Crypto Market Forecast: The week ahead, 13th July

Cryptocurrencies enjoyed a bullish week with many large-cap assets achieving strong gains. The Bitcoin price rose by ~2%. The Ethereum price rose ~6% and Ripple(XRP) was up ~13%. The overall market cap for cryptographic assets rose ~5%.

Dogecoin (DOGE), the proof-of-work cryptocurrency meme coin, was an alpha performer rising ~58% during the week. A push to buy the coin came from users of the popular video-sharing social media platform TikTok. Dogecoin awareness on the platform surged after a viral video urging users to purchase the crypto garnered 1.1 million views. In a recent price analysis of DOGE, Brave New Coin’s lead analyst Josh Olszewicz suggested that the coin remains an “important gateway and playground for the cryptocurrency curious."

Another alpha performer on the Brave New Coin market cap table was Vechain (VET) which rose ~27% during the week. In a keynote address at last week’s 2020 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) Vechain CEO Sunny Lu said interest in blockchain technology was surging following the spread of COVID-19. According to Lu, VeChain’s Blockchain as-a-service platform (BaaS) ToolChain, will make it easier for businesses to implement blockchain technology.

Also last week, investment firm Arca announced the Arca U.S. Treasury Fund, the first-ever product regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to offer digital securities. The fund is based on the Ethereum blockchain platform and will provide holders with interest payments on a quarterly basis. Shares in the fund are known as ArCoins. The fund will offer these payments by investing at least 80% of held assets into short term treasury securities. Any assets that are not invested in treasury securities will go into cash, cash equivalents, investment-grade fixed-income securities, or unrated assets that Arca has assessed as being of comparable quality.

Short term treasury securities include Treasury bills or T-bills that are sold in terms ranging from a few days to 52 weeks. T-bills are short-term U.S. government debt obligations backed by the Treasury Department with a maturity of one year or less. They are seen as secure, low risk investments. The ArCoin assets currently have a Net Asset Value of $1.00 and will be tradeable peer-to-peer on the Ethereum blockchain

Crypto news for the week ahead

15th July- Zcash Heartwood network upgrade

Privacy-focused blockchain project Zcash (ZEC) is expected to launch its fourth major upgrade this week called Heartwood. The new upgrade allows for more third-party integrations and improved privacy through a shielded coinbase. The price of Zcash (ZEC) has risen ~15% in the last week.

16th July- Republic token launches on Algorand platform

Republic, a private investment platform, will launch a digital profit-sharing token called Republic Note on the Algorand blockchain this week. Republic has over 700,000 users and the token will give holders access to profit from all deals done on the platform via a digital dividend. Republic allows non-accredited investors a chance to get in on early-stage startups with as little as $10 and the project has grown by over 700% in the last 18 months.

Top 10 Crypto Summary

It was a strong week for assets on the Brave New Coin market cap top 10 with most assets enjoying healthy green gains. Chainlink (LINK) is a new entrant to the top 10, its value surging by ~48% in the last week. Data provider Santiment indicates that active addresses on the Chainlink network have increased rapidly in recent weeks and the network is also seeing an increase in activity.

Bitcoin Price Chart

After an early surge to start the week, the Bitcoin price tapered off with the ending the week up just 2%. A recent analysis from Brave New Coin’s lead analyst Josh Olszewicz suggested that BTC needs to stay above the 9,000 dollar price level if BTC is to maintain a bullish price outlook.