Binance report shows crypto industry in “good health” in H1, 2023

Key takeways

  • The crypto industry experienced growth across Bitcoin and other L1s, L2s, stablecoins, DeFi, and NFTs.
  • Bitcoin network growth included trading volume, transaction count, fees and hashrate.
  • Solana, BNB Chain led L1s, while Liquid staking emerged as a key DeFi component.

Binance has released a report covering the first half of 2023, with details suggesting that the overall global crypto industry showed remarkable resilience following the crypto winter.

Crypto growth in H1, 2023

Published on July 20, the 120-page report highlights growth metrics across key industry verticals, including Bitcoin, stablecoins, DeFi, and NFTs. The H1, 2023 report also details developments within the gaming and metaverse, as well as institutional adoption and funding.

For instance, DeFi has seen a 43% year-to-date increase, while NFT volume – despite diminishing floor prices, rose compared to the second half of 2022.  In fundraising, the report highlights that the top 10 funds raised $3.6 billion.

USDT, the leading stablecoin by market cap increased its market share by 26% even as the global stablecoin market dipped 7%. USDD, crvUSD, GHO and LUSD all saw significant increases. The report also details key pilot cases for CBDCs and tokenization.

Also trending in H1 and today is the liquid staking and LSDfi, with the new subsector of LSDfi experiencing a 460% jump in total value locked between April and end of June.

Bitcoin’s continued network growth

According to Binance, the state of crypto in terms of adoption, usage, and innovation as observed in the first six months of the year portends an even better half of the year and into 2024.

One of the indicators of a better H1 for crypto in 2023 is Bitcoin’s network growth. Binance says this was evident through metrics such as the 185% year-to-date jump in trading volume and 58% spike in transactions count. Also significant during the period was the 143% increase in average transaction fees, 40% YTD hashrate increase and 43% jump in mining difficulty.

As CoinJournal recently reported, Bitcoin’s network growth was partially fueled by the surge in Ordinals. [Read more here and here].

In terms of market performance, Bitcoin dominance peaked to levels last seen in April 2021. Meanwhile, the flagship cryptocurrency’s correlation with TradFi fell to a three-year low.

Solana, BNB and other Layer-1s

Growth was also witnessed across leading layer-1 chains, with Solana outpacing other L1s in relation to the increase of its market capitalization. Binance’s BNB Chain topped others in terms of best network performance YTD overall, with daily transactions increasing 113% compared to 48% for Ethereum. BNB Chain active addresses increased by 118%, compared to Ethereum’s 63%.

Also notable during the first six months of 2023 was the growth of subnets on Avalanche and shared security models by Cosmos.

The last few weeks have seen a bullish flip in crypto sentiment, particularly with the filing of a spot Bitcoin ETF by $9 trillion asset manager BlackRock. Ripple’s landmark win against the SEC last week is also a key factor driving market confidence today.  

Binance notes the “Bitcoin ETF season” could continue to bolster momentum even as the second half of the year sees greater adoption and innovation

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3 reasons why Chainlink (LINK) price just surged

  • Chainlink crypto price surged to the highest level since April.

  • Whales have started accumulating the coin after the CCIP launch.

  • Open interest in the futures market has jumped to 2021 highs.

Chainlink price went parabolic on Thursday as investors cheered the recent product news and purchases by whales. LINK token soared to a high of $8.20, the highest level since April 20th this year. It has jumped by more than 65% from the lowest level in June.

LINK whales are buying

Chainlink price is surging for two main reasons. First, the developers unveiled plans to introduce a new Cross-Chain Interoperable Protocol (CCIP), as I wrote here. This is an important upgrade in the network that seeks to join traditional finance companies to the blockchain.

CCIP will expand Chainlink’s use case by making it possible for companies like banks and insurance firms to join the blockchain. The announcement came a  month after Chainlink announced that it was running a trial of linking banks to the blockchain through its partnership with Swift.

Second, there are signs that whales have started buying the coin. Data shows that two whales acquired 788,877 LINK tokens this week. They bought these tokens by swapping their stETH and ETH tokens for LINK. Historically, accumulation by whales is usually one of the best buy signals in the market.

Chainlink open interest is rising

Meanwhile, data by Coinglass shows that open interest in the futures market jumped to the highest level since November. Open interest is an important metric in the futures market that denotes the number of futures contracts held by market participants. A higher figure is usually a bullish sign.

