Wall Street will sit on the sidelines next week Main Street divided on gold’s price prospects

Wall Street will sit on the sidelines next week, Main Street divided on gold’s price prospects

Slow and steady continued to be the name of the game in the gold market this week, as the yellow metal once again traded in a narrow channel between $2,300 and $2,340 per ounce.

After opening the week at $2321.87, spot gold spent Sunday night through early Tuesday morning flirting with the high 2,330s, but the bulls’ advances were rebuffed, and after holding in the $2,320 area for the rest of the day, the bears finally took control during the overnight session. North American markets then woke up to slap spot gold down to its weekly low of $2,295.23 by 9:30 am EDT on Wednesday morning.

The spot price then saw multiple tests of the psychologically important $2,300 level before finally breaking back to the upside during Thursday's overnight trading, when it once again tested $2,330.

Friday morning brought a spike to the weekly high of $2,339.78 per ounce just before the U.S. market open, after which it pulled back and chopped sideways in the mid-2320s for the remainder of the North American session.

The latest Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey shows most industry experts planning to sit on the sidelines next week, while retail sentiment is divided on gold’s near-term prospects.

Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, is bearish on the yellow metal as the price has moved below its 50-day moving average.

“Gold, and the markets along with it, may be at the intersection of weak economic data (slowing growth and weak inflation) and a less dovish Fed,” Kuptsikevich said. “This is the worst combination for risk demand and could trigger a broad sell-off, including in gold.”

Marc Chandler, Managing Director at Bannockburn Global Forex, thinks after this week’s solid performance, gold is in a position to make gains next week.

“Gold recovered from the dip below $2300 Wed-Thurs last week to recover back toward $2340 at the end of the week,” he wrote. “It recouped the previous week’s losses in full.”

Chandler said the move was sufficient to extend gold’s rally for a fifth consecutive month. “It has fallen only in one month since the end of Q3 23 (and that was in January).”

Now, he believes gold is poised to recover further in the coming days. “A move above $2350-60 lifts the tone and could signal a return toward $2400,” he said. “Two macro developments that could help gold are the results of the first round of the French election that make a hung parliament more likely and a disappointingly weak US jobs report at the end of next week.”

“Up,” said James Stanley, senior market strategist at Forex.com. “I think that it’s still bulls to lose, at this point. The monthly candles are looking more and more like they want a pullback and prior resistance at $2,075 for spot Gold seems a logical place to look for that to run towards. But, with that said, bulls have continued to defend $2,300 and until that changes, I’m going to favor with a topside bias.”

Kevin Grady, president of Phoenix Futures and Options, said the coming week will likely see thin markets, but that also means the risk of greater volatility.

“A lot of people right now are taking off, it’s started already, and they're going to be down for the week, big vacation week,” he said. “I think you're going to see a lot of people that are flat.”

“The issue with that is I think that's going to cause volatility because what's going to happen is the things that are going to be trading and moving the market are the algorithms reading the headlines,” he said. “I do think there's some volatility depending on how the numbers shape out. Having a holiday week with a lot of data coming out, it's going to be interesting. You're going to have a lot of junior traders on the desks, a lot of guys that are not the main guys. No one's going to really be taking risks. I think it's going to be a pretty quiet week.”

Grady acknowledged that in this kind of environment, geopolitical developments like an escalation in Ukraine or the Middle East can disrupt the market very quickly.

“I think that's why you're going to see a lot of people, I think, flattening out,” he said. “If you're going to be off the desk, you're going to lighten up that position. You don't want to be sitting on a beach and reading news about it and your position is blowing up. It's not the place you want to be. I think a lot of people are not going to be trading as much next week, but again, the algos are going to move that market.”

Grady said he doesn’t even expect many traders to be focused even on Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report. “And even the people that are around on Friday, when London shuts down, say 11:30 [am EDT] or so, I think the market's going to just die. Everyone's going to be getting out of there early.”

This week, 12 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey, and the consensus for next week was that discretion is the better part of valor. Four experts, representing 33%, expect to see gold prices climb higher next week, while two analysts, or 17%, predict a price decline. The remaining six experts, exactly 50% of the total, didn’t want to trust gold’s direction during the coming week.

Meanwhile, 178 votes were cast in Kitco’s online poll, with Main Street investors as divided on gold’s near-term prospects this week as their Wall Street counterparts were last week. 86 retail traders, or 48%, look for gold prices to rise next week. Another 50, or 28%, expected the yellow metal to slide lower, while 42 respondents, representing the remaining 24%, saw prices continuing to chop sideways during the week ahead.

U.S. Independence Day will make next week an unusual one for economic data, with the important releases compressed on either side of the holiday. On Monday, markets will receive the ISM Manufacturing PMI, followed by the Tuesday release of Eurozone CPI flash estimates and JOLTS Job Openings. ECB President Christine Lagarde and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will also be speaking at a central bank conference in Portugal.

Then on Wednesday, markets will be watching for ADP Employment, Weekly Jobless Claims, and the ISM Services PMI, along with the minutes from the June FOMC meeting.

After the July 4th holiday on Thursday, U.S. traders will wake up to the June Nonfarm Payrolls Report on Friday morning.

Darin Newsom, Senior Market Analyst at Barchart.com, is still optimistic about gold prices for the coming week.

“I’ll stick with up again this week as the August issue still looks to have room to extend its short-term uptrend,” he said. “Early Friday morning saw August take out its previous 4-day high of $2,349.70, with the next short-term upside target at $2,370.40. We need to keep in mind the contract’s intermediate-term trend remains down, with what looks to be a triple bottom made up of $2,304.20 (week of June 3), $2,304.50 (week of June 10), and $2,304.70 (this week).”

“The old adage, or maybe just because I’m old and remember it, is ‘Triples are taken out,’ Newsom warned.

Everett Millman, Chief Market Analyst at Gainesville Coins, said he expects gold to remain trapped in its recent holding pattern until something rocks the broader market.

