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| By Beth Canova |
If this is your first foray into the crypto markets, this past week probably seemed a little scary. And indeed, crypto is notorious for its wild volatility.
And I’m not even talking about price action!
I hope you saw our emergency issue yesterday. To sum up, there was a hack on an update by Ledger. It affected decentralized applications so that when you connected your wallet and put in the details of the transaction, the malicious code would swap your wallet address for another.
Fortunately, Ledger sent out a patch quickly, and dApps have since updated to get rid of the corrupted code. For traders like yourself, the only action to take is to clear your browser cache and any cookies before reconnecting to dApps to ensure that when you connect, your wallet does so through the patched code.
While hacks aren’t unheard of in crypto, the benefit of open-source blockchains means any bad actors are noticed and remedies applied quickly. It isn’t perfect, but neither is the traditional finance system.
But beyond yesterday’s headline news, this week brought plenty of additional twists and turns, such as …
Bitcoin Sees Volatility as It Shakes Off Overleveraged Traders
Sunday night, overleveraged traders got shaken out of their positions hard, and Bitcoin’s (BTC, “A-”) price took a fast and furious dip, falling from $43,000 to $40,400 in less than 10 minutes. Indeed, if you’re not used to crypto’s slings and arrows, that may feel extreme. But it represented less than a 7% slide — nothing to crypto assets. That’s why Marija Matić breaks down the projection charts and fundamentals to show how our medium and long-term outlooks haven’t changed.
2 More Differences That Can Set Your Memecoin Pick Apart from the Crowd
One of the most volatile sectors in crypto is memecoins. These digital assets based on viral internet memes have no fundamental value, and so trading prices can go on roller-coaster rides with little warning. Dr. Bruce Ng highlights two factors that can set a memecoin with profit potential apart from one that’s just likely to flop.
Find Opportunity in Blockchains Rebuilt from the Base Up
Disruptors are projects that often introduce volatility just in the way that they shake up the status quo. And according to Dr. Bruce, there’s a new wave of Layer-1s that are seeking to do just that by disrupting the “rock, paper, scissors” game that blockchain developers play between decentralization, security and scalability.
Bigger Opportunities Will Come in Smaller AI Packages
While artificial intelligence extends well beyond the realm of crypto, there are big developments happening in small ways that could bring AI and blockchain technologies together in truly revolutionary ways. That’s why Jurica Dujmovic is diving deep into AI development to find those small advancements that are paving the way for big opportunities.
Debt Market Woes Bring Good News for Bitcoin
That the U.S. is in debt is a shock to no one. That the U.S.’s debt is mostly due to government spending is also well-known. But what may surprise you is just how badly this is set to impact our bond market. After all, when government spending is responsible for our debt, turning to Treasurys is a bit like trusting the person who caused the mess to clean it up. Juan Villaverde helps you peer into the future by taking a look at China’s current conundrum and how it has already pushed the price of Bitcoin higher.
That’s all for this week. We’ll be back tomorrow with more crypto deep dives.
Best,
Beth Canova
Crypto Managing Editor