Chainlink’s open interest has jumped to more than $267 million, with most of them being from Binance. The other leading exchanges are Bybit, OKX, and Bitget among others.

How to buy Chainlink

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Crypto price prediction: Arkham (ARKM) and AltSignals (ASI)

  • Arkham (ARKM) price rose to $0.89 after its Binance Launchpad sale.
  • AltSignals (ASI) token is in presale, currently priced at $0.01875.
  • Both projects have artificial intelligence-powered algorithms, systems that could revolutionise blockchain intelligence and marketplace and trading respectively.

Arkham, a blockchain analytics platform and decentralised crypto intelligence marketplace, has a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) layer that’s the engine of the platform’s capabilities. 

The native token ARKM currently trades on the open market and saw significant upside when it debuted after its Binance Launchpad sale, before paring the gains amid huge profit taking.

Here is the price outlook for Arkham (ARKM) and AltSignals (ASI), another project that could ride the strong AI narrative.

Arkham: deanonymizing blockchain with AI

A platform that offers access to on-chain data and analytics, and a marketplace for buying and selling of blockchain intelligence. That’s a simple understanding of what Arkham is. The Arkham ecosystem has two components – an Analytics Platform and the Intel Exchange.

At the heart of it is the native ARKM token and ULTRA, an AI-powered system that was in development for more than three years and had the backing of major AI industry players like OpenAI and Palantir. 

Arkham uses an ULTRA enabled algorithm to collect and match data and addresses, linking these to real-world entities and offering users access to key blockchain intelligence.

ARKM is a utility token that is used as the native currency on the Intel Exchange. Arkham uses the token to incentivize users, who get rewarded with ARKM when they submit intel and refer new users. The token also gives holders governance rights.

Can ARKM price reach $1 in 2023?

While the launch of Intel Exchange drew criticism from some within the crypto space, particularly on so-called “snitch-to-earn” in place of Arkham’s intel-to-earn product, the team and other proponents maintain the goal is to use the intel to expose the bad actors.

A flip in sentiment after the weak hands dumped airdropped tokens could combine with Arkham’s unique approach to crypto intelligence and the strong AI narrative to help the price of ARKM. The all-time high for the token is $0.89 and the current price is around $0.62. If bulls were to match to $1 in 2023, Arkham would need to rally more than 61%.

Not impossible, but the unpredictability of the market means it’s difficult to say with certainty ARKM will rise to $1. It could be higher or lower depending on market conditions and other factors. That said, Arkham has a great chance of being a successful blockchain platform. Its integration with leading blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Polygon and Tron2 is a crucial milestone in its growth trajectory.

What is AltSignals?

AltSignals is a trading platform that has been operating since December 2017, providing signals to a growing number of users.

While it began by providing free crypto signals, the platform’s evolution has included expansion to setups for stocks and forex among others. Users get signals on potential buy or sell trades 24/7, factoring in market analysis and trends – all with a rising degree of accuracy and profitability powered by the proprietary AltAlgo trading algorithm.

Like Arkham, AltSignals has an AI-powered layer that is set to bring the key benefits of machine learning and natural language processing to the trading industry. 

The platform’s new AI system is called ActualizeAI and will offer a suite of AI tools for optimised performance. Traders can leverage these tools to bump the potential investment returns across all market conditions.

ASI token presale

The ActualizeAI platform will be powered by ASI. This is the native utility token that will not just give holders access to the AI stack, but also power ecosystem transactions, used for rewards and allow holders to earn through staking.

ASI is currently in presale and is seeing huge interest from investors. The token is currently priced at $0.01875 and will rise to $0.02274 in the last stage of the sale offer.

Find more about the AltSignals presale here.

AltSignals price prediction: Can ASI token reach 1 in 2023?

According to the AltSignals roadmap, its launch on Uniswap is expected in Q3, 2023 and on Binance and Bybit in Q4, 2023. Meanwhile, development of the ActualizeAI Dashboard will continue, with an Alpha launch and live trading expected to go live in Q1, 2024.  

I highlight the roadmap milestones because they could be key to ASI token’s performance after the presale, especially if an exchange like Binance announces trading support. 

The ActualizeAI system debut is also a key milestone to watch out for as demand for the token could build pre-launch. That means a lot of hype could surround ASI in the last quarter of 2023. Will price follow the likely sentiment?

