Crypto markets muted as El Salvador delays Bitcoin-backed bonds | Trading Ideas| OKX Academy

BTC and ETH are slightly down after consecutive green days.

OKX Crypto Market Daily

The total cryptocurrency market is down half a percent over the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, BTC and ETH are down around 2%. Of the limited major altcoins in the green, LUNA is up 1.3%. 

Traders groaned after learning that El Salvador would postpone its trailblazing BTC-backed bond program. The country had planned to launch its $1 billion bond last week, but the armed conflict in Ukraine and general market conditions influenced the decision to delay, said ​​Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya. Many hoped the bonds would generate buying pressure for BTC, similar to Terra Labs’ decision to purchase $3 billion worth of the leading crypto asset.

A predominately red day as most cryptos give up yesterday’s gains. Source: COIN360

DeFi Digest: Ava Labs announces new crypto wallet

The company behind the smart contract platform Avalanche, Ava Labs, revealed plans for Core — a new noncustodial wallet designed for its Layer-1 blockchain. The wallet will be free, launching first as a browser extension later this month and as a mobile application in Q2.

Though Avalanche is currently accessible through blockchain agnostic wallets like MetaMask, Core will be optimized for the unique capabilities of Avalanche — notably the network’s Subnets. Additional features include a portfolio page, in-app swaps and the ability to buy AVAX directly from the wallet. 

Nick Mussallem, the head of product at Ava Labs, said, “[Core] is the culmination of extensive user and product research to understand how we can facilitate mass adoption of Web3 systems and applications with a smooth, user-friendly experience that has never been seen before.”

NFT Snapshot: Bored Ape Yacht Club creator raise $450 million

Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced a $450 million capital raise on Tuesday, bringing the startup’s total valuation to $4 billion. Led by Andreessen Horowitz and including investments from Animoca Brands and Coinbase, Yuga Labs plans to use some of the funds to build games and its own metaverse project, named Otherside. CEO Nicole Muniz told The Verge that the company is partnering with multiple gaming studios to create the virtual space. 

Coming off the release of ApeCoin last week, as well as an acquisition of the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections from Larva Labs, the Bored Ape creator continues to dominate nonfungible token news and developments. 

Top altcoin gainers and losers: LRC dominates

  • LRC/USDT +47.35%
  • SRM/USDT +12.57%
  • MINA/USDT +12.26%
  • IMX/USDT -3.15%
  • BCH/USDT -4.14%
  • LOOKS/USDT -5.40%

LRC is up nearly 50% following the beta launch of GameStop’s nonfungible token marketplace, built on top of Loopring. 

SRM is also showing continued strength after mostly being beaten down over the last year.

BTC technical analysis: Slowing down

After breaking above 43,000 USDT yesterday, BTC is back below 42,000. The 42,000 mark continues to serve as a key pivot for buyers and sellers. Bulls will want to see consolidation around this level for a continuation upward.

OKX’s BTC/USDT 1D chart — 3/23. Source: OKX, TradingView

ETH technical analysis: Retracing lower

ETH’s large move on Tuesday has mostly backtracked to levels at which it traded over the weekend. A steady price below 3,000 USDT could set up a move back to 3,200 USDT, which failed to hold in February. For now, ETH remains in the same tight range it has been in for months.

OKX’s ETH/USDT 1D chart — 3/23. Source: OKX, TradingView

Altcoin technical analysis: ETC is up only

As Ethereum’s proof-of-stake merge looms, ETC has exceeded most observers’ expectations. Since miners’ output on the Ethereum mainnet will be drastically reduced as the blockchain moves away from proof-of-work validation, many have flocked to ETC as an obvious replacement, at least in the short term. The asset jumped from around 26 USDT — breaking from a near year-long downtrend — to trade over 47 USDT. 

OKX’s ETC/USDT 1D chart — 3/23. Source: OKX, TradingView

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Source: https://www.okx.com/academy/en/crypto-markets-muted-as-el-salvador-delays-bitcoin-backed-bonds-crypto-market-daily/