“A lot of people right now are looking at gold as an inverse to risk assets in the stock market, even though that is not a perfect direct one-to-one line,” he said. “I think right now that's the biggest driver, especially when people conflate the performance of the stock market, and particularly what we're seeing now, just the very top of it, very bad breadth in the start stock market right now, as far as gainers to decliners. It's not a perfect foundation right now, but we still remain pretty close to all-time highs and until we get a really big breakdown in stocks, which I think is inevitable at some point, I think gold is going to hang out.”

Millman said gold would be It would be much lower if there weren't underlying concerns about the broader markets are shaky, “but so long as those magnificent seven hold up, we can point to the headline, we can point to the indices and say ‘oh, U.S. stocks are still in a bull market. Increasingly, I think that's one of the main things that has kept gold in place is that we haven't seen a big decline or correction in the stock market, at least not a sustained one.”

“But at the same time, it's not all roses out there, right?” he added. “I think even people who are still bulls who see stocks moving higher throughout the rest of the year, at least until the election, a lot of them will at least acknowledge that beneath the surface or beneath the hood, there are some challenges and concerns for equity markets right now.”

“Given those two factors, I think it makes sense that gold is ebbing back and forth,” Millman said. It doesn't want to completely sell off because it's not as if we're seeing fresh all-time highs [in equities] day after day, but we're not far from them. Until the stock market moves really wildly one way or the other, I would not at all be surprised if gold just continues to consolidate and hang out in the range it's been stuck in.”

Millman also sees next week’s odd shape, with most significant data coming out on Wednesday, followed by the July 4th holiday, then markets reopening for the release of the employment report early Friday morning, as a risky scenario for traders and investors.

“It's definitely worth taking note of,” he said. “Given that trading volumes might be lower, it wouldn't take as much to push gold. But of course, that would very likely be a temporary move, something that we could see evaporate or correct back in the other direction quickly, given that it's not based on as much of the economic fundamentals.”

Millman said that in the medium term, the market will continue to digest the implications of contradictory inflation data from around the world.

“We got this fairly inline PCE report, and the, CPI numbers in Canada and maybe the UK where inflation is actually rising and moving the wrong direction when they're already moving to start cutting rates,” he said. “I think that dynamic, that differential between improving U. S. inflation and perhaps worsening inflation or backsliding inflation in the rest of the Western world, that divergence is something that's going to have to be considered. I don't think that's baked in completely yet. I think they're still waiting to see if maybe there's just a lag where the US data catches up.”

“That's what I think is being digested right now,” he said. “We're just going to need more data. We're going to have to be like the Fed and be data-dependent.”

Phillip Streible, Head of Market Strategy at Blue Line Futures, is bullish on gold, but he said that now is not the time to enter. “If you don't have a position, don't chase the market at these levels,” Streible said.

And Christopher Vecchio, head of futures strategies and forex at Tastylive.com, is neutral on gold for the coming week. “If you are long gold, there is no reason to sell as prices remain above $2,200 per ounce,” he said.

Spot gold last traded at $2326.72 at the time of writing for a loss of 0.05% on the day, but a gain of 0.21% on the week.

Kitco Media

Ernest Hoffman

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Gold market is building a staircase to 2400 and beyond – Joy Yang of MarketVector Indexes

Gold market is building a staircase to $2,400 and beyond – Joy Yang of MarketVector Indexes


 

Although the gold market has managed to hold its ground above $2,300 an ounce, it remains trapped below $2,350 an ounce. Although the market is looking a little directionless, one market strategist says it is well-valued with limited downside.

In a recent interview with Kitco News, Joy Yang, Head of Index Product Management & Marketing at MarketVector Indexes, said she expects gold prices to move higher in a stair-step fashion as the price action builds a new base after every rally.

She noted that at the start of the year, gold built a solid floor at $2,000 an ounce, and now nearly seven months later, that floor has moved up by $200.

“Gold is definitely in a new comfortable range, and I just don’t see it going below $2,200 again,” she said. “In another couple of months, I expect we could see that floor move up to $2,400. I just don’t see the risks and factors driving gold really going anywhere in the next few years.”

Gold has been a boring trade, consolidating in a fairly narrow range after hitting a record high above $2,450 an ounce last month; however, Yang said that investors shouldn’t be investing in gold because it's an exciting momentum trade. She added that it’s not gold’s role to compete with stocks like NVIDIA or volatile meme stocks.

“Investors who buy and hold gold are more macro-focused,” she noted, emphasizing that gold serves as a long-term store of value amidst market frothiness.

Yang said that generalist investors interested in adding some gold to their portfolio should look at who is already buying the precious metal to help them manage their expectations. For more than two years, the biggest gold buyers have been global central banks.

“Like if you look at why central banks are holding gold, it's really to hedge their position, to diversify their portfolio,” she said.

Yang added that she doesn’t expect central banks will stop buying gold as they continue to move away from the U.S. dollar due to the size and trajectory of the government’s debt. She explained that the higher the debt goes, the more difficult it becomes for other nations to carry that burden.

She also said that as the November 2024 U.S. election approaches, it is clear that neither major political party has a plan for addressing the burgeoning debt. The Democratic Party wants to keep spending to support social programs, while Republicans want to drastically slash taxes.

“In the end, it’s all the same. We have this enormous U.S. dollar debt out there people will have to reprice,” she said. “Somebody still has to buy all this debt. But I think the rest of the world is trying to make sure they're not as dependent on the U.S. dollar. For them, gold offers another opportunity to hold an asset that is still a pretty significant store of value for them,” she said.

Although central banks have been the dominant force in the gold market, Yang said that she expects that Western investors will eventually have their turn.

She said that she expects gold’s next rally to come after the Federal Reserve makes it clear that it will lower interest rates. Currently, markets are pricing in a more than 60% chance that the U.S. central bank will start its easing cycle in September.

