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Cryptocurrency

Execs remain positive on long-term prospects amid VC funding downturn

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As crypto prices remain at lower levels, venture capital (VC) funding also recorded one of its worst quarters since 2021. Despite this, executives in the space remain optimistic about the industry’s long-term potential. 

Crypto data platform RootData highlighted that the second quarter of 2023 delivered one of the worst performances in terms of crypto fundraising. Compared with the first quarter of 2022, where $12.62 billion were raised across 559 funding rounds, Q1 2023 saw around $2.1 billion across 292 rounds — an 83% decrease in VC investments flowing into the space.

Quarterly crypto fundraising trend data chart. Source: Rootdata

Despite the flow of venture capital funds slowing down, professionals working in the space believe there’s still a strong ongoing belief that crypto has potential in the long term. 

Gvantsa Chkuaseli, the head of structuring and fundraising at Web3 accelerator Outlier Ventures, told Cointelegraph in a statement that despite the downturn in Q4 2022, there’s also been an uptick in activity. According to Chkuaseli, this suggests investors strongly believe in blockchain’s long-term potential.

“We can see with our own portfolio, such as Mawari’s recent $6.5 million seed round co-led by Blockchange Ventures and Decasonic, and Zinc’s $5 million Series A, that there is interest despite the challenging conditions,” Chkuaseli explained.

Chkuaseli added that some investors appear undeterred by the recent downturn and continue to back early-stage companies within the sector. “We still believe, though, there are reasons to be optimistic,” Chkuaseli said. The executive also noted the massive interest in startups focused on artificial intelligence (AI), highlighting that fetch.ai received $40 million in funding from DWF Labs earlier this year.

Saqr Ereiqat, co-founder of Dubai-based venture-building firm Crypto Oasis, believes that despite the negatives brought about by the downturn, there are still positive takeaways from the current situation. Ereiqat explained:

“On the positive side, this shift allows for a more discerning selection process, ensuring that only the most promising projects receive funding. Moreover, the challenging times serve to crystallize the winners, separating the truly innovative ventures from the rest.”

Even though there are positive outlooks, the executive still expressed empathy toward projects that are struggling because of the lack of funding. “It’s disheartening to witness numerous companies facing the risk of extinction due to the scarcity of funding opportunities,” he said. Ereiqat also told Cointelegraph that this situation emphasizes the importance of strategic decision-making for projects.

Similar to Chkuaseli, Ereiqat also highlighted how AI-focused projects are still seeing massive amounts of investments. Citing the $1.3 billion funding round for Inflection AI, the executive said there’s a growing opportunity within the AI startup landscape.

Related: Crypto VC is struggling only from a North American perspective — Animoca Brands CEO

Meanwhile, Phillip Lord, the president of the crypto payments platform Oobit, believes that it’s necessary for entrepreneurs to focus on building companies with sustainable business models and clear revenue streams. According to Lord, this help VCs be compelled to invest in their projects. He said:

“We are currently in a higher interest rate cycle, and rates are expected to remain high for the next three to five years. As such, businesses should avoid the ‘growth at any cost’ model, and instead focus on building strong and sustainable operations that will stand the test of time.“

Lord also highlighted that the VC model is experiencing a change because of AI. “Burn rates of companies can drastically come down if AI is fully embraced,” Lord said. The executive also predicted that there would be solo entrepreneurs earning more than $25 million annually “with literally no staff” because of AI.

Magazine: AI Eye: Is AI a nuke-level threat? Why AI fields all advance at once, dumb pic puns

Cryptocurrency

Ethereum (ETH) Price Decline, Recent Cardano (ADA) Predictions, and More: Bits Recap August 1

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TL;DR

  • ETH slumped by 6% amid the broader market correction, but whale accumulation, a nine-year low in exchange balances, and steady ETF inflows hint at a possible rebound in the near term.

  • ADA dropped even more, yet analysts remain bullish, with some predicting a surge beyond $4 if the asset clears key resistance at $0.92.

  • BTC briefly dipped below $114,500, but an RSI near 30 suggests oversold conditions, while optimistic traders eye a breakout to $145K-$150K.

ETH Heads South

The past several hours have not been pleasant for the cryptocurrency market, which has registered a significant pullback following the latest tariffs implemented by the Trump administration.

Ethereum (ETH) is among the losers with its price dropping by 6% on a daily scale to around $3,600 (per CoinGecko’s data). Historically, August has tended to be a bearish month for the asset, with gains recorded only in 2017, 2020, and 2021. It will be interesting to see if this year proves to be among the exceptions.

ETH Monthly Returns
ETH Monthly Returns, Source: CoinGlass

On the other hand, some key factors suggest that this might be only a temporary correction, followed by another rally. Whales have scooped up thousands of ETH in the past days, signaling strong confidence and reducing the amount of coins available on the open market. 

Additionally, the number of tokens stored on crypto exchanges plummeted to a nine-year low of under 19 million. This means that investors have shifted from centralized platforms toward self-custody methods, which reduces the immediate selling pressure.

ETH Exchange Reserve
ETH Exchange Reserve, Source: CryptoQuant

The flow of capital into spot ETH ETFs remains solid, while those interested in exploring more bullish factors and optimistic price predictions can refer to our article here.

ADA’s Next Targets?

Cardano’s native token has performed even worse than ETH in the past 24 hours, slipping by 8% to approximately $0.72 (its lowest point since mid-July). 

