After over 11 years of inactivity, a dormant Bitcoin address containing $31 million in BTC suddenly came to life recently. On July 22, 2023, the address transferred its entire balance to a new address.

Early BTC Address Comes Back To Life

Bitcoin has been around since 2009, so there are dormant addresses that have been inactive for years that contain large amounts of BTC. Some of the early adopters of this cryptocurrency were able to buy in very cheap but the private keys to many of these addresses have been lost, locking them forever. Every now and then, however, some of these addresses suddenly come back to life as the owner regains asses to the funds.

The address here was one of the earliest Bitcoin addresses. According to on-chain data, it received its first transaction of 1,037 BTC in November 2012. At the time, the price of each BTC sold for only $12.41. It then received regular small deposits of BTC over the years. With the price of Bitcoin now at $29,828, this sets the total price at just over $31 million.

? ? ? ? A dormant address containing 1,037 #BTC (31,080,234 USD) has just been activated after 11.3 years!https://t.co/6cW9vnTOhD

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 22, 2023

There are a few possibilities for what could have prompted the owner to suddenly move these funds after all this time, ranging from regaining control of the private keys to cashing out and taking a profit. Whatever the reason, the sudden reawakening of dormant Bitcoin addresses has the potential to cause a stir and spark interest in the Bitcoin community.

BTC price remains below $30,000 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com

Implications For The Price Of Bitcoin

When a large amount of BTC suddenly moves, it can cause temporary price fluctuations. An immediate selloff of the assets can lead to a drop in the market price of Bitcoin. However, these effects are often short-lived. Over the long run, an increase in circulating supply is unlikely to significantly impact Bitcoin’s price due to the rapid rate of adoption.

Dormant BTC addresses have also been showing up in a flurry this year. Back in May, a similar address containing 1,000 BTC that was dormant for more than 11 years moved 400 BTC to a new wallet. In February, a BTC address that had been dormant for 11 years came back to life to move $9.6 million worth of BTC.

These examples show that even if an address has been dormant for a long time, there is always a possibility of the funds moving again. However, many of these addresses seem to be lost forever. According to IntoTheBlock, around 29% of the total Bitcoin circulating supply is now presumed lost forever after remaining stagnant for over five years.S

Digital asset management platform Blofin has released a report that explores the changing narrative of the cryptocurrency market, focusing on the diverging correlation between Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

The report suggests that BTC is becoming an increasingly prominent macro underlying asset, approaching the status of traditional assets such as foreign exchange and precious metals, while ETH’s narrative is shifting towards mega stocks.

BTC Gaining Prominence As Macro Underlying Asset

According to the report, the attractiveness of ETH for liquidity may continue to be weaker than that of BTC, especially in the current era of “lack of liquidity,” unless there is a grander narrative and widespread application.

Moreover, the report notes that a new Crypto 3.0 narrative has emerged, which combines macro trading, artificial intelligence (AI), and other factors. The report suggests that BTC’s macro attributes have been continuously strengthened by existing and external liquidity preferences, with the Bitcoin network becoming a natural macro underlying asset.

The report also highlights the importance of BTC being a fully compliant asset, unlike ETH, which has not been recognized as a security by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This ambiguity around ETH’s status implies risk, while BTC has been identified as a commodity. Institutions are less likely to take risks on compliance, making BTC the preferred choice for many investors.

Last but not least, the report also considers three scenarios for the future price of BTC, depending on changes in interest rates and market expectations.

The most optimistic scenario involves a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) passing and pushing BTC’s market share up to 60%, resulting in a market cap of $960b and a unit price of over $49,400.

However, if investors have no better expectations and the crypto market capitalization is limited, the market capitalization of BTC will fluctuate between $600-$700b, and the price will fluctuate between $30,880-$36,026.

Caution Until Bitcoin Can Sustain Above $32,000

Capriole Invest, a leading provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investment strategies, has released its latest Bitcoin Macro Index report.

The report provides a comprehensive and data-driven analysis of the current state of the cryptocurrency market, combining over 40 powerful on-chain, macro market, and equity indicators into a single machine-learning model.

The report reveals that Bitcoin is facing significant resistance at the $32,000 mark, despite a series of positive news stories for the industry in recent weeks.

While the Blackrock ETF announcement, XRP legal victory, and backing from presidential candidate Kennedy for backing the US Dollar with Bitcoin have all made headlines, they have not been able to sustain momentum above $31,000.

According to the report, until Bitcoin can convincingly sustain price levels above $32,000, it is prudent to be conservative in the upper $30,000 region. On the high timeframe technicals, Bitcoin has failed to break out of weekly resistance at $32,000, suggesting a greater area of opportunity on a $32,000 break or reversion to the mid-$20,000s.

The report concludes that while opportunities for trades may exist if the range lows can hold on to the lower time-frames at the end of the day, the risk-reward opportunity is not present for high-conviction investments. Despite a 50% increase in Bitcoin’s mining network in the last six months, long-term value remains, but now is probably not the time to go all-in.

