Major coins remain green
What's being bought and sold*
TOP TRENDING ASSETS
*Trading activity in the past 24 hours on the Uphold platform, as of 8 a.m. EST 27th September 2023.
The combined total of buy and sell percentages can exceed 100% due to customers who engage in both buying and selling the same asset within the 24-hour time frame.
All investments and trading are risky and may result in the loss of capital. Cryptoassets are largely unregulated and are therefore not subject to protection.
What’s up
Big-Cap Coins Stay Positive As Q3 Winds Down
On the final hump day of September, at sunrise, approximately 6:30 a.m. (EST), the total cryptocurrency market capitalization had risen 0.6% to reach $1.09 trillion. That rather miniscule but still noteworthy advance came in the past 24 hours with the largest crypto, Bitcoin, straddling $26,400, having fully settled into a boring existence shaped mainly by macro.
Minor gains for major coins; 'tis the theme as Q3 '23 staggers to a not so stunning conclusion. For example, XRP, fifth-largest coin, enjoyed a half-percentage-point price increase since this time yesterday. XRP is fifty cents. That’s just the way it is now. Actually, momentarily, the digital asset commonly associated with Ripple lost its grip on $0.50 only to quickly, within hours, regain it.
Dogecoin (No. 9 on CoinGecko’s list of largest coins) also gained 0.5%.
Among Big Ten digital assets, Ethereum leads the way, up 1.9% in 24 hours and seemingly squared away in terms of being able to lay claim to its coveted $1,600 handle. However, the network still faces its fair share of strife.
What's down
Shunned Ethereum Looks To Shake Doldrums
Shrinking revenue and inflationary tokenomics has left Ethereum feeling like a pariah compared to Bitcoin which at least has a catalyst on the horizon in the form of a possible spot market ETF. Although, it would seem if such a regulatory blessing ever comes, an ETH-tracking ETF could soon follow.
But forget ETH, traders are signaling these days as they price in greater BTC volatility, relatively.
Crypto options exchange Deribit, back in early 2021, launched a forward-looking 30-day implied volatility index, the DVOL, which is not to be confused with "De Vol," provider of theme music for 1970s sitcoms like "The Brady Bunch."
Anyway, here's the story of a spread between ETH DVOL and BTC DVOL – consistently negative since Sept. 7; that represents the longest such stretch since Deribit started tracking such interrelated volatility measurements (CoinDesk).
As recently as August, the options market for ETH was skewed bearishly to the point where spreads between implied volatilities for call and put options (expiring in Q1 '24) slipped to conspicuously negative levels. This skew was taken at that time as a sign that ETH was falling out of favor, perhaps because it seemed as if regulators were hellbent on restricting every crypto save for BTC.
Looking further into the matter, CoinDesk, citing Matrixport, pegged the Ethereum network’s average monthly revenue at $178 million, or 364% lower than the $826 million figure seen during the bull market days of 2021.
Higher yields in safer instruments, like treasuries, have curbed enthusiasm for staking right as Ethereum transitioned to Proof-of-Stake.
Turns out, the U.S. Treasury Department has at least one other means of lashing out. Its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) just sanctioned an ETH wallet connected to a Mexican drug cartel.
What's next
Why Approve/Deny A BTC ETF Today When The Decision Can Be Pushed Off Until Tomorrow?
As for the likelihood of a BTC spot market ETF ever getting approval in the U.S. – let's just say the forecast is cloudy with a chance of curveballs.
On Tuesday, a quartet of Congressional members wrote a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler advocating for the immediate approval of a publicly traded spot BTC ETF. There is “no reason to continue to deny” spot crypto ETF applications following the Grayscale court decision, the four lawmakers told Gensler, Cointelegraph reports.
Around the same time yesterday, the SEC issued a notice regarding its decision to punt on making a decision on a pair of BTC ETF offerings proposed by Ark21Shares and GlobalX. It remains curiously murky why the agency chose to designate, and announce, extended time periods to determine the fate of the spot BTC ETF applications.
Because deadlines on these decisions were coming due on Oct. 7 for the latter application, made by GlobalX, and on Nov. 11 for the one made by Ark21Shares. Normally, the regulator waits until only a few days before any given deadline to file a delay.
According to Cointelegraph, the next deadlines for spot crypto ETF applications from seven major firms (BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, Bitwise, VanEck and Fidelity) are scheduled for next month.
Then again, the SEC could always push these deadlines off until March.
