Good morning. Here's what happened:
Prices: A day after bitcoin posted its ninth consecutive weekly record decline, the price of the largest cryptocurrency rose the most since early March.
Insights: Ethereum's gas fees are at a record low, reports Sam Reynolds.
PricesBitcoin
(BTC): $31,646 +8.4%
Ether (ETH): $1,990 +11%
Biggest Winners
| Asset | Ticker | Income | DACS Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardano | ADA | +17.8% | Smart contracts platform |
| Internet Computer | ICP | +15.7% | Data processing |
| Chain link | LINK | +12.2% | Data processing |
Biggest Losers
There are no losers today in CoinDesk 20.Bitcoin posts biggest daily price gain in two months as crypto markets r
ally across the boardTraditional markets were mostly closed in the U.S. on Monday for a holiday, but Bitcoin (BTC) did not rest.
The largest cryptocurrency jumped more than 7% to around $31,500, its biggest rise since March 9.
The sudden upward breakout came at a time when bitcoin had just ended a record nine-week losing streak that saw its price drop from $37,600 to about $29,400.
Now crypto analysts are wondering if the market has found a bottom after the recent downtrend.
According to blockchain analytics firm Glassnode, the recent selling pressure may be easing. "Price action seems to have bottomed out for now," Glassnode wrote in its Uncharted newsletter on Monday.
Nearly all major cryptocurrencies were in the green on Monday, with Cardano's ADA up about 17% and leading the CoinDesk 20.
Markets
(Most traditional markets were closed Monday in the U.S. for an official holiday.)
InsightsWhile
drivers complain about gasoline prices being too high (expletive deleted), crypto traders are struggling with the opposite: Ethereum fuel fees are at a record low, Sam Reynolds reports
.The average transaction fee is currently $3.70, according to on-chain data. Earlier this year, that number ranged from $38 to $52, depending on the congestion on the chain at the time.
As a result, gas-heavy transactions such as selling an NFT on OpenSea or completing a UniSwap transaction are at historic lows.
Traders appear to be spooked by the impact of Terra and are hesitant to re-enter the market. Data from the trading chain shows that in May, key dates related to Terra's demise saw massive swings in gas consumption and then a surge in UniSwap activity as traders repositioned to protect themselves from market volatility.
The problem is that they are not getting back into the market: The gas price is low, UniSwap is (comparatively) idle, and the ether price continues to trend downward. The Ether price is recovering, but demand is weak because there aren't that many active traders right now.
While Solana and Avalanche prices are starting to recover, the number of daily active users is not. Both chains were founded in an era of high Ethereum gas fees. So it could be that low gas is not causing a run on the Chains - but it is more likely that there is no reason to do anything at all until the situation stabilizes.
One impact of all this will be how quickly the Ethereum merger will happen. After all, without high gas fees, there will be less urgency to move to Proof of Stake, and that means controlled, more predictable fees. What was once expected to happen in June has been pushed back to "fall," and the prediction markets see that date between October and the end of the year. Let's see if gas fees stay low and this is delayed again.
Key EventsJapan
:Jobs, industrial production, retail sales: 3:50 p.m. HKT/SGT (7:30 a.m. UTC)
.Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers' index: 5 a.m. HKT/SGT (9 a.m. UTC).
U.S. consumer confidence index: 10 p.m. HKT/SGT (2 p.m. UTC )
CoinDesk TVIn
case you missed it, here is the latest episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV
:Crypto Markets Don't Move Much, But Stepn Does; Co-Founder Explains the Play-to-Earn Game:
Bitcoin is still stuck in a range and Ether remains down after the top cryptocurrencies both lost crucial support levels. Why is sentiment still so weak for the broader crypto markets? Urs Bernegger of SEBA Bank shares his take on the crypto markets on "First Mover." Plus, StepN co-founder Yawn Rong explains the popular move-to-earn game.
HeadlinesTerra
's Mirror Protocol reportedly suffers a new security vulnerability: Community users sound the alarm about a possible bug in the LUNC price oracles.
Letters to Layer 2: We still don't know about the metaverse: Will the metaverse be expensive to use? Will there be more than one? Who is ultimately responsible for building the metaverse? Daniel Kuhn of CoinDesk gets to the bottom of the questions.
Bitcoin shows signs of bottoming after 9 weeks of losses: the $29,500 level acts as a key support for the world's largest cryptocurrency.
India 'Pretty Ready' With Crypto Consultation Paper, Government Official Says India Has Not Yet Finalized Crypto-Specific Legislation.
Longer ReadingLetters to
Layer 2: We still don't know anything about the Metaverse: Will the Metaverse be expensive to use? Will there be more than one? Who is ultimately responsible for building the Metaverse?
Today's crypto explainer: what is Avalanche? A look at the popular "Ethereum killer" blockchain