Crypto Market Demonstrates Resilience; a16z and Paradigm Back New Crypto Startup

Chart of the Day

The past few days were extremely tough on the crypto market. The massive unwinding of UST's peg and the rapid collapse of LUNA's value exerted immense pressure on the already-negative market sentiments. However, the market has also been demonstrating great resilience in the face of adversity, as investors look to be reconsolidating their portfolios in a bid to catch the falling knife.

As a result, BTC experienced a relief bounce after plunging below the $26k level on Thursday. As of the time of writing, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap is back above the $30k psychological support level after rising by 14% in the last 24 hours. This break above the resistance levels sitting within the $30k to $30.5k zone is crucial, as it may usher in some stronger upside momentum for BTC. However, a failure to find solid support above said zone may also send BTC back to retest the support levels within the $26k to $27.5k region. A good sign though, would be that several on-chain metrics have revealed that BTC miners have remained stoic throughout this period of panic selling, and have so far refrained from piling onto the selling pressure.

In a similar vein to BTC, ETH has managed to reclaim the $2,000 level after posting a 15.6% gain in the same period. Most major altcoins are also fighting hard to rise above the carnage, with ADA leading the pack on a whopping 42% increase over the past day. Many other altcoins also managed to pull off double-digit percentage recoveries within a similar timeframe. 

Talk of the Town

David Marcus, the former crypto chief of Meta and the brains behind Diem, has recently launched a startup that will focus on the development of the Lightning Network and the expansion of BTC's utility. Dubbed Lightspark, the new firm has already garnered support from several big names in the industry. These include a16z, Paradigm, and Matrix Partners.