On October 15, the crypto market saw a pullback as liquidity surged to over $184 million, leading to substantial liquidations across various assets. Investing.com revealed that most liquidations stemmed from Bitcoin (BTC), clocking over $130 million in liquidations in a few hours. ETH and SOL have also followed the same trend and were the victims of liquidations for $28 million and $26 million respectively. The crash happened when BTC fell below $65000 and several trading platforms and mass liquidated leveraged contracts.
This wave of liquidations has refuelled the debate on how much overleveraging is prevalent within the crypto market, especially within the derivatives segment of the market, where traders leverage or bet with borrowed capital to increase the size of their profit or loss depending on the direction of the market, in this case, volatility.
Bitcoin hit a level of $68,000 on October 16, 2024, and a recent article was suggestive of such a run being backed by institutional players. According to Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy’s CEO, the business intelligence company, remained supportive of Bitcoin. He suggested that BTC might reach $100k by 2025, based on the rate at which individuals are employing it as a means of payment.
MicroStrategy, his company has been on a buying spree for bitcoins; currently, it holds more than 160000 BTC valued at $10.88 billion at present rates. Saylor has time and again claimed that the scarcity and distribution nature of Bitcoin were perfect hedging tools against fiat money erosion, a message that has been embraced by institutional investors.
Decentralised Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents the blockchain space with an opportunity to solve the hardest problems ranging from scalability to security and even speed of transactions. Blockchain deployment for decentralised decision-making Internet AI originates from the report by Cryptopolitan on October 14, 2024. It detailed that decentralised AI systems work by dispersing decision-making processes into a network of nodes eradicating the requirement for central monitoring.
Furthermore, it strengthens security and decentralisation, which guarantees no third party can alter or intercept the information. The report figured out that decentralised AI has progressed by 24%, and over 15 superior blockchain projects embedding AI protocols to boost results within the earlier year. An example of such a platform is SingularityNET which is designed as a marketplace where developers can post and use AI models.
Crypto company World Liberty Financial Token (WLFT) linked to former President Donald Trump plunged 70% on October 17, 2024, due to allegations of market manipulation and SEC probes. Cointelegraph reports that WLFT’s market capitalization declined from $250 million down to less than $80 million within one day. The token fell sharply due mainly to regulatory issues that arose from the inability to provide sufficient information to the public, and increased accusations that some individuals were rigging the markets in order to create a false value for tokens.
WLFT had been marketed as a cryptocurrency that is linked with real estate and after its ICO it was supported by Trump associates with the Trump Organization. However, the Murdock owner had no legal recognition and controversy arose in relation to its funding sources resulting in the sale of its shares following fear of possible SEC bans.
On October 18, the U.S. presidential debate revealed a candidate who supports the use of cryptocurrency, Kari Lake. The article stated that these included tax credits for blockchain companies and the creation of a state-level blockchain regulatory system for the growth of the nascent sector. Lake’s support for cryptocurrencies is consistent with the fact that cryptocurrencies are gradually becoming more popular today among politicians in the United States, especially those who are trying to attract young people with all possible means.
Concerning the regulatory issue at the federal level, Lake also spoke about the problem of states’ approaches which hinder development, and many blockchain firms leave the US for friendlier jurisdictions. She is one of the up-and-coming political personalities in the United States. Members will have to factor in the emerging themes of digital asset policies as a determinant in the policy outcome of the country for the future population’s fiscal and technological inclusion.
According to an article by The Street on October 17, investing in crypto ETFs is a cost-efficient way to enter the digital asset market. Crypto ETFs have become mutually adopted ETFs now command a staggering 35% jump in AUM and have crossed the $40 billion mark in the third quarter of 2024. Such funds enable the investors to invest in and manage cryptocurrencies and give them an opportunity to avoid high taxes in comparison with investing directly in cryptocurrencies.
The article also notes that the introduction of the Crypto ETFs provides a regulated and standardised investment avenue for digital currencies, which is particularly appealing to institutional investors looking for secure options. This increased investment in ETFs signals an uptake in demand for crypto assets that would be compliant with market structure and standardised features common with conventional financial markets to entail high liquidity, transparency, and legal recognition.
In her article for The Street on October 14, 2024, Lisa Gibbons goes through the meteoric rise of “Off the Grid”, a blockchain game that debuted on the Epic Games Store to become the week’s most downloaded game. The game is to incorporate non-fungible token (NFT) assets as commodities within the primary and secondary markets of the game economy. Within the first week of its release, more than 2 million players downloaded “Off the Grid” coupled with its $25 million in-app sales, which are valuable considerations of blockchain within the gaming industry.
Lisa also says that the success of ‘Off the Grid’ shows the community interested in blockchain gaming is growing since this area records a 40% increase in user adoption in 2024. The opportunities for the use of NFTs and blockchain solutions in game development are gradually opening before other studios, so games can become one of the key factors in the widespread adoption of decentralised technologies.
According to Blockleaders’ report on October 14, 2024, monthly active crypto address statistics show that crypto addresses hit a new high of 220 million, 16% higher than the previous year 2023. This growth is attributed to increased DeFi and layer 2 scaling solutions which have seen the costs of transacting on blockchains come down considerably. The report also shows that 40% of all cryptocurrency transactions are now made on DeFi platforms, further revealing the move from CEXs to DeFi.
The report also reveals a trend toward the increasing regional diversification of crypto users, with Africa and Southeast Asia demonstrating the highest growth rates – user demand for decentralised financial services in areas with underdeveloped conventional banking systems.
An article published by The Street covered the major milestone of the first election employing blockchain technology in the Free Republic of Liberland. Jillian Godsil explained the historic event where Liberland, the micronation that’s located between Serbia and Croatia was at the forefront of conducting the first-ever blockchain-powered election. The election was for parliamentary candidates where the citizens of the region used decentralised voting systems that were highly secure, established on the Ethereum network. This allowed the system to be transparent and still maintain the immutability of votes casted. This additionally benefited the possess by preventing fraud and vote tampering.
The event marked a significant step in the real-world application of blockchain tech in the government sector. According to the tally, there was an 85% voter turnout that allowed the citizens of Liberland to cast blockchain-verified votes that massed to over 3,000 votes. In the article, Jillian expressed that Liberland’s success in the blockchain-based voting system could further inspire other nations and in turn, increase the adoption of the decentralised technology. She also added that this might target an increase in voter’s trust and even allow for better engagement.
In Blockleaders with an article published on 17 October, this issue discusses the more extensive use of cryptocurrency in US politics since the candidates introduce digital assets into their policy proposals. From the article, it becomes clear that both ends of the political spectrum are beginning to look at the capabilities of cryptocurrency to solve problems like the lack of access to financial services and corruption.
Blockleaders note that this increasing interest in the policy on digital assets is taking place as American regulators are still in the process of creating a sound policy on the sector. As the 2024 voting cycle approaches, the holder’s candidates must dedicate much more vision and effort into interacting with the crypto community, guaranteeing that digital assets are included and represented in the legislative process.
It is unearthing that news this week has revealed that although the cryptocurrency market is unstable and unpredictable, the tech behind it and the future it foreshadows politically is receiving unprecedented interest. While Bitcoin is on the path to new heights and decentralised AI is creating new opportunities, the place of digital assets in both the economy and legal systems will change.
