ETH surged and altcoins followed. ETH has bounced over 6% in the past 48 hours and several Ether whales have bet that ETH will bounce hard as they have invested over 100m USD in the past 24 hours. It should also be noted that Blackrock has moved 8,173 ETH (24m USD) to Coinbase after accumulating it for over a month. This could be a signal that Blackrock is going to sell or it could mean that the asset manager is only reconfiguring the portfolio. Regardless of the recent macroeconomic developments and potential institutional selloff, ETH has held up and is currently trading at 2,420 USD.

Doge will Unlock Over 14m Tokens in the Coming Week

Over the next 7 days, Doge will unlock 14.7m USD, and it will shake up the meme-themed crypto market. The market has bounced in the past 2 days and has favorable bullish sentiment, but Doge could drop below 0.145 USD and retest the 0.12 USD level. The unlock has been coming for some time and is priced in, but if the market starts to retrace, it could trigger a selloff. If Doge cannot hold support level,s panic selling will occur because of the increased token circulation, and prices could hit lower lows. Doge is currently trading at 0.163 after pulling back from 0.168 earlier in the day.

A New Cardano??

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson released a new whitepaper (Midnight network) for ADA yesterday. It basically states that he has released a new token, NIGHT (utility) and Dust (powers transactions). Night is minted on Cardano and will have a fixed supply of 24b tokens and is supposed to generate DUST. 

NIGHT’s main utility is likened to energy rather than currency, and DUST is generated by holding NIGHT, which is held to avoid user fees on the network. After reading the whitepaper, I have several questions that were not revealed that could be crucial to the success or adoption of this new chapter of ADA. Are the native ADA tokens included in the new NIGHT token distribution? What is the ratio of ADA to NIGHT tokens? These questions are crucial to the investor,s and time will tell if Hoskinson has revitalized ADA.

Cardano was trading at 0.584 USD at the time of writing and has dropped 31% since May.

Global Headwinds

The overall cryptocurrency market has declined by almost 7% in the past day. This means the majority of altcoins are still trying to recover from the 2-day selloff. Tensions in the Middle East have subsided for the time being, which could be a signal for some investors to buy, but it is probably too early to confirm. The GENIUS Act could have a substantial influence on crypto investors, also providing institutions with increased access, particularly in terms of stability.

Bitcoin will continue to be the crypto market yardstick going forward, and if BTC can break out to $110,000 USD, then higher highs can be expected across the market.