Three days ago, Bitcoin was at 50% market dominance, indicating that the cryptocurrency then accounted for half of the total crypto market cap, valued at $1.052 Trillion.

This came shortly after BlackRock ETF Filling. Soon thereafter, the news of Bitcoin’s renewed dominance has driven much excitement across the crypto community, with many speculating on the reason for such market growth.

Bitcoin Price Surges

Bitcoin (BTC) has made a significant breakthrough by surpassing the $30,000 level, marking the first time since April that it has achieved this milestone. In the past 24 hours alone, the cryptocurrency has held a market cap dominance of 47.889%.

In the past 24hours, Bitcoin has gained by 5.2% and increased it trading volume to $30,584,488,218. Looking back at the last 7 days, it has being bullish and prompts hope for further price rallying.

Zero Limitations

In addition BlackRock, other major players such as Invesco and WisdomTree have also submitted applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This move demonstrates their confidence in the potential of cryptocurrencies.

Moreover, Deutsche Bank has revealed that it has applied for a digital asset custody license in Germany, indicating its intention to be part of the growing digital asset ecosystem.

Despite recent regulatory measures taken by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and previous rejections of spot ETF applications, the market remains optimistic about the prospects of BlackRock’s success. BlackRock’s established reputation and track record with the SEC have bolstered its perceived chances of obtaining approval.

While Bitcoin’s current price surge reflects an impressive gain of over 80% since its opening value of $16,547 at the beginning of 2023, it is important to note that it still falls significantly short of its all-time high of $68,789, which was achieved in November 2021.

This raises the question of whether the recent upswing is a promising sign of sustained growth or a temporary occurrence that may be subject to further market fluctuations.

Source: Image from Tradingview.

The supply of Bitcoin in the United States has experienced a significant decline of over 10% in the past year, according to a report by Glassnode. This decline coincides with a notable increase in Bitcoin activity in Asia, as the share of U.S. supply dwindles over the past two years. 

The shifting landscape of Bitcoin ownership and trading has prompted Glassnode to analyze the migration of BTC supply worldwide, particularly observing a movement away from the U.S. and towards Asia.

Since mid-2022, the amount of Bitcoin supply held and traded by U.S. entities has decreased by more than 10%. Meanwhile, Europe’s share has remained relatively stable, indicating a redistribution of Bitcoin from west to east. Researchers at Glassnode commented on the clear divergence in the year-over-year BTC supply change based on geographical regions, highlighting the reversal of U.S. supply dominance since mid-2022, with a decline of 11%.

Glassnode utilizes a probabilistic approach at the entity level to determine the geolocation of Bitcoin supply. By correlating the timestamps of transactions created by an entity with the working hours of different geographical regions, the probabilities for each entity’s location in the U.S., Europe, or Asia are determined. This methodology allows for a comprehensive analysis of the global distribution of Bitcoin.

The year-over-year supply change reveals a declining U.S. share starting in March 2021, further accelerating from May of this year. These findings coincide with significant geopolitical shifts in the crypto landscape. Hong Kong, for instance, recently authorized exchanges to offer trading services. At the same time, in the Western world, the United States initiated legal proceedings against major cryptocurrency exchanges, marking a crucial moment for the industry.

Bitcoin U.S. Year-over-Year Supply Change chart. Source: Glassnode

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, one of the exchanges targeted by the legal action, expressed his concerns regarding poor regulation that could disadvantage the United States. 

In an opinion piece for MarketWatch, Armstrong emphasized the need for smart and bespoke regulation, drawing a parallel to the 1990s and early 2000s when the U.S. successfully defined the Internet Age. He called upon Congress to seize the historic opportunity presented by cryptocurrencies and pass comprehensive legislation that ensures consumer protection and fosters innovation. This plea underscores the importance of proactive regulation in shaping the future of the crypto industry.

Disclaimer: This article does not provide investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading decision carries risks, and readers should research before making any decisions. The purpose of this article is to offer general information and should not be interpreted as legal or investment advice. The opinions and views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Copaly.

Bitcoin miners have commenced the sale of BTC, exerting potential downward pressure on the price of Bitcoin. The on-chain data of Bitcoin reveals a significant trend of miners offloading their holdings. 

