Key takeaways: Optimism’s (OP) commitment to innovation is highlighted by its support for Layer-3 solutions. These solutions enable the development of decentralized applications (dApps) on top of Layer-2 chains, contributing to the expansive Optimism Superchain. The platform’s initiatives, including introducing custom gas tokens and Plasma mode aimed at reducing onboarding and operational costs, make it […] Source: cryptopolitan.com (Read Full Article)
Bitcoin Shows Near-term Fragility as Investors Shift to Altcoins: Bitfinex
For the first time since early 2024, long-term BTC holders have begun to distribute their holdings, and bitcoin’s dominance is declining. Source: cryptopotato.com (Read Full Article)
Bitcoin hitting $200K this year ‘very improbable,’ says analyst
Glassnode lead analyst James Check says in five years’ time Bitcoin will be “well and truly” past the $200,000 price level, but doesn’t expect it to surpass that this year. Source: cointelegraph.com (Read Full Article)
Solana Becomes The Talk Of Social Media As Price Hits $200
Solana (SOL) has crossed the $200 mark for the first time in months, sparking a frenzy of discussion across major social media platforms. Solana Social Dominance Has Spiked To Highest Since Early June In a new post on X, analytics firm Santiment has talked about how the crowd has reacted to the latest rally in Solana’s price. The metric of relevance here is the “Social Dominance,” which tells us about the degree of attention that a given coin is receiving on social media relative to the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap. The indicator is based on another, known as the Social Volume. The Social Volume measures the unique number of posts/messages/threads on these platforms that are making mentions of the asset. Related Reading: Ethereum To $10,000? Analyst Says ETH Has To Break This Level The Social Dominance takes the Social Volume of a coin and calculates what percentage of the combined Social Volume of the hundred largest assets in the sector that it makes up for. Below is the chart shared by Santiment that shows the trend in the indicator for Solana over the last few months: As displayed in the above graph, the Solana Social Dominance has just witnessed a sharp increase, indicating that interest in the asset has surged among social media users. The spike in attention toward SOL has come following a notable rally in its price, which has taken it past the $200 level for the first time since early 2025. The asset now makes up for 8.9% of all cryptocurrency-related discussions, the highest since June 6th. Though while some market interest can be positive, an excess of it has generally proven to be a bearish sign in the past. As such, the spike in the Social Dominance of the coin may be something to keep an eye on, as FOMO developing among the crowd could potentially impede the price run. In the same chart, the analytics firm has also attached the data for another Solana indicator: Development Activity. This metric measures, as its name suggests, the total amount of work that the developers of the project are putting in on its public GitHub repositories. Related Reading: Bitcoin Correlation To Altcoins Is Collapsing: A Warning Sign? The indicator gauges development work in terms of ‘events,’ where an event is any action made by the developer on the repository, like the push of a commit or the creation of a fork. From the graph, it’s visible that the Development Activity of Solana has witnessed a rise recently and has climbed back above 63 events per day. This is the highest value for the metric since May 22nd. Thus, it would appear that the developers of the project are ramping up their effort alongside the price surge. SOL Price At the time of writing, Solana is floating around $203, up more than 27% in the last seven days. Featured image from Dall-E, Santiment.net, chart form TradingView.com Source: newsbtc.com (Read Full Article)
Ethereum Price Stays Elevated—Bulls Eye Further Upside
Ethereum price started a fresh increase above the $3,720 zone. ETH is now showing bullish signs and might continue to rise toward the $3,850 zone. Ethereum started a fresh increase above the $3,720 level. The price is trading above $3,670 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There is a key bullish trend line forming with support at $3,670 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair could start a fresh increase if it remains supported above the $3,650 zone in the near term. Ethereum Price Aims Fresh Increase Above $3,800 Ethereum price started a fresh increase above the $3,660 zone, outperforming Bitcoin. ETH price gained pace for a move above the $3,720 resistance zone to remain in a positive zone. The bulls even pumped the price above $3,800. Finally, it tested the $3,860 zone. A high was formed at $3,859 and the price recently corrected some gains. There was a move below the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $3,481 swing low to the $3,859 high. The price tested the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $3,481 swing low to the $3,859 high. Ethereum price is now trading above $3,650 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There is also a key bullish trend line forming with support at $3,670 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. On the upside, the price could face resistance near the $3,770 level. The next key resistance is near the $3,800 level. The first major resistance is near the $3,850 level. A clear move above the $3,850 resistance might send the price toward the $3,920 resistance. An upside break above the $3,920 resistance might call for more gains in the coming sessions. In the stated case, Ether could rise toward the $4,000 resistance zone or even $4,200 in the near term. Are Downsides Supported In ETH? If Ethereum fails to clear the $3,770 resistance, it could start a downside correction. Initial support on the downside is near the $3,670 level. The first major support sits near the $3,650 zone. A clear move below the $3,620 support might push the price toward the $3,550 support. Any more losses might send the price toward the $3,450 support level in the near term. The next key support sits at $3,320. Technical Indicators Hourly MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is losing momentum in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI – The RSI for ETH/USD is now above the 50 zone. Major Support Level – $3,670 Major Resistance Level – $3,800 Source: newsbtc.com (Read Full Article)
Bitcoin hitting $200K this year ‘very improbable,’ says analyst
Glassnode lead analyst James Check says in five years’ time Bitcoin will be “well and truly” past the $200,000 price level, but doesn’t expect it to surpass that this year. Source: cointelegraph.com (Read Full Article)
Bitcoin Price Sets Up for Another Move—Can the Bulls Seal the Deal?
