Decentral Block Post

The dollar-pegged Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin sits now at the fourth position in market capitalization among other stablecoins following a dip of over $1 billion in the past 30 days, data from CoinMarketCap shows.

As of writing, BUSD market cap stands at $4.30 billion, down 29% from $5.54 billion on May 18. The stablecoin has been in a downward trend since December last year, when its market cap topped $23 billion.

The decline in BUSD market cap parallels major developments surrounding Binance following FTX's dramatic collapse in November 2022. Last December, a report indicating Binance would be targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice led to net withdrawals of $3.6 billion within seven days. The exchange saw large BUSD redemptions from market makers, including more than $245 million from Jump Finance.

A partnership between Binance and Paxos Trust created the BUSD stablecoin in September 2019. Paxos issues and owns the product, while Binance licenses its brand. For Paxos, the partnership brought new challenges. In February, the company was reportedly served a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that Binance USD was an unregistered security.

Related: Stablecoins 101 - What are crypto stablecoins, and how do they work?

While the Arbitrum governance token ARB has been in a consistent downturn since the airdrop in late March, its ecosystem shows healthy growth. 

A recent Nansen report shows that Arbitrum’s activity improved after the airdrop, stabilizing “at a level higher” than before the airdrop. The daily active users, gas fees and transaction count have maintained consistently higher levels since April 2023.

The gap between the number of active users on Arbitrum and Optimism widened after the Aribtrum airdrop, closing in on Ethereum.

The trading volume on Arbitrum-based decentralized exchanges paints a similar picture, showing an evident rise in volume after the airdrop.

Moreover, Nansen’s report shows that ARB airdrop recipients only accounted for around 5% of the activity on the blockchain and that Arbitrum has attracted considerably more new users after the airdrop.

While the Arbitrum governance token ARB has been in a consistent downturn since the airdrop in late March, its ecosystem shows healthy growth. 

A recent Nansen report shows that Arbitrum’s activity improved after the airdrop, stabilizing “at a level higher” than before the airdrop. The daily active users, gas fees and transaction count have maintained consistently higher levels since April 2023.

The gap between the number of active users on Arbitrum and Optimism widened after the Aribtrum airdrop, closing in on Ethereum.

The trading volume on Arbitrum-based decentralized exchanges paints a similar picture, showing an evident rise in volume after the airdrop.

Moreover, Nansen’s report shows that ARB airdrop recipients only accounted for around 5% of the activity on the blockchain and that Arbitrum has attracted considerably more new users after the airdrop.

Ether (ETH) price plunged 7% between June 14 and June 15, reaching its lowest level in three months and impacting investors’ view that the altcoin was en-route to turning $2,000 to support. 

It is worth noting that the $1,620 bottom represents a $196 billion market capitalization for Ether, which is higher than PetroChina’s $186 billion, and not far from chipmaker AMD’s $198 billion.

Being the 66th largest global tradable asset in the world is no small feat, especially considering that the cryptocurrency is merely 8 years old and does not return any kind of direct profit for the project’s maintenance. On the other hand, securities enjoy the benefits of corporate earnings and eventual government subsidies, so perhaps investors should be concerned by the recent price drop from Ether.

Ether price pressured succumbs to regulation and lowered network activity

Regulatory pressure helped to subdue investors’ appetite for Ether as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule change regarding the definition of an exchange. Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of the Coinbase exchange, has pushed back against the proposed change, claiming that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

More concerningly, decentralized applications (Dapps) usage on the Ethereum network failed to gain momentum despite gas fees plummeting by 75%. The 7-day average transaction cost dropped to $4 on June 14, down from $16 one month prior. Meanwhile, Dapps active addresses declined by 18% in the same period.

Ether (ETH) price plunged 7% between June 14 and June 15, reaching its lowest level in three months and impacting investors’ view that the altcoin was en-route to turning $2,000 to support. 

It is worth noting that the $1,620 bottom represents a $196 billion market capitalization for Ether, which is higher than PetroChina’s $186 billion, and not far from chipmaker AMD’s $198 billion.

Being the 66th largest global tradable asset in the world is no small feat, especially considering that the cryptocurrency is merely 8 years old and does not return any kind of direct profit for the project’s maintenance. On the other hand, securities enjoy the benefits of corporate earnings and eventual government subsidies, so perhaps investors should be concerned by the recent price drop from Ether.

Ether price pressured succumbs to regulation and lowered network activity

Regulatory pressure helped to subdue investors’ appetite for Ether as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule change regarding the definition of an exchange. Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of the Coinbase exchange, has pushed back against the proposed change, claiming that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

More concerningly, decentralized applications (Dapps) usage on the Ethereum network failed to gain momentum despite gas fees plummeting by 75%. The 7-day average transaction cost dropped to $4 on June 14, down from $16 one month prior. Meanwhile, Dapps active addresses declined by 18% in the same period.

A combination of escalating interest rates and a tight regulatory environment in the United States has driven a $417 million outflow from the crypto industry in the past eight weeks, with halts in trading for many altcoins draining liquidity and prolonging the ongoing crypto winter.

This environment is forcing crypto companies to rethink and adapt their business strategies.

Crypto exchange Binance, for instance, is moving forward with efforts to diversify its sources of revenue amid legal challenges with regulators. The company is launching a new subscription-based cloud mining product dedicated to Bitcoin (BTC), allowing users without equipment to purchase Bitcoin hash rates via Binance’s cloud mining service.

Also taking a new direction is venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), opening its first office outside the U.S. in London, United Kingdom. Chris Dixon, a16z’s managing partner, cited a “predictable business environment” as one of the main factors behind the decision. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attributed the expansion to having the “right regulation and guardrails” to “foster innovation” while protecting consumers.

According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, a16z is the largest venture capital firm in the world, with $35.8 billion in assets under management. With this move, the company joins many other crypto businesses setting up operations in more friendly regulatory environments outside the United States.

Bitcoin (BTC) is witnessing a tough battle between buyers and sellers near the $25,000 mark. A minor cause of worry for the bulls is that even the news of BlackRock having filed an application for a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund could not boost prices higher. This suggests that investors remain cautious due to the regulatory overhang.

However, this does not mean that professional investors have abandoned plans to invest in cryptocurrencies. The Laser Digital Investor Survey of institutional investors conducted in April shows that 90% of the respondents were ready to consider putting money into crypto if the asset was backed by a “large traditional financial institution.” Another positive was that 82% of the investors polled were positive on crypto’s prospects over the next 12 months.

Glassnode co-founders Yann Allemann and Jan Happel said in a tweet on June 15 that a traditional technical analysis indicator and two on-chain indicators for Bitcoin were looking similar to how they did in Q3 2020, just before Bitcoin soared above its 2017 high of $20,000.

Could Bitcoin and the altcoins start a recovery from the current levels? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin plunged below the crucial support at $25,250 on June 14, indicating aggressive selling by the bears.