Decentral Block Post

Argentina’s economic restrictions have reached the sports industry, with the first signing of a local football player with cryptocurrencies hitting national headlines.

The transfer of midfielder Giuliano Galoppo from Banfield's Athletic Club to Sao Paulo Futebol Clube was made in USD Coin (USDC), exceeding $6 million and up to $8 million depending on the volatile exchange rate of the Argentine peso, according to local sources. The transfer was made possible through a collaboration with the Mexican crypto exchange Bitso.

“We are very proud to work with these two clubs for this historical signing of Sao Paulo with all the safety, transparency and flexibility that the crypto economy has to offer,” said Thales Freitas, Bitso’s director in Brazil.

The transfer happened amid a difficult economic situation for Argentinian sports clubs. The reported exchange gap between pesos and dollars keeps escalating, affecting the possibility for football players to get signed by international teams and inducing them to renegotiate their contracts to adjust their salaries to the volatile dollar price.

The country’s unstable economy has led to a major adoption of cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins. The tendency toward stablecoins notoriously escalated after the shocking resignation of Argentina’s economy minister earlier this month.

Bitcoin mining involves a delicate balance between multiple moving parts. Miners already have to face capital and operational costs, unexpected repairs, product shipping delays and unexpected regulation that can vary from country to country — and in the case of the United States, from state to state. On top of that, they also had to contend with Bitcoin’s precipitous drop from $69,000 to $17,600. 

Despite BTC price being 65% down from its all-time high, the general consensus among miners is to keep calm and carry on by just stacking sats, but that doesn't mean the market has reached a bottom just yet.

In an exclusive Bitcoin miners panel hosted by Cointelegraph, Luxor CEO Nick Hansen said, “There’s going to definitely be a capital crunch in publicly listed companies or at least not even just publicly listed companies. There’s probably close to $4 billion worth of new ASICs that need to be paid for as they come out, and that capital is no longer available.”

Hansen elaborated with:

“Hedge funds blow up very quickly. I think miners are going to take 3 to 6 months to blow up. So we’ll see who’s got good operations and who’s able to survive this low margin environment.”

Bitcoin (BTC) hit a six-week high above $24,000 on July 29, extending its rally that picked up momentum after the United States Federal Reserve hiked rates by 75 basis points on July 27. If the rally sustains for the next two days, Bitcoin could be on target to close the month of July with gains of more than 20%, according to data from Coinglass.

It is not only the crypto markets that have seen a post-FOMC rally. The U.S. equities markets are on track for big monthly gains in July. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are up about 8.8% and 12% in July, on track to their best monthly gains since November 2020.

The crypto and equities markets have risen expecting that the pace of rate hikes by the Fed will slow down in the future. Arthur Hayes, ex-CEO of derivatives platform BitMEX, believes that the Fed will not increase rates further and may eventually return to accommodative monetary policy and more neutral rates.

Could Bitcoin and altcoins extend their recovery over the next few days? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin closed below the 20-day exponential moving average ($22,213) on July 25 but the bears could not sustain the lower levels. The bulls bought the dip below $21,000 and propelled the price back above the moving averages on July 27.

After failing to go live last month, the Cardano (ADA) Vasil hard fork is delayed again as teams behind the Cardano blockchain development target a smooth network upgrade.

Input Output Global (IOG), the organization responsible for Cardano’s research and development, released a YouTube update on Thursday on the upcoming Vasil hard fork.

IOG technical manager Kevin Hammond announced that the Vasil hard fork will be postponed one more time to ensure that all parties, including exchanges and API developers, are “all ready for that.” Hammond said:

“Obviously, from where we are, there could be a few more weeks before we go to the actual Vasil hard fork. [...] This is incredibly important. All the users must be ready to progress through the hard fork to ensure a smooth process.”

Hammond pointed out that IOG has been focused on solving some testnet issues, progressing with the Cardano node version 1.35.2. The new node version fixes issues related to stake pool operators, decentralized application (DApp) developers, internal testing and other issues identified on the testnet.

Ether's (ETH) 53% rally between July 13 and 18 gave bulls an edge in July's $1.26 billion monthly options expiry. The move happened as Ethereum developers set a tentative date for the "Merge," a transition out of the burdensome proof-of-work (PoW) mining mechanism.

According to some analysts, by removing the additional ETH issuing used to finance the energy cost required on traditional mining consensus, Ether could finally achieve the "ultra-sound money" status.

Whether or not sound monetary policy revolves around constantly changing the issuing and burning rules remains an open question, but there's no doubt that the Ethereum developers' video call on July 14 helped to catapult ETH price.

