Bitcoin And Other Top Cryptocurrencies Are Trading Sideways, But Solana Is On The Move

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are wrapping the week up strongly, with the total market rising 11.9% in the past seven days. 

However, the rally is starting to slow down. 

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Bitcoin is trading slightly below its recent high of $40,917.55, changing hands at $38,802 as of 9.04 a.m. ET, 2.4% down in the past 24 hours but 20.2% up on the week, according to Coinbase. The cryptocurrency slipped as crypto derivatives exchange Deribit settled over 40,000 expired monthly options contracts worth $1.6 billion.

Ether and other members of the top 10 are also holding relatively steady. Ethereum’s native token is at $2,338, returning 2.05% on the day. BNB, Cardano and XRP are -1.7%, -1,8% and +1.9% respectively.

“The current bitcoin market is at least in a sideways state and unlikely to enter an extreme price fall phase, with a price floor at $37,000,” writes Philip Gradwell, chief economist of blockchain analytics and intelligence firm Chainalysis. Gladwell also notes, whale investors have been increasingly buying in the last week, returning their holdings back to mid-May levels.

Among the top movers of the day is Solana, posting 7.5% 24-hour gains. Recently the ecosystem has seen multiple positive developments. Yesterday, Solana-based stablecoin exchange Saber raised $7.7 million from high-profile investors including billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital, Jump Capital and the Solana Foundation, and last month, the blockchain’s developer, Solana Labs, raised $314.15 million in a private token sale round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Polychain Capital.

In the broader market, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is preparing to wind down futures and derivatives products across Europe, starting with Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, according to the company’s statement issued on Friday. With immediate effect, users from these countries will not be able to open new accounts for these products, while existing accounts will have to be closed by a to-be-determined date. Prompted by regulatory pressure, Binance announced plans to suspend crypto margin trading involving sterling, the euro and Australian dollar earlier this week. The exchange is also in the process of limiting the leverage on its platform from 100x to 20x. 

Meanwhile, Binance.US led by Brian Brooks, former head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), is taking concerted steps to stake independence from its embattled namesake.

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