Despite the downtrend, many analysts foresee a renewed uptrend knocking on the door. The popular X user, Ali Martinez, believes ADA’s current price structure resembles that of the last bull cycle, which was later followed by a massive rally. 

Hardy and Smith are also among the optimists. The former claimed ADA’s bull run has yet to begin, while the latter argued that the valuation could skyrocket to a new all-time high above $4 once it surpasses the breakout target of $0.92. 

What About BTC?

The primary cryptocurrency briefly dipped under $114,500 before recovering some of the losses. As of this writing, it trades at around $115,000, representing a 3.2% drop on a daily basis. 

Its negative performance coincides with the broader correction of the cryptocurrency market, as well as the actions of retail investors who appear to have shifted into selling mode.

However, many members of the crypto community believe BTC’s bull run is far from being over. X user CRYPTOWZRD forecasted a pump to $145,000 if it breaks $120,000, whereas Grypto GEMs set a target of $150,000.

Bitcoin’s Relative Strength Index (RSI), which measures the latest speed and magnitude of price changes, supports the bullish thesis. Currently, the ratio is hovering around 30, meaning the asset is oversold and may be due for a resurgence. Conversely, anything above 70 could be interpreted as a precursor of a pullback.

BTC RSI
BTC RSI, Source: CryptoWaves
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ETH Price Falls, But Ethereum ETFs Keep Breaking Records

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Ethereum spot ETFs have recorded net positive flows for 20 consecutive trading days.

This accumulation streak, highlighted by a $17 million net intake on July 31, stands in stark contrast to Bitcoin ETFs, which saw a $115 million exit on the same day, their first outflow after five days of gains.

Institutional Appetite

The latest run of 20 days surpassed an earlier one of 19 green days between May 16 and June 12, cut short by $2.18 million in outflows on June 13. This was followed by a few days of intermittent flows before the current spree kicked off in earnest on July 3.

It has since pushed cumulative allocations to $9.64 billion, per SoSoValue data, with July alone seeing $5.41 billion in net capital directed toward ETH ETFs, more than the combined total of the previous 11 months.

BlackRock’s ETHA remains the market leader, attracting $18.18 million on July 31 and now holding $11.37 billion in assets, representing 2.52% of ETH’s market cap. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s ETHE reported $6.8 million in withdrawals, though its $4.22 billion asset base shows its continued relevance. Fidelity’s FETH recorded a $5.62 million boost, bringing its net assets to $2.55 billion.

The momentum is striking when viewed against historical trends. The last recorded outflow was on July 8, after which funds posted some of their largest single-day gains, including $726.7 million on July 16, $602 million on July 17, and $533.8 million on July 22. These inflows helped Ethereum ETF assets climb to $21.52 billion, roughly 4.77% of the cryptocurrency’s market cap.

Ethereum Price Action

Despite the ETF-fueled demand, ETH slipped 2.4% in the last 24 hours to around $3,786, following a brief rally to $3,933 earlier this week. However, the token is up 53% in the past 30 days, outpacing Bitcoin’s rangebound movement between $116,000 and $119,000.

Industry analysts see these ETF flows as structurally bullish. Recently, QCP Capital cautioned that overheated funding rates could introduce near-term resistance around $4,000, but it stressed that continued institutional demand, paired with corporate treasuries like SharpLink Gaming and BitMine accumulating billions in ETH, may underpin further upside.

Meanwhile, on July 31, the total value traded across ETH ETFs stood at $1.28 billion. If this pace holds, it could help ETH challenge its November 2021 all-time high of $4,878 sooner than expected, potentially cementing its role as the frontrunner in an altcoin-led cycle.

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BlackRock Ripple (XRP) ETF Coming Soon? Here’s What You Need to Know

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Nate Geraci, President of The ETF Store, believes that the world’s largest asset manager – BlackRock – will file for an XRP ETF.

If true and if history is any indicator, this could have a long-term positive impact on XRP as an asset, following in the footsteps of ETH and even BTC.

BlackRock XRP ETF a Possibility According to Expert

Geraci believes that it’s only logical for BlackRock to file for an XRP ETF. He cited the asset manager’s attempt to position itself as a “thought leader,” and thinks that it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for the financial behemmoth to ignore a top-five non-stablecoin cryptocurrency by means of total market capitalization. He also thinks the firm will file for a spot Solana (SOL) ETF.

He also believes that they will be filing for an index-based crypto ETF:

If launching index-based crypto ETF (which I’m highly confident they will), then you’re launching individual spot ETFs. I get the “BlackRock is all in on ETH,” or “they think XRP is scam.” This is all about business. They open up flank not pursuing additional spot ETFs IMO.

To this, he also added that by failing to add more individual spot ETFs, BlackRrock would essentially send a message to their clients and prospective investors that “there will only ever be two winners in crypto: BTC and ETH.”

He also said that they are still early because one of their main competitors is still following the “blockchain, not bitcoin” meta.

XRP ETFs The New Meta?

It’s perhaps safe to assume that a major deterrent for large-scale asset managers to file for XRP ETFs was the ambiguity surrounding its legal status amid the case between the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs.

Now that this has almost been resolved, and following the Commission’s newfound crypto-oriented focus, investors and asset managers are far more confident in the US-based crypto company. This has also largely been reflected in XRP’s price, which is up by a staggering 400% in the last year.

Multiple companies have already filed for a spot XRP ETF, including Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, Canary Capital, Grayscale, 21Sharse, and WisdomTree.

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