Several factors contribute to this selling pressure, including diminished earnings resulting from a cooldown in Ordinals activity, mining difficulty, and a hash rate reaching unprecedented levels.

According to Glassnode, a renowned on-chain analytics firm, there has been a substantial increase in the number of coins being sent to exchanges by miners. This surge in inflows reached a three-year peak on June 3, reminiscent of levels observed during the bullish period of early 2021.

Additionally, Coin Metrics data indicates a decline in the one-hop supply metric of miners. This metric measures the quantity of Bitcoin stored in addresses that receive coins from mining pools. It has displayed a consistent upward trajectory in miner holdings since May 2023. However, the trend of accumulation by miners reversed during the second week of June.

One-hop supply of Bitcoin miners. Source: Coin Metrics

Increase in mining difficulty and reduced Ordinals activity

The mining difficulty of Bitcoin, which represents the level of complexity in discovering a new block within the Bitcoin blockchain network, reached an unprecedented peak at the beginning of June.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty undergoes regular adjustments to maintain an average block time of approximately 10 minutes. When the computational capacity of the network increases, the difficulty level is raised to ensure that mining becomes more challenging. Conversely, if the capacity decreases, the difficulty is reduced.

The adjustment in difficulty takes place after every 2,016 blocks, corresponding to roughly two weeks. It is determined based on the total computational power, known as hash rate, within the network. The most recent adjustment occurred on May 31, resulting in a significant 3.39% increase in the overall difficulty level.

Bitcoin mining difficulty. Source: Blockchain.com

The surge in Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has a detrimental effect on miners’ profitability, potentially leading to increased losses. The rise in difficulty directly impacts miners’ earnings, making generating profits more challenging.

Furthermore, the competition among miners has intensified following the recent difficulty adjustment. The network’s hash rate reached an all-time high of 381 exahashes per second on June 11. This heightened competition among miners contributes to the selling pressure within the market. 

Another factor contributing to miners’ reduced earnings is the decline in Bitcoin Ordinals’ activity, significantly boosting miner revenue. In May, the total fees paid for Ordinal inscriptions on Bitcoin dropped to a two-month low. Similarly, trading volumes on nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces exhibited a downward trend.

Glassnode data reveals that miners’ average earnings over a seven-day period declined from a peak of $33.9 million in May to $25.8 million at the beginning of June.

The 7-day moving average of Bitcoin miner revenue (orange) and BTC’s price (black). Source: Glassnode

Identifying miners’ stress levels

The production cost of Bitcoin using current mining hardware ranges from $35,532 to $21,244. With the price of Bitcoin remaining above $25,000, the decline in Bitcoin’s mining hash rate may be limited.

Nevertheless, if the situation deteriorates during the summer and the mining cost rises without a corresponding BTC price increase, the industry could enter a state of capitulation. This phase would be characterized by intensified selling of BTC and a decrease in the network’s hash rate.

Bitcoin price chart with production cost indicator. Source: TradingView

In addition, despite the continuous increase in Bitcoin’s hash rate, there has been a notable decline in Bitcoin’s hash price metric. This metric represents the market value assigned to each unit of hashing power. The decrease in May indicates a cooling down in demand for mining hardware.

According to the latest update from Hashrate Index, the hash price per petahash per day (PH/day) has dropped below $70.00 for the first time since mid-March. In May, it had reached an average of $82.23 per PH/day, marking a significant decline of 14.8%.

Disclaimer: This article does not provide investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading decision carries risks, and readers should research before making any decisions. The purpose of this article is to offer general information and should not be interpreted as legal or investment advice. The opinions and views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Copaly.

Due to a significant number of pending transactions, the cryptocurrency exchange “Binance” has announced a temporary closure of BTC withdrawals. Binance, the crypto exchange, has suspended Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals temporarily, citing a significant backlog of pending transactions.

According to a tweet by Binance on May 8, the suspension was due to a large volume of pending transactions. The transactions are still pending because the platform’s set fees did not anticipate the recent surge in Bitcoin network gas fees.

Currently, data from mempool.space indicates that the number of transactions waiting to be processed in the Bitcoin mempool has increased from around 400,000 at the time to almost 485,000.

