Market Overview

What a difference a month makes! Just over a month ago the doom and gloom merchants were predicting that Bitcoin would fall below $10,000 and many cryptocurrencies were languishing at a significant discount to their all time highs — some by as much as 90% or more.

The last month has seen an increase in the overall market by 24%. However there is still some way to go to make up lost ground, with the market some 20% off it’s all time high reached in May. That means there is still value to be found and whilst the discounts to all time highs have narrowed somewhat there are an abundance of quality projects which remain undervalued by the market.

Trending

Binance starts to act responsibly

After the onslaught of governments and regulators attacking Binance on all fronts, the latest one being Norway, Binance announced it was imposing Know Your Client (KYC) procedures on all users. Binance US also announced it was parting company with its recently appointed top flight CEO, another worrying sign.

SEC head sets out his thoughts on crypto regulation

In a recent speech the head of the US’s SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) made it clear he wants to see the Commission granted additional authorities to regulate the crypto ecosystem including crypto trading, lending and DeFi platforms, claiming there is insufficient investor protection. Gensler said, ‘I believe we have a crypto market now where many token’s may be unregulated securities, without required disclosures or market oversight.’ He also talked about how he considered stablecoins securities and that exchanges that target US investors should be registered with the SEC.

Fines and settlements

Poloniex exchange settled charges with the SEC that it sold securities without registering with it. Although Poloniex no longer serves US clients it paid $10 million to settle its past infractions. Meanwhile crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX agreed to pay up to $100 million to resolve a case from the US’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The penalty is ‘for illegally operating a cryptocurrency trading platform and anti money laundering violations.’

Biggest DeFi hack to date

Poly Network, the cross chain protocol, suffered a $612 million hack. It is the largest hack to date of a DeFi protocol and more than twice the $284 million value of all DeFi hacks since 2019. However there was an unusual turn of events when the hacker returned the funds, albeit in tranches, and was paid a bounty for discovering the weakness that allowed the hacker to steal multiple currencies in the first place.

Robinhood customers get hot for crypto

About 41% of Robinhood’s, the recently listed online stockbroker, total revenue in Q2 derived from cryptocurrency trading commission, up from 17% in the first quarter. Overall 60% of its customers traded cryptocurrencies last quarter.

Coinbase prepares for crypto winter

Since Coinbase went public in April it it has stockpiled $4 billion in cash to prepare for a possible regulatory crackdown or so called crypto winter.

NFTs continue to grow at a rapid pace

Opensea is the first NFT marketplace to pass $2 billion in monthly trading, that is a 100% increase from its previous record month whilst the OG of the space CryptoPunks surpassed $1 billion in lifetime sales. This market is still in its infancy.

Is Microsoft entering the blockchain space?

Microsoft has been awarded a US patent for software it says can help users develop blockchain applications more easily. The patent describes a ledger independent system for helping users to create tokens and for managing them across different networks. It appears that it is only a matter of time before the big boys of tech and finance move into the blockchain space with more user-friendly solutions.

Cardano surges to third most valuable cryptocurrency

With a market value of $90 billion Cardano, the blockchain platform launched in 2017 by the co-founder of Ethereum, became the third most valuable cryptocurrency ahead of BNB, Binance’s native currency. The price surge is partly as a result of its announcement that in September it is upgrading its protocol to run smart contracts. However the project looks overvalued in our opinion with a valuation that assumes that it is going to be wildly successful. That isn’t guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination!

Inside Track podcasts

We continue to build our library of interesting content from emerging projects and technologies in the blockchain space. Inside Track is the best way to learn about cryptocurrency from experts in the field as well as discover emerging projects from NFTs to DeFi, from memecoins to launchpads. You can listen to any of the Inside Track podcasts here.

This month’s podcasts include:

ICHI — A leading project in the stablecoin market talks about all things stablecoins including Tether, Facebook and regulation.

NFT Technologies — An investment company that looks to take stakes in emerging NFT projects talks about the current NFT market and why it isn’t just a fad.

Permission.io — The data management company talks about monetizing our most important asset, our data.

Staking and Yield Farming

Each week we provide the latest APRs from leading staking and yield farming platforms together with news from the industry.

Staking and yield farming has been a major driver in the huge growth in the DeFi sector. Investors are being enticed by the massive APRs on offer. Totally new projects tempting investors with returns of 10,000+ % are able to attract a deluge of money from investors who don’t seem concerned with the high risks involved. Our weekly review looks at the best platforms out there and the ones to avoid. We attempt to weed out the platforms that we think won’t stand the test of time.

You can read our weekly reviews here.

You can also watch our new YouTube video here which takes a deep dive into the world of staking and yield farming and attempts to explain the most complex issues.

Monthly Moonshot Portfolio

After three months in the doldrums our monthly portfolio of twenty small cap cryptocurrencies emerged in impressive style recording a 60% increase in the month. You can view the portfolio here and the detailed analysis we painstakingly undertake each month.

Articles

Click below to read a few of the articles we published last month which you may like to catch up on:

• Six cryptocurrencies worth buying to avoid impending regulation
• The scourge of the crypto influencer
• Should investors be investing in cryptos with anonymous teams?
• FTX vs Binance

Not Financial Advice

This article does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to buy in any way. Always do your own research and never invest more than you can afford to lose. Investing in cryptocurrencies is high risk, and you could lose 100% of your investment. The article should be treated as supplementary information to add to your existing knowledge.