Daily News | Tesla May Resume BTC Payments, US Presidential Candidate Supports BTC, Telegram Bot Boosted Meme Market

Crypto Daily Digest: Tesla may resume BTC payments, meme market soared, with related tokens rising by 500%

Tesla has come with drama again.

The latest report indicates that the source code of Tesla’s payment page appears as “Bitcoin,” and it is uncertain whether it’s a new addition. According to the Tesla official website page, the code (bitcoin and Dogecoin) does exist in the Java file introduced in the html, but the release time of the relevant code cannot be confirmed.

The final update time of this code source file is July 13, but it does not mean that the “bitcoin” related code was added during the update on July 13, and it cannot be proven whether the relevant code was removed after the support was canceled on May 21.

In addition, Tesla had previously added the term ‘doge’ to the source code of the payment page, but ultimately only supported the use of it for purchasing products from nearby stores. Therefore, whether to accept Bitcoin payments should mainly be based on relevant announcements and front-end displays.

Tesla announced its support for Bitcoin payment for car payments in March 2021, but in May Musk announced the cancellation of the Bitcoin payment due to energy consumption and environmental issues. Musk also stated that he will once again support Bitcoin to pay for car purchases when green energy accounts for more than 50% of the energy consumption in Bitcoin mining.

According to Tesla’s latest quarterly financial report, there was no buying or selling of Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2023.

Recently, Ark Invest also released Q2 ETF quarterly reports, with GBTC performing the best and Coinbase being the largest allocated asset.

According to ARK’s latest quarterly ETF report released on July 19, GBTC was one of the top five drivers of ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) growth exceeding 9% in the second quarter, with other outstanding performers including Tesla, Shopify, Unity Software, and Draftkins.

Sequoia Capital conducted a high-level reorganization, and several partners left. According to Bloomberg, Sequoia Capital disclosed on Wednesday that its long-term partner Michael Moritz announced that he would leave Sequoia and focus on Sequoia Heritage, the wealth management company he co-founded. Another senior partner, Mike Vernal, will also resign, while Michelle Fradin, who led the investment in FTX, as well as partners Kais Khimji and Daniel Chen, will also leave. Daniel Chen’s Twitter resume calls itself “cryptocurrency giant.”

These changes by investment giants may have a certain impact on global venture capital strategies and businesses, and also reflect the recent turmoil and uncertainty in the crypto industry.

However, in terms of the token market, the meme market has once again soared.

The market value of Telegram Bot’s related tokens has risen to $100 million, and UNIBOT has risen by over 54% in the past week. Data shows that Unibot users have traded $54 million worth of tokens using Telegram, and the platform has returned nearly $1 million in revenue to users. These rewards are proportional to the number of tokens held, and holders will receive 40% of the transaction fee and 1% of the total transaction volume of UNIBOT.

Meanwhile, newer similar tokens such as Wagiebot (WAGIEBOT), 0xSniper (0XS), Bridge (BRIDGE), and Bolt (BOLT) have increased by 500% in the past 24 hours.

Gate.io reminds us that the meme coin market has significant fluctuations, and the vast majority of currencies can only maintain a certain level of popularity for a short period of time. Investors are advised to pay attention to risks and handle their personal assets properly.

Hong Kong’s progress in the RWA field is accelerating. Recently, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced that the digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD) pilot program in Hong Kong explored six use case categories, including Web3 settlement, tokenized assets, and tokenized deposits.

In terms of on-chain data, according to the latest Ethereum 2023 Second Quarter Report released by Bankless, Q2 Ethereum online transaction costs fell by 33.3% year-on-year, from $1027 million to $847 million; The average inflation rate of ETH has decreased from 0.71% to -0.8%; The average daily active address decreased by 6%, from 471,447 to 444,419.

According to PeckShield’s statistics, the total value of suspected money laundering and stolen cryptocurrency funds in the first half of 2023 is about $244.5 million. Among them, approximately 313500 ETHs and 39000 BNB stolen funds were laundered through Tornado Cash, a decrease of 91% and 31.3% compared to the first half of 2022, respectively.

