Market Overview (Sep18 – Sep24): Discover the crypto news, including Upbit’s scam alert and JPEX Rugpull arrests

Key points

• Upbit identified a fake APT token and urged affected users to request refunds, JPEX Rugpull had arrests made in a fraud case, and Ethereum L2 networks Base and zkSync Era surpassed Ethereum in TPS.
• In macroeconomic news, the Federal Reserve chose to keep interest rates unchanged despite high inflation.
• The recent 2049 token event revealed positive trends in the crypto industry, including the rise of real-world assets and the increasing prominence of assets on-chain and stablecoins.

Discover the newest crypto news and advancements in the industry. Maintain up-to-date knowledge of important exchanges, market highlights, and macroeconomic issues affecting the sector.

Last week’s highlights big news

Upbit, the largest exchange in South Korea, has identified a fake APT token created by scammers. Users who have sold the fake APT are urged to request a refund. Upbit has suspended APT deposits and withdrawals, with an estimated damage of around $95M.

The cryptocurrency exchange JPEX Rugpull has had four men and two women arrested on suspicion of fraud. Over 1,400 reports have been made to the police, involving approximately HKD 1 billion.

OKX Exchange has completed its 21st buyback and burn of OKB on September 11th, totaling 6.14 million tokens, equivalent to around USD 255 million.

Base, an L2 network launched by Coinbase, announced that there are no plans to issue tokens. With a TVL of $543 million, it accounts for about 5.23% of the L2 network market share.

According to L2Beat, on September 17th, two Ethereum L2 networks, Base and zkSync Era, surpassed Ethereum in TPS. Base reached 12.93, a 49.76% increase in the past 7 days, and zkSync Era reached 12.62.

In a recent hearing, the judge encouraged both the SEC and Binance US to cooperate. The SEC was requested to narrow its information requests, while Binance was asked to provide additional information on custody solutions.

In the world of cryptocurrency, there are always new developments and updates to keep up with. Here are some of the other last week news highlights:

• Chainlink’s LINK has outperformed other major cryptocurrencies following positive news.
• Bybit has announced the listing of PayPal’s stablecoin, PYUSD, enabling spot trading and introducing the PYUSD/USDT trading pair.
• The CEO of the NEAR Foundation has resigned from their position.
• Optimism has sold $162 million worth of OP tokens for treasury management.
• Tether has made a $420 million investment in the Bitcoin mining company Northern Data.
• MT. Gox delayed the deadline for payments to victims by one year, to October 31, 2024.

Macroeconomic

In a recent statement, Chairman Powell announced that the Federal Reserve has chosen to keep interest rates unchanged. This decision comes amidst a backdrop of high inflation, which has posed challenges, particularly for individuals with limited financial means.

Since the beginning of last year, the policy interest rate has been raised by 5-1/4 percentage points, bringing it to the current range of 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) remains committed to achieving the 2% inflation target and will adjust policies based on economic data and prevailing conditions.

Looking ahead, the projected interest rate is expected to reach 5.6% by the end of this year, suggesting a potential for one more increase. By the end of 2024, the rate is anticipated to decrease gradually to 5.1%, signaling a shift in policy direction. Normal operations are projected to resume in 2025, with the interest rate estimated to be 3.9%.

The current interest rate is far higher than the neutral policy estimate, indicating that no further increases are probable. This is important to note. Nevertheless, the committee will remain cautious and take into account any new facts or chances. If necessary, they are prepared to raise interest rates even further.

In November, the final judgment regarding any potential increases will be made, taking into account the impact of inflation as well as changing economic conditions.

Market overview forecast

The cryptocurrency market is currently experiencing a period of frustration, with sideways movement and poor liquidity. There seems to be no significant reason for a strong market pump at the moment.

Since the FTX crash, trading volume in the market has been extremely weak and continues to trend downwards. Not only that, but trading volume on CEX exchanges and website traffic are also decreasing.

Considering these circumstances, it is advisable not to engage in trading activities at this time. Instead, a prudent strategy would be to accumulate and hold onto coins with the expectation of an uptrend in the future.

During the recent 2049 token event in Singapore, several positive trends and valuable information about the crypto industry emerged. These include the rise of RWA (real-world assets) and the increasing prominence of assets on-chain and stablecoins.

Additionally, advancements in Layer 1 (L1), Layer 2 (L2), and zk (zero-knowledge) technology were discussed. Furthermore, regulations in Asia are becoming more favorable towards blockchain, and numerous crypto payment companies are launching, necessitating compliance and anti-money laundering measures.

In a significant development, a list of asset managers who have registered Bitcoin ETFs for immediate delivery was revealed. This list includes prominent names such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree, VanEck, GlobalX, ARK Invest, Valkyrie, and Bitwise.

Collectively, these asset managers have a staggering $17.7 trillion USD of assets under management. This suggests that the future growth of Bitcoin (BTC) may mirror that of gold.

Turning our attention to Layer 2 solutions, there is exciting news for Arbitrum. They have launched a $50 million incentive program to support projects on Arbitrum, along with the Arbitrum Odyssey campaign, which rewards participants with $Arb tokens for completing tasks within ecosystem projects.

In this ecosystem, several notable tokens are worth mentioning, including $ARB, $GRAIL, $RDNT, $GMX, $WINR, $HMX, $DMT, and $PENDLE.

This collection of information provides valuable insights into the current state of the cryptocurrency market and its future prospects. It is essential for investors and enthusiasts to stay informed and make well-informed decisions based on these developments.

DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to DYOR before investing.