Cryptocurrency Market News:  Bitcoin slumps under $9,000 as Ethereum 2.0 testnet staking gains traction

Here is what you need to know on Friday:

Markets

Bitcoin struggled to stay afloat above $9,000 during the Asian session even after opening at $9,060. As we head into the European session, the price has slipped back under $9,000. BTC/USD is trading at $8,979 amid heightened selling activities across the cryptocurrency market. If the bulls fail to reclaim the support at $9,000 soon, the expanding volatility could force Bitcoin to test Thursday support at $8,750. It is apparent that a breakdown to $8,000 is not out of the picture because BTC/USD already dived to $8,100 earlier in May before the attempt to break the resistance at $10,000.

Read more: Bitcoin Price Analysis: Why BTC/USD is tumbling despite COVID-19 uncertainty – Confluence Detector

Ethereum, on the other hand, is trading 0.58% lower on the day. Like Bitcoin, it is facing a stronger bearish grip. The low volatility hints that downward price action could be limited during the European session. Meanwhile, Ether has a market value of $197.37 at the time of writing.

Ripple commenced the session at $0.1942 but adjusted to -$0.1919 (intraday low). Recovery is non-existent at the moment. The actual trend is strongly bearish even as XRP/USD exchanges hands at $0.1930. If the resistance at $0.20 is not broken soon, sellers could gain momentum and push XRP to test current May lows at $0.1750.

Among the top one hundred, the worst-hit cryptocurrencies include DeviantCoin (down 65.92%), HEX (down 13.77%), THETA (15.62%), BitBay (down 17.78%), MimbleWimbleCoin (down 17.79%), Advanced Internet Blocks (down 64.91%), and Electroneum (down 12.46%). Intriguingly, some cryptoassets have increased in value over the last 24 hours and they include Hyperion (up 3.01%), OmiseGo (up 36.39) and DigiByte (11.23%).

Chart of the day: BTC/USD 1-hour 

The launch of Ethereum 2.0 has been a topic of interest among cryptocurrency enthusiasts. The exact date of its launch is still unknown, however, the testnet continues to gain traction especially with the staking feature. The testnet is being executed by Prysmatic Labs on their very own Topaz prototype. According to a tweet by Terence Tsao, the testnet has hit the 1 million mark in staked Ether. According to Etherscan, there are currently 32,800 active validators while 2,772 are pending. The eligible Ether has hit 1,048,481 with the voted Ether accounting for 89.47%.

Staking on the soon to launch Ethereum 2.0 mainnet is one feature that could greatly impact the network in terms of transaction capacity, security and price performance. Moreover, investors have already shown immense interest in the staking which could help push Ethereum to new 2020 highs. With Bitcoin halving already gone, Ethereum 2.0 remains the single most massive catalyst for the cryptocurrencies’ prices this year.

Also read: Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD breakdown eyes $190, ETH 2.0 staking the ultimate store of value

Industry

Messari, a cryptocurrency data research and analysis platform has announced the addition of ten new exchanges to its list of “real volume” in a bid to renew the methodology. The new development would allow Messari to rank exchanges without the interference of wash trading that caught people’s attention following a report by Bitwise. The report claimed that 95% of all exchange volume was fake.

The exchanges that have made to the new metric include Binance, Bitfinex, Bitflyer, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, itBit, Kraken and Poloniex. The exchanges that made it to the top ten on the account of the new metric include Huobi, OKEx, Bithumb and UPBit. Malta-based Binance remains in the number one spot.

Regulation

Officials in China are proposing a regional stablecoin for the East Asia region in order to stimulate trade among countries such as China, Japan and Korea. The proposal was first mentioned by Shen Nanpeng, a member of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference during a national session on Thursday. Backing the stablecoin would be a basket of currencies including the yen, yuan, Korean won, and the Hong Kong dollar.