Decentral Block Post

The explosiveness and high dollar value of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) seem to either distract investors from upping their operational security to avoid exploits, or hackers are simply following the money and using very complex strategies to exploit collectors’ wallets.

At least, this was the case for me way back when after I fell for a classic message sent to me over Discord that caused me to slowly but all too quickly lose my most valuable assets.

Most of the scams on Discord occur in a very similar fashion where a hacker takes a roster of members on the server and then sends direct messages to them in hopes they will bite at the bait.

“It happens to the best of us,” are not the words you want to hear in relation to a hack. Here are the top three things I learned from my experience on how to double-up on security, starting with minimizing the use of a hot wallet and simply ignoring DM’d links

A quick crash course in hardware wallets

After my hack, I was immediately reminded and I cannot reiterate it enough, never share your seed phrase. No one should be asking for it. I also learned that I could no longer forego security at the privilege of convenience.

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to face a tough battle near the psychological level of $20,000 as the bulls and the bears attempt to assert their supremacy. Trading firm QCP Capital said in their latest market circular that funding rates on derivatives markets were stable and bearish conditions were fading.

Another ray of hope for the Bitcoin bulls is that Bitcoin miners may be capitulating as the recent decline in the price has made some mining machines unprofitable. Data from Arcane Research shows that public Bitcoin mining companies that had only sold 30% of their mined production from January to April of this year had dumped 100% of their Bitcoin production in May. Some analysts believe that miners giving up was a bullish signal.

However, one metric suggests that Bitcoin may not have bottomed out. Historically, Bitcoin signals a bottom when less than 50% of the Bitcoin addresses remain profitable. Glassnode data as of June 20 shows that 56.2% of Bitcoin addresses are in profit, increasing concerns of another down leg.

Could Bitcoin and the altcoins sustain the recovery or will bears pull the price lower? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

The bulls are attempting to start a recovery in Bitcoin but the long wick on the June 21 candlestick suggests that bears are not willing to surrender their advantage.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trying to break out of a descending trend for the past week and the first attempt on June 16 failed to break the $22,600 resistance. The second attempt at $21,400 on June 21 was followed by an 8% price correction. After two failed breakouts, the price currently trades below $20,000 and raises questions on whether $17,600 was really the bottom.

The longer it takes for BTC to break from this bearish pattern, the stronger the resistance line becomes and traders are following the trend closely. That is precisely why it’s important for bulls to show strength during this week’s $2.25 billion monthly options expiry.

Regulatory uncertainty continues to weigh down on crypto markets after European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde voiced her conviction on the necessity of tighter scrutiny. On June 20, Lagarde expressed her thoughts on the sector’s staking and lending activities: "[...] the lack of regulation is often covering fraud, completely illegitimate claims about valuation and very often speculation as well as criminal dealings."

Bitcoin miners being forced to liquidate their BTC holdings is adding more negative pressure to BTC price and data from Arcane Research shows that publicly-listed Bitcoin mining firms sold 100% of their BTC production in May compared to the usual 20% to 40% in previous months. Collectively, miners hold 800,000 BTC, which creates concerns about a possible sell-off. The Bitcoin price correction drained miners' profitability because the production cost has, at times, exceeded their margins.

The June 24 options expiry will be especially alarming for investors because Bitcoin bears are likely to profit by $620 million by suppressing BTC below $20,000.