Market Trend｜ETH May Be Eyeing Up $2,000 Ahead Of Shanghai Upgrade; “BitBoy” Faces Legal Action From FTX Lawyers
Across the past week, much of the cryptocurrency market has continued to stagnate in terms of valuation, with moderate inclines and declines in valuation seen across the entire market. With this minimal amount of movement, the news side of crypto has been littered with controversial and interesting stories, with ETH potentially nearing the $2,000 threshold ahead of the Shanghai upgrade, ‘Bit Boy’ (or Ben Armstrong) facing legal action from FTX class action lawyers, and Jim Cramer dismissing the legitimacy of Coinbases’ stock by stating ‘I wouldn’t touch this thing at all’.
Overall, the past week has further shaped the interesting legal landscape within the blockchain space and contributed to the growing bullish sentiment surrounding various assets, suggesting that while the market may be heading toward a potential valuation recovery, it could also be nearing legal jeopardy.
The Latest News
ETH May Be Eyeing Up $2,000 Ahead Of Shanghai Upgrade
With the highly anticipated Shanghai Upgrade (an upgrade that will facilitate withdrawals of staked Ethereum on the Beacon chain) nearly upon us, ETH’s metrics are pointing toward the potential of it nearing $2,000 once again. As a result of the upgrade, analysts have found that it has encouraged more block trades leading it to stand at 40% of all recent trades, indicating growing market confidence. Historically, these types of trades have been attributed to the hype surrounding major blockchain upgrades in the lead-up to the event.
In addition, the current data has also highlighted that ETH’s demand currently outweighs its sell pressure, as indicated by higher calls than puts, suggesting the bulls current buy pressure and sentiment have outweighed any negative sentiment. It was also found through Glassnode data that ETH investor confidence is not just limited to block trades but also has filtered into the number of addresses holding at least 0.01 ETH, which has reached an all-time high of 23,559,362. As a result, various analysts have hypothesized that it is possible that ETH may begin to near $2,000 as it currently teeters toward the cusp of $1,900.
ETH Monthly Pirce Chart (Image Courtesy of TradingView)
‘BitBoy’ Faces Legal Action From FTX Lawyers
‘BitBoy’, otherwise known as Ben Armstrong, is a popular blockchain influencer who has recently been alleged to have used emails, phone calls, and social media to send violent threats to an attorney involved in the FTX class action lawsuit. On April 5th, courts formally served Armstrong for his alleged harassment, following prior naming of him in the case as one of the eight influencers who promoted FTX without “the nature and cope of their sponsorships and/or endorsement deals, payments and compensation, nor conduct adequate (if any) due diligence.”
Following the suit being filed in March, Armstrong has allegedly been in contact with the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Adam Moskowitz, through various mediums, leading to them filing a complaint in March, alleging he has left voicemails that targeted the counsel. This included a voicemail that was allegedly sent to Moskowitz claiming: “We’re going to have First Amendment protestors around your house 24/7 day and night.” In the filing addressing the allegations, the lawyers ‘respectfully suggest[ed]’ that the Court refuse to condone or allow such ‘inappropriate, bullying, unprofessional and, frankly, terrorizing conduct.”
BitBoy (Image Courtesy of YouTube)
Jim Cramer Shuns Coinbase Stock: ‘I Wouldn’t Touch This At All’
Famed investor, Jim Cramer, has recently shared his view regarding Coinbase stock following a 30% decline from its year-to-date high. The Mad Money host expressed his disappointment in the exchange since it failed to benefit in terms of inflows amidst the current tumultuous banking landscape in the USA. On CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ Cramer stated, “I figured that, not to me, but to some people that they were the JPMorgan of the business. So, the money goes to JPMorgan. Doesn’t look like it. I wouldn’t touch this thing at all.”
In addition to Cramer’s bearishness, the Bank of America also issued similar statements regarding the COIN stock performance. A Bank of America analyst cited data from CoinGecko and stated that transaction volumes remained mostly flat for Coinbase in the first quarter, missing consensus by a substantial $24 billion, in spite of increasing crypto prices throughout this period.
Jim Cramer (Image Courtesy of CNBC)
Current Project Trends
Based on data provided by CoinMarketCap, the top-gaining project across the past week was Niobium Coin, an asset striving to build a distributive digital economy. As a result, ADAMANT has accelerated by 68.04% in the past 24 hours and a notable 508.32% across the past week.
The Current BTC Trend
Weekly btc price Data (Data Courtesy of Coinmarketcap)
Across the past week, Bitcoin has been subject to significant volatility that has volleyed it above and below its 7-day SMA threshold and between the $27k and $28k zones. Entering the week at around $28.1k, Bitcoin immediately accelerated before falling ephemerally and rising to a weekly high of $28,713. Bitcoin was able to maintain a similar price performance until the 2nd, when the price began to degrade into the 3rd and plunge below its 7-day SMA once again. This trend ensued throughout the remainder of the week, pushing BTC to a weekly low of $27,430, and allowing it to continue testing the $28.8k region respectively. In a somewhat anti-climatic finish to the current period, Bitcoin resides just below its 7-day SMA and the $28k threshold, emphasizing that the current average trading regions reside between $27.43k and $28.71k.
In light of this, Bitcoin’s MVRV (market value to realized value) has continued to decline over the past week. Entering the week at 1.437, it began to fall throughout the 1st-3rd, before briefly stagnating until the 5th and declining further into the 6th. As a result, BTC closed the period at 1.412. However, in spite of this decline, BTC’s MVRV remains at a higher level than the week prior, suggesting BTC’s valuation is continuing to move away from the undersold territory and that its true value is being realized.
7-Day BTC MVRV Data (Data Courtesy of Blockchain.com)
The Situation of ETH Staking
As of the 6th of April, the state of Ethereum staking remains relatively positive, likely attributed to the upcoming deployment of the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade, which will allow all validators who have staked Ethereum to progressively redeem their tokens and subsequent yield earnt. In addition, the volume of Ethereum deposited to the Beacon Chain has continued to grow at a steep rate since the start of 2023, with this beginning to see an uptick throughout March, which is evidently extending into April.
(Data Courtesy of Dune)
Here are some key figures from across the past week to consolidate this:
Total validators: 512,657
Depositor Addresses: 90,200
Total ETH Deposited: 16,353,927
Liquid Staking Percentage: 35.50%
Staked Share Of ETH Supply: 15.04%
The Current Macro Situation
Global Economy Set For Years Of Week Growth, IMF Chief Warns
IMF Chief, Kristalina Georgieva, has issued a warning stating that the global economy is facing years of slow growth, with medium-term economic prospects their weakest in over three decades. Issuing her statement ahead of the World Bank and IMF spring meetings next week, Georgieva hypothesized that the average global annual rate of growth would sit at around 3% for the next five years – with this figure sitting notably below the average 3.8% percent forecast held throughout the past two decades, thus marking the weakest growth projection for medium-term growth since 1990.
What Could Be Coming In The Week Ahead?
As the crypto market continues to stagnate and reach a stable level in terms of valuation and volume, it is likely that this momentum will carry into the coming week which could indicate a progressive stabilization and price recovery dawning on the market. However, with the continuous outpour of bearish institutional news, it is plausible that this collation of data and news reports could continue to leech into the market and push the market back into a wintery state.
