Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) stayed strictly rangebound on Aug. 24 as buyers and sellers attempted to spark a breakout.

Spot price squeeze on the cards

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hovering near $21,500 at the Wall Street open.

The pair had seen little action in the 24 hours prior, entering the fifth day of sideways movement within an increasingly tight range.

Data from the order book of major exchange Binance uploaded to social media by on-chain monitoring resource Material Indicators hinted that the status quo was frustrating exchange users, including whales.

At the time of writing, bids were inching higher towards spot price, while seller interest was building at $21,600.

The price of Chiliz (CHZ) has surged by approximately 35% week-to-date (WTD) to reach $0.26 per token on Aug. 24. In doing so, the token has outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which have been wobbling between gains and losses in the same period.

Here are the key catalysts that could be behind Chiliz's breakaway rally.

CHZ 2.0

On Aug. 22, Chiliz founder Alexandre Dreyfus announced their intentions to stop utilizing the Ethereum blockchain to launch their fungible and nonfungible tokens and replace it with its own native chain, CHZ 2.0.

"We don't have to rely forever only on ERC20 or ERC721 equivalent," said Dreyfus, adding:

"At @chiliz we think we can bring some innovation on top of fungible token formats. As we work with 100+ of the biggest brands in the world, it is easier to deploy and scale."

The price of Chiliz (CHZ) has surged by approximately 35% week-to-date (WTD) to reach $0.26 per token on Aug. 24. In doing so, the token has outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which have been wobbling between gains and losses in the same period.

Here are the key catalysts that could be behind Chiliz's breakaway rally.

CHZ 2.0

On Aug. 22, Chiliz founder Alexandre Dreyfus announced their intentions to stop utilizing the Ethereum blockchain to launch their fungible and nonfungible tokens and replace it with its own native chain, CHZ 2.0.

"We don't have to rely forever only on ERC20 or ERC721 equivalent," said Dreyfus, adding:

"At @chiliz we think we can bring some innovation on top of fungible token formats. As we work with 100+ of the biggest brands in the world, it is easier to deploy and scale."

The United States filled in the wide gap in Bitcoin (BTC) mining that was left open by China by the end of June 2021. Despite looming rumors of high power consumption, officials in Texas, one of the fastest growing crypto mining hubs in the US, now believe that mining operations can, in fact, garner a symbiotic relationship with the energy industry. 

A newsletter from the Texas Comptroller’s office revealed the state’s pro-crypto stance with the intent to host long-term miners and operators. Clarifying the general misconception about Bitcoin’s energy usage, the fiscal note highlighted that unlike “manufacturing facilities or industrial chemical plants, which can be expected to be around for decades,” cryptocurrency mining facilities do not place big electrical demands on the grid.

With greater crypto miners moving into Texas, concerns around power demand remain as the sudden surge threatens to disturb the balance between supply and demand. While other power-hungry industries often continue production amid market fluctuations, one of the concerns raised in the newsletter by Texas-based research associate Joshua Rhodes was:

“The difference is that Bitcoin mines (mining facilities) can come in so fast and may be gone so fast depending on the price of Bitcoin.”

Given the unique positioning of the crypto mining market, Texas officials believe miners can participate in demand response programs — which involve turning off miners’ power during peak demand. This process is widely adopted by energy-intensive industries such as petrochemical plants.