Crypto market gears up for a high-stakes November

Hola folks!

Last week’s crypto landscape was exciting, with Bitcoin making significant moves and Solana outperforming the market.

Amid intensifying geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Bitcoin showed resilience. Solana, meanwhile, remained strong, partly driven by the AI meme craze. Let’s dive into today’s newsletter to check out the latest trends and major developments from the world of crypto!

This week, Bitcoin’s price swung between $68,500 and $65,500, initially rallying to $69.5K amid massive ETF inflows. BTC closed the very important weekly close last week above the 68k USD mark, meaning we could soon see a rally to all-time highs if there are no more hiccups. With the result of the next president of the United States just a week away, a likely Trump win is also seen as a positive development by the crypto community. It is to be noted that Trump has already announced his plan to make Elon Musk lead the new Department Of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) if elected, which could also start a rally in Musk's favorite crypto Dogecoin again.

On Friday, news of a DOJ probe into Tether (USDT) related to alleged third-party illicit financing pressured BTC lower, sparking a quick sell-off. By Saturday, geopolitical tensions further escalated as Israel conducted airstrikes in Iran, but Bitcoin rebounded by Sunday to around $68K. 

Meanwhile, Solana saw strong performance relative to the broader market, partly fueled by the continued AI meme craze, with tokens like GOAT nearing a $1 billion market cap at their peak.

Looking forward, November could be pivotal for the crypto market as potential ETF-driven demand approaches 1 million BTC holdings. Key macro events, including upcoming U.S. election dynamics, expected rate cuts, and Russia’s policy on Bitcoin mining, could drive renewed market interest. Meanwhile, investors are watching closely as major tech companies—Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Amazon—report earnings, which could spill over into the crypto market.

Traders are gearing up for the possibility of altcoin season as BTC dominance nears 60%, but some analysts expect a tempered rally for alts compared to previous cycles. The layer-2 Base network surged briefly as the top blockchain for stablecoin volume, while Bitcoin mining difficulty set a new record, underscoring the network’s resilience. In light of a potentially pro-crypto U.S. election outcome, as well as macro and on-chain momentum, crypto markets could be on the verge of another rally.

With a range of economic factors at play, including the potential for US interest rate cuts, Russian policy shifts on Bitcoin mining, and America’s election outlook, the coming weeks may mark a pivotal point for the crypto market. Altcoin traders will be watching for signs of Bitcoin dominance peaking near 60%, and macro-focused investors are attuned to Microsoft’s December 10 shareholder vote on Bitcoin hedging. Meanwhile, Optimism builds around the possibility of a Trump election win, which could further fuel pro-crypto sentiment. As we move into a potentially defining phase, market participants should brace for heightened volatility and new trading dynamics in the crypto landscape.

• BTC $68,682 ⏫ 2.51%

• SOL $177 ⏫ 2.28%

• DOGE $0.14 ⏫ 6.37%

• OP $1.62 ⏫ 3.64%

(All data here is as of 4:16 p.m., 28 October 2024)

Before we conclude, here’s a quick look at some important news from around the crypto world.

• Coinbase's Base blockchain has created a new landmark when the stablecoin transactions on Base surpassed all other chains like Ethereum, Tron, and Solana on Saturday, accounting for roughly 30% of stablecoin transactions among the $60 billion transacted on chain on that day. This could give a boost to Coinbase's stock price which is already up by 190% in the last 1 year. Read more here.

• Bitcoin’s (BTC) mining difficulty hit an all-time high of 95.67 terahashes, rising by 3.9%, on Tuesday, Glassnode data shows. Mining difficulty measures how hard it is to mine a new block on Bitcoin. So far, in 2024, there have been 22 difficulty adjustments, with 13 being positive. As a result, the difficulty has jumped from 72T to 92T, a 27% increase, year-to-date. Read more here.

• Crypto data tracking platform Arkham Intelligence added support for Solana (SOL) on-chain data. Arkham now lets users trace large fund movements from certain wallets, obtain real-time trade alerts, track their own trading progress on-chain, and see information about the top Solana traders and investors, the firm wrote in a Friday social media post on X. Read more here.

That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.

See you later, folks! 👋

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