Last Week In Crypto (BTC Flying, Binance Anti-FUD, & Thriving Altcoins)

28 Nov 2023 by Rory Kejzerko 5 min read

Two years on from crypto’s most bullish month of all time, November 2023 poses a vastly different DeFi landscape.

That being said, after over 18 months since the onset of the ongoing bear market, things are most certainly starting to pick up. To demonstrate this, last week saw a selection of bullish developments from across many corners of crypto antics, with this article to explore them all.

Slow But Steady Bitcoin (BTC) & Altcoin Price Pumps

Last week saw increased levels of retail and institutional investments in crypto, which we can attribute to the progress that’s been made within the context of Spot Bitcoin ETF applications. In turn, this saw Bitcoin ($BTC) breach a price level of $38,000, which ultimately signalled its highest valuation since May 2022.

When it comes to the more technical areas of BTC trading, the OG cryptocurrency was trading sideways throughout last week, with daily charts following the same channel that we’ve been observing throughout the month of November.

On the weekly charts BTC painted doji candlesticks - inferring a neutral trend - whilst on the monthly end of things, the coin appears to be gearing-up for a third month in the green…something that rings bullish on surface, however is a little bearish in the medium run given that three green months often precede a red fourth.

US Regulators & Binance Smoothly Resolve Settlement

Last week also saw Binance complete its $4.3 billion settlement with the US government…to ultimately resolve a regulatory probing that began back in 2018.

In addition to its lump sum fine, the world’s largest crypto exchange will now be monitored by the Department of Justice and the US Treasury (for the next three and five years, respectively). Consequently, this now means that bad actors operating on the platform will likely be caught within such time frame…further meaning that more headline-hitting scandals may be on the horizon, as well as a purer Binance ecosystem.

As for Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the now-resigned CEO has had to pay a personal fine of $150 million, and could potentially face up to 10 years in prison. Further, by the time you read this article, it’s likely that a judge would’ve made a decision over whether the Chinese-born Canadian can roam free until his February 2024 sentencing date.

Irrespective of the bearish impacts that may lie ahead for its native Binance Smart Chain ($BNB) token, many dub the now-resolved Binance situation (which essentially sees it ‘derisked’) as net-bullish. Such rationale largely stems from those concerned with Spot Bitcoin ETF approvals, as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - i.e. the decision maker in this scenario - now has enough regulatory oversight over the exchange to finally allow the new asset class to unfold.

Binance’s seemingly seamless derisk with authorities also flies in the face of that FTX, as it was able to demonstrate how headlining-hitting crypto debacles don’t always have to result in FUD (i.e. not a penny was lost throughout the entire ordeal).

Additionally, many are insinuating that last month’s resignation of Tether CEO Jean-Louis van der Velde (JL) coincides with that of CZ. These rumours come amid the SEC’s concerns over market manipulation within the USDT ecosystem, and how with the resignation of JL, the world’s largest stablecoin has also been ‘derisked’…and if true, Spot Bitcoin ETF approvals could perhaps come sooner than we expected.

In turn, CZ - who had to step down as CEO as part of the arrangement - is being hailed as a somewhat hero given the lack of turmoil caused by the mammoth case.

Quick moment to say CZ handled the shutdown of his $23b stablecoin with 0 funds lost, negotiated a multi-billion dollar settlement with government agencies, and I can still trade and withdraw from there with no issues through all that.
— Tree of Alpha (@Tree_of_Alpha) November 21, 2023

Last Week’s Top Performing Cryptos

In short, the top performing altcoins from last week (and their reasonings) were as following:

Blur ($BLUR) - Due to being listed on Binance, as well as the pump of Ethereum Layer-2 network Blast (a project that shares the same popular ‘Pac Man’ founder).

STEPN ($GMT) - Due to its native and namesake move-to-earn app hosting a hype-fuelled ‘Gas Heroes’ NFT contest.

ApeCoin ($APE) - A small - albeit noteworthy - price increase that was likely due to the pump of its corresponding Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection.

Klayton ($KLAY): Due to the launch of a Klayton-built dApp called Super Walk…which in essence, is a direct move-to-earn competitor of STEPN.

Mina ($MINA): Due to a publicly-announced ‘Network Performance Testing’ event which essentially allowed developers to re-optimise the Mina Protocol.

On an Ethereum ($ETH) note, investors are still waiting for the long overdue altcoin rotation into the asset.

Additionally, with crypto’s Spot ETF attention transfixed onto those of the Bitcoin variety, it can be easy to forget that world’s leading altcoin also has similar plans in store.

And as for its price, ETH’s price pump has paled in comparison to other altcoins, however per ETH and ETH/BTC charts, the coin could be gearing towards a $2,600 valuation in the weeks to come.

Last Week in Crypto - Conclusive Thoughts

As intuition - and crypto trading cycles - suggest, November’s ongoing positive price action largely stems from developments regarding the several in-waiting institutional Spot Bitcoin ETF applications - which as previously reported, could come as soon as January 2024.

By virtue - and per both crypto-native and non-native variables - the correlation between the DeFi space and TradFi stocks is also the its lowest it’s been in years, therefore meaning that the increase in crypto bullish is being sourced from crypto-native factors (such as progress within Spot Bitcoin ETF approvals, as opposed to macroeconomic developments).

Further, unless an out-of-the-blue crypto shock comes our way - or a meteoric macroeconomic catastrophe - we can expect to see similar (gradual) gains made this week - which will probably be most evident from within the price action of more speculative altcoins.

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