iGaming Crypto Watch January 2024 – Will 10 Jan see huge crypto gains or losses?

More gains since the Casinoplusbonus December 2023 crypto report – the crypto market is waiting for an ETF approval on Wednesday, which could create a huge bull run, but denial could see a crypto crash! (Image from Pierre Borthiry at unsplash.com)

The biggest news since the last report was the bull run of the cryptocurrency market, led by Bitcoin. But the last few days have seen the market come off after news that the SEC may not approve the spot BTC ETF.

At USD 1.63 trillion, the value of the global cryptocurrency market dropped by over 6%. In less than an hour, the prices of popular cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Bitcoin fell by more than 6%.

On the previous day, the price of Bitcoin dropped 7%, wiping out any gains and dropping below 41,000 USD. Conversely, the cost of Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 8%, reaching a low of USD 2,113.

In the last 24 hours, the cryptocurrency market saw over USD 700m liquidated, with almost USD 500m occurring in just one hour. According to market data, long positions liquidated today were worth over USD 599m. In the past 24 hours, over 209K traders have liquidated, with the most significant single liquidation order valued at USD 14.26m on one specific exchange.

Furthermore, the overall open interest in Bitcoin futures across all exchanges decreased by 9%, from USD 20.23b to USD 18.17b. BTC interest decreased by 6% on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and 16% on Binance over the previous four hours. Furthermore, according to BTC options data, puts (buyer believes that the coin will drop below the strike price) have steadily risen over the past 24 hours, suggesting a selloff by options traders.

The reason for this sharp decline was that the crypto services company Matrixport stated the SEC would reject all ETF applications in January, triggering the selloff. There was a meeting today with Matrixport and Bloomberg, which published a rejection report. Matrixport commented that their original statement was based on crypto researcher’s consensus. After the meeting, the outlook was more optimistic, and January 10^th is considered the date of the SEC’s decision.

The next few days will be volatile as traders regroup and await the SEC’s judgement. In the meantime, this report will look at Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Tron, Ripple and Ethereum and examine their price movements over the last month.

iGaming Crypto Watch: Take a look at December’s report here to check gains over the past month iGaming Crypto Watch December 2023 update here.

iGaming Crypto Watch January 2024 Updates

As it is so early in the year, I have left the January 2023 starting price so we can see gains more clearly over the past 12 to 13 months. However, in the next report, iGaming Crypto Watch February 2024 update, we’ll reset the counter to January 2024 for yearly gains/losses comparisons.

Bitcoin (BTC) – While most traders in the crypto world believe that the Matrixport report caused the crash, others believe it was just a correction or a leverage flush after the bullish run. BTC was over USD 45,000 a few days ago but has pulled back to just under USD 43,000. The coin has been flat for the last month, up only 2.3%, but has enjoyed a 155% gain for 2023 and is trading at USD 43,593.10.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – Bitcoin Cash followed BTC and dropped 11% on the Matrixport report. The coin broke USD 300 last June and is currently trading at USD 232.44, a +140% gain for 2023. BCH continues to expand into the retail market, signing a partnership with NC Wallet. Users will leverage BCH through the wallet to get several functional advantages such as instant transactions, online subscriptions and payment at several thousand different retailers. NC wallet will cover the BCH network fee, minimising user costs.

Litecoin (LTC) – Litecoin has had a very volatile year, hitting a high of USD 113 last July and finishing the year down 13%. The altcoin has enjoyed a surge of new users, with increased activity of 1.27m new LTC wallets created on Dec. 20^th. This is the highest number of addresses created in 2 years. This could be a sign that LTC prices may rise shortly. The altcoin is trading at USD 64.94, down 10% since the last report.

TRON (TRX) – Tron, the most dominant stablecoin, continues to make substantial gains. TRX has a TVL of USD 48b and will add to that number of loyal members after an airdrop this month. The coin is up 98% for the year, flat since the last report at 3%, and currently trading at USD 0.1.

Ripple (XRP) – Ripple has invested in a massive marketing campaign in the last few months and has reaped the rewards. XRP sold over USD 104m in December, double their usual number. The company has historically repurchased portions of XRP at the beginning of every month. Crypto analysts believe that they will buy a significant amount of XRP this month to fund new projects. Ripple is up 65% for the year and is currently trading at USD 0.56.

Ethereum (ETH) – Ethereum’s main competitor, Solana, has outpaced ETH, but the company’s co-founder has released a new strategy for 2024 to regain lost investors. Vitalik Buterin stated the ETH will focus on single-slot finality, ensuring that blockchain changes are irreversible and will reduce the network’s energy consumption. The peer-to-peer network was up 77% for the year and currently trades at USD 2,229.81.

Disclaimer: Warning – this is not financial advice. It is an opinion piece by Luke Weber who watches the crypto market and play crypto casino games. For professional advice, please seek help from reputable crypto experts.