It has been a turbulent year in the crypto markets so far in 2022, with words like “contagion,” “death spiral,” and “recession” becoming part of the everyday vocabulary—far removed from the climate of last year.
July, however, brought some relief. Inflation didn’t decline significantly, but at least it didn’t rise further, holding steady with June. In the current environment, that felt like a significant victory amid seemingly endless bad news.
Although investors remain anxious amid cost-of-living pressures and broad uncertainty, the markets were not as bloodied as in previous months.
That includes crypto. Bitcoin climbed from a low near $17,000 to roughly $24,000 as liquidity began to return, even if only modestly, to other parts of the market as well.
That backdrop makes Charmyn Ho, Head of Crypto Insights at Bybit, and her monthly report particularly noteworthy this month. She contributed to Bybit’s monthly study, published in collaboration with blockchain analytics firm Nansen, and discussed some of the report’s findings on the CoinJournal podcast this week.
Examining various market segments, the report offers intriguing insights. On-chain flows for Ethereum point to continued capital outflows—suggesting this welcome relief may be more of a bear-market rally than a true trend reversal.
The report also assesses NFTs, where the picture is somewhat better than expected. Charmyn highlights the GameFi sector in particular and shares a personal story about how she began as a preschool teacher before discovering crypto through her love of gaming—specifically after encountering a game called Axie Infinity.
These topics and more are covered in this week’s episode.
Enjoy!
Spotify link here