Decentralized finance (DeFi) has seen tremendous growth since its inception, expanding by more than 1,200% in 2021 in total value locked (TVL) and surpassing $240 billion in invested assets. While DeFi has since dropped to around $60 billion TVL as a result of wider macroeconomic trends, such as rising inflation, the seeds are in place for DeFi to reconfigure the foundations of our financial infrastructure when the next market cycle comes. Historically, the return to a bull market develops over a four-year trajectory. This time, a recovery in 2024 is highly feasible due to the maturation of monetary policy and …

Cardano (ADA) will undergo a major network update called "Vasil" on Sept. 22, potentially making its blockchain more scalable and cheaper. Nonetheless, the news has failed to spark any decisive upside momentum in ADA's market. Macro factors weigh on ADA's best upside scenario In detail, ADA's price has risen approximately 3.5% to $0.51 since the Vasil launch announcement, including a circa 14% rally followed by its near-perfect wipeout. In other words, traders initially bought the Vasil hype but were quick to exit markets, as illustrated by the price action below. Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson blamed "macro factors" for ADA's underperformance …

Bitcoin (BTC) provided a long awaited breakout into Sept. 7 as BTC price action dashed bulls’ hopes of a recovery. $23,000 relief bounce "still likely" says trader Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView captured snap losses for BTC/USD later on Sept. 6, with overnight lows coming in at $18,540 on Bitstamp. The pair put in its lowest levels since June 30, taking liquidity from the July floor and only marginally recovering on the day. Downside price action followed almost a week of sideways movements and volatility was nowhere to be seen as market participants gritted their teeth hoping for …

An $860 surprise price correction on Sept. 6 took Bitcoin (BTC) from $19,820 to $18,960 in less than two hours. The movement caused $74 million in Bitcoin futures liquidations at derivatives exchanges, the largest in almost three weeks. The current $18,733 level is the lowest since July 13 and it marks a 24% correction from the rally to $25,000 on Aug. 15. It is worth highlighting that a 2% pump toward $20,200 happened in the early hours of Sept. 6, but the move was quickly subdued and Bitcoin resumed trading near $19,800 within the hour. Ether’s (ETH) price action was …

Bitcoin (BTC) traded in an increasingly narrow range on Sep. 6 as bets piled in over an imminent breakout. Binance futures giant sucks in spent BTC Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD staying under $20,000 for a fourth straight day with bulls failing to crack resistance. As many wondered when and how the latest consolidation phase would end, two popular social media traders noticed an ongoing accumulation trend by an unknown large-scale Binance futures trading entity. With retail investors selling, that entity had spent several days soaking up the liquidity, and the result was likely obvious. “Bounce …

On this week’s “The Market Report” show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss the Ethereum merge and how it might impact the crypto market To kick things off, we broke down the latest news in the markets this week Surge or purge? Why the Merge may not save Ether price from ‘Septembear’. Options data, macroeconomic catalysts and technical signals suggest a decline in Ether price is on the table despite the Merge. Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), is not immune to downside risk in September after rallying approximately 90% from its bottom of around $880 in June. Can Ethereum prove analysts wrong …

The assumption that Ethereum will just transition to a fully functional proof-of-stake (PoS) network after the Merge somewhat ignores the risk and effort necessary to move an asset that has a $193 billion market capitalization and 400 decentralized applications (DApps). That is precisely why monitoring vital network conditions is essential for anyone willing to trade the event which is scheduled for Sept. 14, according to ethernodes.org. More importantly, traders should be prepared to detect any alarming developments in case things go wrong. Apart from the $34.2 billion in total value locked in smart contracts, another $5.3 billion in Ether is …

Ethereum Classic (ETC) price rallied on Sept. 5 on back-to-back positive reports concerning its adoption among crypto miners. Top mining pool supports Ethereum Classic On the daily chart, ETC's price surged 14.5% to nearly $37.25 per token. Its massive gains came days after BTC.com, a blockchain explorer and crypto mining pool, launched a specialized Ethereum Classic pool with "zero-fee" mining for three months. The announcement appeared after "the Merge," a long-awaited network update that would switch Ethereum's energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) protocol to a "cost-efficient" and scalable alternative, the proof-of-stake (PoS) on Sept. 19 or before. But the switch to PoS …

The cryptocurrency markets have been quiet over the weekend. The sideways price action continues on Sept. 5 and there is unlikely to be any fresh triggers from the United States equities markets which are closed for Labor Day. However, the bullish picture for cryptocurrencies looks clouded as the energy crisis in Europe sent the euro to a two-decade low versus the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) which has an inverse correlation with the equities markets and cryptocurrencies soared above 110 for the first time since June 2002. A positive sign among all the mayhem is that Bitcoin …

The Federal Reserve's efforts to battle inflation by rising interest rates and killing demand may have limited results as long as the supply side of the inflation problem won’t be fixed, according to macro analyst Lyn Alden. “Until they actually fix the supply side of certain things, like energy especially, but commodities broadly and logistics infrastructure, until that is improved, it's hard to have a more persistent fix to the inflationary problem”, Alden told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole sent a clear signal that the Federal Reserve is determined to continue its efforts to …

Bitcoin (BTC) starts the second week of September still trying to cement $20,000 as support as bears clinch control. The largest cryptocurrency emerges from a sideways weekend with a weekly close almost exactly at the $20,000 mark — but that significant psychological level is already struggling. Expectations already favored further downside during this month — the so-called “Septembear” phenomenon which normally sees BTC price lose ground in September — and so far, there has been little evidence that this year will be different to most. BTC/USD is down 1.5% in September 2022, and while the losses are modest, there are …

The decline in the United States equities markets last week extended the market-wide losing streak to three consecutive weeks. The Nasdaq Composite fell for six days in a row for the first time since 2019. The markets negative reaction to a seemingly positive August jobs report suggests that traders are nervous about the Federal Reserve’s future steps and its effects on the economy. Weakness in the U.S. equities markets pulled Bitcoin (BTC) back below $20,000 on Sept. 2 and bears sustained the price below the level during the weekend. This pulled Bitcoin’s market dominance to just under 39% on Sept. …