According to data from Banco Central de Reserva (BCR), the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for remittances in El Salvador has significantly declined in the first half of 2023. Remittances to the country rose by 5.2% compared to the previous year, with traditional banking institutions processing $1.45 billion and dedicated remittance platforms handling $2.4 billion.

According to analyst James V. Straten's recent findings shared on Reddit on July 21, Bitcoin is a unique asset class that does not show significant correlations with traditional trading instruments like equities. The study found that Bitcoin is mostly correlated with Ethereum at 0.70, but has a weak correlation with the S&P 500 at -0.05 and diverges with gold at -0.12. This independent nature of Bitcoin's performance makes it an attractive investment option for portfolio diversification, especially as recent developments in the crypto sphere could further reduce its correlation with equities. Additionally, Bitcoin's deflationary nature and increasing adoption are expected to keep it positive in the long-term, despite the upcoming reduction in miner rewards in Q2 2024.

  The upcoming Litecoin (LTC) halving event on August 2 has generated significant hype in the community and is expected to lead the market rally in the coming week. Many industry stakeholders have been accumulating Litecoin in anticipation of the event, with whales buying over 590,000 LTC in the last 48 hours. The halving will impact Litecoin's scarcity and could potentially drive its price to new highs. Its success could also provide insights into Bitcoin's future performance, as Bitcoin's halving event is scheduled for next year.  

Two individuals accused of laundering nearly 120,000 Bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex in 2016 have reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein will appear at a plea hearing on August 3rd. The majority of the $3.6 billion worth of stolen assets have been recovered, and the U.S. Department of Justice currently controls the stolen crypto. Bitfinex has stated that if it secures ownership of the recovered funds, it will use 80% to repurchase and burn LEO tokens, which could drive up the price of LEO.

The global market cap has seen a 0.5% increase, with Bitcoin experiencing some bull activity and approaching a break back above $30K. However, Bitcoin trade volume has dropped by 31% during the same period. Ethereum has started the week slow with low volatility levels, indicating a likely bearish trend as bears push for market dominance. Dogecoin is having a good session with gains of 1.4% and increasing trading volume, while Stellar is also trading positively with increasing volatility levels. Chainlink is making slight gains, while Augur sees an 8% drop within a day of trade.

This week saw mixed results for both cryptocurrencies and stocks, with the Nasdaq 100 index dropping due to weak guidance from companies like Netflix and Nvidia, while the Dow Jones index rose after strong bank earnings. Bitcoin remained under pressure, falling slightly below the key support at $30k, indicating that bears are dominating bulls. Ethereum also declined to $1,800, while coins such as Tron and Chainlink surged during the week. Chancer, a new decentralized platform that aims to introduce a new way to bet on sports, political campaigns, economic data, and more, gained momentum this week after the introduction of additional cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Tether, Binance Coin, and Binance USD. The platform will be highly decentralized, with token holders having a say in the platform’s features and pricing, and will share profits made by the company. Chancer's token sale comes at a time when inflation has dropped and demand for cryptocurrencies is still high, suggesting the token may perform well when listed on decentralized and centralized exchanges, and when the developers make announcements.

Bitcoin has fallen below the $30,000 mark again, disappointing short-term holders who bought during the recent bull run. This unpredictability may be causing investors to go long-term on the coin, as the total Bitcoin supply held by long-term holders has reached an all-time high of 14.5 million BTC. The Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) for short-term holders was close to 1, indicating minimal to no progress for most. However, Bitcoin may be closer to the bottom than the top, as the SOPR ratio was relatively low at 1.38. Long-term holders are the market's "strong hands" and their supply of Bitcoin had been increasing, but fell in February and March, possibly contributing to the asset's price drop. Bitcoin is currently trading at $29,946.

Bitcoin has struggled to recover from its range-low and has been closing daily candlestick sessions below $30k, reinforcing bears' increasing leverage. The US Dollar Index has edged higher, going in the opposite direction to BTC's price action, resulting in about 5% losses for BTC over the week. Long-term BTC holders have accumulated more during the latest price consolidation, despite the threat of a bearish breakout. Investors should keep an eye on next week's Fed rate hike decision to confirm whether the bearish pressure will fall or not.

Bitcoin has been in a consolidation phase for the past four weeks, but recent findings suggest that it may be coming to an end. Rising futures demand indicates a bullish bias, especially in the derivatives segment. However, Bitcoin's open interest and funding rates have dropped significantly due to low volatility, indicating that demand may not be quite there yet. BTC's price action suggests the possibility of more sell pressure, which could push the price back to the ascending support level and even below $28,000. The fate of Bitcoin lies in the hands of whales, who have been trimming their balances since mid-July, but their levels are still notably high. Overall, the eventual outcome could still be a toss-up, but institutional demand could sway it towards the bullish side.

Bitcoin's current price is $29,864 with a 24-hour trading volume of $11.2 billion and a less than 1% increase in the last 24 hours. Global X ETFs and CoinDesk are seeking approval for a new Bitcoin ETF, the Global X Bitcoin Trend Strategy ETF, which will track BTC futures contracts and the CoinDesk BTC Trend Indicator Index. The potential approval and launch of this ETF could have significant implications for Bitcoin's price. Bitcoin is currently trading slightly above a significant support level of $29,550, but may face further downward pressure if it experiences a bearish breakthrough below $29,500.