TL;DR

• The number of small Shiba Inu (SHIB) holders has significantly decreased, reflecting high levels of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD).
• Despite the current bearish sentiment, factors such as a shift to self-custody and an increase in SHIB’s burn rate could potentially drive a future price uptrend.

Small Players Leave the Ecosystem

The popular meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB) has been on a downfall in the past 30 days, with its price tumbling by 5.5% and currently trading at around $0.00001328. Unsurprisingly, the plunge has negatively affected investors in the asset.

The crypto analytics platform Santiment estimated that the 30-day average trading returns are down “just slightly” at -1.1%, whereas the long-term returns have plummeted by -31.7%. According to the entity, the meme coin may get back on the green track once “Bitcoin is able to stabilize, and altcoins are able to flourish again.”

Santiment further observed that the number of wallets holding less than 1 billion SHIB has plummeted to its lowest level since November 2022. The platform argued this could indicate “a tremendous level of FUD” within the ecosystem, with large players controlling the bigger share of the circulating supply. 

Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) refers to the spread of negative or misleading information, rumors, or sentiment that causes panic among investors, leading to potential selling pressure in the market. The rising level is typically seen as a precursor of severe price swings. 

Last but not least, Santiment maintained that the volume of social discussion surrounding SHIB has been “extremely low” since July, reflecting “a sense of indifference and frustration from traders.” 

Some Good Signals for the Bulls

Contrary to the grim conditions mentioned above, some factors suggest that SHIB’s price could be headed for an uptrend. One example is the Shiba Inu exchange netflow, which has been predominantly negative in the last seven days.

The development suggests a shift from centralized platforms to self-custody methods, which may reduce the immediate selling pressure.

Next on the list is the meme coin’s burning mechanism. The burn rate exploded by over 8,000% in the past 24 hours, resulting in more than 3 million tokens sent to a null address. 

The program’s ultimate goal is to reduce the circulating supply of SHIB, making it scarcer and potentially more valuable in time. So far, approximately 410 trillion tokens have been destroyed, leaving 583.4 trillion in circulation.

The current market condition has raised speculation among market participants about the short-term price trajectory of the asset class. Slowing crypto adoption and a tough macro environment have caused traders to wonder if this is the start of a bear market or just a quiet phase in this bull cycle.

IntoTheBlock said analysts noted that the current phase mirrors a trend seen in 2019, where the market cooled down and experienced a prolonged consolidation after a local high before becoming bullish again. Although the market could be on the same path from 2019, IntoTheBlock believes the current data tells a different story.

The State of The Macro Environment

The crypto market began 2024 with high optimism, with expectations of a BTC all-time high due to the approval of the United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) and a bull run following the fourth halving. While BTC hit a new high in March and continued an uptrend till early June, the narrative has shifted.

Investors are concerned that the broader financial market is on the brink of a recession, and the risk is weighing on assets, including crypto. The Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates soon, but IntoTheBlock said the positive effect of the move may take time. In the meantime, the macro landscape will continue propelling negative sentiment.

Bitcoin’s price is currently under pressure and has no significant upward momentum. The market faces growing uncertainty and heightened volatility as retail and institutional interest seems to be fading. This weakened interest is evident in the outflows the spot Bitcoin ETFs witnessed over the past week. The products just broke their longest outflow streak that saw investors withdraw almost $1 billion within eight days.

Staying Open to Possibilities

The decline in retail crypto interest can be seen in the slowed influx of new users. Google search trends for “cryptocurrency” are at a multi-year low, and broader search topics signal a trend far from the excitement of a bull market.

The rankings of crypto apps like Coinbase on mobile devices suggest that fewer people engage with the asset class.

On-chain metrics tell a similar story: There are fewer new Bitcoin addresses, reflecting dwindling enthusiasm, and long-term holders are seeing their BTC balances hit new lows, a signal that historically hinted at prolonged cooldowns.

Although past halving data suggest that this market movement could be a post-halving dip, IntoTheBlock asserted that there are no “clear-cut answers” and that traders can only remain open to possibilities.

TL;DR

• The exchange will delist four trading pairs on September 13, but the underlying tokens will remain available on Binance Spot.
• The company recently increased collateral ratios for some cryptocurrencies and completed routine maintenance on the BNB Smart Chain.

The Upcoming Update

The world’s largest crypto exchange conducts periodic reviews on all listed trading pairs on its platform, removing those showing poor liquidity and trading volume. Based on its latest research, it decided to delist BAND/TRY, LSK/ETH, NTRN/BTC, and PROM/BTC.

The effort is scheduled to come into effect on September 13. “Users are strongly advised to update and/or cancel their Spot Trading Bots prior to the cessation of Spot Trading Bots services to avoid any potential losses,” Binance warned.

The company revealed that ceasing support for the aforementioned pairs does not affect the availability of the tokens on Binance Spot since “users can still trade the spot trading pair’s base and quote assets on other trading pair(s) that are available on Binance.”

Reduced support on such a major trading venue could negatively impact the price of the involved cryptocurrencies due to decreased availability, a decline of confidence, and fear of broader delisting. BAND, LSK, NTRN, and PROM are all in the red on a 24-hour scale, recording mild decreases. 

It is worth noting that their underperformance coincides with an overall slump in the crypto industry, whose global market cap dropped by 2% daily and is currently set at around $2.08 trillion (per CoinGecko’s data).

Binance’s Previous Amendments

Besides adding new trading pairs and removing existing ones, the company also regularly makes other improvements. Earlier this month, it increased the collateral ratio for several cryptocurrencies, such as some trending meme coins like Floki Inu (FLOKI) and Dogs (DOGS).

The update took approximately one hour, after which FLOKI’s ratio was raised to 40% from the previous 35%. DOGS witnessed an even more substantial hike: from 10% to 30%. 

The collateral ratio shows the amount of assets required to secure a loan or maintain an open position. It is usually displayed as a percentage, reflecting the value of the collateral compared to the borrowed amount. A higher ratio provides greater assurance that the lender can recover their funds, even in the event of a market decline.

Shortly after, Binance conducted wallet maintenance for BNB Smart Chain (BEP20). It temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals on the network, resuming services after completing the effort. 

“The trading of token(s) on the aforementioned network will not be impacted. Binance will handle all technical requirements involved for all users,“ the exchange assured at the time.