A mempool serves as a temporary storage area for pending transactions on the Bitcoin network before each blockchain node can verify them. The exchange has acknowledged the issue and has stated that they are currently “working on a fix” to resolve it.

They have also assured users that withdrawals for the affected cryptocurrency will be restored “as soon as possible” and that they are taking steps to expedite the confirmation of all pending transactions.

Bitcoin (BTC) passed the $3,000 mark on March 10, 2022, surpassing the line for the first time since June 10, 2022. With investors beginning to feel more comfortable about U.S. central bank monetary policy, BTC advanced due to the fluctuating banking sector.

In the last 24 hours, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization traded for about $30,237, up 6.75 over the previous 24 hours.

“It’s clear that the market is pricing a slowdown in growth, and in turn a loosening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve over the course of 2023,” said Richard Mico, the U.S. CEO and chief legal officer of Banxa, a payment-and-compliance infrastructure provider for crypto.

Bitcoin reached a market capitalization of $30,000 on June 10, 2022, as it was approaching $20,000, making its lower end very busy during the final weeks of 2018 and early 2019. Bitcoin was hovering around $28,000 for the last three weeks as an unsure group of investors weighed the implications of a near-bankruptcy crisis, intensified inflation pressures and other macroeconomic uncertainties.

Throughout January, asset prices increased during the evidence of low inflation. It increased temporarily in February but declined sharply in March after the collapse of Signature and Silicon Valley banks demonstrated the lack of support for the present monetary system, causing investors to lose interest in assets with long-term value.

Bitcoin bulls’ next target will be $31,000, where Binance’s order book shows the highest concentration of buying momentum. Selling support is planned for $29,000 and $28,500.

As of 2023, mining network participants who validate transactions are awarded 6.25 bitcoins (BTC) for each block successfully mined. The next halving is expected to happen in April or May 2024, when the total block reward will fall to 3.125. This will also increase scarcity and demand; the big question now is, will Bitcoin hit $60,00 again?

Despite being a graduate thesis, a 350-page report on Bitcoin has surprisingly become popular on Amazon. 

The paper, titled “Softwar,” was written by a U.S. Space Force major named Jason Lowery and explores the potential of Bitcoin as a military-grade solution for securing information. The report suggests that nation-states could use Bitcoin as a powerful cyber-security tool, marking a departure from the mainstream use of Bitcoin’s network as a financial solution.

Lowery’s research for the paper was conducted during a 6-month fellowship sponsored by the Department of Defense at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Titled “Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin,” the paper represents the culmination of his academic research. While a thesis may not typically be considered a page-turner, Lowery’s work on Bitcoin has gained widespread attention on Amazon.

According to Lowrey’s Amazon bio, he has advised senior U.S. officials on Bitcoin-related policy in offices related to the president, Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Although “Softwar” is not currently ranked within the top 500 books on Amazon, Lowery’s research on Bitcoin has gained significant traction and currently ranks second in both the technology and engineering categories on Amazon.

Lowery’s thesis spans over 350 pages and draws on multiple disciplines, including anthropology and computer science, to develop his “Power Projection Theory.” The theory suggests that the proof-of-work system that underpins Bitcoin’s transaction verification could be utilized by military powers to impose restrictions on bad actors without lethal force, instead using computational work to deter them.

The book argues that Bitcoin can serve as a “softwar” or electro-cyber-defense protocol, going beyond its current usage as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. The system’s unique ability to physically constrain computers sets it apart from other software that can only logically deny them.

In the acknowledgments section of “Softwar,” Lowrey credits MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and Peter McCormack among Bitcoin’s most loyal proponents. However, the paper also highlights the potential threat to national security if the U.S. government fails to maintain sufficient reserves of Bitcoin, given its possible use as a cyber-security tool. 

Lowrey argues that the U.S. risks forfeiting a strategically vital power and setting itself back in global power dominance without considering the stockpiling of strategic Bitcoin reserves or encouraging Bitcoin adoption.

It is worth noting that the DoD, Air Force, and MIT do not officially endorse Lowrey’s thesis, as disclosed in the book.