At present, Bitcoin is facing a challenge to maintain its position above the crucial $30,000 line, which is a fundamental psychological level for investors with a positive outlook for the cryptocurrency.

The leading digital asset in the market is currently trading at $29,750, indicating a 0.8% decline in the past 24 hours.

Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com

Cathie Wood, the CEO of ARK Investment Management, has reaffirmed her bullish stance on Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, despite ARK’s recent sale of COIN stocks. Wood’s optimism comes in the wake of Ripple’s partial victory over the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 13.

This ruling, while not entirely in favor of Ripple, has been viewed as a positive development for the broader crypto industry, particularly for crypto exchanges. Moreover, Wood’s confidence aligns with other experts who believe that this ruling could have significant implications for Coinbase and its ongoing legal battles with regulatory authorities.

Ripple Court Ruling: A Boost for Crypto Exchanges and Coinbase

The recent court ruling in favor of Ripple against the SEC has sparked reactions within the crypto industry. Cathie Wood, along with several industry pundits, has lauded the ruling, recognizing its potential positive impact on Coinbase and other exchanges.

The court found that XRP tokens sold to retail investors on crypto exchanges were not securities, setting a precedent that could favor Coinbase and Binance in their legal disputes with the SEC.

Wood, in a video posted on Bloomberg’s Twitter handle, emphasized that despite receiving a Wells notice in March and facing a lawsuit from the SEC in June, Coinbase’s share price demonstrated resilience, suggesting the robustness of its stock value.

The CEO’s bullish comments come after ARK Investment Management recently sold a significant number of Coinbase shares, with three of its ETFs cashing in on the exchange’s rally. Despite these sales, Wood’s bullish outlook on Coinbase remains unshaken.

COIN price sitting at $106.75 | Source: Coinbase Global, Inc. on TradingView.com

The cryptocurrency exchange’s share price, which started the year at $33.60, has surged over 184%, reaching $105.55 at the time of publication. However, while industry players increasingly express optimism toward Coinbase, analysts from Berenberg Capital Markets caution that various regulatory challenges for crypto exchanges are yet to be fully resolved.

Regulatory Concerns Linger Despite Coinbase’s Resilience

Despite Coinbase’s strong performance and Wood’s optimism, regulatory uncertainties persist within the crypto exchange sector. Berenberg Capital Markets analysts highlight unresolved aspects of crypto exchange regulation, including concerns about Coinbase Earn, a product that offers yield on crypto staking.

The comments made by Judge Analisa Torres raise questions about the potential classification of Coinbase Earn as a security, signaling the need for further clarity in this area.

Nevertheless, Wood’s continued bullish stance on Coinbase following the Ripple court ruling reflects her confidence in the exchange’s ability to navigate regulatory challenges successfully.

It is also crucial to acknowledge that the evolving regulatory landscape and ongoing legal battles with the SEC require careful monitoring. Achieving clarity and resolution in crypto exchange regulation remains essential to ensure the long-term stability and growth of the industry.

On-chain data shows a PEPE whale has made a large deposit to Binance, something that could provide an impedance to the meme coin’s rally.

PEPE Whale Has Deposited $7.2 Million To Binance

According to data from the cryptocurrency transaction tracker service Whale Alert, a massive PEPE transfer has occurred on the Ethereum blockchain during the past day.

The transaction in question involved the movement of 3.94 trillion PEPE, which was worth almost $7.2 million at the time the transfer went through on the network.

Generally, only the whale entities are capable of making such large moves, so it’s reasonable to assume that a whale investor would have been behind this transfer.

Due to the massive amount of capital involved in transactions of these humongous investors, they can sometimes cause noticeable fluctuations in the price of the asset.

As such, the movements of the whales can be something to watch out for. How such transfers may affect the market, though, depends on the exact intent the investor had behind it.

Here are some additional details regarding the relevant PEPE whale transfer, which may shed some light on what the whale wanted to achieve with the move:

Looks like this large transfer on the Ethereum blockchain only cost a fee of about $2.5 to go through | Source: Whale Alert

As you can see above, the sending address in the case of this PEPE transfer is an unknown wallet, meaning that it’s an address unattached to any known centralized platform, making it likely that it’s the personal wallet of an investor.

The receiving address, on the other hand, looks to be a wallet affiliated with a centralized platform. More specifically, this address is connected to the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Transfers like these, where coins move from self-custodial wallets to exchanges are called “exchange inflows.” As one of the main reasons why investors may deposit their coins to these platforms is for selling-related purposes, exchange inflows can provide hints about the selling pressure in the market.

In the current case, as the whale has made a rather large inflow to these platforms, it’s possible that the price of the meme coin may suffer bearish consequences from it.

Naturally, this would only be so if the PEPE whale in question truly made these deposits with selling in mind, and not for using any of the other services the Binance platform offers.

