Daily Flash | ETH Down 20% Since The Merge, White House Crypto Framework Received Negative Feedback, ECB To Work With Amazon To Launch Digital Euro

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Chart of the Day - Trending NFT Collections By 7D Volume

As of this writing,
Bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at around $18,763, down 6.5% in the past 24 hours,
while Ether (ETH) is trading at $1,299 or down 10.7% during the same period.

Major Layer-1 Tokens are all trading in the red following the broader bearish sentiment,
with Cardano (ADA) down by 9.46%,
Solana (SOL) -8.35%,
Polkadot (DOT) -9.27%,
Avalanche (AVAX) -10.24%,
and Cosmos (ATOM) -5.45%.


Notable gainers include:
Santos FC Fan Token (SANTOS) at $12.85 (8.70%),
Circuits of Value (COVAL) at $0.0146 (6.39%),
Chiliz (CHZ) at $0.238 (5.98%).

Notable losers include:
SweatCoin (SWEAT) at $0.0472 (-23.67%),
Voyager Token (VGX) at $0.589 (-19.69%),
Quarkchain (QKC) at $0.0116 (-19.34%).

On Sunday, both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) fell -3.46% and -9.16%, respectively.

The hype for the long-awaited Ethereum upgrade seemed like a distant dream as Ether tumbled to its lowest level since late July.

ETH started last week changing hands comfortably over $1,700 and was recently trading below $1,350, while BTC fell from a height of $22,500 to $19,500 during the same period.

After The Merge, investors will likely be closely eyeing the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) decision on a fresh interest rate hike on Sept. 21, although a minimum 75 basis point increase is widely expected – a continuation of the Fed's monetary hawkishness.

Traditional markets such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500 (SPX), and tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index (IXIC) closed lower on Friday, down 0.45%, 0.72%, and 0.90%, respectively.

Stubborn inflation readings have left U.S. market participants to raise expectations for where they think rates will top out, heightening fears of a recession or sharp slowdown. Aggressive tightening by other major central banks has also stoked fears of a broad global slowdown.


However, Sunday’s plunge destroyed all hopes of a bullish reversal as it brought BTC below the close on Friday, therefore establishing a “lower-low” wave on the daily timeframe.

As of this writing, BTC is holding above the 78.6% Fibonacci level ($19,300) measured from Sept. 7 - 12, which the bears will attempt to break below. The next support zone is formed between a daily level of $18,975 and the 141.4% Fibonacci extension level ($19,038) measured from Aug. 14 - 19.

On the contrary, if the bulls manage to close the price of BTC back above the 121.7% Fibonacci extension level ($19,639) measured from Aug. 14 - 19, then we may see a retest of the resistance zone formed between a monthly level of $19,858 and the 61.8% Fibonacci level ($19,950) measured from Sept. 7 - 12.

On Sunday, after experiencing a 9% plunge, ETH found a support zone formed between two sets of Fibonacci extension levels, the 127.2% ($1,338) and 141.4% ($1,303) Fibonacci extension levels measured from Sept. 15 - 16, reinforced by the 141.4% ($1,313) level measured from Aug. 14 - 20.

The bulls will likely attempt to make a rebound from this zone, however, more than likely, the bears will attempt to bring the price of ETH down again to break the support zone. The next support level will be the 161.8% Fibonacci extension level measured from Sept. 15 - 16, which coincides with the weekly level of $1,254.

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Headline of the Day - White House Publishes ‘First-Ever’ Comprehensive Framework For Crypto, Criticisms Follow

Federal agencies have published a joint fact sheet on six key paths for cryptocurrency regulation in the United States in response to President Joe Biden's executive order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets. The fact sheet comprises findings from nine independent reports that have been submitted to the President and helps "articulate a clear framework for responsible digital asset development and prepare the path for additional action at home and abroad."

However, it has not been received favorably. According to critics, the report focuses on the potential negative aspects of crypto and has “missed the mark” and “kicked the can down the road” on crypto regulation. Kristin Smith, executive director of the U.S.-based Blockchain Association states,

“Today’s reports and summaries from the Biden administration’s executive order on digital assets are a missed opportunity to cement U.S. crypto leadership. While intended to be part of a broader government and stakeholder effort to bring better regulation to crypto assets, these reports focus on risks — not opportunities — and omit substantive recommendations on how the United States can promote its burgeoning crypto industry.”

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Today’s Topic - European Union to Launch Global Metaverse Regulation Initiative and Digital Euro Prototype by 2023

The European Union (EU) will present an initiative to address the metaverse and all the activities and interactions happening in it sometime in 2023. The proposal was qualified as ”key” in the State of the Union letter of intent authored by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

Many countries of the world are in the process of integrating and adapting their regulatory frameworks and infrastructure to support the activities that are already happening in the metaverse. The European Union bloc is in this process, and has recently announced a union-wide initiative to allow Europe to “thrive in the metaverse.” The Commission aims to deliver this initiative in 2023.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) also announced the selection of five new partners to support the development of a digital euro prototype.

Each of the companies will take on a different role in putting together the prototype. Among them is the tech giant Amazon, which will be responsible for developing e-commerce payments within the project. Spanish bank CaixaBank will develop online peer-to-peer payments for a mobile application, while the French multinational payment service, Worldline, is responsible for the offline version.

The prototyping exercise is set to begin within the month of September and finish at the end of December.

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Influencer of the Day - Do Kwon, No Longer in Singapore, Says He’s Not ‘On the Run’

A warrant for the arrest of Terra Founder Do Kwon was issued by the South Korean authorities earlier this week. Kwon’s last known location was Singapore, however, the Singapore Police have stated that he is no longer in the country. This led to speculation that Kwon might be ‘on the run.’

Kwon has responded to these speculations by posting a tweet that reads,

“I am not “on the run” or anything similar - for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide. We are in the process of defending ourselves in multiple jurisdictions -- we have held ourselves to an extremely high bar of integrity, and look forward to clarifying the truth over the next few months.”

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Buzzes of Yesterday

Highlights:
#SushiDAO To Elect CEO
#ApeCoin Treasury To Unlock 25M APE Tokens
#Dogecoin Became 2nd Largest PoW Token
#Chinese Court Legitimizes Crypto As Virtual Property
#SEC And Ripple Call For Immediate Court Ruling







Author: Gate.io Researcher Peter L.
This article represents only the researcher's views and does not constitute any investment advice.
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