On July 26, a sudden dramatic spike in Ethereum network active addresses raised multiple speculations about whether Ether is targeting its previous all-time high. Analytics firm Santiment reported that the number of 24-hour daily active addresses reached 1.06 million, breaking the previous 718,000 high set back in 2018. Theories such as "Binance doing a maintenance sweep" emerged, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

The main victims of Ether's impressive 20% recovery on July 27 were leveraged bearish traders (shorts) who faced $335 million in aggregate liquidations at derivatives exchanges, according to data from Coinglass.

In this week's episode of Market Talks, we welcome the founder, chief investment officer and managing director of Morgan Creek Capital Management, Mark Yusko.

Mark W. Yusko is an investor and hedge fund manager. He is the founder, chief investment officer and managing director of Morgan Creek Capital Management and also the Co-Founder & Partner of Morgan Creek Digital.

The main topic for discussion with Mark is if we are finally at the end of this crypto winter and what that could mean for the future of the crypto market. Are we going to continue to move upwards in price or is there another fall below $17K not far off? 

With everyone's eyes on the latest FOMC meeting, we ask Mark about his thoughts on the importance of the FOMC meeting and what the hike in interest rates means for you as an individual and the markets as a whole. 

Even though some people might not want to admit it, it seems the US economy is in a recession, we ask Mark what his thoughts on the matter are and also why recessions are not necessarily a bad thing and might be an important part of any financial system. You might be wondering what is the best way to navigate the current market condition, don't worry we ask Mark what the best strategy is to use right now so you don't have to wonder any longer.

Bitcoin (BTC) regained more lost ground on the July 28 Wall Street open amid confusion over whether the United States had entered a new recession.

Analysts call recession for United States on GDP print

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked BTC/USD as it tested $23,000 for support after a leg up on the previous day's Federal Reserve rate hike.

Momentum benefited from U.S. GDP data, which fell for a second quarter in a row, thus meeting the requirements for a recession in the economy.

The situation remained unclear, however, thanks to comments from both Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the White House, both of whom insisted that no recession had arrived or was even forecast.

"While Powell stated that the U.S. is not in a recession, numbers from GDP gave two consecutive quarters of negative growth, meaning that the United States is in a recession!" Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe summarized about the curious status quo on the day.

Lido DAO (LDO) price has skyrocketed by roughly 400% month-to-date to reach $2.22 on July 28, its highest level in over two months.

LDO Mergified

LDO price has benefited majorly due to its association with Ethereum, the leading smart contract platform by total-value-locked (TVL) and market capitalization.

Notably, LDO serves as a governance token inside the Lido DAO ecosystem, a project that offers staking services for Ethereum.

The staking practice allows users to earn passive income without needing to sell their coins. It also helps validate transactions and secure the blockchain. In return, the protocol offers stakers rewards in the form of new tokens minted and fees collected.

Ethereum could become a full-fledged proof-of-stake blockchain by Sep. 19, the tentative date for "the Merge." A successful transition to proof-of-stake could mean more demand for Lido DAO services in the future.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) continues to reap benefits from its blockchain rival Ethereum's upcoming transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS). 

Vitalik Buterin likes Ethereum Classic

Notably, ETC's price jumped by a little over 20% to reach $27.50, two days after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's endorsement of Ethereum Classic went viral across social media. In his comments, Buterin presented the chain as a "fine" PoW alternative to Ethereum.

The statements appeared amid fears that Ethereum's potential network upgrade this September will force PoW miners elsewhere. 

In other words, they would be looking for alternative PoW networks to ensure that their rigs remain functional. That could benefit Ethereum Classic since it's the original version of Ethereum and could therefore ensure an easy migration for miners.

ETC technical outlook

Impressively, ETC price has rebounded by over 120% since mid June, making it the standout performer over the past month. Nonetheless, it is still down over 85% versus its May 2021 record high of $185, suggesting that its ongoing retracement move could technically be a bull trap.

Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) firm Unstoppable Finance has argued that Solana is more decentralized than people make it out to be. However, there’s another side that believes that the blockchain platform is actually more centralized.

In a blog post, the DeFi firm lays out its arguments, citing the blockchain network’s active validator count, Nakamoto coefficient and support for validator hardware, which is often argued to be expensive, as reasons for the network’s decentralization.

According to the post, Solana’s validator count is much higher than most other chains, excluding Ethereum. Additionally, Unstoppable Finance points out that Solana’s Nakamoto coefficient, a metric that measures the distribution of staked tokens and decentralization, is much higher than protocols like Cosmos and Near Protocol.

Regarding the criticisms that Solana’s validator hardware is expensive, Unstoppable Finance argues that Solana has already created a server rental program that deals with the issue. Despite the arguments in favor of Solana’s decentralization, some community members cannot be convinced that the platform is decentralized.

Twitter user Les_teezy believes that Solana's network outages are not the main problem; instead, the network is “too centralized,” giving only a few the influence to shut down and restart the network. The Twitter user highlighted that without decentralization, the network is just the same as any traditional system.