Kitco Media

Neils Christensen

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Cryptos and gold see losses in volatile day of trading as investors await Friday’s PCE data

Cryptos and gold see losses in volatile day of trading as investors await Friday’s PCE data

It was a volatile day of trading across financial markets on Wednesday as asset prices trended higher during the morning session but came under pressure in the afternoon as investors focused their attention on Friday’s key Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) release.

The downward pressure across diverse assets from cryptos to stocks and gold comes as this week has been peppered with comments from Federal Reserve speakers who stressed their caution in deciding to make interest-rate cuts dependent on the data.

“Wall Street's focus [is in the process of shifting] to new inflation data with the release of May’s personal consumption expenditures price index on Friday,” said analysts at Secure Digital Markets. “The Federal Reserve closely monitors this preferred inflation gauge, and investors are hopeful that a continued moderation in price increases might prompt the central bank to lower interest rates later this year.”

It remains to be seen whether the PCE will show improvement on the inflation front or if it will come in hotter-than-expected, and judging by Wednesday’s price action in the markets, investors are uncertain as to how it will all play out.

At the close of markets, the S&P and Nasdaq squeezed out positive gains of 0.16% and 0.49%, while the Dow finished flat.

Data provided by Trading View shows that Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to a high of $62,487 during the morning trading session, but fell back below $61,000 in the afternoon.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $60,730, a decrease of 2.05% on the 24-hour chart.

Waiting for inflows into spot BTC ETFs

While crypto analysts debate the near-term future for Bitcoin’s price, most agree that the decline in flows into spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) corresponds with the weakness and sideways price action seen over the past several months.

“Currently, the market is under pressure,” said Nick Cowan, Group CEO of Valereum PLC, in a note to Kitco Crypto. “The first high of 64,899 was in April 2021, after which we saw a halving in the BTC price down to 30,000 in the next month.”

“The price pushed back up to its previous highs, breaking it in October 2021, and then reaching a new high in November 2021 at 69,000,” he added. “But the buyers could not sustain the advance and the price rolled over, falling to below 16,000 a year later (November 2022). The price of BTC then slowly gained momentum climbing to 31,000 before breaking out in October 2023. Since then, we have seen a huge bull market with the price rallying over 100%, accelerating in Q1 2024 with the approval of the BTC ETFs by the SEC.”

Cowan noted that Bitcoin’s “price has stalled once again. It managed to break its previous high of 69,000 in March 2024, rising to a high of almost 74,000, but the big jump in volume signaled distribution and possible climactic action, confirmed by the price action in the following weeks – i.e. a drop in volume and prices moving sideways to down (to a low of 56,500 at the end of April 2024).”

“BTC is now in a downward trend and looks vulnerable because buying has stalled and, at the time of writing, is trading below its April 2021 levels (its original high),” he said. “To move ahead from here, BTC must absorb the selling pressure, consolidate its position, and then demonstrate a solid breakout above 74,000 in order to reach new highs.”

“Until then, it’s likely that investors will proceed with caution — ironically, retail investors tend to buy when price action is bullish rather than during weaker periods,” Cowan noted. “If we see positive price action, we can expect subscriptions to go up, resulting in buying demand for BTC.”

“If you look at the periods Feb and March, you can see a huge explosion in volume coupled with explosive upwards price action,” Cowan added.

“This signals climactic action – often a sign that the big holders have distributed their holdings – and it is entirely expected that these types of moves result in: 1) Prices often moving higher but on much lighter volumes, as the retail investors and their FOMO puff prices a little higher — the challenge is always what power the retail guys have to sustain the price levels once the FOMO dies down; and 2) The price then tending to move sideways, entering a range which is essentially what has happened for the last 3 months ($60,000 to $70,000),” Cowan said.

“BTC is currently at the bottom of its range so support would be expected to halt further falls if the range is to be maintained,” he concluded.

Macro trader and economist Alex Krüger is confident that support will hold and sees Bitcoin and the broader crypto market rallying higher in the second half of 2024.

“My outlook for Bitcoin remains very bullish into year-end,” Krüger said in an interview with Arca chief investment officer Jeff Dorman. “And if that happens… it just makes sense that it carries everything with it. Like when Bitcoin is going up usually everything goes up. It is that simple.”

“[Over the] mid-term like into 2025 the market should keep on rallying,” Krüger added. “Market, in this case, is the S&P 500 index, the NASDAQ, risk assets, equities, and the exchange-traded funds (ETFs), they finally linked Bitcoin and Ethereum to the macro side on a permanent basis now. This correlation comes back and forth. It’s definitely there.”

Krüger said he sees the current environment as one “where risk assets perform very well,” and his “macro view towards year-end is that leaving aside the [US general] elections that are very momentous and should drive very significant volatility, which I think would give very good entry points for risk assets.”

Altcoins fall into the red amid Bitcoin's weakness

The majority of altcoins in the top 200 fell into the red as Bitcoin trended lower in the afternoon, with only a handful of tokens managing to post gains on the day.

WEMIX (WEMIX) was the top performer, increasing by 28.5%, followed by gains of 11.2% and 9.3% respectively for Fetch.ai (FET) and Blast (BLAST). Blur (BLUR) was the biggest loser, falling 15.4%, while Arweave (AR) lost 11.2%, and Curve DAO Token fell 9.7%.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.25 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 53.2%.

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Spot Ether ETFs Are A Week Away From Launch

VanEck’s Key Filing Signals Spot Ether ETFs Are A Week Away From Launch

By Brenda Ngari – June 26, 2024

A Form 8-A filing from global investment manager VanEck suggests that the spot Ethereum-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are close to becoming available to investors in the U.S.

Previously, asset managers vying for spot Bitcoin ETFs submitted Form 8-As about a week before those investment vehicles started listing and trading after securing approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

VanEck Preps For Imminent Ethereum ETF Live Trading

On June 25, VanEck filed an 8-A form for its VanEck Ethereum Trust — the requisite paperwork for companies to issue certain types of securities on national exchanges.

