Overview
- Babel Finance trading customer funds.
- Israel limits cash purchases.
- Robot dogs looking for Bitcoin hard drives.
- Vasil fork delayed.
Good morning Banter Fam,
Is it time for Ethereum’s breakthrough?
Raoul Pal thinks so.
In Pal’s monthly investor report titled GMI, he drew up his case for Ethereum in the short-term. He supports his claim with a myriad of charts, experience, and insight.
Now most of us can’t afford the hefty cost of GMI (20k a year last I heard). But luckily for us lowly degens, Pal was kind enough to share some of these charts on his Twitter! A true gentleman.
I’ll summarize the thread in this newsletter but you’re welcome to read the entire masterpiece here.
Raoul Pal’s short-term crypto and Ethereum insight.
Raoul’s general consensus?
Cryptocurrencies, notably Ethereum, are showcasing some key metric pinch points on the charts.
Pal begins by mentioning his “hunch” that MAX PAIN is upwards in crypto markets and that most entities are underweight, including retail and hedge funds. Pal urges, “They cannot afford to not participate” and “retail, along with institutions will begin to be forced in at $2200 to $2300.”
The driver? M2 money supply. Ethereum may be starting to price in the turn in inflation.
Also, did you know ETH outperformed the top 100 tech companies (NDX) by 90% in the past three years? Wow!
Raoul later mentions Ethereum’s superior network effects versus Bitcoin. With the addition of an array of Ethereum-compliant layer-twos, it’s no wonder. The “flippening”, anyone?
It’s clear Raoul Pal is extraordinarily bullish on Ethereum. And thinking of the upcoming Merge and its effects on the ETH supply dynamic and staking rewards, what’s not to like?
Market update 🌍
BTC/USD
It was a relatively quiet weekend for the crypto markets after a strong week. Bitcoin topped out the week with a high of $24,676 on Saturday only for price to be rejected back into the $23,000s. The pin bar formations formed on the weekend candles hints at the exhaustion of buyers and price appears primed to revisit the $22k support level. The bulls would ultimately like the uptrend (green) to continue, but macro will still weld a strong effect on price direction.
High-resolution chart
ETH/USD
The recent Bell of the Ball is coming face-to-face with a well-structured $1700 resistance (pink) that dates back to early 2021.
Is this the moment Ethereum (ETH) breaks through, or is it just another retracement before a further leg down? Keep an eye on the uptrend (green) and the $1280 support this week for your answer.
High-resolution chart
| US markets close | Gain |
| S&P 500 | Weekend Market Closed |
| Nasdaq | |
| Dow | |
| VIX |
Notable Gainers (7d):
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Filecoin (FIL) | 11.12 | +97 |
| Ethereum Classic (ETC) | 36.76 | +43 |
| Internet Computer (ICP) | 8.97 | +36 |
| Bitcoin Gold (BTG) | 29.83 | +32 |
| Lido Dao (LDO) | 2.15 | +29 |
| The Graph (GRT) | 0.13 | +25 |
| BitDAO (BIT) | 0.69 | +24 |
| Celsius Network (CEL) | 1.09 | +21 |
| Arweave (AR) | 15.92 | +19 |
| Polkadot (DOT) | 8.81 | +19 |
| BTC Standard Hash (BTCST) | 25.12 | +207 |
| Optimism (OP) | 1.63 | +76 |
| Hive (HIVE) | 0.79 | +72 |
| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index | 33 Fear |
| “Crypto” Google Trends 90d | 17 |
| “Bitcoin” Google Trends 90d | 32 |
Newswatch 📰
Babel Finance trading customer funds. Babel Finance appears in deep financial waters. The Asian crypto-lender followed Celsius by halting customer withdrawals in July. According to the block, Babel Finance revealed it has lost more than $280m of client funds in BTC and ETH proprietary trading. Interestingly, it’s not the first time. Leaked recordings revealed the firm followed similar actions in 2020.
Israel limits cash purchases. The middle eastern country of Israel has banned personal cash payments over $4,400 and business transactions over $1,760 starting August 1. The goal? To fight financial crime and reduce the use of cash. The byproduct? Israel gets a foothold in monitoring payments across the country. Ever wonder why Bitcoin was created?
News tidbits:
- CoinFLEX exchange downsizes.
- Chainalysis launches government-focused team for crypto crimes.
- Robot dogs to find missing bitcoin hard drive.
At the protocol level ⛓
Vasil fork delayed. The Cardano (ADA) Vasil hard fork, originally scheduled for late July, is delayed for another “couple of weeks” according to Kevin Hammond, the technology manager at IOHK. The upgrade looks to improve scalability and performance for the Cardano blockchain.
Protocol level tidbits:
- Future of Optimism (OP) thread.
- Juno v9.0.0 is now live.
- Crab v2 is live with automated squeeth strategies.
- Thala Labs building stablecoin on Aptos.
- StarkNet Roundup #27.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
- Jewelry company Tiffany & Co. announces NFT-backed edition CryptoPunk pendants.
- Omni X launches Omnichain NFT marketplace.
- City of Miami, Florida, partners with Time, Mastercard, and Salesforce to offer an NFT collection.
- NFT holder vote leads to the signing of the newest players for football club Crawly Town FC.
Banter’s take
When Raoul Pal begins to pivot bullish, it’s probably a good time to reconsider any bearish undertones we’re feeling. No one can tell the future but if you’re going to follow someone’s lead, they best be sharp and experienced, traits Raoul clearly holds.
Stay patient, watch those trend lines but don’t miss this train!
Like Pal says, “long-term is clear”.
Gabri
Follow me on Twitter for daily updates!
Disclaimer
Good Morning Crypto (issued by Crypto Banter) is a newsletter for entertainment purposes only.
All opinions expressed by the publisher, writers, and chartists should not be construed as financial advice, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Crypto Banter. The publisher, writers, and chartists may hold positions in the tokens and assets discussed. Readers are encouraged to do their own research.
