Volatility cools
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. 30th August 2024.
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.
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What’s up
DOGE Pops After Musk Courtroom Win
When Elon Musk said he wanted to put a "literal Dogecoin in SpaceX and fly it to the moon" he should not have been taken literally, or so ruled a judge presiding over a lawsuit alleging Musk manipulated the price of Dogecoin (DOGE).
Last night, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein dismissed a suit filed in 2022 by a group of investors claiming Musk used his social media prowess to influence DOGE moves. Prior to owning Twitter (now X), Musk maintained a massive following on it, and it was via tweets that he floated musings such as "DOGE might become the standard for the global financial system."
Hellerstein, per a CoinDesk report, wrote in his judgment that Musk's statements were "aspirational and puffery, not factual and susceptible to being falsified," and also that "no reasonable investor could rely upon them."
DOGE, ninth-largest digital asset, hit its all-time high of $0.73 – and then fell 30% in mere hours – in early May of 2021. The spike/tank occurred before/after Musk appeared on "Saturday Night Live" at which time he referred to himself as "the Dogefather" and also dismissed DOGE as a "hustle."
Early this morning, at about 7 a.m. (EST), DOGE was a dime after a +1% gain over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Later in the morning, we saw the biggest memecoin slipping alongside many of the biggest-cap coins in general.
What's down
Swingin’ Bitcoin Settles For Sideways
The Labor Day weekend travel rush is in full swing, although Bitcoin's flight got cancelled. After yesterday crossing $60K and then quickly notching $61K, the largest crypto spent the rest of Thursday skidding to below $59K, a dalliance with desperation that lasted only briefly during the wee hours of Friday morning.
Seems like BTC's jerky antics have quieted. When we checked BTC's spot price at 8:50 a.m. (EST), it was roughly $59,700, or almost right where it was yesterday at this time.
Sideways is good, said Gav Blaxberg, CEO of WOLF Financial. Blaxberg insists BTC's sideways movement since spring is a sign of healthy consolidation, not an impending crash. Note too that July and August historically have been tough on BTC, according to Fundstrat's Head of Digital Asset Strategy Sean Farrell.
Numerous analysts are singing from the same song sheet, producing an uplifting chorus of "stay calm" harmonies.
This summer's see-saw between $50K and $60K is "kind of normal," said TheStreet's Rob Nelson.
The sideways trend could stick around into the fall. Fairlead Strategies' founder Katie Stockton, noting this month's amplified crypto volatility, told CoinDesk she foresees a range-bound environment for digital assets in the coming month.
What's next
Congress Goes Whole Hog On Crypto
In a series of hearings scheduled for the month ahead, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee intends to examine a wide range of crypto issues.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler is set to appear before the committee at the end of September. He'll surely be asked about oversight and enforcement. And there is to be a deep dive into the DeFi industry, a source on Capitol Hill tells CoinDesk.
Additionally, the committee wants to probe "pig butchering" schemes.
Pig butchering, as Chainalysis explains, involves scammers "fattening up" targets, or building their trust, done via a range of tactics, including even romantic overtures, prior to presenting them with a fake investment opportunity that ultimately leads to a theft of funds.
