Crypto | Cryptocurrencies: Crypto Week at a Glance: Bitcoin falls below $22,000 as dismal September looms

Panic returned to financial markets this week as the US dollar index DXY broke above the 108 level. This ended a brief recovery rally in markets following the release of favorable US CPI data in early August. Bitcoin (BTC) is down more than 13% this week and failed to hold support at $22,000 after successfully breaking $25,000 in the meantime. Ethereum (ETH) is down 18% weekly and is now trading near $1,600. The total crypto market cap is now hovering near $1 trillion.

With September traditionally being a red month for the bitcoin and crypto markets, investors are anticipating more pain before the ultimate bottom is discovered. With Ethereum’s merger slated for mid-September, there’s a good chance a sell-the-news event will wipe out ETH’s monthly gains. As this bear market plays out, let’s look at some positives related to adoption and other stories of the week below.

Buenos Aires plans to deploy Ethereum validation nodes

Buenos Aires (capital of Argentina) aims to become one of the first public entities in the world to help run Ethereum network infrastructure. In 2023, the city will work with private companies to install validation nodes, which are machines running the Ethereum client software.

The validators are responsible for storing data, processing transactions, and adding new blocks to the blockchain that will become part of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network consensus system that will be implemented in conjunction with the merger, which is expected to happen will take place in mid-September.

With this move, Buenos Aires would be one of the pioneer cities to host their own cryptocurrency nodes. In April, the city also decided to let residents use cryptocurrencies to pay their taxes.

Alphabet and Samsung are among the most active investors in blockchain

Tech giants Alphabet and Samsung have been ranked as the most active investors in blockchain-related companies, participating in 13 funding rounds between September 2021 and June 2022.

BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are the other investors on the list. The data comes from Blockdata, a market research platform for blockchain.

According to Blockdata, Alphabet participated in investment rounds for companies like Fireblocks, Dapper Labs, Voltage, and Digital Currency Group that raised $1.5 billion.

Blockdata also estimated that the top 40 companies invested about $6 billion in blockchain startups during this period.

The Houston Texans are the first NFL team to sell a gaming suite using crypto

The Houston Texans of the American National Football League (NFL) will become the first organization in the league to sell single-game suites in exchange for cryptocurrencies.

The Texans have partnered with the Houston-based cryptocurrency firm to make BitWallet the team’s official digital currency exchange. BitWallet will also offer brokerage services by exchanging crypto for cash for the Texans.

ripple,

Remit works together for real-time payments between Japan and Thailand

Expanding its presence in Asia Pacific, Ripple announced a new partnership with SBI Remit to enable money transfers between Japan and Thailand.

This allows people to send money between countries instantly and for free. The new partnership also brings Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) to its board.

As part of the agreement, SBI Remit and SCB will process real-time remittance services using Ripple’s enterprise blockchain system, RippleNet.

It makes the most sense for Ripple to develop in Asia as it is currently among the fastest growing regions in the world.

Australia’s Leading Gas Station Chain Accepts Crypto for Fuel

Australians can now pay with cryptocurrencies at gas stations and convenience stores under the leading On The Run (OTR) brand for the service provided by Crypto.com.

Crypto.com announced that the service is available in 175 OTR stations across the states of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

The partnership provides the world’s first scalable option to use the Crypto.com app to pay for common items directly in-store without first converting to fiat currency.

The point-of-sale terminal is provided by Sydney-based payment system Datamesh, while Crypto.com provides the Pay Merchant service as the payment processing platform.

Aside from gas, users can also use cryptos like bitcoin to pay for other daily products.

Anthony Hopkins launches the NFT collection to celebrate his career
Veteran actor Anthony Hopkins will partner with Orange Comet to launch the first installment in his NFT series called The Eternal Collection.

During this time, collectors will have access to more than 1,000 exclusive images of the actor, based on the performer’s oeuvre.

Bitcoin: Predictions
Analysts and investors are hoping for a recovery rally to ensure further declines are tempered. The bottom of the bear market is probably not yet in and given previous cycles, an 80% drop from the all-time high is possible, resulting in a sub-$14,000 price range for BTC.

Investors are advised to invest in BTC and ETH at an average cost whenever possible while stacking cash to buy BTC at low prices when a bottom occurs.

This Week’s Top Winners – (from 7:00 p.m. 20 August 2022)

Chile (CHZ): 12.6%

ONE BUT LEO (LEO): 5.9%

Shiba Inu (SHIB): 4.8%

This Week’s Top Losers – (from 7:00 p.m. August 20, 2022)

Read DAO (LDO): -33.1%

Convex Finance (CVX): -29.6%

Oasis Network (ROSE): -29.0%

(Note: Analysis only includes top 100 cryptocurrencies. Source: Coinmarketcap)