Is this a result of growing stablecoin activity?
As the US dollar strengthened in the last week, the crypto market drifted lower on this market volatility.
The decline may also have been influenced by heightened regulatory pressure, as the EU passed its long-awaited crypto legislation, and Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler defended his agency’s actions against crypto projects.
Avalanche fell 17% before rebounding slightly, while Bitcoin slipped to $27K and XRP dipped below $0.50. TRON, however, bucked the downtrend completely by holding strong with 0.50% weekly gains.
Read more after the jump.
This week’s focus
– Tron bucks downtrend on stablecoin activity
– Bitcoin at $27K on dollar strength
– Avalanche gains momentum on NFT data — could the project catch up with its rivals?
– XRP dips below $0.50 despite regulatory hopes — will the project find solace in the EU?
Tron bucks downtrend with 0.5% gains on stablecoin activity
Even amidst broader market volatility, TRON continues to trade sideways under the $0.66 level
As altcoins across the market lose ground in a market slump, Justin Sun’s TRON remains relatively unbothered, showing weekly gains of 0.50%.
The cryptoasset’s resilience could be related to an uptick in network metrics, including the supply of stablecoins on the network.
Back In March, Sun said that his goal was to increase the TRON stablecoin market to $60 billion before the end of the year. That figure has since grown to sit at $45 billion, according to DeFiLlama data, second only to Ethereum which hosts a $70 billion stablecoin market.
Other data also points towards growth on the Tron blockchain. According to Token Terminal, Tron is the top blockchain by unique daily active wallets with 1.5 million, beating both BNB Chain‘s 1.1 million and Bitcoin’s 650,600; although Tron has historically faced allegations of hosting bot activity on the network.
Bitcoin at $27K on dollar strength
After topping $30K, BTC is once again testing support at $27K
Bitcoin fell more than 7% last week to settle below $27K amidst a wider retreat in the cryptoasset market.
The declines came on higher-than-expected inflation data in the UK, and strong US banking sector earnings, which reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain its tight monetary policy for longer.
According to economists surveyed by Reuters last week, the US Federal Reserve is expected to increase rates by 25 basis points in May, before holding them steady for the rest of 2023.
Avalanche gains momentum on NFT data — could the project catch up with its rivals?
Avalanche is pushing upwards in what could be the beginning of a recovery
Despite losing almost 17% over the past week, Avalanche is now attempting a recovery with small percentage gains over the last 24 hours.
The buoyant prices come on news of the Avalanche NFT market, which appears to have grown significantly during the month of April.
According to Dune Analytics data compiled by Subinimum, the Avalanche network experienced over 2 million NFT transfers during April, a figure five times greater than the previous month of March.
Until recently, the Avalanche NFT market has lagged behind rivals such as Solana and Polygon, but this data could indicate that Avalanche might close the gap.
XRP dips below $0.50 despite regulatory hopes — will the project find solace in the EU?
Unable to break through resistance at $0.50, XRP is down 10% on the week
Tracking the losses of the broader crypto market, XRP tumbled to a low of $0.40 last week
The cryptoasset, which has been embroiled in a contentious lawsuit against the SEC, could be impacted by growing regulatory uncertainty after Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler avoided answering questions about crypto’s legal classifications.
Nevertheless, hopes remain high that XRP’s creator, Ripple, could win the case against the SEC or even find regulatory clarity across the Atlantic.
In a tweet on Friday, Ripple executive Susan Friedman lauded the European Union’s new Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation, saying that Ripple is “looking forward to building and growing in the European marketplace!”