Daily News | Crypto in the Mix, China Lifts Travel Restrictions, And Most Markets Remain Closed

TL; DR

🥂 Good morning, today is Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022.

Macro: China's decision to lift quarantine measures for incoming travelers in January will be a focus for investors in Asia as markets open on Tuesday. The offshore yuan saw an increase after the announcement, while currencies in the Group of 10 saw little movement against the dollar. Many markets in the region, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, were closed on Monday and will remain closed on Tuesday.

Crypto: On Monday, the top 20 cryptocurrencies saw mixed results, with some experiencing significant increases while others saw declines. Bitcoin and Ether saw slight bumps, while Ripple saw a significant increase of 5.67%. Meanwhile, TONCOIN saw a significant decrease of 5.48%. Overall, it was a volatile day for the crypto market, with a slight increase in volumes and volatility as global equity markets remained closed.

Topic of the Day: Fantom's 2023 Roadmap: Gas Monetization, Virtual Machine Development, and More

Notable Headlines: 400M Twitter users’ data is reportedly on sale in the black market; The FSA of Japan is considering lifting its ban on stablecoins; DeGods and y00ts NFT collections on the Solana blockchain will migrate to Ethereum and Polygon, respectively…

Macro at a Glance

As markets get ready to open in Asia on Tuesday, investors will be focusing on the prospects for inflation and China's decision to lift quarantine measures for incoming travelers starting in January, which will no longer require them to undergo quarantine, though they will still need to obtain negative Covid test results within 48 hours of departure.

The offshore yuan experienced an increase after this announcement. Most of the currencies in the Group of 10 saw little movement against the dollar on Monday, while US Treasuries will resume trading after a holiday-shortened session on Friday.

Investors are concerned about potential price increases due to the tight labor market but are also reassured by data indicating a slowdown in inflation and stagnant consumer spending. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 saw gains on Friday, despite weekly losses, and equity indexes in mainland China, Japan, India, and South Korea all rose on Monday. However, many markets in the region, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, were closed on Monday and will remain closed on Tuesday.

💡 Today's Markets at Dec. 26 23:19 UTC

BTC +0.15% at $16,856; Ether +0.18% at $1,220.

Asia: Japan +0.65%; Hong Kong Closed; China +0.65%; India +1.17%.

Europe: London Closed; Paris Closed; Frankfurt Closed.

US Spot Indices: Dow Closed; S&P Closed; Nasdaq Closed.

US Index Futures: Dow +0.19%; S&P +0.29%; Nasdaq +0.40%.

US Two-year Treasury unchanged at 4.327%.

US Ten-year Treasury unchanged at 3.751%.

UK Ten-year Government unchanged at 3.642%.

US Dollar Index unchanged at 103.95.

FX in 24hrs: GBP: +0.21%; EUR: +0.23%; JPY: +0.02%; CNY: +0.39%.

Gold +0.21% at 1,801; Light Crude +1.24% at 80.55.

🧠 There is no significant catalyst this week.

Crypto Daily Digest

It was a mixed bag for the top 20 coins on Monday, with some experiencing significant increases while others saw notable declines. Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization, edged up 0.16% to reach $16,857. Meanwhile, Ether (ETH) saw a slightly larger bump of 0.28% to hit $1,221.

Ripple (XRP) was a standout performer, skyrocketing 5.67% to $0.365. Cardano (ADA) also saw strong growth, climbing 2.02% to $0.264, and Polygon (MATIC) followed suit with a 2.42% increase to $0.814.

On the other hand, BNB dipped 0.09% to $242, DOGE slumped 1.07% to $0.0752, and Tron (TRX) fell 0.55% to $0.0545. SHIB bucked the trend, however, with a slight 0.15% increase to $0.00000829.

Litecoin (LTC) experienced a 1.42% uptick to $70.13, while Uniswap (UNI) rose 0.51% to $5.18 and AVAX inched up 0.07% to $11.69. The day was not as kind to SOL, which dipped 1.05% to $11.26, The Open Network’s TONCOIN plummeted 5.48% to $2.28, and GateToken rose 0.95% to $3.44.

All in all, it was a volatile day for the crypto market, with a range of movements. Note that it’s interesting to see volumes and volatility pick up while most stock markets remained closed for the holiday.

🌐 Top 20 Coins Performance

BTC +0.16% at 16,857; ETH +0.28% at 1,221.

BNB -0.09% at 242; XRP +5.67% at 0.365; DOGE -1.07% at 0.0752.

ADA +2.02% at 0.264; MATIC +2.42% at 0.814; DOT +1.29% at 4.55.

TRX -0.55% at 0.0545; SHIB +0.15% at 0.00000829; LTC +1.42% at 70.13.

SOL -1.05% at 11.26; UNI +0.51% at 5.18; AVAX +0.07% at 11.69.

TONCOIN -5.48% at 2.28; GT +0.95% at 3.44.

Topic of the Day: Fantom's 2023 Roadmap: Gas Monetization, Virtual Machine Development, and More

Decentralized finance architect Andre Cronje has shared his vision for the Fantom ecosystem in 2023, highlighting the focus on creating a supportive environment for dapp developers to build sustainable businesses and differentiate Fantom from other layer-1 solutions.