To rise from $0.02274 to $1.00 between October and end of December this year would need buying pressure to push ASI value higher by nearly 4300%. While it is possible, the more likely targets would be much lower given other market forces could be at play. Targets for the immediate term would be around $0.1 by year’s end or early 2024.

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Shiba Memu rides meme coin and AI mania as project raises $994k

  • Shiba Memu has raised $994,000 in a fortnight of presale

  • The presale has generated a frenzy as investors bet big on the AI-led meme token

  • The price of SHMU rises at each presale, with the value expected to explode once listed

Shiba Memu (SHMU) is seemingly eyeing the position of one of the best meme cryptocurrencies of 2023. At a time leading meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are reeling from the effects of a prolonged crypto winter, Shiba Memu is attracting huge investor interest. Just two weeks since launching the presale, investors have accumulated almost $994,000 worth of the AI meme cryptocurrency.

About Shiba Memu

Shiba Memu is an AI-led meme coin that leverages the technology to market itself and generate hype. The meme can create its own PR and promote itself on social networks and forums. The AI-based software also allows Shiba Memu to learn from successful marketing campaigns to create more intelligent and powerful advertising. 

The idea behind using AI is to make Shiba Memu self-sufficient and be a viable investment. Unlike the previous meme projects, where huge budgets are spent on marketing, Shiba Memu leverages AI technology to achieve the objective. 

AI also allows Shiba Memu to work 24/7, with the team anticipating the capability will position it to be the best in creative advertising. Given its self-sufficiency, SHMU can generate huge returns over time. 

What utility does Shiba Memu carry?

Shiba Memu boasts itself as a showoff, capable of doing the work of 100 marketing agencies. Well, that is surely a showoff, but we all know what AI is capable of. With human-like tech capabilities, it means Shiba Memu can do more than what a normal person can. Thus, it is a low-maintenance meme coin that can grow quickly with a low budget.

But again, imagine a meme project that interacts directly with the users. As times have shown, investors are looking for more engagement, which has seen an increased rise in decentralised autonomous organisations. 

Shiba Memu features a robotic dashboard. Users can use it to give feedback, ask questions, provide suggestions, and interact with the AI. Indeed, this could be an ideal opportunity for meme lovers to build meaningful relationships with the loved dog-based meme. You can learn from it, including getting to know what’s up in the world of creative advertising.

If you are an investor seeking passive income, there are some exciting details. Shiba Memu tokens will be available for staking in a staking pool or smart contract. There is also an opportunity to provide liquidity via the Shiba Memu pool. You simply do it through a decentralised exchange and earn fees for transactions made on the DEX and a portion generated as trading fees by the pool.

How much can Shiba Memu rise?

This could be quite a subjective question to answer. But from past experience, Meme cryptocurrencies could be the best to invest for quick gains. These are cryptocurrencies driven by hype and retail mania, with prices rising by thousands of percentages. 

Fortunately, Shiba Memu has won the hearts of meme lovers, given the quick presale. Combined with the growing enthusiasm around AI, Shiba Memu could be an ultimate gainer by the time the token is listed on exchanges.

Should you buy Shiba Memu now?

Suppose you have ever missed a promising cryptocurrency that went on to return big to investors. In that case, you probably know what it means to miss an exciting opportunity like Shiba Memu. The meme cryptocurrency is already generating a frenzy, suggesting the potential to explode is huge.

Shiba Memu is also on the move, and procrastinators always pay a higher price tomorrow than today. What does this mean? The price of Shiba Memu rises daily at 6 pm GMT during the presale. This presale is set to occur in 8 stages. After that, the presale will end with whatever amount is raised. Investing now makes sense when the price is low, with a potential for considerable gains in the meme cryptocurrency.

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Bitcoin’s correlation with gold sinks to two-year low, a warning for investors


Key Takeaways

  • Bitcoin’s correlation with gold is at a two-year low
  • Divergence highlights yet again that Bitcoin remains a risk-on asset
  • This may change in the future, but for now, Bitcoin resides on the long-end of the risk spectrum 
  • With full effects of tight monetary policy still to come, market should not get ahead of itself

Bitcoin’s correlation with gold continues to fall, highlighting the oft-repeated goal of achieving a store-of-value status akin to digital gold remains a long way off for now. 