Although usually an uneventful phase of the registration process, the updated filing has caused senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas to speculate that spot Ether ETFs could be available for trading as soon as July 2 (seven days from now). Balchunas explains that his projection was supported by VanEck filing its 8-A form for its spot Bitcoin ETF exactly seven days before the fund went live on January 11.

Today’s situation slightly varies from January, nonetheless, when there was still uncertainty over whether the Bitcoin ETFs would actually be greenlighted. The SEC has already approved 19b-4 forms for eight Ether ETFs, and the securities regulator is now reviewing the would-be spot ether ETF issuers’s S-1 registration statements.

That officially makes ETH funds a matter of “when” not “if,” with SEC chair Gary Gensler stating on Tuesday during a Bloomberg Invest Summit in New York that the process of launching these products is “going smoothly”.

“It’s smoothly functioning — it’s really up to the asset managers to make the proper disclosures,” Gensler continued.

The Market Awaits

Bloomberg’s Balchunas previously suggested that the approval of the Ether ETFs in May was rather surprising and likely driven by political pressures from the current Joe Biden administration.

Gensler previously indicated that listing Ether ETFs on stock exchanges could take months, and the funds will likely be fully approved by the end of this summer.

Meanwhile, broker Bernstein said in a June 24 research report that the omission of the staking feature in the spot Ether ETFs will dampen strong institutional demand for the ETH vehicles.

However, in a detailed report early this month, VanEck predicted that ETH will hit $22,000 per coin by 2030, as it expects spot ETH ETFs to be larger than their Bitcoin peers.

DISCLAIMER The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Brenda Ngari and posted on Zycrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

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Tim Moseley

Gold price sidelined as silver drops sharply unable to hold 50-day moving average

Gold price sidelined as silver drops sharply, unable to hold 50-day moving average

Gold price sidelined as silver drops sharply, unable to hold 50-day moving average teaser image

While gold prices have meandered listlessly through the day, it’s silver that has suffered, with the metal falling sharply below its 50-day moving average, a critical support level analysts have been watching.

Gold continues to trade within a tightening range between $2,300 and $2,350 an ounce. August gold futures last traded near session lows at $2,331.10 an ounce, down 0.57% on the day.

However, silver has significantly underperformed its sister metal. July silver futures last traded at $28.915 an ounce, down 2% on the day. The selling pressure picked up momentum when the metal was unable to hold support at the 50-day moving average of $29.925 an ounce.

Gold has actually outperformed silver in the last three sessions pushing the gold/silver ratio back above 80 points, near its highest level since mid-May.

According to some analysts, silver is more sensitive to U.S. dollar moves, which has recovered from Monday’s selloff. The U.S. dollar index last traded at 105.62, up 0.10% on the day.

The U.S. dollar continues to be driven by the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy as expectations ebb and flow around when the central bank will cut interest rates. Commodity analysts have pointed out that gold has been able to weather this volatility a little better because it is seen as a stronger safe-haven asset than silver.

Although a rate cut would benefit silver, if the U.S. central bank is forced to cut rates because the U.S. economy is slowing, that could weigh on the precious metal’s industrial demand.

Analysts have said that critical support to watch in the silver market comes around $28.60 and $28.70.

Akhtar Faruqui, a market analyst at FXStreet.com, said in a note Tuesday that silver’s technical picture is turning negative.

“The momentum indicator Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) suggests a bearish bias for silver,” he said. "This configuration indicates that the overall trend might still be positive as the MACD line is above the centerline. However, the momentum is weakening as the MACD line is below the signal line.”

Faruqui added that in the current environment, he could see silver prices falling to $28.00, with the potential to test support at $27.76 an ounce.

Although gold and silver continue to struggle in the near term as investors focus on interest rates, many analysts continue to see lower prices as a tactical opportunity to gain exposure, as both precious metals remain in a solid uptrend.

While gold has the upper hand on silver as a monetary metal, analysts have noted that the grey metal continues to benefit from the green energy transition as solar power demand drives industrial consumption.

At the same time, silver’s industrial demand also makes it a more attractive inflation hedge compared to gold.

Looking ahead, analysts expect gold and silver to remain fairly range-bound ahead of Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.

Kitco Media

Neils Christensen

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

2024 Updates On Solana Network SOL Price Potential and The Markethive Community Wins

2024 Updates On Solana Network, SOL Price Potential, and The Markethive Community Wins

With Bitcoin's record-breaking surge, the crypto community is abuzz with anticipation for the next altcoin to make a significant leap. And all signs are pointing to SOL. Solana has shown remarkable resilience recently and is on the cusp of achieving significant milestones that could trigger a substantial price surge. This growth potential is an exciting prospect for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors.

SOL, a native cryptocurrency of the Solana blockchain, holds immense potential. It covers costs on the Solana network through burning and can be deposited as a stake to operate a blockchain node. SOL tokens are not just for trading and peer-to-peer transactions but also as rewards for staking SOL. Since its introduction to the market in March 2020, it has gained significant popularity, being recognized as one of the top ten cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap. With a market capitalization of $61.9 billion and 618,596 SOL tokens in circulation, SOL is poised for a promising future.

As valued members of the Markethive community, we've been at the forefront of Solana's journey, given that our own Hivecoin operates on the Solana blockchain. This previous article from 2022 provides an overview of Solana, highlighting its blockchain's suitability for supporting Markethive's decentralized ecosystem. In this update, I will discuss Solana's recent developments, explore SOL's potential growth, and identify the key factors that could drive its value higher, emphasizing Solana’s crucial role in the Markethive community in this exciting journey.

Solana Has Been Making Waves

Solana, a layer-1 protocol in the blockchain arena, stands out with its exceptional transaction velocity and affordability. It can handle an impressive 50,000 to 65,000 transactions per second, far surpassing Ethereum's current processing power of around 30 transactions per second. This cutting-edge platform deploys smart contracts and decentralized applications, leveraging a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism that ensures ease of access and timestamped transactions to optimize performance.