One key strategy for achieving this goal is gas monetization, which will allow dapps to share in revenue as a development incentive and interact without requiring a wallet to pay gas fees.

Cronje also plans to work on building the Fantom Virtual Machine and a new storage mechanism. In terms of financial stability, Cronje noted that the Fantom protocol is in a "very sustainable and healthy position," even amid the current economic climate.

Previously, Fantom had announced plans to cut its token burn rate by 75% to fund its dapp reward program. It's clear that the team at Fantom has big plans for the coming year, and we'll be watching to see how they progress toward their goals.

Fantom (FTM) $0.20548 (+0.11%): 🔼 Bullish Outlook

If you’d like us to cover any specific token or macro data, feel free to reach out to us by dropping a message in our Reddit community. Meanwhile, for a full analysis of Bitcoin (BTC), click here.

FTM Overview:

• Closest weekly support zone: 0.2029 - 0.1800
• Closest weekly resistance zone: 0.2030 - 0.2255
• Weekly Key Level: 0.2526 (Monthly High of Jan. 2021)

FTM Weekly Outlook: Chart Link

FTM Weekly Resistance zones

1. 0.2030 - 0.2255
2. 0.2417 - 0.2526
3. 0.2875 - 0.3151

FTM Weekly Support zones

1. 0.2029 - 0.1800
2. 0.1769 - 0.1696
3. 0.1533 - 0.1464

Further Reading

Gate.io WCTC S3 rounded off! A record-high number of participants competed in the game! | The trading contest attracted the participation of a total of 15,755 players from dozens of countries and regions such as Korea, Japan, Brazil, Vietnam, Turkey, and Russia.

**Market Trend**｜SBF’s Bail Revealed To Total $250 Million; The SEC Is Cracking Down On Crypto Auditors; Former Ripple Executive Defends XRP’s Utility

Gate.io's Campus Ambassador Programs Offers Onramp to the Blockchain and Crypto Industry | To help accelerate blockchain education, the crypto exchange Gate.io recently started accepting student applications for its Campus Ambassador Program.

Gate Group Strengthens Its Presence in Industry Conferences Globally | In December 2022, the Gate.io team headed to London for the Blockchain Expo Global, where they had the chance to exhibit their platform and interact with attendees from all over the world.

Notable headlines

🔹 400M Twitter users’ data is reportedly on sale in the black market. The private contact information of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, shark tank host Kevin O'Leary and Mark Cuban are among those purportedly for sale.

🔹 Bitcoin hashrate recovers after big freeze shuts down miners. The Bitcoin network hashrate has returned to 241.29 EH/s after a temporary 38% fall to 170.60 EH/s from a weekly peak of 276.40 EH/s.

🔹 The Bitkeep hack that occurred on December 26 was carried out through the use of phishing websites, according to blockchain analytics provider OKLink. The attacker set up fake Bitkeep websites that contained a malicious APK file disguised as a legitimate wallet update. When users downloaded the file, their private keys or seed words were stolen and sent to the attacker, resulting in over $13 million worth of crypto being stolen across five different networks.

🔹 The balance of Bitcoin (BTC) in accumulation addresses, or addresses that have at least two incoming non-dust transfers and have never spent funds, is approaching an all-time high, according to data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. As of December 25, there were 793,591 qualifying accumulation addresses containing a total of 3,099,828 BTC, which is nearly at the all-time high of 3,403,280 BTC seen in August 2015. On-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant argued that the overall long-term trend for BTC remains bullish.

🔹 The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan is considering lifting its ban on the domestic distribution of foreign-issued stablecoins such as Tether or USD Coin in 2023. If the ban is lifted, local exchanges will be able to handle stablecoin trading under the condition of asset preservation through deposits and an upper limit on remittance. The move would significantly impact cryptocurrency trading services in Japan, as none of the 31 registered exchanges currently offer trading in stablecoins.

🔹 Fidelity has filed three US trademark applications to provide services in virtual worlds, including NFTs, virtual real estate investing, and crypto trading, as it expands its digital asset offerings. The firm announced plans to hire 100 more crypto employees in October, and launched commission-free retail crypto trading accounts in November.

🔹 BIT Mining, the parent company of BTC.com, announced that it was hacked on December 3rd, with about $700,000 in client assets and $2.3 million in company assets stolen. The company reported the incident to authorities in the city of Shenzhen, and some of the assets have been secured.

🔹 The DeGods and y00ts non-fungible token (NFT) collections on the Solana blockchain will migrate to Ethereum and Polygon, respectively, in the coming year. DeGods, which has a floor price of 460 SOL ($5,221), will move to Ethereum and compete with NFT blue chips such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks. Meanwhile, y00ts, which has a floor price of 140 SOL ($1,600), will move to Polygon, a sidechain of Ethereum that offers faster and cheaper transactions. The teams have not yet provided technical details about the migrations or the cross-chain bridge they plan to use.