Every week, Amdax summarizes what's happening in the crypto market for you. Want to learn more? Click through for further insights. 

This newsletter is a co-production with our partner Bitcoin Alpha.

Market Update 

Stay informed in three steps:

• Rising tensions between Iran and Israel trigger price drop
  Geopolitical tensions are noticeable in the crypto market. Bitcoin dropped almost 10% from its peak of $66,500 on Friday to around $60,000 by Tuesday morning. The sharp price drop forced investors to close their open positions. In total, $450 million worth of open futures positions were liquidated, marking the largest wave of liquidations since the price drop in early August.
• Increasing liquidity in the global money market
  Central banks are expanding the money supply, making it cheaper to access capital. An increase in liquidity means more money available for investment. However, this doesn't necessarily translate into more money flowing into the crypto market. Extra liquidity could also lead to inflation or flow into other markets.
• Chinese central bank supports the local economy with billions in capital
  This is the largest stimulus from the Chinese government since the pandemic. China has been struggling with a sluggish economy for some time. In response, both the government and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) have intervened significantly with various measures.

News Overview

Signal out of the noise:

• Ethereum is on the rise
  More and more major financial institutions and fintech companies are building various projects on the network. Big names include Visa, Guggenheim and PayPal. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean they view Ethereum as the network for projects related to digital assets and tokenization. Visa and PayPal are known to also build on other networks like Solana and Stellar.
• Robinhood is considering its own stablecoin
  Although no direct plans have been announced, according to Bloomberg , Robinhood may follow in the footsteps of fintech companies like PayPal and Revolut that are already working more concretely with stablecoins. Robinhood already supports various cryptocurrencies, including USDC.
• Base reaches a Total Value Locked (TVL) of $2 billion for the first time
  Never before has such a high amount been locked on Coinbase’s layer 2 network. This month alone, the value locked by users on the network increased by 40%. This growth is driven by Aerodrome, a decentralized exchange where users have deposited over $1 billion.
• Binance founder is released, Caroline Ellison sentenced to prison
  Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, was released from U.S. custody after serving four months for failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations at Binance. Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda, was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the downfall of FTX. Thanks to her cooperation with the government, she received a significantly reduced sentence.

Amdax's Take

Geopolitical tensions are causing unrest among investors. Falling prices and liquidations of futures positions are increasing selling pressure within the crypto market. We saw a similar situation in April this year with tensions between Iran and Israel. After a rapid price drop, the market recovered in the following weeks. If the situation doesn't escalate further, we might see a similar scenario. Additionally, the fact that major financial institutions and fintech companies are experimenting on various public blockchains is a positive sign for the adoption of the technology.