Trakx Weekly Update: August 7, 2023

Key Crypto Market Figures



CTIs Weekly Performance

It was another lacklustre week for crypto prices, with the Trakx Crypto Top 10 CTI down 4% over the period. As a result of the lack of price movement, Bitcoin volatility has dropped to near record lows, and unusually, is below that seen in US large cap stocks and gold. Among the Trakx family of CTIs, the best performer was the CEX CTI, up 1% over the past week, while the weakest performer was the Lending CTI – a strong performer in the previous week - which gave up 7% w/w.

Weighing on the performance of the Crypto Top 10 CTI were 12% declines in the value of XRP and Litecoin. While XRP surged more than 35% after last month’s partial victory against the SEC lawsuit, optimism has recently started to fade as investors reassess the outlook. Worries that regulatory clarity surrounding Ripple may not be forthcoming for some considerable time have resurfaced in light of the news about the SEC and Coinbase (see below) and this appears to have triggered profit-taking by some XRP whales.

Meanwhile, Litecoin, one of the earliest altcoins, suffered after the protocol implemented its third halving event last week. Like Bitcoin, Litecoin halvings occur every four years, however, unlike Bitcoin, Litecoin displays markedly different price dynamics around these events. Historical precedent shows Bitcoin tends to rally after halving events, whereas Litecoin rallies in anticipation of the halving but subsequently suffers as selling pressure emerges. Recent price action suggests last week’s Litecoin halving event was no exception to this established pattern.

Finally, helping to push the CEX CTI into positive territory was a 5% gain in OKB. The gain appears to reflect the community’s positive response to the unveiling of a revamped Smart Account feature on the trading platform, which offers improved UX and the ability to pay gas fees with stablecoins.

Sources: Trakx, Coingecko, Alphavantage

Market Trends



• Bitcoin Turns Less Volatile Than S&P 500, Tech Stocks and Gold: Bloomberg.
• Litecoin Plunges 6% to Fresh Monthly Lows on Halving Day: Coindesk.
• SEC Told Coinbase to Stop Trading in All Cryptos Except Bitcoin Before Suing: FT: Coindesk.
• What next as SEC lawsuit sends HEX price plummeting by over 30%: Ambcrypto.
• Tether Excess Reserves Shatter $3,000,000,000 As Stablecoin Issuer Uses Profits To Back USDT: DailyHodl.

Trakx News

Ryan Shea published the August crypto monthly update Crypto’s Vol Compression.

Trakx CTIs Performance

Sources: Coingecko and AlphaVantage

*Return of bitcoin is calculated since 01/05/2020, while CTIs performances were calculated since their respective launch date.
**Includes simulated performance.
***The risk signal is determined according to the historical volatility level, the higher the riskier.