Daily Flash | Crypto Market Continues Second Day Of Losses As Traders Await Wednesday CPI Data, Chainlink Announced Ethereum PoW Forks Will Not Be Supported

Today's Headline - Chainlink Ditches Ethereum PoW Forks For PoS After The Merge: Finbold report

As the Ethereum (ETH) network prepares for the rapidly approaching Merge upgrade that will mark its transition to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validation algorithm, major players in the cryptocurrency sector are planning their next moves.

One of them is the Chainlink (LINK) protocol, whose team has recently detailed its future steps and recommendations in preparation for the Merge transition slated for September 2022, explaining it will not support the forked versions of the network, including Proof-of-Work (PoW) forks, crypto journalist Colin Wu reported on August 8.

According to the website:

“The Chainlink protocol and its services will remain operational on the Ethereum blockchain during and after the Merge to the PoS consensus layer. Users should be aware that forked versions of the Ethereum blockchain, including PoW forks, will not be supported by the Chainlink protocol.”

Chart of the Day - Top 10 NFT Marketplaces By Volume In The Last 30 Days

As of this writing,
Bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at around $22,980, down 3.6% in the past 24 hours,
while Ether (ETH) is trading at $1,685, or down 5.27% during the same period.
Major altcoins are also following similar patterns, with Cardano (ADA) is down by 4.03%, Solana (SOL) -7.05%, Polkadot (DOT) -5.22%, Avalanche (AVAX) -4.2%, and Cosmos (ATOM) -8.1%.

Notable gainers include:
Mainframe (MFT) at $0.00682 (+43.42%),
WaykiChain (WICC) at $0.101 (+23.08%),
Tellor (TRB) at $37.29 (+22.75%).

Notable losers include:
IDEX (IDEX) at $0.0822 (-17.52%),
RAMP (RAMP) at $0.0930 (-15.09%),
Oasis Network (ROSE) at $0.0992 (-12.35%).

On Wednesday, as investors await the release of July's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the U.S., Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are trading in the red for the 2nd consecutive day, down 3.7% and 5.1% respectively in the past 24 hours, which follows the U.S. equity market as expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18%. The Nasdaq Composite Index, meanwhile, fell 1.19% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.42%.

Analysts widely expect the CPI to drop to a still hefty 8.7% after hitting a four-decade high of 9.1% in June, suggesting that while inflation is slowing it remains problematic enough for the U.S. Federal Reserve to likely approve a third consecutive 75 basis point interest rate hike.

Gold, a traditional safe haven asset, ticked slightly higher and has risen more than 3% over the past month, which implies some investors may have returned to more risk-averse strategies.

As of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is holding above its 20-day EMA ($22,876), which is around 6% away from the current price’s ($22,876) overhead resistance at $24,298.

The close distance, along with the anticipation of the U.S. CPI data, indicates a break above or below is imminent. If 20-day EMA is broken, the next closest daily support zone will be $21,910, or -4% from the current price.

Ether (ETH) follows suit as it is down by 5.55% from its Monday height of $1,818. As reported by Glassnode, Ether’s September options open interest far exceeds that of Bitcoin as traders are betting on the upcoming merge.

The 20-day EMA coincides with the weekly support zone between $1,611 - $1,622. Like Bitcoin, Ether correlates highly with the U.S. equity market, which puts an emphasis on today’s CPI data release. A break below the support zone may bring Ether down to the 38.2% Fibonacci level ($1,505) measured from Apr. 3 - Jun. 18, and the next closest monthly support zone sits at $1,440, or around -14% from the current price.

Influencer of the Day - MicroStrategy Explored Options From Art to Real Estate Before Bitcoin Buys, New CEO Says

Phong Le was moved into the CEO spot at MicroStrategy last week after Saylor stepped down to become executive chairman, with a sole focus on the company's Bitcoin strategy.

Speaking Tuesday at a conference sponsored by investment bank Canaccord Genuity, Le said that prior to first purchasing Bitcoin (BTC) in August 2020, MicroStrategy considered purchasing Treasurys, corporate bonds, gold, commodities, real estate and even artwork.

He added that MicroStrategy’s move into Bitcoin has boosted shares and trading volume, and helped the firm make a transition from solely being a “sleepy software company.”

Back in September 2020 MicroStrategy ran a Dutch auction, offering those investors not interested in the Bitcoin strategy a way out via a 15% premium to the stock price at that time. Only $60 million in stock was tendered, which was far short of the $250 million the company had expected.

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