We looked into this last month, when the correlation between gold and Bitcoin fell to the lowest value since the FTX collapse in November, an event which sparked mayhem in the crypto markets while the rest of the financial world traded quite placidly, including gold. 

Since then, the correlation has continued to fall. Indeed, looking at the more volatile 30-day Pearson correlation metric, the relationship is approaching a near-perfect negative one over the past thirty days. The last time it dipped this close to -1 was over two years ago (it nearly hit this level post-FTX also). 

While the prior metric is a little noisy and bounces around a lot due to the rolling 30-day window sample size, the next chart displays the same indicator but over a 60-day rolling window. Outside of the FTX collapse in November, the 60-day correlation is the lowest it has been in eighteen months, when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and sparked extreme volatility in the financial markets.

What does this tell us? Not much, really, beyond what we already know: Bitcoin trades like a risk-on asset. That much has been clear over the past two years or so, as one of the fastest rate hiking cycles in recent history has pulled the rug out from risk assets. The Nasdaq shed a third of its value last year in what was the worst year for stocks since 2008. Bitcoin was far from immune, falling down to a low of $15,500 in the aftermath of the FTX collapse. 

While the question over whether Bitcoin can decouple from risk assets in the long term remains one of the most intriguing, the numbers make it blindingly obvious that this has not happened to date. The pullback during last year’s bear market also emphatically strikes down any assumption that Bitcoin’s days of violent drawdowns were behind it (we are most definitely not in a “supercycle”), with the fall of over 75% from peak to trough being the fourth-worst in the last decade. 

The recent dip in correlation follows a turbulent period in the crypto markets. The SEC sued both Binance and Coinbase, the two biggest exchanges on the planet, in the first week of June. Last week, Ripple secured a big win when a (partial) ruling on its two-year battle with the SEC seemed to imply it is not a security (although ambiguity does remain and there will likely be an appeals process). 

These developments are obviously specific to the crypto markets, and with crypto not yet having a tangible impact on traditional finance markets, the turbulence did not carry over. 

Additionally, the decoupling of gold and Bitcoin pours cold water on the theory that Bitcoin had already obtained its “hedge” status, which was spoken in some quarters as the asset rose amid the banking wobbles in March. In reality, while this price action was intriguing, it was likely more to do with the market pricing in a lower chance of future interest rate rises, as we discussed here. 

“In a lot of ways, Bitcoin’s correlation with gold can be viewed as a progress tracker on the path to achieving the holy grail: an uncorrelated store of value for investors”, says Max Coupland, director of CoinJournal. “With this correlation dipping to a two-year low, it is clear there is a long way to go yet. Bitcoin remains highly susceptible to the whims of the stock market and the macro economy, and that is worth bearing in mind for investors amid the recent rise in crypto valuations”. 

Remember, last year represented the first time in Bitcoin’s history that it observed a pullback in the stock market. Prior to that, it was humming along in the longest and most explosive bull markets in history, kicked off almost to the day when Bitcoin was launched (the stock market bottomed in March 2009, two months after the genesis block was mined). 

All in all, Bitcoin is still trading like a risk asset, and it has experienced the pain of that label in the past eighteen months as interest rates have spiked aggressively. While it is up over 80% thus far in 2023, it remains 56% off its peak from November 2021. 

Nonetheless, things are undoubtedly brighter today than they were nine months ago, when FTX collapsed and the world seemed destined for a gruesome recession. While that recession still may come (and indeed the prospect of lagged effects of tightened monetary policy loom large), economic indicators have been remarkably resilient while hopes of a soft landing have risen. 

Personally, I fear the market may be getting ahead of itself, but what do I know? The sheer scale of rising from a zero-rate environment to a climate where T-bills are paying north of 5% is ferocious, and won’t be shrugged off lightly. Indeed, looking at previous cycles throughout history, the stock market has tended to pull back further after hikes have ended. 

While past performance is never indicative of the future, it certainly should provide food for thought, as phrases such as “meme stock”, “altcoin” and “robinhood” creep back into the vernacular. 

But whatever happens, the charts are clear: Bitcoin is still a risk-on asset. That means if the blood does hit the streets, gold will strongly outperform its digital cousin. Maybe that will change one day, but for now, the numbers don’t lie. 

If you use our data, then we would appreciate a link back to https://coinjournal.net. Crediting our work with a link helps us to keep providing you with data analysis research.

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