Bitcoin price is eyeing a fresh increase above the $118,000 resistance. BTC must clear the $120,000 resistance zone to continue higher in the near term. Bitcoin started a fresh increase after it cleared the $118,000 zone. The price is trading above $118,500 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average. There was a break above a bearish trend line with resistance at $118,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair might start another increase if it clears the $120,000 resistance zone. Bitcoin Price Aims Higher Bitcoin price started a correction phase below the $118,500 support zone. BTC dipped below the $118,000 level and tested the $116,200 zone. A low was formed at $116,260 and the price started another increase. There was a decent move above the $118,000 and $118,500 levels. Besides, there was a break above a bearish trend line with resistance at $118,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. However, the pair struggled to surpass the $120,000 resistance zone. A high was formed near $120,237 and the price is now consolidating gains near the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $116,260 swing low to the $120,237 high. Bitcoin is now trading above $118,500 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average. Immediate resistance on the upside is near the $119,800 level. The first key resistance is near the $120,200 level. The next resistance could be $121,000. A close above the $121,000 resistance might send the price further higher. In the stated case, the price could rise and test the $122,500 resistance level. Any more gains might send the price toward the $122,500 level. The main target could be $123,200. Another Drop In BTC? If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $120,200 resistance zone, it could start another decline. Immediate support is near the $119,200 level. The first major support is near the $118,500 level. The next support is now near the $118,200 zone. Any more losses might send the price toward the $116,500 support in the near term. The main support sits at $115,000, below which BTC might continue to move down. Technical indicators: Hourly MACD – The MACD is now losing pace in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now above the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $119,200, followed by $118,500. Major Resistance Levels – $120,200 and $121,000. Source: newsbtc.com (Read Full Article)
UK to ban public sector from making ransomware payments
The UK will prohibit its public sector, such as its health service and local councils, from paying ransomware in a bid to “smash the cyber criminal business model.” Source: cointelegraph.com (Read Full Article)
UK to ban public sector from making ransomware payments
The UK will prohibit its public sector, such as its health service and local councils, from paying ransomware in a bid to “smash the cyber criminal business model.” Source: cointelegraph.com (Read Full Article)
‘Sell Ethereum, Buy Bitcoin’: Peter Schiff Makes Surprising Crypto Call
In a fresh post to X on 21 July, long-time cryptoc sceptic and gold advocate Peter Schiff urged holders of Ethereum (ETH) to exit while prices hover “near the upper end of its trading range.” “If you own any, this is a great time to sell,” he wrote, adding that—painful though it was for him to admit—flipping the proceeds into Bitcoin “is a better trade than holding Ether.” Sell Ethereum, Buy Bitcoin Schiff doubled down when quizzed by followers. “It’s not [better] as far as I’m concerned. I’m just looking at the charts,” he replied, arguing that Ethereum’s narrative faces “more acknowledged competition” than Bitcoin’s digital-gold storyline. At pixel time Ether changes hands at roughly $3,650 while Bitcoin trades just above $118,000, putting the ETH/BTC ratio near 0.031—toward the lower half of its five-year range. Related Reading: Institutional Demand Surges As Ethereum Sets New Inflow Records Schiff contends the ratio’s weakness reflects a structural bear market for Ether against Bitcoin. “I think Ether is in a bear market in terms of Bitcoin, and I think it just had a bear-market rally,” he told one user who pressed him for fundamentals, concluding: “So if you want to own crypto, selling Ether to buy Bitcoin makes sense.” Not everyone was persuaded. Veteran cycle watcher TechDev responded drily, “Thank you for your service sir,” reposting Schiff’s February “party is over” call that preceded Bitcoin’s spring rally. A Familiar Refrain—And A familiar Outcome Schiff’s latest chart-based admonition follows a string of bearish milestones that have mis-timed every major leg of Bitcoin’s secular advance. On 25 February he declared, “Turn out the lights, the #Bitcoin 100K party is over… the bear market is just getting started.” Less than five months later, Bitcoin still hovers comfortably above $118,000. Related Reading: Ethereum Open Interest Explodes To $28 Billion—Altcoin Rotation Begins: QCP Only a month after that February warning he predicted a full-blown crash to $10,000 once gold reaches $5,000, reasoning that Bitcoin would capitulate “95 % from its 2021 peak.” In late 2023 he ran a Twitter poll and concluded—contrary to the vote—that Bitcoin would “crash before the ETF launch.” Spot ETFs were approved in January 2024; Bitcoin never looked back. Back in November 2018, with Bitcoin trading at $3,800, he insisted it could “easily drop another 80 % from here, and at $750 it would still be expensive.” The rest is history. Now, Schiff argues that Ethereum’s smart-contract dominance is eroding as Layer-1 competitors gain mind-share and as regulators inch toward approving other altcoin spot ETFs. Whether the latest call joins the growing archive of ill-timed bearishness will turn on the ETH/BTC cross. If altcoin rotation doesn’t continue, Schiff may finally chalk up a win; if the ratio rolls over, his chart-reading case for a relative trade into Bitcoin will be vindicated even as his absolute bear thesis remains unproven. For now, the market is reserving judgment. At press time, Ether traded at $3,677. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com Source: newsbtc.com (Read Full Article)