Despite this disclaimer, “Softwar” has received mostly positive reviews on Amazon, with most readers giving it five stars. However, whether the U.S. government will heed Lowrey’s warning regarding the importance of maintaining strategic Bitcoin reserves remains to be seen. 

However, the U.S. government’s recent sale of seized Bitcoin for $215 million suggests that not all officials share Lowrey’s views.

On Thursday, the cryptocurrency market continued its upward trajectory following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s message that the central bank’s rate-hiking campaign may soon come to an end, given ongoing concerns about the stability of the global banking system.

Not only did crypto traders take advantage of this opportunity to enter the market, but U.S. equities also showed an upward trend in early trading, dipped briefly midday, and closed with a surge higher, with the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq increasing by 0.44%, 0.42%, and 1.01%, respectively.

According to TradingView data, Bitcoin (BTC) initially dipped below $27,000 on Wednesday, but then rebounded to reach an intraday high of $29,000 on Thursday. It subsequently pulled back to a support level of $28,300, which has been consistent for the past week.

According to Youwei, the recent instability in traditional finance due to high interest rates has led to the re-emergence of Bitcoin’s narrative as a safe haven asset. This has highlighted the benefits of self-managed money through wallets and DeFi for high net-worth individuals, rather than relying on banks or fund managers. Despite recent regulatory scrutiny dampening momentum, statistics show that a large amount of money is still flowing into the crypto ecosystem, particularly into Bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s recent surge, almost doubling from its FTX crash low of $15.8K to surpass $28K and come close to $29K, is attributed to this narrative and money flow. However, the recent SEC lawsuit against Justin Sun, the founder of TRX, may lead to some selling pressure if the impact spreads.

Youwei suggests that there may still be one or two more significant drawbacks in the crypto market this year due to potential global liquidity issues and enforcement actions by regulators. However, things are expected to ramp up for a bull market in 2024 and 2025. The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.18 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 46%.

October 31st, 2008 – A man by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” And with that, cryptocurrency was born. The paper proposed a system of digital cash that would be able to function without the need for a central authority, like a bank or government. 

And while Nakamoto’s true identity has never been revealed, we do know that they had a profound impact on the world as we know it. 

In this blog post, we will be exploring the history of the Bitcoin whitepaper and all the things you need to know about it. From its humble beginnings to its current state, sit back and enjoy a (brief) history lesson on one of the most game-changing inventions of our generation.

The original Bitcoin Whitepaper

In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin whitepaper, which outlined a decentralized digital cash system that could be used to exchange value without the need for a third party. The paper proposed a peer-to-peer network that would use cryptography to allow users to send and receive payments.

Since its release, the Bitcoin whitepaper has been widely influential in the cryptocurrency space. In particular, it has served as the foundation for many of the protocols and technologies that power today’s blockchain networks.

Despite its importance, the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery to this day. Some believe that Nakamoto is a pseudonym for a team of developers, while others believe that he is a single individual. Regardless of who Satoshi is, his work has had a profound impact on the development of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

What has changed since the original Bitcoin Whitepaper?

It has been 14 years since the release of the original Bitcoin whitepaper, and a lot has changed in the cryptocurrency world since then. For one, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has grown from around $10 billion to over $1.2T. The price of Bitcoin has also risen significantly, from around $1,000 per BTC in 2017 to over $20,538.36 per BTC today.

In addition, there have been numerous improvements to the Bitcoin protocol over the years. These include features such as Segregated Witness (SegWit), which reduces the size of transactions and improves scalability; Lightning Network, which enables near-instantaneous and scalable off-chain payments; and Atomic Swaps, which allows for trustless cross-chain trading.

There have also been many new applications built on top of Bitcoin that make use of its unique properties. These include decentralized exchanges (DEXes), non-custodial wallets, and privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero and Zcash.

The current state of Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a publicly distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software in 2009.

Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment.

The Past and Future

On this day in 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto released a nine-page document that began a financial revolution and birthed a trillion-dollar industry. A couple of months after the release, the Bitcoin network was launched, with the first block mined on January 3, 2009. About eight days later, Hal Finney received the first transaction of 10 BTC from Nakamoto, after which he posted a legendary tweet that read:

In Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper, he proposed a decentralized electronic cash system that would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without the need for a third party. This would be possible by using a peer-to-peer network to track and verify transactions. Nakamoto also proposed that the system would be secure by using cryptography to ensure that only the sender and receiver of a transaction could view its details.