Today’s Main Token Trends

BTC

The market is oscillating within a range, unable to break above $30,480 USD or below $29,500 USD. As it remains uncertain at these higher levels, a high-sell, low-buy strategy can be employed to position oneself for potential gains. Breaking above could indicate a further rise to $36,000 USD and eventually $40,500 USD, while a drop below $24,000 USD may signal the end of this year’s rebound.

ETH

The overall structure maintains a retracement within the ascending trend, with crucial support at $1,857 USD. A drop below this level could lead to a significant downturn while breaking above the key resistance at $2,036 USD might signal a bullish trend. The mid-term target is $2,358 USD upon surpassing $2,036 USD, indicating a turning point.

ARKM

A significant rebound opportunity is approaching. Utilize the Fibonacci sequence, considering 0 as the starting point for the rally and 1 as the short-term target. Identified support levels are $0.6245 USD, $0.5920 USD, and $0.5608 USD. For current positions, potential upward targets are $0.6212 USD, $0.65 USD, and $0.6906 USD.

GT

The daily support recently touched $4.1888 USD, indicating a possible head and shoulders pattern in the short term. The mid-term resistance level is at $3.6040 USD, while the ultimate resistance still holds at $28.56 USD, with further targets at $39.15 USD and $45.05 USD.

Macro: The US Labor Market Remains Strong, But the Risk of An Economic Hard Landing Increases

The number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States for the week ending July 15 recorded 228,000, lower than the expected 242,000 and 237,000, the lowest since May 13, 2023. The expectation in the swap market for further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve after July has increased.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time did not increase, but decreased, indicating that the labor market is still flexible and may support the Federal Reserve to continue to raise interest rates this year. The U.S. Dollar Index was boosted by this, rising 0.61% to 100.85.

Over the past year, the US economy has shown surprisingly strong momentum, despite warnings from CEOs and economists that a recession is imminent.

The latest data on the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits once again shows the strength of the job market and even the economy. The number of initial claims for unemployment benefits has dropped to 228,000, far below the economists’ estimate of 242,000.

Therefore, Sonu Varghese, Global macro strategist of Carson Group, stated in a report on Thursday that the elasticity of the US economy means there will be no recession, and the so-called “soft landing” may not even occur.

Recently, Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. promised to gradually use Bitcoin or gold to support the US dollar if elected president.

It is reported that Robert Kennedy is a member of the Kennedy family, the son of former US Attorney General and Senator Robert Kennedy, and the nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy.

In his speech at the recent political action committee Bridging the Divide event, Kennedy claimed that supporting the US dollar with “Hard currency” (including gold, silver, platinum, or bitcoin) might help to re-stabilize the US economy.

“Using hard assets to support the US dollar and US debt can help the US dollar recover its strength, curb inflation and usher in a new era of financial stability, peace, and prosperity in the US.”

Kennedy explained that the process will be gradual, and he will adjust the dollar-pegged amount according to the actual progress of the plan. He said, “my plan is to start from a small scale; perhaps 1% of the issued treasury bonds will be supported by hard currency, gold, silver, platinum, or bitcoin.”

Unlike the open attitude held by the United States, Kuwait has recently implemented strict crypto regulatory policies.

Kuwait’s financial regulator issued a ban on cryptocurrency. The Capital Market Authority (CMA), Kuwait’s main financial regulator, issued a notice on the regulation and issuance of virtual assets. The notice emphasized that Kuwait “absolutely prohibits” the use of cryptocurrency for payment, investment, and mining.

The notice also prohibits local regulatory agencies from issuing licenses allowing companies to use virtual asset services as a commercial business. Meanwhile, securities and other financial instruments regulated by the Central Bank of Kuwait and CMA are not subject to the latest ban. In addition to the above prohibitions, CMA also requires users to be cautious and mindful of the risks associated with handling virtual assets. The regulator stated that cryptocurrency has no legal status and is not issued or supported by any government.