This article highlights Solana's eight core features, including its groundbreaking Sealevel technology. This innovative feature allows concurrent execution of multiple smart contract runtimes on a single chain, thereby significantly boosting the network's ability to handle multiple transactions simultaneously.

Since its establishment in 2017, Solana has experienced significant growth and development, forging connections with major technology corporations like Google, Visa, and Amazon. These alliances are crucial benchmarks for blockchain initiatives, as they validate the project's credibility, demonstrating real-world adoption, practical use cases, and technological progress.

Solana has forged alliances with a diverse range of notable entities, including Chainlink, a decentralized data provider on Ethereum, and two leading stablecoin issuers: Tether, which has integrated its USDT token into Solana's network, and Circle, whose USDC stablecoin is a critical player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. 

Moreover, Solana has partnered with Asics, a renowned sportswear brand, and Membrane Finance, a Finnish fintech company that has introduced the first Euro-backed stablecoin on the Solana platform. Notably, Solana's collaboration with e-commerce giant Shopify has opened the door for customers to make purchases using USDC, further expanding the utility of the Solana ecosystem.

In May 2023, Solana unveiled the Saga, a cutting-edge Android smartphone boasting robust blockchain capabilities. This innovative device is now accessible to consumers in various countries, including the UK, EU member states, Canada, the US, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Australia.

Concurrently, Solana revealed its collaboration with ChatGPT, a cutting-edge technology born out of Solana Labs. According to Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder and CEO, "AI will make Solana more usable and understandable." The open-source ChatGPT plugin seamlessly merged with Solana's ecosystem, initially facilitating various operations, including NFT acquisitions, token transfers, finding NFT collections, reviewing transactions, and interpreting public account data.

The frenzy surrounding meme coins on Solana kicked off in December 2023 with the debut of the BONK token. The subsequent distribution of BONK to owners of Solana's Saga smartphone led to the device selling out, and it appears to have had a ripple effect, causing Solana's future phone releases to sell out as well. Amidst the chaos of meme coin excitement, Solana made two significant announcements that flew under the radar.

One notable development was Circle's decision to launch its euro-pegged stablecoin natively on the Solana blockchain. It's worth mentioning that Solana was previously designated as the preferred blockchain for Circle's USDC, although it's unclear if this is still the case. Combined with the recent approval from New York regulators for Paxos to issue its assets on Solana, institutional investors increasingly view Solana as a viable alternative to Ethereum.


Source: X

Could a Solana Spot ETF Be the Next Big Thing?

Following the debut of Bitcoin spot ETFs in January, there has been mounting anticipation about the potential for a similar investment product dedicated to Solana. This buzz seems to have originated from statements made by Franklin Templeton, a prominent asset management firm, which emphasized Solana's notable advantages on the social media platform X.

Despite expectations, Bloomberg's ETF analyst James Seyffart casts doubt on the imminent arrival of a Solana ETF, citing the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) ongoing scrutiny. The SEC's classification of SOL as a security in its recent lawsuits against major exchanges Binance and Coinbase may be a significant hurdle. 

Nevertheless, Solana may still have a chance to secure its own ETF in the future. This prospect appears to hinge on whether SOL is listed on the prestigious Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), following in the footsteps of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Industry insiders believe that SOL and other prominent cryptocurrencies like ADA and DOT will eventually be listed on the CME, particularly since the exchange began providing pricing data for these assets in 2022.

Beyond the excitement surrounding ETF speculation, Solana garnered attention in January by introducing Token Extensions, a new development designed to facilitate widespread adoption among institutional investors. Essentially, these extensions represent fresh token standards on the Solana platform, boasting integrated compliance and privacy safeguards to meet the specific needs of institutional users.

Obstacles Facing Solana

Despite the positive developments, Solana's progress was hindered by a significant setback in early February when the network suffered unexpected downtime. This marked the first such incident in nearly 12 months. However, it's important to note that Solana's team swiftly addressed the issue, demonstrating their commitment to maintaining the network's stability. A thorough investigation subsequently identified the outage's root cause as a known bug previously flagged by developers, reassuring us of Solana's ability to overcome challenges and continue its upward trajectory.

Institutional investors prioritize consistency and stability above all else, so Solana's downtime may have affected their trust in the project. Nevertheless, this setback did not prevent Abu Dhabi from collaborating with Solana to develop blockchain solutions. Moreover, it did not deter Sam Bankman-Fried, the embattled founder of FTX, from promoting SOL to his prison authorities.

In addition, Binance revealed in March 2024 that it had put a temporary hold on withdrawals due to overwhelming network activity on the Solana blockchain. Around the same time, Coinbase users may recall similar notifications. Clearly, the Solana network became overwhelmed due to the surging popularity of memecoins, which reached a fever pitch and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in presale revenue on the platform.

Several people drew parallels between these pre-sales and the excitement surrounding Ethereum's initial coin offering (ICO) during the bullish market 2017. Yet, the underlying technical causes of the problems caused by this congestion may be obscure. A deeper understanding reveals that the congestion problems primarily stemmed from the Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) mechanism provided by Solana clients, particularly Jito, which ceased its mempool functionality in March 2024.

To clarify for those who may not know, MEV gives validators the ability to reorder transactions in a way that boosts their earnings. As a result, some transactions may not be processed successfully, leading to exchange problems.

Furthermore, transactions are temporarily stored in mempools before being included in the blockchain. While Solana's fundamental structure does not include a mempool, Jito's block engine, which aims to maximize extractable value (MEV), does have one. As a result, numerous expensive front-running attacks have been carried out on cryptocurrency traders, including sandwich attacks.

In the end, the Jito Labs team sees negative MEV, including sandwich attacks, as a hindrance to the Solana ecosystem, which is why they have decided to suspend it. Nonetheless, they are committed to providing an additional revenue stream for validators and stakers while striving to make Solana the top choice for all users in terms of performance.

