Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, has been rising and has reached $23,333 for the first time since August 19. Over the weekend, BTC broke through the $23,000 barrier for the first time in five months, making it exciting for the cryptocurrency market. 

Meanwhile, Ethereum, the second-largest digital coin, reached $1,664.78 for the first time since November 7, 2022.

 The reason for its bullish trend, on the other hand, could be attributed to institutional investors, who are increasing their holdings in anticipation of the next bull run. 

The price of bitcoin (BTC) has recently increased, benefiting both short-term and long-term investors, according to on-chain statistics.

 It is also worth noting that the percentage of Bitcoin holders who are now profiting in the short term has risen to 97.5%, the highest level since November. Long-term BTC holders, on the other hand, have benefited from Bitcoin. 

Aside from that, investors ignored the numerous issues confronting the cryptocurrency industry, most recently Genesis Global Holdco LLC’s petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As a result, the BTC gains were unaffected.

Risk-On Crypto Mood Pushes Bitcoin and Ethereum To New Highs

The global cryptocurrency market has maintained its upward trend and is currently flashing green near the $1.06 trillion mark. This came after bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, broke through the $23,000 barrier for the first time in five months, indicating that the cryptocurrency market is entering a new era.

However, institutional investors, who are increasing their holdings in anticipation of the next bull run, are the primary drivers of rising BTC demand. 

Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital asset, is in an unusually upbeat mood after rising by more than 36% this month. Moving on, the next major turning point in the cryptocurrency market could occur at the upcoming Fed meeting next month.

How The Bearish US Dollar Is Underpinning Bitcoin’s Price Rally 

The falling value of the US dollar is another factor supporting the price of the cryptocurrency. On Tuesday, the broad-based US dollar remained on the defensive, sitting at a nine-month low against the euro and giving back recent gains against the yen as traders continued to assess the likelihood of a US recession and the direction of Federal Reserve policy. 

The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of six rival currencies such as the euro and yen, fell 0.09% to 101.92, closing in on the 7-1/2-month low of 101.51 set on Wednesday.

BTC Bulls: Short-Term And Long-Term Holders Are Winning Big Time

The price of bitcoin (BTC) has risen significantly in recent weeks, generating profits for both short- and long-term investors, according to on-chain statistics. 

At the time of writing, the percentage of Bitcoin holders making short-term profits had risen to 97.5%, the highest level since November.

Long-term Bitcoin holders, according to Glassnode, have also benefited from Bitcoin.

Gemini Downsizes To Adapt To The New Economic Reality

A spokeswoman for Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange, told CNBC on Monday that the company will lay off nearly 10% of its total workforce. In less than a year, Gemini has seen at least three rounds of layoffs. 

According to PitchBook data, Gemini had 1,000 employees as of November 2022, which means that 100 people may have lost their jobs.

According to TechCrunch, Gemini previously reduced its workforce by 7% in July 2022, following a 10% reduction the previous month.

As a result, while this may be considered negative news, it has had no negative impact on the cryptocurrency market thus far. 

On the other hand, the growing number of COVID-19 cases in China will have an impact on the cryptocurrency market. As a result, this was regarded as a critical factor that could limit future gains in the cryptocurrency’s price. 

Bitcoin Price 

Bitcoin is currently valued at $23,097 and has a $27 billion 24-hour trading volume. Bitcoin has gained over 1% in the last 24 hours. With a live market worth of $435 billion, CoinMarketCap presently ranks top. 

Bitcoin is currently facing heavy resistance around a $23,250 level along with an immediate support at $22,500. If the candles fall below the $22,500 level, a bearish correction will most certainly commence and last until the $21,500 mark is hit. If Bitcoin falls below $21,500, it might fall as low as $20,450.

The RSI and MACD indicators are overbought, but the recent bullish engulfing candle is signaling chances of a bullish trend continuation. On the upside, the immediate resistance level for Bitcoin is $23,250, and a break above this level might expose BTC to levels as high as $23,900 and $25,150.

Buy BTC Now

Ethereum Price 

The price of Ethereum in the last 24 hours was $1,635, with a trading volume of $8.3 billion. The ETH/USD pair has found immediate support at $1,610, and candles closing above this level are likely to trigger an increase in BTC. 

On the upside, ETH is anticipated to face immediate resistance at $1,675, and a bullish crossover over this level might expose ETH to $1,750.

On the downside, a bearish breakdown of $1,610 might open up additional selling space till $1,550.

Buy ETH Now

Bitcoin Alternatives

CryptoNews Industry Talk has reviewed the top 15 cryptocurrencies for 2023. If you’re looking for a higher potential investment opportunity, there are plenty of other projects worth considering.

The list is updated weekly with new altcoins and ICO projects.