Since its release, the Bitcoin whitepaper has been widely credited as being instrumental in the development of the cryptocurrency industry. In the years since its release, numerous other cryptocurrencies have been created and released. While some of these have failed to gain traction, others have gone on to become extremely successful.

About a year after the launch of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency went on to record its first real-world commercial use case when a Florida man spent 10,000 BTC to purchase two large Papa John’s pizzas on May 22, 2010. 

Although the coins were worth $41 at prices back then, at today’s price, the transaction is worth more than $200 million. To commemorate the event, the Bitcoin community celebrates Bitcoin Pizza Day every year on May 22.

Conclusion

The Bitcoin whitepaper is a document that laid out the original vision for the cryptocurrency. It has been widely influential in the development of digital currency, and its ideas have been adopted by many other projects. 

At the time of writing, cryptocurrencies have a total market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Bitcoin currently makes up roughly 40% of the market share and reached a peak price in November 2018, when it was trading at nearly $70,000 per coin.

Bitcoin has attracted a lot of countries and financial institutions in the past years. It was given legal tender status in El Salvador, its first country to legalize cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange. Bitcoin is also listed in the Guinness World Record as the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency.

In just 14 years, Bitcoin has accomplished a great deal more than most people think. Despite the current downturn in the market, we should see updates stemming from the creation of Bitcoin over the next 14 years.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of Bitcoin, or if you’re curious about how it all works, be sure to check out the whitepaper.

Behnam believes that Bitcoin would thrive if financial professionals were more familiar with the unregulated jurisdiction.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Rostin Behnam said on Thursday that Bitcoin might “double in price” if it traded in a CFTC-regulated market.

The chairman added;

“the crypto industry had a massive opportunity for institutional inflows that will only occur if there’s a regulatory structure.”

Rostin Behnam

The skeptics have intensified their scrutiny of the crypto market internationally, from South America to Brazil. USDT’s legal troubles stateside have also become more widely known as well.

Gladly, Japan and the UAE among other governments also appear to be interested in embracing crypto and Web3 as a gateway to new development.

CFTC and Regulation

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC’s) current funding model and resources protected it against pursuing wider regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, which helps weed out scammers.

The chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission once said that the number of cases investigated by the CFTC depended on whistleblowers, consumer complaints, and tips, as a result of insufficient funding to pursue its investigations.

The chairman stated that in addition, he supported a bill introduced to the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee which designates the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the principal regulator of cryptocurrencies.

The big question now is whether this bill will be adopted or swept under the carpet like in previous cases.

World stock markets shaken as the United States faces fresh inflation rate as never seen in the past four years.

After seven months of surging an all time high, Bitcoin stairs panic into the cryptocurrency space as it falls under $22,000. The world Crypto Asset Managers has also given out press releases affecting notion and transactions.

Due to the sudden down thrust, Celsius Network has automatically paused all withdrawals and this is certain to be emulated by other exchangers. Already, Binance is rumored to have also suspend Bitcoin withdrawal. To make withdrawals, users ought to alternate to other exchange platforms.

Market Evaluation Drops under $1.0 trillion

On Monday, data aggregator CoinGecko revealed the crypto markets is now valued below $1.0 trillion. This is coming after a seven months throwback of sitting at $3.0 trillion. Greed index has also pointed downwards as fear raves the air.

Despite criticism, Central African Republic and El Salvador has continued to surmount confidence in the future of Bitcoin. Central African Republic and El Salvador has adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender.

SEC and BTC Regulations

The United State Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sent letters to multiple crypto exchanges requesting a documented report on the lack of Insider Trading Safeguards. FOX Business Journalist, Eleanor Terrett reported that this might be centralized down to SEC striving to protect investors. With increasing rumors of insider trading in the crypto space. SEC requested a full data report on financial data with pressing allegations on trading against customers.

Conclusively, Binance falls under the SEC Monitor radar as investigations if it staffs are engaging in insider trading or acting as a truly global exchange platform.