Ripple’s XRP token has dropped over 5% in the past 24 hours, falling below $0.50 for the first time since July 13. In Ripple’s legal fight with the SEC, the U.S. regulator said Friday it needed to appeal a judge’s decision in July that the blockchain firm had not violated securities law in making XRP available to retail investors. Altcoins across the board are in the red to start the week, with XRP among the worst affected. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) is at its lowest point since mid-June. Bitcoin, meanwhile, continues the sideways movement it has experienced since the start of the month, down around 0.5% at $25,670 at the time of writing.

Decentralized exchange Sushi has expanded to layer-1 blockchain Aptos, making it accessible on a network that is not compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for the first time. Given that Sushi has more than seven times the amount of value locked as the entire Aptos blockchain, the expansion gives the network potential to attract fresh capital inflows and rival other non-EVM chains like Solana, Mixin and Osmosis. "This expansion to Aptos not only unlocks a new level of deep liquidity across major blockchain networks but also significantly elevates the cross-chain trading experience," Sushi said in a statement.

India will analyze and decide its own position on crypto in the coming months after considering global leaders' stance on an acceptable crypto rule framework, according to Ajay Seth, secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs. India's position on crypto has been under scrutiny for years as a nation that had a burgeoning industry before crippling it with a series of blows in the form of harsh taxes, anti-money laundering rules and enforcement actions against major crypto exchanges. Seth's comments on Sunday indicate a shift towards the possibility that India may frame its own legislation, a first since India suspended plans for comprehensively legislating crypto through a bill in early 2022.

A message from Bitget

With the crypto market in the doldrums, traders are looking forward to the next bitcoin halving, due in April 2024, with hopes that it will kickstart a fresh bull run.

However, previous halvings did not necessarily spark bull runs single-handedly, with macro conditions also playing a vital role, according to data by MacroMicro.

The halvings in November 2012, July 2016 and May 2020 were all followed by triple-digit rallies in the subsequent 12-18 months, but these were all also characterized by a 6% or higher aggregate M2 money supply growth of the Fed, ECB, BOJ and PBOC. The pattern validates the popular argument that bitcoin is a pure play on fiat liquidity.

While the total M2 money supply growth rate has turned positive this year, it remains well below 6%. The Fed and other central banks have raised rates rapidly over the past 12-18 months to tame inflation, and the probability of renewed liquidity easing in months ahead appears low.

- Oliver Knight