Solana (SOL) dipped to a two-week low at around $35.50 on July 26, mirroring downside moves elsewhere in the crypto market. Nonetheless, technicals suggests that Solana's price flirts with the prospects of rising 40% in August.

SOL hits key inflection point

Ironically, the bullish setup for Solana emerges out of a classic bearish continuation pattern.

On the daily chart, SOL's price has been consolidating inside what appears to be a "bear flag," a technical pattern that develops during a downtrend and gets resolved after the instrument exits it with further price drops.

The so-called bear flag breakdown has not happened yet. Instead, SOL has been holding the lower trendline as support, raising possibilities of a sharp rebound toward the upper trendline, as illustrated in the chart below.

The rebound setup exposes SOL to a potential rally toward $49.50 in August, up 40% from today's price. The $49-$50 level had served as both support and resistance in May.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell to $21,000 on July 26 after it emerged that major United States cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase was under investigation.

$21,000 now "super critical" for BTC bulls

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed a swift reversion to lower levels for BTC/USD as reports emerged of fresh legal problems for Coinbase over securities trading.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg originally reported, was looking into whether the exchange had allowed users to trade unregistered securities.

Part of a wider battle between the U.S. crypto industry and regulators over compliance, the move appeared to frighten the market, coming amid parallel allegations that a former executive conducted insider trading.

With that, Bitcoin was back to defending $21,000 as support on the day, with commentator Mark Cullen stressing that the level must hold for bulls to stay in control.

While public acceptance remains key to crypto’s existence, the road to mainstream crypto adoption requires governments to set up a supporting infrastructure that complements the requirements of the technology and the people. 

Factors such as crypto ATM installations, pro-crypto regulations, startup culture and a fair tax regime signal a country’s readiness to adopt cryptocurrencies. Considering these factors, a Forex Suggest study revealed Hong Kong’s position as the best-prepared country for widespread cryptocurrency adoption, with a crypto-readiness score of 8.6. Despite having a bigger crypto infrastructure than the island nation, the United States and Switzerland made it to the top three with lower crypto-readiness scores of 7.7 and 7.5, respectively, as shown below.

The biggest factors considered in the study to calculate a country’s readiness were the number of crypto ATM installations proportional to the population and geographical size of the jurisdiction and the number of blockchain startups per 100,00 people. As a result, Hong Kong’s smaller land mass helped the country top the list. 

CoinATMRadar data shows that the U.S. houses 88% of the global crypto ATM installations. On the contrary, Hong Kong installed a network of 146 crypto ATMs, representing just 0.4% of crypto ATMs worldwide. Owing to the smaller area, Hong Kong residents are never more than 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) away from a crypto ATM.

On the other hand, Switzerland has a crypto ATM every 161.5 miles (260 km), while the U.S. has installed crypto ATMs every 168.3 miles (271 km). 

The total crypto market capitalization broke above $1 trillion on July 18 after an agonizing thirty-five-day stint below the key psychological level. Over the next seven days, Bitcoin (BTC) traded flat near $22,400 and Ether (ETH) faced a 0.5% correction to $1,560.

The total crypto capitalization closed July 24 at $1.03 trillion, a modest 0.5% negative seven-day movement. The apparent stability is biased toward the flat performance of BTC and Ether and the $150 billion value of stablecoins. The broader data hides the fact that seven out of the top-80 coins dropped 9% or more in the period.

Even though the chart shows support at the $1 trillion level, it will take some time until investors regain confidence to invest in cryptocurrencies and actions from the United States Federal Reserve could have the largest impact on price action.

Furthermore, the sit and wait mentality could be a reflection of important macroeconomic events scheduled for the week ahead. Broadly speaking, worse than expected data tends to increase investors' expectations of expansionary measures, which are beneficial for riskier assets like cryptocurrency.

The Federal Reserve policy meeting is scheduled for July 26 and 27, and investors expect the United States central bank to raise interest rates by 75 basis points. Moreover, the second quarter of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of economic activity — will be released on July 27.

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins are witnessing profit-booking on July 25 as the bulls scale back their positions before the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on July 26 through July 27. This indicates that the sentiment remains fragile and that bulls are not confident about carrying long positions into the event.

Several analysts have retained their bearish view after Bitcoin failed to sustain above the 200-week moving average at $22,780. CryptoQuant contributor Venturefounder expects the selling to resume and Bitcoin to fall as low as $14,000 before a macro bottom is confirmed.

The institutional investors seem to be absent from the markets and the recovery is being driven by the retail investors. Data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode showed that investors holding one Bitcoin or less have been aggressively accumulating “more now than ever.”

Could retail investors continue their frantic pace of purchasing and put a floor below Bitcoin and altcoins? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin rebounded off the 20-day exponential moving average ($21,857) on July 23 but the bulls could not clear the hurdle at $23,363 on July 24. This suggests that bears are aggressively defending the overhead resistance.