Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week at the center of fresh crypto industry drama as the highest fees in two years pressure price action.
Downside volatility is greeting traders thanks to a full mempool, and explanations point the finger at multiple parties.
Largest exchange Binance is adding to the confusion, pausing BTC withdrawals several times over what it calls network “congestion.”
Amid the turmoil, BTC/USD is showing signs of strain, breaking down from $28,000 to threaten an exit of its broader trading range.
The events mark a flustered start to a week already full of potential BTC price volatility catalysts. These come in the form of macroeconomic data releases, including the Consumer Price Index (CPI), as well as Q1 earnings reports.
As Bitcoin network metrics begin to show the impact of current network activity, miners are still selling their holdings, data shows, leading analysis to conclude that the 2022 bear market is still in play.
Cointelegraph takes a look at these factors and more in the weekly rundown of what’s moving crypto markets.
Binance CEO calls “FUD” amid BTC withdrawal suspensions
Bitcoin is under pressure at the start of the week, but not for the usual reasons.
As BTC/USD dips to $28,000, observers are closely following events on-chain and at largest global exchange, Binance.
The latter has halted BTC withdrawals three times since the weekend, citing “congestion” on the Bitcoin network, while simultaneously moving a giant chunk of funds between wallets.
We’re aware that some data are showing a large volume of outflows from #Binance.
This ‘outflow’ are actually movements between Binance hot and cold wallets due to the BTC address adjustments.
— Binance (@binance) May 8, 2023
Binance’s moves came as large numbers of transactions entered the Bitcoin mempool, pushing already high fees even further into territory not seen in several years.
That had the unintended result of creating Bitcoin’s first-ever block in which miners earned more from fees than the block subsidy itself — 6.75 BTC versus 6.25 BTC, respectively.
Attention focused on Ordinals and even crypto investment giant, Digital Currency Group, as the source of the transactions. Later, market participants including researcher and investor Eric Wall revealed a potential source of the on-chain “spamming.”
tl;dr: a hex derivative (xen) that’s notable for spamming EVM chains has pivoted to spamming bitcoin via the ordinals brc-20 protocol causing an otherside-like…
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