July 2023 has been an exciting month for investors in general. From Ripple's partial victory to multiple hacks and the start of a new fad, meme coins. These meme coins are altcoins based on frogs, roaches, hamsters and many other creatures. While some pick up steam, others do not. In the latest development, things have taken a wild turn as a token called BALD rug pulls, which caused losses to hit $68 million. If that was not enough, the latest developments include a lawsuit against Richard Heart, the founder of cryptocurrency project Hex and a rehashing of the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit's decision.
Read more: With Ripple’s victory tainted, what’s next for XRP price?
Meme coin galore
Regardless, Bitcoin price action continues to hover around the $30,000 level seen for a month with no directional bias in sight. The interesting part is what’s happening with altcoins on DEXs, known as Decentralized Exchanges.
DEXs have become the focus with the launch of animal-themed cryptocurrencies like hamsters, roaches, snails, etc. Many traders who like to get down and dirty have flipped a few thousand dollars into life-changing money. Some of these tokens’ prices have increased by around 10,000% over the weekend.
Read more: Hamsters, roaches or snails: Animal-themed cryptocurrencies take center stage among crypto traders
The brunt of this recent phenomenon is clearly visible in Centralized Exchanges (CEXs), whose volumes are on track to fall to the lowest point of 2023.
CEX trading volume
What does this mean?
A relatively low volume leaves the crypto market open to manipulation and volatility. With the United States Federal Reserve set to decide on interest rates this week (on July 26), crypto markets might get turbulent and could potentially trigger a reaction that ends the month-long sideways movement.
A 25-basis-point hike is all but common knowledge and is already priced in by markets considering the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers seen over the last few weeks. So, any deviation from the normal could trigger a volatile move for cryptos.
Read more: What can crypto traders expect from Fed’s interest-rate decision?
Traders need to be extra cautious considering the low volumes and the important macro event set to take place this week.
More on BALD and Base coverage:
Coinbase Layer 2 blockchain traders drawn to three-digit gains in BALD as Bitcoin, Ethereum rally fades
BALD meme coin on Coinbase Layer 2 Base chain yields massive gains for traders overnight
Ethereum L2 meme coin BALD, under Coinbase incubation, rug-pulls $68 million from investors at “presale stage”
Is SBF secretly behind BALD? Crypto Twitter debates latest conspiracy
BALD rug pull wipes out 90% of value, hitting Base DEX LeetSwap: A timeline of events
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