Decentral Block Post

Decentralized exchange (DEX) GMX has reportedly suffered a price manipulation exploit from an exploiter who managed to make off with around $565,000 from the AVAX/USD market.

The unidentified exploiter is understood to have capitalized on GMX’s “minimal spread” and “zero price impact” features to pull off the exploit, which impacted GLP token holders who provided liquidity in the form of AVAX (the Avalanche token) to GMX.

GMX confirmed the price manipulation exploit in a Sept. 18 post on Twitter, but stated that the AVAX/USD market would remain open despite imposing a $2 million cap on long positions and $1 million cap on short positions.

Head of Derivatives at Genesis Trading Joshua Lim was one of the first to analyze the exploit, stating that the exploiter “successfully extracted profits from GMX's AVAX/USD market by opening large positions at 0 slippage” before transferring the AVAX/USD to centralized exchanges at a slightly higher price.

Lim said this exploit method was repeated five times, with the first cycle taking effect at 01:15 UTC on Sept. 18. Each cycle transferred more than 200,000 AVAX tokens, (roughly $4-5 million per cycle) with the exploiter extracting about $565,000 in profit after paying spread to market makers on other exchanges.

Bitcoin (BTC) faces another week of “huge” macro announcements after the lowest weekly close since July.

After days of losses following the latest inflation data from the United States, BTC/USD, like altcoins and risk assets more broadly, has failed to recover.

The largest cryptocurrency has yet to flip $20,000 to convincing support, and as the third full week of September begins, the danger is once again that that level could function as resistance.

Bulls have plenty to worry about — the coming days will see the Federal Reserve decide on the next key rate hike, something that will affect the market far beyond mere sentiment.

In addition, the aftermath of the Ethereum (ETH) Merge continues to play out, while at defunct exchange Mt. Gox, reimbursements to creditors add another potential cloud to the Bitcoin price landscape.

Bitcoin (BTC) faces another week of “huge” macro announcements after the lowest weekly close since July.

After days of losses following the latest inflation data from the United States, BTC/USD, like altcoins and risk assets more broadly, has failed to recover.

The largest cryptocurrency has yet to flip $20,000 to convincing support, and as the third full week of September begins, the danger is once again that that level could function as resistance.

The bulls have plenty to worry about — the coming days will see the Federal Reserve decide on the next key rate hike, something that will affect the market far beyond mere sentiment.

In addition, the aftermath of the Ethereum Merge continues to play out, while at defunct exchange Mt. Gox, reimbursements to creditors add another potential cloud to the Bitcoin price landscape.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs have both called for a federal judge to make an immediate ruling on whether Ripple’s XRP sales violated U.S. securities laws.

In separate motions filed on Sept. 17 by Ripple and the SEC, both have called for a summary judgment in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. 

Summary judgments are submitted to the courts when a party involved believes there’s enough evidence at hand to make a ruling without the need to proceed to trial.

Both parties have called on Judge Analisa Torres to make an immediate ruling as to whether Ripple’s XRP sales violated U.S. securities laws. Ripple has argued that the SEC has run out of answers to prove XRP sales constituted an “investment contract," while the SEC has held strong on its beliefs that it does. 

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in a Twitter post on Sept. 17 said the filings made it clear that the SEC “isn’t interested in applying the law.”

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite index suffered their worst weekly performance since June as investors remain concerned that the Federal Reserve will have to continue with its aggressive monetary policy to curb inflation and that could lead to a recession in the United States.

Bitcoin (BTC) remains closely correlated to the S&P 500 and is on track to fall more than 9% this week. If this correlation continues, it could bring more pain to the cryptocurrency markets because Goldman Sachs strategist Sharon Bell cautioned that aggressive rate hikes could trigger a 26% fall in the S&P 500.

The majority expect the Fed to hike rates by 75 basis points in the next meeting on Sept. 20 to Sept. 21 but the FedWatch Tool shows an 18% probability of a 100 basis point rate hike. This uncertainty could keep traders on the edge, resulting in heightened short-term volatility.

If the Fed’s rate hike is in line with market expectations, select cryptocurrencies could attract buyers. Let’s study the charts of five cryptocurrencies that are positive in the near term.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin recovered from $19,320 on Sept. 16 and rallied above $20,000 on Sept. 17 but the bulls are struggling to sustain the higher levels. This suggests that bears are active at higher levels.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite index suffered their worst weekly performance since June as investors remain concerned that the Federal Reserve will have to continue with its aggressive monetary policy to curb inflation and that could lead to a recession in the United States.

Bitcoin (BTC) remains closely correlated to the S&P 500 and is on track to fall more than 9% this week. If this correlation continues, it could bring more pain to the cryptocurrency markets because Goldman Sachs strategist Sharon Bell cautioned that aggressive rate hikes could trigger a 26% fall in the S&P 500.

The majority expect the Fed to hike rates by 75 basis points in the next meeting on Sept. 20 to Sept. 21 but the FedWatch Tool shows an 18% probability of a 100 basis point rate hike. This uncertainty could keep traders on the edge, resulting in heightened short-term volatility.

If the Fed’s rate hike is in line with market expectations, select cryptocurrencies could attract buyers. Let’s study the charts of five cryptocurrencies that are positive in the near term.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin recovered from $19,320 on Sept. 16 and rallied above $20,000 on Sept. 17 but the bulls are struggling to sustain the higher levels. This suggests that bears are active at higher levels.

A sequence of macro warnings coming out of the Goldman Sachs camp puts Bitcoin (BTC) at a risk of crashing to $12,000.

Bitcoin in "bottom phase?"

A team of Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius raised their prediction for the speed of Federal Reserve benchmark rate hikes. They noted that the U.S. central bank would increase rates by 0.75% in September and 0.5% in November, up from their previous forecast of 0.5% and 0.25%, respectively.

Fed's rate-hike path has played a key role in determining Bitcoin's price trends in 2022. The period of higher lending rates — from near zero to the 2.25-2.5% range now — has prompted investors to rotate out of riskier assets and seek shelter in safer alternatives like cash.

Bitcoin has dropped by almost 60% year-to-date and is now wobbling around its psychological support of $20,000. Some analysts, including a pseudonymous trader Doctor Profit, believe BTC's price has entered the bottom phase at current levels. However, the trader warned:

"Please consider FEDs next decisions. 0.75% [rate hike] already priced in, 1% and we see blood."

The inclusive crypto ecosystem has become home to numerous A-list celebrities over the years — primarily driven by the nonfungible tokens (NFT) hype of 2021. However, despite the prolonged bear market and an evident dip in cryptocurrency prices, celebrities continue to pour in support for the crypto market. 

Over the past year, celebrities have started exploring sub-ecosystems beyond NFTs, trying to diversify their presence across trading, gaming and other investment avenues. In this light, here’s an overview of some of the most influential celebrities that got into crypto over the past year and how well-prepared they are for the next bull run.

Connor McGregor partners with Tiger.Trade

UFC superstar Connor McGregor, one of the highest-paid athletes, recently partnered with Tiger.Trade, a crypto trading app. A part of the deal involves McGregor featuring in an in-house game that users can play to win exclusive prizes.

Prior to signing as an ambassador for Tiger.Trade, McGregor’s involvement in crypto has been indirect via UFC partnerships with Crypto.com, wherein bonuses were paid to the fighters in cryptocurrencies.

The recent game launch, while well-received by fans for its graphics and prizes, was also subject to criticism related to the lack of story. Unlike the majority of top UFC fighters, McGregor has not linked his name with now-defunct NFT projects and continues to maintain secrecy around his investment choices in cryptocurrency.