Market Overview (Jan 22–Jan 28): Google Crypto Ads Approval And Avalanche’s Meme Coin Buy

Key Points:

• Google allows crypto ads from January 29.
• The U.S. government plans to sell over 2,900 bitcoins related to the Silk Road case.
• The Avalanche Foundation is buying memecoins with their “Culture Catalyst” fund.

Catch up on last week’s crypto news – Google’s crypto Ads, US selling Silk Road Bitcoins, Avalanche’s memecoin purchases, and more.

Last week’s highlights big news (Jan 22–Jan 28)

Last week, Google has announced it will allow advertisements for crypto products starting January 29.

In political news, rumors are swirling about the potential vice-presidential candidacy of Bitcoin supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Donald Trump’s team. If these rumors come to fruition, it could signal a significant endorsement of cryptocurrency at the highest level of U.S. politics.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government is planning to sell more than 2,900 bitcoins, approximately $130 million worth, connected to the notorious Silk Road case.

In other news, The Avalanche Foundation is making waves with the announcement of their Meme Coin purchase scheme. The foundation has begun buying memecoins with funds from their $100 million “Culture Catalyst” fund.

OKX exchange has pledged to compensate users for losses incurred due to an abnormal liquidation event. On January 23, 2024, the price of OKB dropped heavily for around three minutes, causing many margin orders to be automatically liquidated.

Switzerland’s Taurus company has received approval and support from Deutsche Bank to provide tokenized securities to retail customers.

Gamee confirmed unauthorized access to the GMEE token smart contract on Polygon, resulting in the theft of 600 million GMEE tokens, equivalent to about $15 million, after which the stolen tokens were quickly converted into ETH and MATIC.

Readmore: Market Overview (Jan 15–Jan 21): Ethereum ETF Decision and Market Resilience

Macroeconomics (Jan 22–Jan 28)

The market is no longer predicting a Federal Reserve (FED) interest rate cut in March 2024. There remains about a 40% chance of a rate cut from March onward, marking a significant shift in expectations. Currently, the prevalent forecast is for a rate cut in May 2024, aligning more closely with the FED’s own projections.

PCE Inflation Update:

• PCE stands at 2.6%, as anticipated.
• Core PCE has dropped to 2.9%, slightly below the projected 3.0%. This is the lowest Core PCE inflation figure since April 2021.

The annual interest on the US public debt has now exceeded 1 trillion USD and is forecasted to cross the 3 trillion USD threshold in the fourth quarter of 2030. This situation implies that:

• The money printer will need to continue operating.
• The FED will have to reduce interest rates.
• As China and other nations purchase fewer bonds, stablecoin is emerging as a significant bond buyer.

Major events this week:

• On Wednesday, the FED is expected to announce the interest rate. There is approximately a 97% chance that the FED will maintain the current interest rate.
• On Friday, the unemployment rate will be announced. It is projected to be 3.8%, compared to last month’s 3.7%.

Readmore: Market Overview (Jan 8–Jan 14): SEC Approved Bitcoin ETF to Revolutionize Crypto

Upcoming Week’s Crypto Prediction Market

Currently, Bitcoin (BTC) is experiencing a sharp decrease after breaking into the $48,000 zone. Based on past trends, BTC is anticipated to follow a pattern similar to that of 2015-2016, in which the king of cryptocurrency will trade sideways in the early days of 2024 before entering the pre-Halving wave within 1-2 months.

Recently, a trend known as Eigenlayer, a restaking protocol, has emerged in preparation for the ETH decoupling event.

The newly listed altcoin product on Binance is part of this trend. Some potential products linked to this trend include Kelp DAO, Renzo, Etherfi, and Pendle.