The global economy is experiencing difficulties with power supply and inflation, which has negatively impacted the cryptocurrency market. Prices have dropped significantly since the beginning of 2022, causing many investors to hesitate to invest in crypto. 

However, despite different predictions, crypto token prices are now rising, and new projects are being created, providing new investment opportunities. It is a good time to buy crypto tokens while they are at a lower price and hold onto them until they regain their value. Additionally, it is worth considering investing in crypto projects that are in the early stages of development.

If you want to know our top picks for the best token to invest in Australia, you only have to keep reading.

>>> BUY BUDBLOCKZ TOKEN NOW <<<

BudBlockz ($BLUNT)

BudBlockz is a new platform that aims to deliver global access to cannabis enthusiasts in the rapidly growing cannabis market. BudBlockz is creating a platform for cannabis users to buy and sell products related to cannabis privately and securely.

The demand for BudBlockz is driven by its revolutionary features, which include DeFi, NFTs, and play-to-earn mechanics integrated into an ecosystem with a cannabis aesthetic.

Users who hold $BLUNT will become members of the BudBlockz DAO and can make proposals and vote on BudBlockz’s development.

They will also have further investment opportunities, such as percentage ownership of dispensaries and farms and discounted prices on cannabis-related products.

The private sale and presale phases created a great opportunity for average investors to get involved in a token that promises to make 100x your portfolio in the coming months of 2023.

Ripple ($XRP)

Ripple develops XRP to provide low-cost international, efficient money transfers. XRP has existed since 2012 as one of the oldest digital currencies.

XRP can be traded on the Ripple networks. $XRP is designed to settle transactions in 3 to 5 seconds at an average cost of $0.0002 per transaction.

This transaction fee is charged as an anti-spam measure and is not paid to any party but instead is irrevocably destroyed via a process called burning.

Unlike Bitcoin, where new tokens can be mined into circulation, 100 billion $XRP tokens were created in 2012, and no new tokens will be created. Ripple releases 1 billion XRP tokens monthly to control the supply.

The coin has managed to remain among the list of the top 10 coins by market cap, even as it was the subject of many controversies, the most notable being the ongoing XRP-SEC lawsuit.

Conclusion

Once again, you could pick and invest in many cryptocurrencies, but investing in the right one is a determining factor in increasing your chances for success. That is why we have selected these two tokens, $XRP, and $BLUNT, as the best to invest in Australia. 

Today’s cryptocurrency prices: Check rates of Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, Solana

Bitcoin has shed 1.9% over the last 24 hours, trading at $22,621.23. It is 6.9% higher than the previous week.

The second most popular token, Ethereum, has dropped 5.5% from yesterday and is trading at $1,546.85. From the previous week, it is down 1.4%.

The market capitalization of Bitcoin and Ethereum stands at $436.25 billion and $186.47 billion, respectively.

BNB is trading at $301.85, which is 6.2% lower than yesterday and 0.6% up since last week.

XRP’s price is $0.44 today, falling 3.0% in the last 24 hours. Compared to last week, it is 5.0% up.

Cardano and Dogecoin are trading at $0.33 (down 6.5%) and $0.088 (down 6.1%), respectively.

Solana, Polka Dot, Shiba Inu, and Polygon are currently trading at $22.91 (down 7.3%), $6.18 (down 6.6%), $0.000011 (down 6.9%), and $0.99 (down 4.6%), respectively.

Based on the weekly chart, Solana is up 0.1%, while Polka Dot has risen by 3.7%.

Shiba Inu’s value has risen by 6.7% in the last seven days, whereas Polygon is down 3.7%.

Based on the 24-hour movement, the top gainers are Threshold, Quant, UNUS SED LEO, USDD, and Dai. They are trading at $0.055 (up 13.79%), $153.66 (up 6.03%), $3.47 (up 1.08%), $0.99 (up 0.17%), and $1 (up 0.09%), respectively.

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that has very little volatility. Its value is linked to a real-world asset such as fiat currency or gold.

Some of the popular tokens, Tether, USD Coin, and Binance, are trading at $0.99 (flat), $0.99 (flat), and $0.99 (flat), respectively. Terra Classic is listed at $0.00011 (down 5.14%).

The biggest losers of the day are Flow, Optimism, Rocket Pool, EthereumPoW, and Synthetix. They are trading at $1.07 (down 12.39%), $2.01 (down 11.88%), $36.71 (down 10.72%), $3.71 (down 9.99%), and $2.32 (down 9.67%), respectively.

Looking at the traffic, liquidity, trading volumes, and confidence in the legitimacy of trading volumes, the top three cryptocurrency spot exchanges are Binance, Coinbase Exchange, and Kraken.

Binance and Coinbase Exchange saw 24-hour volumes of $19.95 billion (up 3.21%) and $2.31 billion (up 8.82%), respectively. Kraken recorded a volume of $0.72 billion, which is up 9.68% from yesterday.

