Dogecoin’s (DOGE) steady price decline in the past few weeks has negatively impacted activity in its derivatives market. 

At $2.51 billion as of the writing, the meme coin’s total open interest has cratered to its lowest level since the beginning of the year. 

Dogecoin Derivatives Traders Say Their Goodbyes

An asset’s open interest measures the total number of outstanding options or futures contracts that have not been settled or closed.

When it increases, it indicates that new contracts are being created, suggesting growing interest or activity in the market. Conversely, when open interest decreases, it means that existing contracts are being closed without new ones being opened, which can indicate a decline in market activity or interest.

As of this writing, DOGE’s open interest is $2.51 billion. It initiated its downtrend on June 8 and has since declined by 80%. For context, the meme coin’s open interest was above $10 billion a month ago. 

Read More: Dogecoin (DOGE) vs Shiba Inu (SHIB): What’s the Difference?

The decline in its derivatives market activity is due to the steady dip in its value during the period under review. The ninth-ranked cryptocurrency asset by market capitalization trades at $0.10 at press time. Its price has fallen by 30% in the last month.

This unabated decline in DOGE’s value even prompted many of its futures traders to demand short positions on July 6. This is based on the readings from the coin’s funding rate, which was negative (-0.026%) on that day.

Funding rates are used in perpetual futures contracts to ensure that the contract price stays close to the spot price. 

When an asset’s funding rate is negative, more traders are holding short positions. This means more traders anticipate the asset’s price will decline than those expecting it to rise and sell at a higher price. 

DOGE Price Prediction: A Rebound On the Horizon?

Despite the decline in DOGE’s value, its Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) has maintained an uptrend. As of this writing, DOGE’s CMF is above the zero line at 0.03 and currently trends upward. 

This indicator measures the flow of money into and out of an asset. When an asset’s price declines while its CMF climbs, it indicates a bullish divergence between price and money flow. 

It suggests that despite the falling price, there is significant buying volume. This divergence implies that buyers are stepping in and accumulating the asset at lower prices, which may weaken the selling pressure.

If buying activity continues to gain momentum, DOGE’s price may rise to $0.11.

Read More: Dogecoin (DOGE) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

However, if the divergence is a false signal and selling pressure remains high, DOGE’s price may plummet to $0.08.

A recent report suggests that the infamous phishing organization Pink Drainers became victims of fraud themselves.

This incident highlights the growing sophistication, complexity, and risks of cybercrime, as well as the enormous financial damage phishing attempts still cause globally.

Phishing Masters Pink Drainers Tricked by Fake Wallet Address

An address connected to the Pink Drainers became a victim of address poisoning fraud, according to crypto tracking tool MistTrack. In late June, the infamous phishing outfit lost 10 Ethereum (ETH), valued at about $30,000, to a phony wallet address.

MistTrack covered several Ethereum transactions involving the Pink Drainers in their X (Twitter) post. One picture displays a transaction history with important transfers to both valid and fraudulent addresses. These transactions include the arrival of 20 ETH and many transfers of 10 ETH.

Read more: Crypto Scam Projects: How To Spot Fake Tokens

Furthermore, MistTrack displayed the transfer of money across addresses, including Pink Drainers, a real address (0xEfF0ECD2eB275C3CEE4A17D9B8f10151), and a bogus address (0xEfF0eCD2eB275C3CEE4A17D9B8f101). The transactions reveal address poisoning, with the fake address closely matching the real one, deceiving Pink Drainers.

Scam Sniffer’s Dune dashboard noted that Pink Drainer had stolen $85.29 million from 21,131 victims between July 2023 and May 2024. Highlighting the unpredictable nature of cybercrime, this ironic turn of events saw those who once hunted becoming the hunted themselves.

A recent report from CertiK noted that phishing was the most costly attack vector in the second quarter of 2024, with $433.68 million lost across 67 incidents. These incidents were responsible for most of the financial losses in the cybersecurity field. Phishing attacks led to a substantial $497.73 million loss across 150 incidents in the first half of 2024, highlighting their continuous threat.

The report detailed that phishing attacks have been more frequent than private key compromises, with notable financial implications. One of the most significant losses in Q2 involved a phishing victim who lost approximately $68.59 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) due to an address poisoning attack. This attack occurred when the victim sent a small test transaction to a new wallet, unknowingly setting the stage for a massive theft.

Another significant incident involved a phishing victim losing approximately $7.09 million worth of EtherFi (LQIDETH) tokens through address poisoning. The attacker, however, returned some of the stolen tokens. Despite these rare instances of restitution, the vast majority of phishing victims do not see their funds returned.

“You can’t rely on an attacker returning your funds, and an incident where this happens still deserves to be included in the overall figures pertaining to value lost. Others are not so lucky. These two incidents were the only two cases we identified of phishing victims seeing their lost funds returned,” the CertiK team noted in its report.

Read more: 15 Most Common Crypto Scams To Look Out For

Past research by Scam Sniffer revealed that hostile groups like Pink Drainers run with corporate-like efficiency. One gang leaves the scene, and another quickly replaces it. For instance, Angel Drainer emerged following Inferno Drainer’s announcement of his leaving, therefore extending the cycle of cybercrime.

Leading domain name service provider Ethereum Name Service (ENS) witnessed a quarterly decline in domain registrations in the second quarter. 

After peaking at a year-to-date high at the end of April, monthly registrations on the protocol dwindled.

Ethereum Name Service Saw a Dip in .eth Name Registrations

ENS domain name purchases are made with Ether (ETH). As the price of ETH stagnated during the quarter in review, the cost of gas fees for transactions on the Ethereum Network also fell. 

One might have expected a surge in .eth domain name registrations due to the lower fees. However, interest in this asset class remained low amid general market consolidation, leading to a reduction in spending on domain name registrations by market participants.

On-chain data showed that the count of .eth names registered totaled 20,131 in June. This marked a 30% month-over-month (MoM) decline from the 28,949 .ETH name registrations recorded in May. It also represented a 58% decrease from the peak of 47,704 registrations in April. 

Read More: Ethereum Name Service (ENS): Everything You Need to Know

Further, primary ENS name registrations fell to its year-to-date low at the end of June. A primary ENS name is a unique, human-readable name used to identify and locate a specific Ethereum address. With a primary ENS name, decentralized applications (dAPPs) can find and display such a user’s ENS name when connected to the user’s Ethereum account.

During those 30 days, the number of primary ENS names registered was 14,401, a 39% MoM fall and a 55% decline from the 31,982 primary names registered at the beginning of the year.

ENS Price Prediction: Open Interest Drops After Recent Milestone

BeinCrypto reported earlier that ENS’ derivatives open interest climbed to an all-time high of $153 million on July 1. However, it has since declined. At $80.12 million at press time, ENS’s open interest plummeted by 48% within seven days. 

Open interest refers to the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, such as options or futures, that have not been settled. When it declines, it signals traders are closing their positions without opening new ones. This suggests a decline in an asset’s derivatives market activity. 

This may be a bearish signal as it is often accompanied by a decline in the token’s value. This is true in ENS’ case, as the altcoin’s price has decreased by 25% in the last week.

Confirming that the altcoin is trailed by bearish sentiment at press time, ENS’ Relative Strength Index (RSI) is below its 50-neutral spot at 47.93. At this value, the token’s RSI suggests that selling pressure outweighs buying activity. If this trend continues, ENS’ price may fall to $23.26.

Read More: Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

However, if it witnesses a resurgence in buying activity, the bearish projection above will be invalidated as ENS’ price will charge upward toward $25.68.