Crypto at a glance

Major cryptocurrencies have traded sideways over the past week. Bitcoin BTCUSD,
+ 3.11%
traded 0.2% lower than seven days ago, recently at $ 48,609, according to data from CoinDesk. Ether ETHUSD,
+1.94%
has lost 2.1% in the past seven days, recently trading at $ 3,942. Dogecoin DOGEUSD meme token,
+ 3.58%
was down 1.5% from seven days ago, while another Shiba Inu dog-themed coin SHIBUSD,
3.95
gained 8.5% in the last seven days.

Encryption metrics

The biggest winners	Price	% return over 7 days
aspire to finance	$ 32,019	52.2%
NEAR protocol	$ 13.7	41.2%
Earth	$ 92.3	39.5%
Celo	$ 4.83	33.8%
Aave	$ 238.7	33.5%
		Source: CoinMarketCap.com to December 23

The biggest declines	Price	% return over 7 days
Elrond	$ 255.6	-21.9%
Kadena	11 $	-19.3%
XDC Network	$ 0.08	-14.2%
Waves	$ 16.3	-10.4%
CrepeSwap	$ 11.7	-9.4%
		Source: CoinMarketCap.com to December 23

Meme coin 2022?

Over the past year, some meme coins, which are cryptocurrencies from internet memes, have shown staggering results. Dogecoin, a token created as a joke and inspired by the dog Shiba Inu, has risen more than 3,300% since the start of the year, according to data from CoinDesk. The Shiba Inu, which is from the same breed of dog, has increased by more than 45,500,000% since the start of the year.

Such results have propelled some investors to seek out the next coin stars. However, the current market environment might not help the rise of new meme coins, Christopher Vecchio, senior currency strategist at Forex analysis site DailyFX, told Distributed Ledger in an interview.

“In an environment defined by weaker major cryptocurrencies, retail investors lack the confidence to try and jump into a new listing and try to hit it very quickly,” Vecchio said.

As the Fed ramps up its reduction in its bond buying program and plans three interest rate hikes in 2022, major cryptocurrencies are under selling pressure. Bitcoin is down almost 30% from its all-time high of $ 68,990 in November, while Ether is down more than 18% from its all-time high of $ 4,866, according to data from CoinDesk.

Growing institutional involvement in the crypto market could shrink the place of tokens even, some analysts have said. “As the market becomes more efficient and more smart money comes in, there is less retail money,” said Jason Desimone, blockchain manager at crypto-focused software company Ubik Group. . “I think we’re going to see more value flowing into coins that have real utility compared to just a community that follows.”

Guy Gotslak, president and co-founder of crypto investment platform My Digital Money, disagreed. “I think in the next three to five years more serious investors will start to get into coins,” Gotslak said.

“I see some even coins evolving over the next year to potentially have more utility, like being used for payments,” Gotslak said, noting that Elon Musk told Tesla TSLA,
+ 5.91%
would accept Dogecoin as a payment method for the goods, while AMC AMC,
+ 0.07%
CEO Adam Aron said the movie chain will accept Shiba Inu as a form of payment.

To invest with caution or not

Investing in even tokens is not always a safe bet, analysts said. “A lot of people are going to bet on these coins when trying to pick the next Doge or the next Shiba,” Desimone said. “And a lot of people get burned along the way.”

Industry participants stressed that it is important for investors to always exercise caution when deciding which tokens to invest in and to try to avoid scams such as “rug pull”, which refers to to the circumstances in which developers abandon a project and flee with investors. ‘fund.

One example is Squid Game (SQUID), a cryptocurrency that has gained attention in part because of the popular Korean TV show of the same name. The token went from $ 39 to $ 2,857 in just three hours, then collapsed to near zero. On-chain data and evidence from Twitter and Telegram suggests the developers have abandoned the project and cashed in the tokens.

There were a few warning signs – some investors reported that they could not buy but not sell SQUIDs, while there were several misspellings in the crypto whitepaper.

When reviewing crypto projects, investors should look at the track record of development teams and verify whether they are legitimate, Gotslak noted. It is also crucial to examine the token distribution model. “You don’t want the founding team to have too many chips,” Gotslak said. “Because it can be risky, right?” They might just take it and run away.

“Make sure not one person has more than 5%,” Gotslak added.

One common trait that defines even successful tokens is that they generally have a strong community around them, analysts said. “It’s really about doing something unique that really grows and engages in the community, something that hasn’t been done yet,” said Desimone of Ubik.

The push of a celebrity like Elon Musk could also help, according to DailyFX’s Vecchio. Usually it’s “someone pumping the name on their own,” Vecchio said.

Crypto companies, funds

In the trading of companies related to crypto, shares of Coinbase Global Inc. COIN,
+ 4.01%
traded down 1.3% to $ 257.94 on Thursday morning. It was up 4.3% in the past five trading sessions. MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR by Michael Saylor,
+ 2.57%
traded down 1.1% on Thursday at $ 593.77 and is down 0.03% in the past five days.

Riot Blockchain Mining Company Inc. RIOT,
+ 8.91%
shares fell 0.9% to $ 23.42, contributing to a 2% loss in the past five days. Shares of Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. MARA,
+ 10.02%
traded down 0.4% to $ 33.94 and down 4.4% in the past five days. Another miner Ebang International Holdings Inc. EBON,
+ 7.08%
was flat at $ 1.13, with a loss of 10% over the past five days.

Overstock.com Inc. OSTK,
+1.46%.
traded down 0.6% to $ 61.61. Shares were down 4.3% over the five-session period.

Shares of Block Inc SQ,
+ 0.51%
fell 0.9% to $ 166.07, trading flat for the week. the shares of Tesla Inc. TSLA,
+ 5.91%
traded up 2% to $ 1,029, contributing an 11% gain for the week.

PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL,
+ 0.09%
edged down 0.04% to $ 191.75, as it posted a gain of 1.6% over the five sessions. NVIDIA Corp. NVDA,
+ 1.27%
gained 1% to $ 297 and was eyeing a 4.6% lead in the past five days.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD,
+ 2.82%
was up 1.6% to $ 146.2 and posted a gain of 5.5% in the last five trading days on Thursday morning.

In the fund space, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO,
+ 3.31%
was 0.5% below $ 30.9 on Thursday, while Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF BTF,
+ 3.18%
was down 0.6% to $ 19.07. VanEck Bitcoin ETF XBTF Strategy,
+ 3.36%
fell 0.41% to $ 48.35.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC,
+ 4.24%
was trading at $ 36.75, down 0.75% Thursday morning.

Must read