After testing support on Friday, Bitcoin and Ethereum prices rise this Saturday as BTC rallies past $24k and ETH pushes closer to the $2k level, attempting to break its 3-month high. While the overall trading volume for BTCUSD and ETHUSD is declining, the market is showing significant upside, with the global cryptocurrency market cap rising by 3.53%, currently at $1.17 trillion.
Key Points:
Bitcoin continues its slow and steady move upwards, breaking through its monthly high of $24.5k. While the 24-hour trading volume for BTCUSD is down over 17% this weekend, the market is looking to establish support at a higher level, possibly pushing to the $25k range.
While things might be looking bullish for Bitcoin, an increase in price combined with a decrease in trading volume suggests a possible price reversal. As such, it would be a good idea to keep a close eye on BTC for a possible test of support at the $23k range in the next few days. At the same time, considering today is Saturday, the decrease in trading volume correlates with weekend trading.
While Bitcoin managed to surpass its monthly high, Ethereum is aiming even higher, looking to breach its 3-month high of $2.1k. Currently trading at $1,981, ETHUSD is showing substantial bullish momentum with only a 5% decrease in the 24-hour trading volume.
ETH continues to outperform Bitcoin daily and, with the recent price hike, surpassed 50% of its market cap. ETH’s valuation is $241 billion, compared to Bitcoin’s $467 billion. Moreover, we’re seeing BTC dominance drop below the 40% range, currently at 39.8%, with ETH dominance at 20%.
Traders are considering the possibility of Ethereum overtaking Bitcoin in terms of market cap in the next few months if the smart contracts platform continues to outperform BTC daily. This week, Ethereum saw an increase of 15% compared to Bitcoin’s 5% price hike, making the dream of “The Flippening” much closer to reality.
After the United States government sanctioned the Bitcoin mixer Tornado Cash for providing a platform for hackers to launder millions in stolen funds, a suspected developer of the mixer was arrested in Switzerland.
According to an official press release from FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service), an agency of the government based in the Netherlands responsible for investigating financial crimes:
“On Wednesday, 10 August, the FIOD arrested a 29-year-old man in Amsterdam. He is suspected of involvement in concealing criminal financial flows and facilitating money laundering through the mixing of cryptocurrencies through the decentralized Ethereum mixing service Tornado Cash.”
The announcement states that the investigation into Tornado Cash started in June 2022 and claimed that Tornado Cash has been used to “conceal large-scale criminal money flows.”
The arrest comes two days after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash and prohibited United States citizens from interacting with the mixing service, placing it on its SDN list (Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Person List).
The action by the U.S. Treasury caused a significant backlash in the crypto community, with Omid Malekan, adjunct professor at Columbia Business school, saying:
“The decision has broad consequences both for the industry and beyond because for the first time ever, the US government has criminalized interacting with software. This is a big departure from their traditional decrees of sanctioning people, companies, and governments. There is evidence the project in question has indeed been used by criminals/hackers to obfuscate their funds, but there are also many legitimate uses. By sanctioning it entirely, the government has effectively criminalized the mere act of seeking financial privacy.”
While financial privacy is a right every United States citizen should possess, to achieve privacy, one doesn’t need to support a service that effectively creates a safe haven for criminals.
Suppose you want to achieve financial privacy and protect your funds from the public’s blockchain analysis. In that case, a simple deposit and withdrawal to a reputable exchange will accomplish the same goal.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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