Here are some of the major developments in the world of crypto over the past few days.
The price of Bitcoin extended bearish trends to dip below $66,000, which significantly liquidated leveraged longs. The value of BTC had plunged by 2.3 per cent in the past 24 hours to trade at $65,798, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.
That drop came after multiple failed attempts to break above $70,000, a level of key bear resistance. According to Trader Skew, about $800 million in BTC futures open interest got wiped out as the price fell from $70,000. Open interest would need an inflow of leveraged long positions with spot buying volume to recover back to the weekly open at $67,500.
Fellow trader Daan Crypto Trades commented on the heavy BTC liquidations at $69,000 and added that the direction will be decided based on the spot activity. Bitcoin futures OI or open interest touched a new all-time high of $39.46 billion across all exchanges on July 29.
According to Coinglass data, long BTC liquidations might kick in if prices drop to a level of $65,500, while short liquidations have accumulated between $70,000 and $72,000. Some leveraged longs could get liquidated between $60,372 and $58,400, foreshadowing further price declines.
Positive Fund Flows For Ethereum ETFs Amidst Grayscale Slowdown
For the first time, U.S.-listed spot Ethereum ETFs have witnessed daily net positive fund flows. This was largely due to reduced outflows from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust. According to Farside Investors and Tree News, nine U.S.-listed spot Ether ETFs had a net inflow of $33.6 million on July 30.
Though still minor in the grand scheme of things, this is a notable milestone as it marks the first positive flow since launch day, off the back of $547 million in outflows since July 24. BlackRock's iShares Ethereum ETF, ETHA, led at $117.9 million in inflows, followed by Fidelity's Advantage Ether ETF at $16.4 million, Bitwise Ethereum Fund at $3.5 million, and Franklin Ethereum ETF at $3.7 million. Grayscale's ETHE saw only $120.3 million in outflows, significantly less compared to previous days.
Anthony Sassano, a popular Ethereum evangelist, referred to the positive shift as a "birthday present" for Ethereum. Zaheer Ebtikar of Split Capital highlighted the rotating capital, while spot Bitcoin ETFs endured $18.3 million in outflows on the same day.
M2 Exchange Now Allows Direct Trading of Crypto by Residents in the UAE
Crypto exchange M2 announced a new integration that enables the buying and selling of Bitcoin and Ether using natively supported bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates. As per a release sent to Cointelegraph, the development allows the seamless conversion of dirhams to Bitcoin and Ether. The new feature also added BTC and ETH trading pairs against the dirham, along with support for dirham deposits and withdrawals.
M2 added that this integration will help users act fast to the changes in markets because it is a seamless process to convert fiat into cryptocurrencies. Another goal of the exchange is to increase access to virtual assets in the area that has not yet been seen, which would be a monumental achievement for the wider adoption of digital currencies.
According to Stefan Kimmel, the chief executive of M2, this measure would help cut friction between traditional finance and virtual assets. Residents in the UAE could now easily carry out transactions involving virtual assets with a familiar banking service and have some added security from M2. Kimmel indicated that this venture had been done under the strict regulatory framework of the UAE and hence protects consumers.