Though, considering that the exchange inflow has occurred following a rapid 17% rise in the meme coin’s value, there is probably a fair chance that the whale is indeed looking to sell and take advantage of this profitable exit opportunity.

So far, however, the PEPE price has only moved mostly sideways since the whale made the transfer, implying that, if the whale indeed sold the coins, the market currently has enough buying pressure that the selling has simply been absorbed.

Another possibility, though, may be that the whale has only made the deposit in advance and is yet to actually the pull trigger on selling the stack, perhaps to see if the price goes up further. Naturally, if this is the case, the price would feel a bearish effect from this later down the line.

PEPE Price

At the time of writing, PEPE is trading around $0.000001736, up 11% in the last week.

PEPE has shot up during the past day | Source: PEPEUSD on TradingView

On July 13, Ripple triumphed significantly in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on the XRP case. Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of Ripple in a case originally initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020.

In recently filed documents on July 13, Judge Torres issued a summary judgment, decisively supporting payment company Ripple and its claim over the SEC. The judgment affirms that XRP token sales made by the payment company, at the center of the case, are not classified as a security.

The decision immediately impacted the XRP price, which surged over 35% in the wake of the ruling. The ruling cleared a substantial part of Ripple’s operations from being targeted by the SEC’s crackdown.

The court’s decision acknowledged that the Programmatic Sales and sales made by Ripple executives Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse do not qualify as investment contracts.

However, the ruling only partially resolves the legal dispute with the SEC. The court has invalidated the investment contract designation for Programmatic Sales and other forms of distributions, but other items remain disputed.

The value of XRP has surged from $0.45 to $0.62. This price surge has caused XRP to reach a yearly high. The coin attained this price level in early May of the preceding year.

XRP Price Analysis: One-Day Chart

On the daily chart, XRP has experienced an impressive 34% increase, trading at $0.62. Over the week, XRP has gained nearly 30%. However, as of the time of writing, the token was considered oversold. It suggests that a price retracement may be possible in the upcoming trading sessions.

In the past, when XRP reached $0.60, the price suffered a sharp drop shortly after that. The coin faces overhead resistance at $0.67.

Moving above this level could help XRP retain its gains for longer. If there is a price pullback, the first line of support is $0.57. A drop below this level would take XRP down to $0.50.

The technical outlook indicates excessive bullish strength, with demand and accumulation showing significant positivity.

The Relative Strength Index is above 80, which suggests that the token is overbought and overvalued, increasing the likelihood of a price retracement.

However, demand is expected to remain positive if the price stays above the 20-Simple Moving Average line (red), which coincides with the $0.58 price mark.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence reflects price momentum and trend reversals and shows a tall green histogram, indicating a signal to buy. The next few trading sessions will be critical for XRP.

Litecoin has seen one of the most impressive runs of any cryptocurrency over the last couple of weeks and this run has propelled the altcoin’s standing in the industry. After rallying more than 30% over a period of three weeks, the digital asset is now the 10th-largest cryptocurrency in the space.

LTC’s Market Cap Crosses $7.1 Billion

In the space of a month, the price of Litecoin’s native LTC token shot up from its June lows of $71 and moved as high as $115 before the rally burned out. Following this, the market cap of the digital asset moved up rapidly, beating out some heavy hitters in the space.

Currently, the market cap of the altcoin is sitting above $7.1 billion, despite the price falling back below the $100 level. Its market cap now makes it the 10th-largest cryptocurrency in the market, coming out ahead of the likes of Polygon (MATIC), Tron (TRX), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Litecoin’s standing now makes it the seventh most valuable cryptocurrency in the market when stablecoins are removed from the top 10. This move has also solidified Litecoin’s position as an important player, despite its price correction.

LTC price hits local high of $115 before correction | Source: LTCUSD on TradingView.com

Could Litecoin Run Further From Here?

The biggest bull case for the price of LTC is the Litecoin halving event that is coming up. Only 20 days away from now, investors are already gearing up for what is expected to be a very significant event. These expectations also naturally extend to the price and this could be the reason that the digital asset’s price continues to rise.

Just the anticipation from the last month alone has seen the price cross $115 at its local high. But as the event draws closer and this bullish sentiment continues, the LTC price could quickly reclaim this price and run another 50%.

LTC halving event happening in 20 days | Source: Litecoin Halving

In one instance, crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe has predicted that LTC could rally as high as $200 off the halving event alone. If this happens, then investors could be looking at gains of over 100% just from the current bounce-off point.

However, one concern is that the Litecoin halving could end up being a ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ event. Examples of this have been the Cardano Alonzo upgrade in 2021 and Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade in 2023.

In both of these cases, the token prices rallied in the weeks leading up to the event but eventually fell flat and retraced once the event was completed. So if Litecoin ends up in the same trend, then it would be best to sell in the weeks leading up to the event.

For now, LTC’s price is still holding steady at $97, despite nursing 8.09% losses on the 7-day chart.