Quite a number of things have happened in August that is setting a wider baseline in terms of adoption and usage of crypto and blockchain technology. These haven’t seemed to translate to price action, so I think we will definitely be seeing some intense action in the last quarter of the year.
Bitcoin price action in August
This is the 2nd consecutive green month for Bitcoin, although I expected us to be above $50K at the close, but I guess it’s taking its time to fly. Nevertheless, it is still a good sign to close in the green, following the nasty drop in May and June.
For August, Bitcoin gained 13.66% to close the month at $47,156, a gain of $5,665 over July.
PlanB called for a minimum $47,000 closing price for August back in June, and it seems he is right on the money. Will be exciting to see how his other predictions throughout the year play out.
Remember, these prices represent his worst case scenarios, so realistically, if the model holds true, we should see higher prices than these.
Eth price action in August
In contrast, ETH did a lot better in terms of getting back on the recovery. It recorded a massive 35.9% gain in the month of August to close at $3,432. In fact, this is the highest ever monthly close for ETH, and getting closer to a new price discovery phase.
This has to be attributed in large part to the ever growing collection of NFTs, most of whom are minted through the Ethereum blockchain, or via layer 2 solutions that are also riding on ETH as the primary layer.
Aside from this, EIP 1559 also went live in august, pushing Ethereum closer to being a deflationary currency by introducing fee burns. In fact, as of writing this, more than 140,000 ETH has been burned, representing more than USD$460M.
August Crypto Happenings
So, what are some major beats that happened in August for the crypto industry?
- EIP 1559 London Fork
- VISA purchases cryptopunk #7610 for more than $150,000
- Crypto could challenge and replace fiat in 5 to 10 years
- MicroStrategy buys more bitcoin
- Budweiser purchases beer.eth
EIP 1559 London Fork
This is an upgrade that has been a long time coming, and forms part of the transition from ETH being a proof-of-work blockchain to a proof-of-stake blockchain.
When all is said and done, we should see a much more robust Ethereum blockchain able to scale many fold, with fees under control.
VISA buys NFT cryptopunk #7610
This came out of left field, especially seeing that NFTs such as cryptopunks and bored apes have traditionally been traded in the domain of degens and celebrities with too much money and not enough attention.
Brands venturing into NFTs have traditionally minted their own art, sold it as an engagement metric with fans and consumers, and donated proceeds to charity.
So this was definitely an interesting move as they added this piece into their art collection. VISA described the Cryptopunks as a historical NFT project, and hence wanted to be involved in the “intersection of culture and commerce”.
Crypto could replace fiat in 5 years
The results of this survey came as quite the shocker, especially considering the people surveyed were all in from the finance industry. Among those polled, 76% believe digital assets would be a strong alternative or replace fiat currency within the next 5 to 10 years!
With new fintech players paving the way, traditional financial institutions need to up their game quickly in order to catch up.
MicroStrategy buys more bitcoin
I don’t think I need to elaborate any further than that, so I’ll just leave it at this tweet.
Budweiser purchase beer.eth
In another move that signals brands are being mainstreamed into crypto and blockchain, Budweiser has wisely purchased the crypto domain beer.eth.
They purchased the domain for 30ETH.
As we see more and more brands jumping on the bandwagon, we know that crypto is here to stay. Q4 has also traditionally been a superb quarter for bitcoin price, especially in the year after the halving. So I’m looking forward to a face-melting rally, starting soon.
What about you? Are you bullish or bearish?
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