Over the past two weeks, the king of cryptos, Bitcoin, has been stubbornly tucked under the $26,000 level, with a daily change of -0.1% dropping its price to roughly $25,700. Frankly, if one here had a heart monitor attached to the CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) in recent days, they’d soundly sleep through its flat-line echoes.
Why the lull, one might ask? The crypto pallet seems drained and Bitcoin holds its collective breath, waiting for stimuli from the broader market and news punch from the Fed’s corner. The words of Yuya Hasegawa, a leading figure at Bitbank, clearly reflect such sentiment; he diagnoses the departure of most speculative money from our playing field.
Yet, while BTC takes a side seat, the crypto analytics firm K33 sets its gaze on the other industry titan, ETH. They ambitiously project that ETH will outpace Bitcoin in the following two months. This optimistic prediction is nourished by the upcoming mid-October verdict on the U.S.’ inaugural ether ETF approval. But can investors really ride this momentum wave as it nears its crest?
Drawing on Bitcoin’s historical lackluster performance during September, it appears as though the odds might indeed be “stacked in favor of ETH,” in senior analyst Vetle Lunde’s words. He harks back to the stunning 60% gain that Bitcoin merited in the weeks leading to a futures-based ETF endorsement last year.
Meanwhile, we might witness another monumental shift in the crypto landscape, as the first legally issued digital security may enter the retail environment later this month. SOMA Finance, a business offspring of MANTRA DAO and Tritaurian Capital, aims to dispatch tokens valued at up to $5 million. These tokens will purportedly give holders dividend rights on profits. SOMA’s daring venture could set a precedent, addressing the long-held critique that crypto tokens lack the financial backing in equity or debt from the issuer.
The crypto market leader, Binance, stands tall amidst fluctuating regulatory suspicions. Staggering figures from FRNT Financial illustrate Binance’s overwhelmingly dominant trading volume in the BTC spot market this year, with Binance’s bitcoin-tether pair tallying up to 86% of global transactions. This unrivaled position secures their stance as an entity that, simply put, is too crucial to falter.
All said, facing criticism, keen competition, and regulatory hurdles, the crypto market is endeavoring to prove its viability and potential. One can only watch as these riveting powerplays unveil themselves in the coming weeks.
Source: Coindesk
