Cryptocurrency markets continue to trade sideways throughout this week, with Bitcoin and Ethereum holding support at the $20k and $1,300 levels, respectively. The global cryptocurrency market remains unchanged at $963 billion this Thursday. Still, the good news is that trading volume is starting to increase, which could signal a potential upcoming bull run next week.

Key Points:

• The cryptocurrency market continues to trade sideways, with the global market cap remaining at $960 billion.
• Reports suggest that the South Korean government seized nearly $40 million of Do Kwon’s assets, which the Terra Luna founder himself has refuted.
• Bitcoin.com CEO highlights how despite the debacles like Terra Luna and Celsius, Bitcoin could serve as a stepping stone to onboard investors to DeFi and cryptocurrencies due to its high resilience.
• Ethereum’s recently introduced MEV-Boost relays provide for a substantial increase in staking rewards but, on the other hand, perpetuate the block censorship issue for the ETH blockchain.
• Overall, the cryptocurrency market remains healthy but still in bearish territory, as its global valuation is below $1 trillion.

Bitcoin News

While not technically related to Bitcoin, the biggest news for crypto markets today relates to Terra Luna’s Do Kwon. According to reports, South Korea has frozen close to $40 million worth of crypto assets from Do Kwon. However, in a Twitter statement, the Terra Luna founder denied that the funds belong to him:

Do Kwon said:

“I don’t know whose funds they’ve frozen, but good for them, hope they use it for good.”

The responses to Do Kwon’s tweets were highly divided between community members accusing Do Kwon of running from authorities to others calling him a martyr and a victim of cancel culture.

While LUNC managed to increase its valuation past $1.8 billion, the global market cap is still down over 90% from its all-time high of $40 billion in April 2022.

Do Kwon’s location remains a mystery, and the LUNC saga is still unfolding.

Speaking of the collapse of Terra, a report by Cointelegraph covered Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis’ presentation at the Blockchain Economy Dubai Summit 2022, where he mentioned:

“Massive losses of investor funds like the collapse of Terra and the Axie Infinity Ronin hack have made DeFi unappealing to potential users. However, the executive believes that by using Bitcoin as a hook, DeFi can overcome the onboarding crisis brought about by its declining reputation.”

As the highest-valued crypto asset in the industry, Bitcoin serves as an anchor for investors who believe cryptocurrency is a risky endeavor. Despite its price fluctuations, Bitcoin is the most resilient and battle-tested blockchain network.

For those looking to invest in cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin remains one of the safest bets regarding longevity and confidence that your investment won’t randomly collapse due to a technical glitch.

Bitcoin is trading at $20,055, with a market capitalization of $384 billion. Its 24-hour trading volume is $36 billion, up over 7% in the past 24 hours.

Ethereum News

This week’s central Ethereum News is its MEV-Boost relays, which are software implementations for Ethereum validators that can provide an avenue for validators to increase their staking rewards by over 60%.

MEV-Boost is free and open-source software built for the Ethereum community. A recent report by Coindesk outlines that MEV-Boost can provide validators with a way to censor certain transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.

The problem of block censorship on Ethereum has been a longstanding problem, and the MEV-Boost implementation can perpetuate this issue.

Ethereum is trading at $1,365, up 1% in the past 24 hours. ETH’s market capitalization remains at $167 billion, with its 24-hour trading volume at $12 billion, up 24% in the past 24 hours.

Disclosure: This article is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always research before investing in Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other crypto assets.

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