Crypto Spotlight Weekly: Unveiling Winners, Losers, ICOs, and Airdrops

Dear Readers,

Bitcoin (BTC), the world's oldest and most valuable cryptocurrency, reached the $47,000 milestone early on Tuesday, later stabilizing around $46,667 at the time of this writing. This marked the first time since April 2022 that the coin reached the $47k level. As anticipated, the ongoing speculation surrounding the potential approval of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains a driving force, maintaining investor enthusiasm.

Notably, popular alternative cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE), all experienced positive movements in the market.

Highlights Of The Week

• Digital asset investment products and ETPs witnessed $151 million in inflows in the first week of 2024, bringing total inflows since the Grayscale vs. SEC lawsuit to $2.3 billion (CoinShares data).

• Solana's ecosystem boasts over 2,500 monthly active developers, as reported by the Solana Foundation.

• Standard Chartered predicts Bitcoin could reach nearly $200,000 by the end of next year if U.S.-approved Bitcoin ETFs succeed.

• CleanSpark Inc., a U.S.-based Bitcoin miner, announces a strategic agreement to potentially acquire up to 160,000 miners by the end of 2024.

• Lazarus Group, North Korean hackers, moved over $1 million worth of Bitcoin on Jan. 8 after weeks of inactivity.

• Developers of Binance's BNB Smart Chain plan to merge the dual BNB Beacon Chain (BEP-2) and BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20) into a single blockchain.

• Nebraska Legislature introduces a bill aiming to establish basic crypto standards in the state.

Top Weekly Gainers

Amidst the upheaval of the cryptocurrency domain, renowned for its inherent instability, shrewd traders possess the skill to identify weekly frontrunners that present lucrative opportunities for financial growth. By embracing a proactive mindset and closely monitoring market trends and price fluctuations, investors can leverage these favorable moments, potentially reshaping their investment strategies for optimal results.

Myro (MYRO) has taken the crypto scene by storm, experiencing an extraordinary surge of 205.11% in the past week. The current price of Myro stands at $0.08122, with a trading volume of $27.38 million. This rise is largely attributed to the active promotion by numerous cryptocurrency influencers on X (formerly Twitter), underscoring the impact of social media endorsements on the market.

Alephium (ALPH) stands out as another significant gainer, recording an increase of 139.08%. Currently priced at $2.43, Alephium addresses critical challenges faced by decentralized applications, emphasizing accessibility, scalability, and security. With a trading volume of $6.53 million, Alephium's technical design and user interfaces have contributed to its success, making it an intriguing prospect in the crypto landscape.

Siacoin (SC) has surged by 38.18%, reaching a current price of $0.009653 and a substantial trading volume of $61.76 million. Serving as the native utility token for the Sia decentralized cloud storage platform, Siacoin's rise reflects growing interest in decentralized storage solutions.

Hivemapper (HONEY) has seen a notable increase of 35.29%, currently priced at $0.2116, with a trading volume of $1.94 million. Hivemapper operates as a decentralized global mapping network that rewards contributors for collecting high-quality 4K street-level imagery through a Drive-to-Earn model.

Threshold (T) has experienced a significant jump of 33.89%, priced at $0.03512, and boasts a trading volume of $462.37 million. The Threshold network plays a crucial role in the cryptocurrency landscape by providing and maintaining a suite of cryptographic primitives for various decentralized applications (dApps).

Top Weekly Losers

In the constant upheaval of the cryptocurrency market, there exists a mix of weekly leaders and those facing challenges, all grappling with the consequences of regulatory shifts, market fluctuations, and negative media scrutiny. Although dealing with losses can be a challenging process, it provides a crucial platform for traders and investors to assess their strategies, analyze the elements leading to setbacks, and make intentional decisions to steer their upcoming investments toward success. In this week's cryptocurrency market, several tokens recorded notable losses.

analoS (ANALOS) faced a significant setback in the past week, plummeting by 43.05% and reaching a current price of $0.0001856. The sharp decline was accompanied by a substantial trading volume of $20.82 million. Investors in ANALOS experienced a considerable downturn, emphasizing the volatility inherent in the cryptocurrency market.

Rainmaker Games (RAIN) observed a notable decline of 39.48%, bringing its current price to $0.002601. Despite its mission as a free global platform connecting gamers, games, and guilds worldwide, Rainmaker Games faced challenges reflected in its recent market performance. The trading volume stood at $3.03 million, indicating a significant shift in investor sentiment.

Firo (FIRO), formerly known as Zcoin, experienced a decrease of 33.61%, settling at a current price of $1.58. With a trading volume of $2.77 million, Firo faced headwinds despite its focus on privacy through the Lelantus privacy protocol. The protocol allows users to burn and later redeem coins for new ones, emphasizing the project's commitment to privacy in digital cash transactions.