DeFi or decentralized finance refers to global, peer-to-peer financial services on public blockchains.

Dai, Avalanche, Uniswap, Wrapped Bitcoin, and Chainlink are some of the popular DeFi tokens.

They are currently trading at $1 (up 0.11%), $17.02 (down 8.33%), $6.29 (down 7.07%), $22,579.7 (down 1.86%), and $6.72 (down 5.58%), respectively.

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are cryptocurrencies that cannot be exchanged for one another like other tokens due to their lack of fungibility.

ApeCoin, Decentraland, Axie Infinity, Flow, and The Sandbox are some of the prominent NFT tokens.

They are currently trading at $5.45 (down 5.55%), $0.66 (down 9.45%), $11.22 (down 7.23%), $1.07 (down 12.42%), and $0.77 (down 8.68%), respectively.

The current global crypto market cap is $1.05 trillion. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $55.98 billion. They have remained flat over the last day.

The global crypto market cap was $811.44 billion last month, while three months ago, the total capitalization stood at $931.04 billion

In a press release issued on Thursday, Pag-IBIG announced that they have released a record-high PHP118 billion in home loans last year, which is higher by 21 percent, or a total of PHP20.57 billion, compared to the PHP97.28 billion in home loans released in 2021.

With the amount, Pag-IBIG financed the acquisition and construction of 105,212 homes for its members, equivalent to an 11 percent increase from the 94,533 homes financed in 2021, setting a new record high.

“This is very good news because as the amount of home loans we release increases, so does the number of Filipinos who now have homes of their own,” said Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who also heads the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.

“Pag-IBIG Fund’s performance is a testament to our united and unwavering efforts to resolve the country’s housing backlog, in line with the objective of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program,” he said.

The Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program is a flagship program of Marcos that is aimed at addressing the country’s housing needs by building 1 million houses each year for the next six years.

Marcos earlier expressed the need to provide families with shelter most especially the poor residents, as well as those employed people who struggle to have decent housing.

Meanwhile, Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta noted that the number of housing units financed in 2022 also marks the first time that the agency has financed more than 100,000 housing units in a single year.

Acosta added that out of the said number of housing units financed by the agency last year, 18,657, or 18 percent, were socialized housing units availed by members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors.

“We at Pag-IBIG Fund have always strived to provide our members — the Filipino workers — the means to have their own homes through affordable shelter financing. That is why we take great pride in achieving a record high number of housing units financed in 2022, because it means that we have empowered even more Filipinos in gaining their own homes,” she said

For 2023, Acosta assured Pag-IBIG members of a continuous service providing them with the most affordable home loan in the market, so that they too can achieve their dream of homeownership. (PNA)

California-based Harmony said in June it had been the target of a cyberattack that stole $100m worth of digital assets.

The North Korean hacking groups Lazarus Group and APT38 carried out the cyber heist on crypto firm Harmony last June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in a statement on Monday.

North Korean cyber actors earlier this month used privacy protocol Railgun to launder more than $60m worth of Ethereum stolen during the heist, a portion of which was sent to several virtual asset service providers and converted to Bitcoin, the FBI said.

Harmony, which has its headquarters in California, announced in June that hackers had stolen $100m in digital coins from Horizon bridge, a so-called blockchain bridge used to move cryptocurrencies between different blockchain networks.

The FBI, which previously issued an advisory about a malware campaign used in the heist dubbed “TraderTraitor”, said it had frozen some of the funds with the cooperation of some of the virtual asset service providers.

The FBI said it would keep working to “identify and disrupt” efforts to steal and launder cryptocurrency that support the secretive state’s illicit missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

“The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illicit activities — including cybercrime and virtual currency theft — to generate revenue for the regime,” the FBI said, referring to the acronym of the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korea, ruled by third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un, has been accused by US and UN officials of orchestrating an escalating campaign of cyber theft to fund its activities, including the development of long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s spy agency said in December that North Korean hackers had stolen an estimated 1.5 trillion South Korean won ($1.2bn) in virtual assets during the past five years, including 800 billion South Korean won ($650.5m) in 2022 alone.

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis said in a report released in January last year that the value of assets stolen in North Korea-linked cyberattacks grew by 40 percent from 2020 to 2021.

Last month, Google’s anti-hacking unit said that North Korean hackers had exploited South Korea’s deadly Halloween crowd crush to target internet users with malware planted in documents disguised to look like reports from the South Korean government.

In 2021, the US Department of Justice charged three North Korean computer programmers with extorting or stealing more than $1.3bn in cash and cryptocurrency in a series of cyberattacks beginning in 2014.

North Korea, which typically does not engage with international media, has denied carrying out cyberattacks overseas and accused the US and its allies of “spreading ill-hearted rumours”.