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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies recorded slight gains over the weekend, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency hovering just below US$31,000 for now.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at US$30,947.53 (+3.68%) while Ethereum (ETH) is trading at US$1,865.22 (+4.11%). Major altcoins such as Solana and Avalanche have also been trading in green over the past 24 hours.
Crypto job cuts
Signs of a looming crypto winter are making their way through the industry, with Coinbase extending its hiring freeze, as well as rescinding several job offers already accepted by prospective workers, citing “current market conditions and ongoing business prioritisation efforts”.
The US crypto exchange has lost more than 70% of its value this year, as the selloff in cryptocurrencies and an uncertain economic landscape has sapped risk appetites and spurred a decline in users and revenue.
Read more: Coinbase Had a Bigger Market Cap Than USDT – Now it’s Smaller Than Binance USD
Other crypto firms are also feeling the pinch, with Winklevoss-led crypto exchange Gemini announcing job cuts of about 10% of its workforce. Crypto exchange BitMEX previously laid off 75 workers after plans to acquire one of Germany’s oldest banks, Bankhaus von der Heydt, fell through.
NFT marketplace competition
According to data from Dune, the transaction volume of OpenSea based on Ethereum in May was US$2.596 billion, a decrease of about 25% from April, while the number of monthly active users stood at 422,300, an 11% decrease from April.
The fall comes at a time of increasing competition among NFT marketplaces and criticism towards OpenSea for wash trading and fake NFTs and collections on the platform.
Read more: OpenSea Realizes Community is Key
While OpenSea is the current market leader, there is stiff competition from rivals such as community-driven marketplace LooksRare, as well as Singapore-based Mintable, which is backed by billionaire Mark Cuban. Cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance, Crypto.com and Coinbase have either launched or are launching NFT marketplaces of their own.
Trading Volume
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the global crypto market cap stands at US$1.27 trillion, a 3.39% increase since yesterday. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is US$51.28B, a 18.17% increase.
Fear & Greed Index
Risk appetites remain sapped – the Crypto Fear and Greed Index currently stands at 13, indicating extreme fear. The index uses 5-6 measurements to assess the current sentiment of the market and then rates that level of emotion on a scale of 1-100 – 1 is extreme fear and 100 is extreme greed.
Read more: Crypto Winter is a Perfect Time to Recalibrate Portfolios, Says Julian Hosp
The index has stayed at this level for numerous weeks now, and it seems like it will remain at this level for some time to come.
