What Happened in the Crypto Industry & NOBI During the Past Week?

Hi NOBI’s! The first week of February is similar to the previous month. Where a number of crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, remain strong. Many believe that the positive market movement is the result of the euphoria created in anticipation of Bitcoin Halving Day in 2024. Is that valid? We recap what’s been happening in the crypto industry during the past week!

1. The Much-anticipated Bitcoin Halving Day 2024 Pushes Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Skyrocket

2023 looks to be an exciting year for crypto enthusiasts. This is due to a steady stream of good news and market sentiment. As reported by BeInCrypto, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) experienced price increases of 37.60% and 36.15%, respectively, between January 1 and February 6, 2023.

Given this impressive price trend, many crypto enthusiasts believe that the euphoria surrounding Bitcoin Halving Day 2024 will be one of the positive catalysts in the market movement over the next few months. The halving agenda itself is set to take place in March 2024.

2. Russia’s Largest Bank Ready to Launch Ethereum-Based DeFi Platform in May 2023

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, is planning to launch a decentralized finance platform (DeFi) based on the Ethereum blockchain in May 2023. Related to this plan, Sberbank will later enable users to access the MetaMask wallet extension, which is a tool for crypto asset transactions as well as non-fungible token (NFT) purchases.

Quoting from Business Insider, Tuesday (7/2/2023), Director of Blockchain Laboratory Products, Konstantin Klimenko explained that the DeFi network is currently running closed beta testing. However, in March, the trial will change to open testing. Klimenko added that DeFi could potentially eventually replace traditional banking services.

Another interesting fact, in March last year, Sberbank also made a separate step into the crypto sector. Namely, while successfully bagging a license from the Central Bank of Russia to issue and exchange digital assets, and previously also launching Russia’s first blockchain ETF.

3. Polygon Overtakes Solana from Top 10 Crypto Assets with Largest Market Cap

The sensational drama that surrounds the crypto-verse appears to be endless. Such as Polygon and Solana, which are still competing for 10th place in the list of crypto assets with the highest market cap. Who would have guessed that this fight had been going on for months? And the competition heated up even more when Polygon finally knocked Solana out of the top ten rankings.

MATIC has recorded a string of “green” price performances on its price charts over the last week. In terms of market value, Polygon (MATIC) has successfully surpassed Solana (SOL) to reclaim its position as the world’s tenth largest crypto asset. Polygon has been able to maintain its dominance over Solana since then, and it appears reluctant to relinquish that advantage.

4. The New Bitcoin Golden Cross Could See Huge Increase for BTC 1835%

In the midst of a positive market sentiment, another event occurred that succeeded in causing a stir in the crypto world. This phenomenon is the appearance of the Golden Cross on the Bitcoin (BTC) chart. As reported by BeInCrypto, this signal is the first time it has appeared again after 510 days or nearly the last 1.5 years.

If history repeats itself, this lagging indicator could confirm the start of a long term bull market in the crypto market. After observing the history of BTC trading since 2015, we can find 5 golden crosses that have formed. And 4 of them caused a significant uptrend in the price of Bitcoin, while 1 more caused a drastic price decrease.

That way, if we take the average value of the 4 increases that appear after the golden cross that has appeared 5 times, we will get a percentage of an uptrend of 1835%. So, if Bitcoin, which is currently oscillating at around $23,000, manages to achieve such an uptick in the next bull market, it will soar in price to the US$445,000 mark. Let’s keep an eye on that possibility!

5. Ethereum Testnet ‘Zhejiang’ Processes First-Ever ETH Staking Withdrawals

For the first time ever, the Ethereum testnet successfully simulated a staked Ether (ETH) withdrawal. The success of the testnet could then bring the world’s second-largest blockchain one step closer to its historic transition to a full-featured proof-of-stake (PoS) network. This update was active on epoch 1350 at 15:00 UTC and finished at 15:13 UTC. (10:13 ET).

The Ethereum testnet, also known as Zhejiang, facilitated a withdrawal simulation on Tuesday (07/02) morning after going live last week, based on information from an explorer website set up to track transactions on the system. The testnet is indeed designed to provide developers with a kind of dress rehearsal for withdrawal services similar to what will happen to the main Ethereum blockchain once the Shanghai Upgrade finally goes live next month.

That wraps up for Crypto This Week. We’ll see you at the next one!