The crypto market has experienced a period of turmoil recently, but with the rise in Bitcoin prices, the panic sentiment in the market has begun to subside. Amidst the frequent collapses of altcoins, the market sentiment for Bitcoin and its ecosystem remains optimistic.
Institutional Buys and ETFs
Institutional investors have been actively increasing their Bitcoin holdings. MicroStrategy, a prominent Wall Street Bitcoin holder, recently purchased an additional 18,300 BTC, totaling approximately $1.1 billion, with an average price of around $60,655. This brings MicroStrategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to 244,800 BTC, accounting for 1% of the total Bitcoin supply.
The trend of institutional investors increasing their Bitcoin ETF holdings has also continued. According to data from Bitwise, the number of institutions holding Bitcoin ETFs increased from 965 to 1,100 in the second quarter of 2024. Over 130 institutions purchased Bitcoin ETFs for the first time in the second quarter, and the total amount of Bitcoin ETFs held by these institutions increased from 18.74% to 21.15%.
Fractal Bitcoin: A Hot Project in the Bitcoin Ecosystem
Fractal Bitcoin, a project launched by Unisat, has become one of the most eye-catching projects in the market recently. Its Airdrop has attracted a lot of attention, and its hashrate has exceeded 241 EH, accounting for 38.1% of the total Bitcoin hashrate.
Fractal Bitcoin is a Layer 2 solution for Bitcoin, known as the only native Bitcoin expansion solution. It aims to enhance compatibility and security with Bitcoin, while improving transaction speed and increasing TPS by 20 times compared to Bitcoin’s main network.
Stacks Nakamoto Upgrade
Stacks, a well-known Layer 2 in the Bitcoin ecosystem, recently underwent a Nakamoto upgrade. This upgrade is of great significance to Stacks, with four main points:
- STX halving: After the Nakamoto upgrade, the reward for each Bitcoin block will decrease from 1,000 STX to 500 STX, significantly reducing the inflationary pressure of STX.
- Over 60 times TPS improvement: By decoupling the block production of Stacks from the block time of Bitcoin, the block confirmation time is reduced from over 10 minutes to 10 seconds, with a TPS increase of over 60 times.
- Improved security: After the Nakamoto upgrade, the new consensus mechanism writes the historical data of the Stacks chain into the Bitcoin blocks, making it impossible to tamper with the Stacks block data without changing the Bitcoin block data, further enhancing the security of the Stacks chain.
- Launch of decentralized anchor currency sBTC: Approximately one month after the upgrade, sBTC will be launched, which is the first fully decentralized Bitcoin-anchored currency, requiring no permission and open to participation, making it more attractive to Bitcoin whales.
Conclusion
In addition to the above, the Bitcoin ecosystem has seen other new developments, such as the launch of the Babylon mainnet and the Airdrop of several OP_CAT protocols. The Bitcoin ecosystem’s innovative and dynamic nature, as well as the continuous influx of resources and capital, is worth looking forward to.
Despite the challenges faced by the crypto market, Bitcoin’s bull market is expected to continue, driven by institutional buying and the flourishing ecosystem.
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