Bitcoin is currently trading flat, just above the support level of US$29,000. The token’s volatility is at a record low. Ether is also not showing much movement, while other top 10 cryptocurrencies are trading mixed. Solana has emerged as the winner among the non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies. The Forkast 500 NFT index has seen a slight drop, and U.S. stock futures are on the rise after losses last week. Investors are eagerly awaiting corporate earnings reports and U.S. inflation data this week.
Bitcoin has experienced a slight decline of 0.03% in the past 24 hours, reaching US$29,039.48. It has also fallen 0.78% over the past week. Ether has dipped 0.48% to US$1,826, and experienced a 1.89% decline over the past seven days.
According to Alex Kuptsikevich, a senior market analyst at FxPro, Bitcoin has been fluctuating around the US$29,200 mark. This is noteworthy because the U.S. dollar has been growing and the equity market has experienced significant profit-taking. Kuptsikevich suggests that a drop below US$28,800 could lead to a further decline to US$28,000 or even US$27,000. Conversely, a rise above US$29,500 could result in Bitcoin quickly reaching US$30,000 and potentially even US$31,000.
The Bitcoin volatility index, which measures expected volatility over the next 30 days, hit a record low of 34.02%. This signifies a period of low volatility, which has historically been followed by significant price movements for Bitcoin.
Other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies have had mixed performances, with Solana emerging as the winner with a growth of 2.51% to US$23.18. However, it has experienced a weekly loss of 4.47%. Dogecoin is the biggest loser, falling 1.97% to US$0.07418, with a weekly decline of 4.92%.
The total crypto market capitalization has experienced a slight decrease of 0.12% in the past 24 hours to reach US$1.16 trillion, while the trading volume has increased by 1.42% to US$20.62 billion.
The Forkast 500 NFT index has edged up 0.28% in the past 24 hours, reaching 2,459.91. However, it has experienced a weekly decline of 3.34%. Other indexes for Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon NFT markets are showing losses, with only the Cardano index showing growth.
Total NFT trading volume has fallen 12.78% in the past 24 hours to US$14.78 million. The top three NFT collections in terms of trading volume are Mythos Chain-based game NFT marketplace DMarket, Ethereum-based Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and ImmutableX-based Gods Unchained Cards.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning about NFT phishing scams, where fraudsters pose as NFT developers to trick users into linking their digital wallets to smart contracts that extract their funds. Additionally, NFT creators have seen a significant decline in royalties, with total royalties received dropping from US$269 million in January 2022 to just US$4.3 million in July 2023. This decline is attributed to a decrease in NFT trades and increased competition between NFT marketplaces.
In the U.S. stock market, futures are trading higher following losses last week. The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower on Friday. In Asia, stock indexes in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan are all experiencing losses.
The U.S. labor market is showing signs of cooling as the economy added 187,000 payrolls in July, which is lower than expected. However, hourly average wages experienced a higher-than-expected increase of 4.4%. This data suggests a cooling labor market but double the expected wage inflation.
Investors are now eagerly awaiting the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report and the producer price index (PPI) report this week. These reports will provide insight into U.S. inflation and the future direction of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies. The Fed is set to meet in September to make its next move on interest rates. Currently, there is an 86.5% chance of no interest rate hike in September, according to analysts.
