The cryptocurrency market’s momentum is slowing down once again after exhibiting high trading volume throughout the week. Bitcoin and Ethereum’s price manages to hold support, with BTC trading above $19k and ETH holding above $1,300. Let’s look at any relevant news affecting crypto prices this week.

Key Points:

• The cryptocurrency market is losing momentum as the week ends.
• Despite dropping trading volume, BTC manages to hold above $19k while ETH trades above $1,300.
• Bitcoin might be starting to depeg from the stock market as investors consider it a viable inflation hedge.
• Ethereum continues to perform well, with Ethereum fork POW receiving support from Binance in a newly launched pool.
• Overall the crypto market remains healthy while still in bearish territory. We’re unlikely to see any significant moves this week with the decrease in trading volume.

Bitcoin News

While Bitcoin can be considered an inflation hedge, the leading crypto asset’s performance has been intimately linked with global markets. However, the linear relationship between stock and crypto might be depegging as Bitcoin manages to hold support today while major stocks like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ opened in the red.

While the global cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped significantly from $3 trillion to $943 billion at the time of writing, there is hope that the crypto market is bottoming out and could reverse its pattern soon, regardless of the global state of the economy.

In other news, an article by The Guardian highlights Bitcoin mining’s impact on the environment and how the environmental damage of producing cryptocurrency is more significant than gold mining.

It’s not news that cryptocurrency proof-of-work mining utilizes a substantial amount of electricity, putting heavy pressure on the environment. This could lead to other cryptocurrencies that use a proof-of-stake system, like Ethereum, taking the lead in the market.

Ethereum News

While Ethereum’s merge has been a success, experts praise the network for transitioning into a more sustainable proof-of-stake system. A recent report from Coindesk brings attention to Binance’s new Ethereum proof-of-work mining pool, which has launched with no fees.

Binance has launched support for EthereumPoW (ETHW), Ethereum’s proof-of-work fork meant to provide Ethereum miners with a way to continue utilizing their machines.

While ETHW has a much smaller market cap than Ethereum, currently at $1.4 billion, it still makes for an attractive speculative venture for miners who want to continue mining Ethereum with their rigs.

With Binance’s announcement of the proof-of-work mining pool, ETHW’s price saw a substantial gain of over 8% in the past 24 hours, currently trading at $11.91.

Ethereum is trading at $1,326, up 1% in the past 24 hours. Its market cap is $162 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $14 billion, down 29% in the past 24 hours.

As the week is ending, we’re unlikely to see any significant volatility from Ethereum. The cryptocurrency will likely hold support at the $1,300 level until deciding its following move next week.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

Follow us on Twitter @themerklehash to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, and Metaverse news!