Crypto Market Update: 25th November
A curated mid-week summary of forward-focused crypto news that matters. Today, large-cap assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum track sideways as macro events impact sentiment, while Metaverse momentum drives up related alt-coin markets.
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It has been a tepid week of trading in crypto markets with most large-cap assets down marginally or trading sideways. Bitcoin (BTC) is down ~2.2% this week, while Ethereum (ETH) is up ~0.5%.
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The Bitcoin price is down ~15% in the last two weeks. A factor in this bearish pressure is end-of-year profit-taking before the holiday season.
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There is also negative speculation in the markets that may be creating sell pressure. A trustee from the failed Mt. Gox exchange said on November 16th that a proposed rehabilitation plan to repay creditors is set to be “final and binding.”
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Creditors of the exchange, which went under in 2014, are now set to receive ~140,000 BTC, which is worth more than US$7 billion. If these tokens are sold or liquidated this could cause significant downward price momentum, and some holders may be exiting long-held positions before this occurs.
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Another factor in BTC’s fall in dollar value is the rise in the value of the US dollar itself. Yesterday the dollar established a new 16 month high against the Euro on the back of Fed officials indicating that they are flipping hawkish — raising interest rates to combat inflation and strong consumer spending data.
Altcoin Watch
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While much of the altcoin market has consolidated in the last week, some tokens have exploded in value and have even hit new all-time highs.
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Metaverse centric tokens Decentraland (MANA), The Sandbox (SAND), and Enjin (ENJ) are up ~47%, ~90%, and 47% respectively. The blockchain gaming space has exploded on the back of announcements like The Sandbox’s tie-up with fashion and sports giant Adidas.
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There is set to be an Adidas originals space within the Sandbox virtual reality world. Both companies announced the partnership on Twitter to great fanfare. There are also Sandbox spaces for other brands like Atari and the Walking Dead.
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Curve (CRV) is up ~48% so far this week. The native token of the 2nd largest DeFi protocol by AUM continues to surge as more CRV gets locked by yield farmers. Payouts for CRV holders are presently much higher than comparable governance tokens like COMP and Aave.
What we’re looking at:
Zcash explodes in value as it confirms Proof-of-stake transition.
The price of Zcash (ZEC) is up ~72% in the last six days after an announcement that the privacy coin protocol will be making a major transition from Proof-of-work consensus to Proof-of-stake. Zcash’s major developer the Electric Coin Company (ECC) made the news public on November 19th, revealing that the shift from PoW and PoS is set to occur over the next three years.
In the blog post, the ECC explained the reasons for the shift. These include a reduction in selling pressure on ZEC, as most Proof-of-work miners immediately sell their ZEC earnings for bitcoin or fiat. The ECC also wants to gear up ZEC for a Web3.0 future. They write that the transition to PoS will help Zcash offer users access to yield generation through staking and onchain governance.
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