CryptoPunks Steals the Spotlight Even as BTC Trades Near $50,000
Bitcoin (BTC, Tech/Adoption Grade “A-”) has reached $50,000 and is now trying to make it a support.
As you can see on the TradingView BTC/USDT four-hour chart below, some traders took profits after Bitcoin crossed this important resistance level. Now, the next major resistance awaits at $52,000:
The price of Ethereum (ETH, Tech/Adoption Grade “A”) has pumped even more after breaking above the $3,200 level. The next target — and key resistance — will be $3,500.
Newer buyers are riding this wave of optimism and are turning into long-term holders. And long-term holders have diamond hands as their positions are reaching all-time highs!
By looking at the data from Glassnode chart, we can see that long-term holders are sitting and waiting for the new Bitcoin to reach its next all-time high, as well.
Stablecoins have also been flowing back into the market in the last couple of weeks.
BTC futures open interest almost doubled since May 22 — right after the large correction. And the increase of open interest in ETH is even greater.
While definitely bullish, this development also means that market volatility may increase. Considering funding rates are very high, a short-lived correction to cool them off seems likely.
Regarding adoption, we just had some very bullish announcements across the ecosystem:
First, starting this week, online payment company PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) will allow users in the U.K. to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies using its platform.
The last time PayPal announced similar news related to the U.S., the price of Bitcoin made a considerable jump. PayPal also enabled its U.S. users to actually spend their crypto when making purchases with online merchants.
Second, credit card giant Visa (NYSE: V) has bought CryptoPunk No. 7610!
What is a CryptoPunk?
The CryptoPunks is a collection of 24x24 pixel art images algorithmically generated in 2017. 10,000 Punks were launched as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain by Larva Labs.
They were given out for free and garnered a bit of a cult following among early crypto adopters before exploding in popularity in recent months.
There are currently around 2,900 owners, with newer ones including some high-profile and wealthy individuals, such as rapper Jay-Z and internet personality Logan Paul.
As prices have surged, owning a piece of the CryptoPunks’ finite supply has become a sort of “digital flex,” especially when used as an avatar on social media sites.
The price Visa paid for their Punk (49.5 ETH, worth around $150,000) is considered very low, as the cheapest ones on sale are worth over $222,000.
The cheapest CryptoPunks on sale. Source: LarvaLabs
Expensive Punks are selling for over $20 million.
Over the last 60 years, Visa has built a collection of historic commerce artifacts — from early paper credit cards to the zip-zap machine. Today marked a new era of NFT commerce as Visa welcomed CryptoPunk to their collection.
According to Visa executives, NFTs offer “exciting new opportunities in ticketing, gaming music, art and beyond”. While they expect continued growth of the NFT market, they are “working on some new concepts and partnerships that support NFT buyers, sellers and creators”.
The NFT market is so strong now that it’s leading adoption for some of the blockchains.
Just take the price of Solana (SOL) as an example. It rallied hard after the launch of Degenerate Ape Academy, an NFT project built on the Solana blockchain.
Third, on the other side of the ecosystem spectrum, we have a developing world leading the cryptocurrency adoption.
A new survey conducted by Chainalysis found that emerging economies like Vietnam, India and Indonesia are hastening mass adoption of cryptocurrencies throughout the developing world.
Seven emerging economies are ranked higher than the U.S. in Crypto Adoption Index:
Source: Chainalysis
Notable News, Notes and Tweets
• Over 90% of Fidelity’s biggest clients have been asking for exposure to Bitcoin and other digital assets.
• 70% of all Bitcoin has not moved in at least six months.
• There are now four DeFi decentralized apps with Total Value Locked (TVL) above $10 billion: Aave (AAVE), InstaDapp (INST), Curve (CRV) and Compound (COMP).
What’s Next
Rising open interest looks optimistic and adoption news are positioning us well for new all-time highs.
Short-lived corrections are, of course, to be expected in the coming weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one once Bitcoin hits or breaks past $52,000.
And while many are celebrating the success of NFTs after the Visa purchase, I can’t help but wonder how much ETH — that could be used for purchasing cryptocurrencies — is now trapped in NFT avatars and collectibles.
Still, the Weiss crypto team, like many others, can’t help ourselves from putting our paws on some gorgeous art collections and cutest avatars. Best yet, these works of digital art will soon be increasingly displayable with the help of motion frames.
Best,
Marija Matic
