Last week’s CPI data release was encouraging. US inflation in July eased to 2.9% year-over-year from 3% in June 2024. This is the lowest level since March 2021. The decline in inflation is expected to reinforce expectations of an interest rate cut by the Fed in September.

Despite this positive news, Bitcoin has yet to show significant strengthening. So far, BTC has struggled to break through the $61,000 level and surpass the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement level ($60,568) as resistance.

The possibility of BTC returning to a bearish zone cannot be ruled out. Its RSI has reached a low point and is struggling to climb above the support level. Technically, BTC has also entered a descending channel, declining to the resistance level before breaking through, suggesting a potential drop below $55,000.

The Pintu Academy team has compiled valuable insights from several crypto projects. We analyze that information to determine its potential impact on various asset prices. Will these be bullish or bearish catalysts? Find out in the following article.

It should be noted that all information in this Market Signal is intended for educational purposes, not as financial advice. Do your own research before making any financial decisions

Arbitrum (ARB) ➡️ Bullish 🚀

The Arbitrum DAO has recently approved a proposal for ARB staking. This proposal aimed to increase the ARB token utility and strengthen ARB governance security. A resounding 91% of Arbitrum DAO members voted in favor of the proposal.

With the proposal’s approval, ARB token holders can now stake their tokens and receive liquid staking tokens, stARB, in return. stARB tokens offer several benefits, including compounding interest, restaking options, and utility in various DeFi applications.

Another goal of this initiative is to encourage more active participation within the Arbitrum ecosystem. Holders will earn future sequencer surplus fees by staking ARB tokens and actively delegating them. This is expected to address the issue of low participation rates within the Arbitrum DAO.

With the increased utility of the ARB token and the incentives provided to ARB holders, ARB’s fundamentals are predicted to strengthen. This has the potential to drive demand for ARB, ultimately leading to an increase in its price. Therefore, the ARB staking initiative could be a bullish sentiment for the ARB token price.

Thorchain (RUNE) ➡️ Uncertain⚖️

After being merely a rumor for some time, Kujira has officially announced its partnership with Thorchain. This collaboration means all Kujira ecosystem applications will be integrated into Thorchain. As a result, Kujira will benefit from Thorchain’s deep liquidity, which will accelerate its growth.

Kujira has previously faced numerous challenges, particularly a balance sheet deficit due to its protocol’s lack of risk management. To repay this debt, Kujira conducted a token raise that was open to the community. Thorchain founder JPTHOR has committed to purchasing $3 million worth of these tokens.

From Thorchain’s perspective, this partnership strengthens community sentiment and reinforces its position as a critical player in the DeFi sector. This collaboration could also trigger the launch of a new token, $RUJI, which could positively impact Thorchain’s sentiment.

However, seeing how the RUNE token will benefit from this news in the short term is difficult. Likely, this sentiment has already been priced into the RUNE token. RUNE has already appreciated by 22.95% in the past week and is currently trading at Rp 63,466.

Stacks (STX) ➡️ Uncertain⚖️

Stacks has officially announced that the Nakamoto upgrade will be implemented on August 28th. This update is expected to improve Stacks’ performance significantly.

One notable change is the production of new blocks every few seconds, a substantial increase from the previous 10-minute interval. This will provide Stacks users with a smoother UX for high-volume transactions and advanced DeFi applications.

With the Nakamoto upgrade and the launch of sBTC, Stacks can offer its users a more efficient Bitcoin-based payment alternative. Moreover, this update enables Stacks to serve as a bridge for various DeFi applications.

This positive news is expected to strengthen Stacks’ fundamentals, which could bolster the long-term price of STX. However, in the short term, STX will likely experience some volatility. There’s a possibility that this update could trigger a “sell the news” event, potentially exerting downward pressure on the price of STX.

Avalanche (AVAX) ➡️ Uncertain⚖️

The price of the AVAX token is expected to experience volatility this week. The catalyst for this price movement is the scheduled AVAX token unlock. The protocol behind launching DeFi applications will release 9.54 million AVAX tokens to the core team and investors.

"After this token unlocks, no more tokens will be allocated to the team and strategic partners. The remaining vesting emissions will be directed to the Avalanche Foundation, supporting initiatives focused on growth and development," said Avalanche Insider.

With the current AVAX price at $21.92, the value of the unlocked tokens is nearly $200 million. This significant number of tokens entering the market could put downward pressure on the price. Especially if the increased supply is not met with a corresponding increase in demand.”

Crypto Performance Over the Past Week

Here are the best and worst performing cryptos on Pintu:

Cryptocurrencies With the Best Performance

• Syscoin : 🔼142,30% (Rp 2.857)
• Connext Network : 🔼43,35% (Rp 2.451)
• Zeta : 🔼32,90% (Rp 511)

Cryptocurrencies With the Worst Performance

• Pixelverse (PIXFI): 🔽29,17% (Rp 174)
• SubQuery Network : 🔽27,86% (Rp 72)
• ZkLend : 🔽22,86% (Rp 2.782)

Referensi

• Amaka Nwaokocha, Arbitrum DAO boosts ARB utility with staking and governance upgrades, Coin Telegraph, accessed on 20 August 2024.
• Syofri Ardiyanto, Fast Block Times on Stacks: Nakamoto Upgrade Revolutionizes DeFi, Crypto News Flash, accessed on 20 August 2024