Bitcoin Loses Momentum Following Breach of $50,000 Mark
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Main Points
- Bitcoin’s valuation stabilizes around $52,000 post an initial surge this month, with potential for future growth linked to the re-engagement of retail traders.
- Recent studies deem theoretical cyber attacks on Bitcoin and Ethereum consensus algorithms economically infeasible due to substantial associated costs.
- Fixedfloat, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, has faced scrutiny after a hack that resulted in the loss of nearly $26 million in bitcoin and ether.
- The Starknet Layer 2 protocol for Ethereum saw its token STRK’s market cap hit billions following an airdrop to a vast user base.
Last Week’s Crypto Market Developments
Bitcoin recently surpassed and paused at the $52,000 mark, with data indicating a lull in retail trader activity despite continued engagement from spot bitcoin ETFs like those managed by BlackRock, challenging Microstrategy Inc.’s position as top bitcoin holder.
New scholarly research has clarified that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are insulated from costly cyber threats such as 51% attacks, rendering them economically irrational.
Analysis: Bitcoin Lingers Around $52,000 Peak
Bitcoin ascended to over $52,000 last week—a peak unachieved for over two years. However, this ascent hints at a possible period of consolidation in the near term.
Analysts from Swissblock have pointed at the $52,000 mark as a formidable resistance, which may call for a period of price correction to sustain the bullish momentum.
Economic Impracticality of Crypto Attacks Confirmed
Recent academic papers have highlighted the formidable defense mechanisms of Bitcoin and Ethereum, emphasizing the impracticality of significant attacks such as the notorious 51% attack.
The studies reinforce the evolution and resilience in the security protocols of these leading cryptocurrencies, making attacks not only challenging but also prohibitively expensive.
Incident Report: Fixedfloat Crypto Exchange Security Breach
The decentralized trading platform FixedFloat suffered a notable security incident, compromising vast amounts of bitcoin and ether valued at approximately $26 million. The exchange has since been critiqued for not disclosing the incident promptly.
This Week’s Crypto Market Forecast
A hot-button discussion among traders is the potential for an upcoming ETH ETF to gain approval by the SEC, significantly impacting the market.
The most recent ETH ETF proposal by VanEck notably excludes staking features, differing from earlier proposals by ARK Invest Management LLC and Franklin Templeton.
Based on Bernstein’s latest market research, there’s a 50% probability that the ETH ETF might be greenlit by May, potentially paving the way for mass institutional acceptance within the crypto markets.
Analysts are also keeping a close eye on STRK, the newly minted native token of the Ethereum Layer 2 solution Starknet.
After STRK’s value spiked to $5, it has stabilized around $2, as reported by CoinMarketCap. The significant airdrop to users has momentarily pushed the token to a multibillion-dollar market capitalization, marking a substantial event in this year’s cryptocurrency sphere.
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