Market Wrap: Bear Market Guides in Vogue as Bitcoin Drops Fourth Straight Day

Hi, I’m Bradley Keoun, here to take you through the day’s crypto market highlights and news.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell for a fourth straight day, just barely holding above the psychologically crucial $20,000 mark.

And so it seems fitting that the decentralized finance (DeFi) newsletter Bankless sent an edition on Wednesday under the title, “7 Mental Health Tips for This Bear Market.”

“Unless you’re a crypto mega whale hoovering up capitulation plankton, chances are number-go-down for a while,” Jem Khawaja wrote in the newsletter.

Among altcoins, Polkadot’s DOT was the biggest loser in the CoinDesk 20, falling 3.7% over the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain and the second biggest overall, fell 3.5%. Dogecoin (DOGE) rose 6%, and shiba inu (SHIB) rallied 3.6%.

In traditional markets, stocks edged lower as top officials at the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank spoke about the economy and inflation at a forum.

The day’s highlight came when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that “we now understand better how little we understand about inflation.” Consumer prices have been climbing at their fastest pace in four decades.

Latest prices

Crypto Derivatives Exchange Bybit to Settle Options Contracts in USDC

By Jimmy He

Crypto derivatives exchange Bybit said it is offering options contract settlement using USD coin (USDC).

The exchange said in a press release that USDC, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, will enable stable prices for the duration of each contract.

Bybit’s choice to use USDC for contracts because of its stability unfolds despite increasing doubts about stablecoins. In May, Terra’s UST, then the third-largest stablecoin by market cap, crashed to nearly zero from its dollar peg. Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin, lost $10 billion in market capitalization the same month when investors started to redeem the tokens.

Amid the general crypto market volatility, USDC is being seen as a more reliable and transparent option, according to analysts.

Read the full story here.

Altcoin roundup

• Chainlink protocols go live on Fantom: Two protocols, Keepers and Verifiable Random Function (VRF), will allow developers to deploy more sophisticated DeFi applications on the Fantom network. Read more here.
• Bybit settles options contracts in USDC: The crypto derivatives exchange will be offering options contract settlement using USD coin. The exchange said in a press release that it would enable stable prices for the duration of each contract. Read more here.
• Polygon Deploys ‘Avail’: The custom blockchain scaling system allows developers to launch application-specific blockchains on the Polygon network and access blockchain data “off-chain,” meaning they wouldn’t need to continually check data from the network for an application deployed on Polygon. Read more here.

Relevant insight

• Nansen Casts Blame for stETH ‘De-Peg’ on Terra: The report from the blockchain analytics firm also explains how Celsius Network and Three Arrows Capital helped foment their own declines.
• EU Finalizes Crypto Money Laundering Rules: A Wednesday meeting secured a final deal on anti-money-laundering legislation for crypto transfers, which the industry warns could prove harmful for innovation and privacy.
• Crypto Miners Face Margin Calls, Defaults as Debt Comes Due in Bear Market: Private and publicly listed crypto miners owe up to $4 billion in debt used to finance the construction of gargantuan facilities across North America, according to industry participants and data compiled by CoinDesk.
• Polkadot Chief Gavin Wood Announces Blockchain Governance Upgrade: The platform’s “Gov2” is set to launch on Kusama “imminently,” following a final professional audit of its code, he said.
• Citi Flags Crypto-Backed Real Estate Mortgages Amid Falling Market Conditions: The bank points to the rise of crypto-backed mortgages and financing of digital property purchases.
• Bitcoin Dips Under $20K on Blunted Growth Sentiment as Spain Fuels Inflation Concerns: Traders assessed revived concerns of rampant inflation and growth for the coming months.
• Deutsche Bank: Crypto Free Fall Could Continue Because of the System’s Complexity: As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are speculative, high-risk assets, they are disproportionately affected by central bank tightening, the bank said.

Other markets

Most digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day higher.

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.