On a positive note, Jito's bundle and block processing systems remain functional, and the rewards for maximizing extractor value (MEV) have not experienced a significant decline. Moreover, the attractive economic benefits will likely motivate teams to develop similar mempool solutions inspired by Jito's model.

It's worth noting that Franklin Templeton remains optimistic about Solana's prospects, as evidenced by a recent research report shared with its clients, which argues that memecoins can successfully drive user growth. This suggests that the recent surge in memecoin popularity may be intentionally orchestrated to achieve this goal. The results support this theory, with Solana reportedly surpassing Ethereum in terms of decentralized exchange trading volume.


Source: X

SOL’s Price Movement 

Solana's price movement has been influenced by its recent updates, announcements, and progress, leading to significant SOL value growth. Analysis of on-chain data indicates that this surge in price may be attributed to the popularity of memecoins, with an increase in user activity and transactions on the Solana network. This trend is further supported by the growing adoption of the Phantom wallet browser extension, which has now surpassed 3 million downloads.

Let's take a step back to appreciate the rapid progress: just six months ago, Phantom had 2 million downloads—this stark contrast highlights Solana's astounding growth rate, which is accelerating at an incredible pace. A closer look at on-chain data reveals a remarkable surge in Solana accounts, with growth rates reminiscent of the crypto market's peak in 2021.

According to DappRadar's statistics, the Raydium DEX on Solana has attracted nearly 1.3 million unique wallets, while the Magic Eden NFT Marketplace has gained 300,000 new wallets. This indicates a resurgence in Solana's NFT environment. Current data shows that Solana NFT transactions have reached a significant milestone of $5 billion in trading volume.


Source: DappRadar

The importance of this lies in the fact that SOL is a necessary prerequisite for purchasing memecoins and NFTs on the Solana platform. As a result, any individual seeking to invest in or speculate on these digital assets must initially acquire SOL, thereby generating a surge in demand. This increased demand has been the primary force driving up the value of SOL over the past few months.

However, that only addresses the demand side of the situation. When considering the supply side of the equation, historical information indicates that the SOL supply has risen by around 20 million in the past six months. Therefore, using an estimated price of $150 per SOL could lead to potential selling pressure amounting to as high as $3 billion.

Despite significant selling pressure, SOL's price came remarkably close to reaching a record high, implying that the demand was exceptionally strong, possibly exceeding $3 billion. Alternatively, the selling pressure may have been overstated. Nevertheless, observing the substantial funds invested in memecoins is quite revealing.

As mentioned in this article, the rise in popularity of memecoins is thought to be caused by the absence of new retail investors entering the market. This situation may have encouraged large-scale investors, known as "whales,"  to target the existing retail investors familiar with decentralized exchanges (DEXs), leading to the hype surrounding memecoins. Despite the underlying reasons, Solana (SOL) displays a strongly optimistic outlook across various time frames.


Source: Messari

Solana’s Actual Road Map For 2024

Solana developed a de facto roadmap for 2024, established by the Solana Foundation in January. This plan includes four key milestones. The first milestone was the introduction of Token Extensions, completed in January. The second milestone involves the rollout of new validator clients, such as Fire Dancer, which is already operational on the testnet. Without delving into complex technical details, validator clients effectively enable validators to engage with the blockchain, enhancing network performance. 

The introduction of the Fire Dancer client is expected to substantially boost Solana's speed, although the exact improvement remains uncertain. Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder of Solana, mentioned in a December 2023 discussion that the Fire Dancer client is anticipated to be launched by the upcoming Breakpoint Conference in September 2024.

Interesting tidbit: With the successful integration of Fire Dancer, Solana will finally shed its beta label. This milestone, combined with the anticipated boost in performance, is expected to have a profoundly positive impact on SOL's value. Many experts believe this could be the spark that propels SOL to surpass the $300 mark in the upcoming weeks.

The next significant benchmark on Solana's defacto roadmap is unspecified institutional support. This milestone marks a crucial step forward, indicating that businesses now have unrestricted access to a comprehensive suite of tools necessary for building on the Solana platform. Furthermore, given Solana's ambition to emulate a decentralized version of the NASDAQ exchange, the integration of tokenized, real-world assets is likely on the horizon.

The following key objective is establishing a “mature building ecosystem,” where Solana’s developers are encouraged to leverage the full range of tools to create innovative products and services on the platform. The authors identify six critical focus areas: developing gaming finance applications, (GameFi) decentralized autonomous organizations, (DAOs)  permission products, infrastructure solutions, payment systems, and interoperability features.

The Solana Foundation recently announced a new milestone in a blog post involving an upcoming upgrade to address Solana's congestion problems. This upgrade began in mid-April and may include potential MEV functionality.

The Governance Forum of Solana has indicated that it plans to develop a new governance framework. An article published in August 2023 mentions that the introduction of this governance structure is expected in the first quarter of 2024. However, it remains to be seen whether it has been finalized at this point.

Closing Thoughts on Solana

Anatoly Yakovenko, the mastermind behind Solana, noted in an interview the importance of considering the potential shift in efficiency between decentralized and centralized exchanges. As decentralized exchanges become more effective, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges will likely transition to utilizing the decentralized blockchain for enhanced efficiency. Solana is determined to be at the forefront of this shift and has a strong possibility of emerging as the go-to blockchain solution.

Solana boasts 29.7 million active accounts and 340 million minted NFTs. With fast block times at 400ms and a low median TX fee of $0.00064, the network is known for its energy efficiency and zero net carbon impact. Despite notable obstacles, the Solana ecosystem has shown impressive resilience and sustained expansion. It has emerged as a leading candidate for managing millions of users on decentralized trading platforms.

Solana is an impressive venture supported by influential figures who believe in the network. The team is both reliable and innovative. Despite being in beta, Solana has demonstrated its capabilities beyond just a polished interface, processing billions of transactions. Additionally, the company started modestly without relying on massive amounts of venture capital, focusing on achieving tangible outcomes. These aspects collectively indicate a focus on delivering results.

