Market Update
The crypto market saw significant volatility last week as Bitcoin and Ethereum led a broader decline. Bitcoin dropped 3.6% early in the week ahead of the U.S. jobs report and fell further to below $54,000, triggering $93 million in liquidations within four hours. This downturn led to a market-wide loss of $170 billion, with Bitcoin and Ethereum responsible for most of the damage. Ethereum has underperformed Bitcoin by 44% since its Merge, struggling against resistance levels. Despite the bearish trends, some altcoins like Rollbit coin and Apecoin posted gains of over 27%. With political events like the Trump-Harris debate, volatility remains high, and analysts are split on whether the market is set for a further drop or a recovery.
Top Stories of the Week
Venezuelan Opposition Leader Proposes Establishing a Bitcoin Reserve
Maria Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader, has proposed the establishment of a bitcoin reserve as a strategic asset for the country, presenting it as a means to protect Venezuelans’ wealth against hyperinflation. She has initiated a bitcoin donation campaign via the Human Rights Foundation to support their democratic efforts. The campaign is aimed at aiding Venezuelans on the ground in a manner that cannot be obstructed by the current regime.
Corporate Bitcoin Adoption Surges in 2024, River Report Reveals
Corporate adoption of bitcoin has surged in 2024, with businesses holding 683,332 BTC, a 587% increase since 2020, and U.S. companies holding the majority share. Microstrategy and Tether are the leading corporate holders, and public companies with bitcoin have increased by 40% within a year, indicating a strong trend toward bitcoin as a long-term asset in corporate treasuries. River’s report forecasts continued growth in business bitcoin holdings and a preference for holding real bitcoin over ETFs due to regulatory advantages.
Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Increases Mining Output by 10%
Iris Energy reported a significant 10% increase in their bitcoin mining output for August 2024, reaching 245 bitcoin due to improved operational efficiency and a strategic shift to spot pricing for electricity. The company achieved operational hashrate growth to 10.94 petahash per second and enjoyed reduced electricity costs per bitcoin, which bolstered revenue to nearly $15 million despite increased network difficulty and a lower network hashprice. Despite these operational successes and plans to expand their mining capacity and AI cloud services segment, Iris Energy’s shares have experienced a downturn, declining 12.7% over the past week.
Fractal Bitcoin Set to Launch Sidechain With Unique Merged-Mining Mechanism
The Unisat wallet team is set to debut Fractal Bitcoin, a new sidechain of Bitcoin, on September 9th, featuring a novel mining process called “Cadence Mining.” This approach allows bitcoin miners to merge-mine with Fractal Bitcoin every three blocks, addressing typical concerns of merged mining regarding hashpower dilution and network security. Fractal Bitcoin promises a multi-layer architecture that secures near-limitless scalability and efficient transaction throughput for high-demand applications while maintaining the integrity of Bitcoin’s proof-of-work protocol.
Bitcoin Hashrate Hits Record High as Prices Drop Below $55K
Bitcoin’s hashrate reached a record high of 679 exahash per second (EH/s) as the cryptocurrency’s price fell below $55,000. This new peak surpasses the previous record set on July 25, 2024, by a margin of 2 EH/s, showing a consistent growth in network power. Despite this achievement, miner revenues have been relatively low, with the hashprice currently at $39.01 per PH/s per day.
Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Record $74 Million in Outflows, Grayscale Funds Lead Losses
On September 4, 2024, U.S. spot bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced significant outflows, with $37.29 million leaving bitcoin ETFs and $37.51 million from ethereum ETFs, with Grayscale’s products leading the losses. Grayscale’s GBTC and ETHE funds recorded the highest withdrawals, with some trusts like BITB seeing gains contrary to the wider trend. The outflows have reduced the cumulative net inflows for bitcoin and ethereum ETFs to $17.27 billion and $562.16 million, respectively.
UAE to Boost Global South Growth Through BRICS Membership
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined the BRICS group with a commitment to boost economic development in the Global South. The UAE seeks to enhance financial stability, sustainable development, and trade through cooperation with BRICS nations. This move aims to improve the UAE’s economic relations and influence in emerging markets, as well as supporting the New Development Bank’s development agenda for these regions.
Central Bank of Brazil Hints at a Future Integration of AI Into Its CBDC
The Central Bank of Brazil is considering the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) and data monetization into its central bank digital currency, Drex. The bank’s president, Roberto Campos Neto, identified AI and data monetization as future areas of their innovation agenda, alongside Pix, Drex, Currency Internationalization, and Open Finance. Although specific details on the integration have not been disclosed, the bank has established a Center of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence to enhance its operations through AI.
Polygon Completes MATIC to POL Upgrade
Polygon has upgraded its network token from MATIC to POL, transitioning POL to the primary token for gas and staking within its proof-of-stake network as of September 4, 2024. MATIC holders on Ethereum can easily transfer their assets to POL using the Polygon Portal interface. The upgrade is a step towards Polygon’s aim to build an aggregated blockchain network, with plans for the POL token to gain expanded utility in future phases pending community agreement.