Reef (REEF) saw a fall of 33.38%, with the current price at $0.001549 and a trading volume of $24.52 million. Positioned as a Reliable Extensible Efficient Fast Layer-1 Blockchain for DeFi, NFT, and Gaming, Reef encountered challenges in the market, impacting its value and trading activity over the week.

MobileCoin (MOB) witnessed a decline of 31.61%, reaching a current price of $0.5647, with a trading volume of $5.62 million. Established as a decentralized payment platform with a focus on privacy, MobileCoin faced a notable decrease in value, highlighting the broader market dynamics affecting privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.

Hot ICOs To Watch Out For

Active ICOs

Prism commenced its sale on January 3 and is set to conclude on January 9. Thus far, Prism has raised $5,500,000 out of its $5,800,000 fundraising goal. Positioned as the next evolution of Rainmaker's gamer-focused platform, PRISM promises to introduce a revolutionary suite of on-chain gaming tools and experiences.

Mar3 AI is another active ICO, having initiated its sale on January 8 and scheduled to end on January 12. With a current fundraising total of $1,360,000, Mar3 AI introduces itself as an AI social decentralized application (dApp) where individuals can forge connections and profit within the Web3 ecosystem. The project aims to leverage artificial intelligence to enhance social interactions in the decentralized space.

SpaceCatch embarked on its fundraising journey on November 12, 2023, with the end date yet to be announced. The project has a fundraising goal of $3,370,000. Positioned as a next-generation augmented reality (AR) game, SpaceCatch is driven by complex artificial intelligence. This ICO seeks to revolutionize the gaming landscape by integrating cutting-edge AI technology into the AR gaming experience, promising an innovative and immersive gameplay environment.

Upcoming ICOs

Sociapol is set to kick off its sale on January 16, concluding on January 18, with a fundraising target of $320,000. Positioned as a VR-PC-Mobile cross-platform space, Sociapol aims to redefine socializing, gaming, and collaboration experiences.

Following closely, Subsquid is gearing up for its ICO starting on January 18 and ending on January 19, with a fundraising goal of $8,830,000. The Subsquid Network introduces an innovative decentralized data lake and query engine, envisioning a neutral and open internet rooted in Web3 principles by providing developers with performant and permissionless access to data.

Lastly, Oxya Origin, set to commence its sale on January 27 with the end date yet to be announced, aspires to build a robust gaming ecosystem. With a fundraising goal of $2,310,000, Oxya Origin focuses on delivering engaging gameplay, immersive graphics, and a sustainable, player-owned economy, aiming to bring Web3 gaming to the mainstream.

Ended ICOs

Aether Games, a game development studio specializing in crypto and NFT games, completed its sale from December 15 to December 28, raising $4,500,000. Aether Games distinguishes itself by creating high-end games within the crypto and NFT realm, all interconnected in the same franchise and metaverse.

NFPrompt, the Prompt Artist Platform in Web3, conducted its ICO from December 20 to December 27, achieving a fundraising total of $60,000,000. NFPrompt enables users to transform their creative ideas into AI-generated NFTs, allowing collectors to buy and sell these unique digital assets along with the original prompt used to generate the image.

Lastly, Manilla Finance concluded its ICO on December 25 after starting on September 01, raising $2,600,000 out of its $4,300,000 fundraising goal. Positioned as a Web 3.0 CeDeFi solution, Manilla Finance seeks to enhance the utility bill payment process using digital currency, contributing to the evolution of decentralized finance solutions.

Hottest Airdrops

Blast

• Go to the Blast website.

• Click "Join Early Access."

• Use invite code "WS7XR" to access.

• Follow on Twitter and Discord, then check airdrop.

• Connect your wallet.

• Transfer ETH or tokens to Blast L2 in the Bridge section.

• Need ETH or tokens from Binance.

• Earn 4% interest for ETH, 5% for stablecoins.

• Bridged tokens withdrawable in February.

• Get one spin per deposited ETH per week.

• Spins unlock airdrop points.

• After bridging, receive referral codes.

• More bridges from friends = more spins.

• Airdrop points convert to Blast tokens in May.

• For airdrop details, visit this page.

Parcl

• Visit Parcl website.

• Connect Solana wallet, complete onboarding.

• Use code "airdropsio" for a 5% points boost in referrals.

• Provide liquidity in "Liquidity" section, needing USDC from Binance.

• Create a trading account, deposit USDC for trading.

• Make long or short trades in markets.

• Earn 1 point/day per 1 USDC, 3 points/day per 1 USDC for LP deposits.

• HOA NFT holders get bonus points.

• Refer others, earn 10% of their points.

• Check this article for detailed point info.

• Points may lead to a future airdrop upon launching your own token.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,
Crypto Recorder Team

P.S Got a question, suggestion or general feedback? Feel free to reply to this email. I'll get back to you asap!