Markethive Thrives On The Solana Blockchain

Solana is a perfect fit for the Markethive ecosystem, empowering the Markethive to further its mission of creating a fully decentralized platform for social media, marketing, and broadcasting where users can freely express themselves without fear of censorship. This all-encompassing ecosystem provides a comprehensive suite of tools for social media, marketing, broadcasting, publishing, eCommerce, and business facilitation. Ultimately, this collaboration aims to create an environment where individuals from diverse backgrounds can flourish in a cottage industry economy.

A key long-term goal is to launch the Markethive blockchain and decentralized exchange (DEX). This comprehensive project, designed to operate independently at every level, will resist the oppressive forces affecting societies worldwide. Multiple components of Markethive's ecosystem are being developed in tandem, preparing the way for the millions seeking a safe haven and reclaiming their independence. We have established our sovereign merchant account and successfully activated the Markethive wallet.

To conduct transactions through your Markethive wallet, you will need Solana's native coin (SOL) for the transaction fees, as Markethive’s Hivecoin (HVC) is a Solana token. Sending HVC involves paying gas fees. If Hivecoin were based on the Ethereum network, sending 10 HVC would cost $4.16. However, because Hivecoin is built on the Solana Network, the cost of sending 10 HVC is just $0.00003, which is a minuscule amount by comparison.

SOL can be purchased from a wallet like Solflare, Trust, or Exodus and then sent to your Markethive Solana sub-wallet. Watch this video for a step-by-step guide on setting up and utilizing the Exodus wallet to purchase SOL. To begin building your SOL reserves, leverage Solana's numerous faucets, which offer free SOL in exchange for participation. As detailed in this article, you can also take advantage of airdrops through Trojan On Solana

Markethive originated from modest roots without the backing of influential investors. Instead, it was created by the people and for the people, forming a collaborative environment that empowers entrepreneurs. The true beneficiaries of this system are its grassroots community, who will collectively reap the rewards and share in the prosperity and abundance that permeates every level of humanity. 

Keep updated on the advancements of Markethive as we implement our innovative new system—a secure Divine fortress impervious to malevolent forces. Join us for the weekly meetings held every Sunday at 8 a.m. Mountain Time. You can access the meeting via the invitation link in the Markethive calendar.

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.


 

Editor and Chief Markethive: Deb Williams. (Australia) I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech.  I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people to accept and move forward with enthusiasm. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

Gold rises on weaker dollar as investors eye multiple economic reports including PCE

Gold rises on weaker dollar as investors eye multiple economic reports, including PCE

Gold futures saw modest gains on Monday, primarily driven by a weakening dollar. As of 4:15 PM ET, the most active August gold contract settled at $2,345.90, up $11.20 or 0.48%. The dollar index declined by 0.35% to 105.491, contributing significantly to gold's upward movement.

Investors are bracing for a busy final week of the month, with several crucial economic reports on the horizon. The Conference Board's June Consumer Confidence report, due Tuesday, is expected to show a slight decline to 100, down two points from the previous month.

Thursday will bring a flurry of economic data. The Commerce Department is set to release its third and final revision of the first-quarter GDP, projected to remain steady at 1.3%. Additionally, advance readings for May's goods trade balance and wholesale inventories will be published. Analysts anticipate a 0.1% decline in durable goods orders.

The week's most anticipated report is the May Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data from the Commerce Department. According to a Reuters poll of economists, the headline PCE is expected to remain unchanged month-over-month while showing a 10-basis-point decrease to 2.6% annually.

Investors will closely monitor the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices. Forecasts suggest monthly and annual readings of 0.1% and 2.6%, respectively, both lower than April's figures.

Several Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak throughout the week. Mary Daly, president and CEO of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, addressed the San Francisco Commonwealth Club, emphasizing the need for higher interest rates to curb demand and inflation. Her remarks will be followed by speeches from Fed governors Lisa Cook and Michelle Bowman later in the week.

While economic reports and Fed comments will largely influence gold prices, the CME's FedWatch tool indicates that traders currently see a 67.7% probability of a rate cut in September.

Kitco Media

Gary Wagner

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

BTC Price Will Hit 10 Million A Coin

Bitcoin Is ‘Economic Immortality’, BTC Price Will Hit $10 Million A Coin — Michael Saylor

By Brenda Ngari – June 24, 2024

One of the crypto industry’s best-known pundits insists that Bitcoin will reach $10 million per coin.

In a recent 84-minute podcast interview, Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, explained how Bitcoin offers “economic immortality” and claimed the entire country of China would support the benchmark cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin To Eliminate Challenges Of Corporate Mortality

During the discussion with Bitcoin podcast host Robin Seyr, Michael Saylor shared the belief that companies investing in Bitcoin are positioned to outlive those stuck in the corporate dysfunction of old. Saylor believes Bitcoin helps eliminate corporate mortality by extending economic vitality “by a factor of 10, maybe by a factor of a hundred, maybe by a factor of a million.”

By acting as a secure, verifiable store of value, Bitcoin can enable the efficient transfer of capital across generations, essentially serving society as a sort of corporate immortality machine.

This vision stems from the flagship crypto’s ability to hedge against traditional economic shortcomings like inflation and fiat currency devaluation. The Bitcoin bull argues that “perfect money,” like Bitcoin, safeguards against such pitfalls, while “imperfect money,” like fiat currencies, makes firms vulnerable.

Saylor further postulates that Bitcoin’s decentralized design and fast transaction speeds have the potential to profoundly reform global payments, offering a near-instantaneous, cheaper alternative to legacy banking systems. This could be especially revolutionary in developing economies, where citizens have little access to financial services.

“Capital has never been programmable before, but with science, Bitcoin allows us to channel capital through time and space. This means we could eventually enable global payments for 8 billion people at the speed of light, directly from a mobile phone, without intermediaries,” he posited.

