Decentral Block Post

Solana's native token (SOL) surged by 17% between Dec. 7 and Dec. 8, reaching its highest level since May 2022.

SOL's fate changed dramatically on Dec. 1 when Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, revealed a plan to integrate the Solana network, including its tokens, although no specific date has been provided. This news sparked interest in Bonk (BONK), a Solana SPL meme token listed on Bybit, KuCoin, and Solana's decentralized exchange, Orca, which gained 236% between Dec. 1 and Dec. 8.

On Dec. 6, Coinbase exchange announced the listing of Jito (JTO), an SPL token on the Solana network, which saw instant success as JTO doubled in price between Dec. 7 and Dec. 8. With the current circulating supply of 115 million, Jito's market capitalization now stands at $422 million.

The governance token of the Solana-based liquid staking protocol Jito conducted an airdrop of 80 million tokens to early users, validators, and protocol contributors. In total, approximately 9,900 addresses staked SOL using Jito ahead of the snapshot date, resulting in an impressive distribution of 4,941 JTO tokens for each participant.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) application Jito allows users to benefit from SOL staking and receive a derivative JitoSOL token in exchange for additional flexibility and yields, a common practice in the Ethereum ecosystem through the Lido platform. According to Coingecko's order book depth, Binance leads the JTO market with bids totaling $606,000.

This week Bitcoin (BTC) price saw a shallow pullback, but the intra-day rally to the $44,000 level is an indication that the bulls are not hurrying to close their positions. Data from the popular HODL Waves metric shows that investors who purchased Bitcoin between December 2020 and December 2021 have been sitting on their coins.

Investors have not been selling into strength because they anticipate higher levels in the future. Asset manager VanEck said in its crypto predictions for 2024 that Bitcoin would make a new all-time high, buoyed by the “political events and regulatory shifts following a U.S. presidential election.”

Bitcoin’s rally of the past few days has also attracted investors to select altcoins, such as Ether (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL). Research firm Santiment remains positive on the prospects of Bitcoin. It said on Dec. 7 that if FUD increases, Bitcoin could surge to $50,000.

Will Bitcoin find buyers at lower levels and resume its charge to $48,000, or will the action shift to altcoins? Let’s analyze the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin turned down from $44,500 on Dec. 5, indicating profit-booking by short-term traders. Pullbacks are usually shallow in strong uptrends and do not last long because the bulls eagerly buy the dips.

Bitcoin (BTC) tapped $40,000 after the Dec. 8 Wall Street open as United States employment data shrunk market bets on interest rate cuts.

Bitcoin holds firm as jobs data unsettles U.S. dollar

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView covered the latest BTC price action as risk assets reacted to the latest U.S. inflation cues.

Nonfarm payrolls came in above expectations at 199,000 versus 190,000, while unemployment was lower than forecast at 3.7% versus 3.9%, per an official release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Both suggested that the full impact of Federal Reserve monetary tightening had yet to show itself, and while other data had already captured declining inflation, markets treated the labor figures nervously.

Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool nonetheless put the odds of anything other than a rate change freeze continuing at next week’s Fed meeting at practically zero.

Bitcoin (BTC) tapped $44,000 after the Dec. 8 Wall Street open as United States employment data shrunk market bets on interest rate cuts.

Bitcoin holds firm as jobs data unsettles U.S. dollar

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView covered the latest BTC price action as risk assets reacted to the latest U.S. inflation cues.

Nonfarm payrolls came in above expectations at 199,000 versus 190,000, while unemployment was lower than forecast at 3.7% versus 3.9%, per an official release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Both suggested that the full impact of Federal Reserve monetary tightening had yet to show itself, and while other data had already captured declining inflation, markets treated the labor figures nervously.

Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool nonetheless put the odds of anything other than a rate change freeze continuing at next week’s Fed meeting at practically zero.