Why Bitcoin Is Poised To Reach $10 Million, Earn Support From China

Saylor is optimistic that the Chinese people and government would embrace Bitcoin. He suggests the possibility of a Chinese-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would grant China’s massive population exposure to the benchmark crypto:

“When the Bank of Shanghai rolls out a Bitcoin ETF, providing custody services, it will give access to 1.5 billion people in China.”

While it remains uncertain that China will make this move, spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs have already been conditionally approved in Hong Kong. This widespread adoption, Saylor asserts, would considerably impact global Bitcoin prices and usher in a new era of financial stability.

More striking, however, the outspoken Bitcoin evangelist predicted that a single Bitcoin would cost $10 million at some point in the future. This sky-high price prediction highlights Saylor’s belief in Bitcoin’s long-term value proposition.

Saylor has not only led MicroStrategy to its purchase of 226,331 BTC worth over $14 billion over the past almost four years — the latest being the acquisition of 11,931 BTC just last week — but he’s also evangelized for other corporations to make Bitcoin a part of their treasury strategies.

DISCLAIMER The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Brenda Ngari and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

** Loans, secure funding for business projects in the USA and around the world. Learn more about USA & International Financing at Commercial Funding International. **

Tim Moseley

NY Fed warns of risk to major US banks ‘something amiss in the banking system’ says Soloway

NY Fed warns of risk to major U.S. banks, 'something amiss in the banking system,' says Soloway

NY Fed warns of risk to major U.S. banks, 'something amiss in the banking system,' says Soloway teaser image

here is something "amiss" in the U.S. banking sector, says Gareth Soloway, Chief Market Strategist at VerifiedInvesting.com, warning that big institutional players are "unloading" the stocks of big banks.

"I'm hearing a lot of chatter about the big banks unloading bad debt right now, trying to get ahead of some sort of crisis looming," Soloway tells Michelle Makori, Lead Anchor and Editor-in-Chief at Kitco News. "Because interest rates are so high, the amount of losses in mortgage-backed securities potentially rival what we saw in 2008 and 2009. In addition, the commercial real estate market is in tatters. And these are all things that banks are holding on their balance sheets."

Soloway points to the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE), noting the formation of a bear flag pattern since the banking crisis lows of April last year. Watch the video above for Soloway's breakdown.

There has also been a technical breakdown in the stocks of some of the bigger banks, including JPMorgan, according to Soloway.

"This trend line breakdown just started on JPMorgan, Citigroup has already broken down," Soloway added. "There are signs that something is amiss within the banking system, whether it's the bear flag in the KRE or in these bigger banks. There are some bigger players that are unloading the big banks here."

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell commented on the banking sector at the June press conference following the central bank's two-day monetary policy meeting.

"The banking system has been solid, strong, well-capitalized lending. We've seen good performance by the banks. We had turmoil early last year, but banks have been focusing on bringing up their liquidity, bringing up their capital, and having risk management plans in place. So, the banking system seems to be in good shape," Powell said.

Soloway reacted to Powell's comment by pointing out that the Fed Chair would never come out and say there is a big issue in the banking system. "Think about the fire that would spread in the market crash that would ensue if he said that," Soloway noted.

Soloway's warning comes as the New York Fed's Liberty Street Economics blog cautioned of U.S. big banks facing growing spillover risks from non-banks.

During periods of increased market volatility, liquidity demand accelerates, putting pressure on banks as non-banks look for loans and lines of credit. This could trigger "vectors of shock transmission and amplification, forcing authorities to intervene and do so en masse," the post said, adding that the disruptions "could be rather severe."

 

At the same time, the Federal Reserve pointed to weaknesses in four of the biggest banks on Wall Street regarding how they would handle their own failures.

According to a joint statement released Friday by the U.S. central bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the regulators spotted shortcomings in the so-called "living wills" of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group, and Citigroup.

"For the four banks with an identified shortcoming, the letters describe the specific weaknesses resulting in the shortcoming and the remedial actions required by the agencies," the agencies said.

Soloway also revealed the black swan event investors need to pay close attention to in the year's second half. Watch the video above for insights.

In addition, Soloway shared his technical analysis of gold, silver, and Bitcoin. Watch the video above for his short-term and long-term price forecasts.

Kitco Media

Anna Golubova

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

How to Make Money Online

How to Make Money Online

TOP AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR EARNING ONLINE

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

 Buy solo ads - Udimi

Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence. The only limit is the extent of your imagination.

How to Make Money Online

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on how to make money online. Whether you're looking to earn a little extra cash on the side or create a full-time income stream, there are numerous opportunities available. Below, we explore some of the most popular and effective methods to generate income online.

1. FREELANCING

Freelancing is a flexible way to earn money by offering your skills and services to clients online. Popular freelancing platforms include:

Common freelancing services include writing, graphic design, web development, and digital marketing.

2. ONLINE COURSES AND EBOOKS

If you have expertise in a particular field, consider creating and selling online courses or ebooks. Platforms like Udemy and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing make it easy to reach a wide audience.

3. BLOGGING

Starting a blog can be a lucrative way to make money online through advertising, affiliate marketing, and sponsored content. Choose a niche you are passionate about and create high-quality content to attract readers. Monetization options include:

  • Google AdSense
  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Sponsored Posts

4. DROPSHIPPING

Dropshipping is an ecommerce model where you sell products without holding inventory. When a customer makes a purchase, the product is shipped directly from the supplier to the customer. Popular dropshipping platforms include:

5. REMOTE WORK

Many companies now offer remote work opportunities in various fields such as customer service, sales, and IT. Websites like Remote.co and We Work Remotely list job openings that you can apply for.

CONCLUSION

Making money online requires dedication, patience, and the willingness to learn. Start by exploring the methods that best align with your skills and interests, and gradually build your online income streams. Remember, success doesn't happen overnight, but with persistence, you can achieve your financial goals.

If you found this guide helpful, be sure to share it with others who might benefit from it. Subscribe to our newsletter for more tips and strategies on making money online.

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter