Traders still riding on ‘hot altcoins’ despite Bitcoin pullback: Santiment

Sand, XLM and Ether are leading discussion topics among traders at the moment, according to data from analytics platform Santiment.

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While Bitcoin has pulled back from its all-time highs, traders are still hot on several altcoins, according to Santiment’s social sentiment tracker. 

In a Nov. 26 post to X, the onchain analytics platform said that while Bitcoin BTC$92,926 fell under $93,000 on Nov. 25, “Traders are still riding the hot altcoins and discussing specific stories surrounding under-the-radar opportunities.”

According to Santiment, metaverse cryptocurrency Sandbox SAND$0.6418, Stellar XLM$0.4636 and Ether ETH$3,362.86 are leading the altcoin trend social discussions among traders at the moment, with most of the conversations bullish in nature. 

Top of the list is SAND, which the analytics platform said is experiencing an uptick because of a notable resurgence in metaverse-related investments, with “growing confidence among investors in SAND and related tokens.”

In the summary on its dashboard, Santiment noted that there is bullish sentiment in the market about metaverse tokens despite previous downturns.

“Speculation about the reasons behind this trend and the future of these cryptocurrencies is also prevalent,” it noted.

Meanwhile, XLM is receiving “interest from Korean investors following a political event” and is “associated with price surges and market analysis” on social media.

Rounding out the top three most talked about tokens is Ether, which Santiment notes is being discussed in contrast to other cryptocurrencies, especially its price performance.

Users are reportedly “expressing bullish sentiments about Ethereum’s potential to outperform other large caps, especially given favorable market conditions.”

Related: Bitcoin analysts call recent $93K dip the ‘last flush’ before the rush

According to Santiment’s social tracker methodology, the tracker trawls through crypto-specific social media channels such as X and Telegram for the top 10 words that have seen the most significant increase in social media mentions compared to the previous two weeks.

In the summary on its dashboard, Santiment notes conversations emphasize Ether’s “historical performance and ecosystem value, indicating an interest in its future prospects.”

At the same time, the analytics platform shared that several coins, including Pleasure Token (NSFW), Tornado (TORN) and Axie Infinity AXS$7.24 have experienced “the highest 24-hour rises in social volume.”

Despite the discussion around altcoins, the wider market was hit with mass liquidations in the last 24 hours. 

CoinGlass data shows over $518.8 million of crypto positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, with long liquidations accounting for $389.3 million and short positions for $129 million. Altcoins made up the vast majority of wiped positions.

A crypto trader with the X handle Moustache speculated that despite the drop, “Altcoins are just warming up here,” and the “real party” will start soon.

Another trader, Eugene Ng Ah Sio, said in a Nov. 26 post on X that they would be “watching & waiting” for now because the market was becoming too hard to predict.

“This has been the most challenging bull market altseason I think I’ve experienced,” he said, adding:

“Capital flow doesn’t make a ton of sense to me and degree of moves are very difficult to predict.”

Magazine: Make Ethereum feel like Ethereum again: Based rollups explain

Swan Bitcoin sues its lawyers for picking up Tether as client 

Swan Bitcoin sued former employees it alleged got help from Tether, and now accuses its own law firm of malpractice after it picked up the stablecoin issuer as a client

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Bitcoin financial services company Swan Bitcoin has sued Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a law firm it still retains, after it hired a lawyer representing stablecoin issuer and rival crypto firm Tether.

Swan sued Gibson in California’s Superior Court on Nov. 22, accusing it of legal malpractice, claiming it “wooed and won Swan” to represent it against “former-partner-turned-adversary” Tether before the law firm “embraced Tether as a client and told Swan to get lost.”

Swan claimed one of Gibson’s lawyers called its CEO Cory Klippsten to warn that Swan would need to find other counsel, because the law firm hired lawyer Barry Berke, who represents Tether, and there could be a conflict of interest.

In September, Swan — with Gibson as its legal counsel — sued a group of its former employees, accusing them of stealing software code to form a crypto-mining company called Proton Management.

Swan claimed Proton had convinced Tether to cut ties with Swan and back Proton instead — allegations that Proton denied. Tether was not named as a defendant in Swan’s lawsuit.

On Nov. 24, Gibson filed to withdraw as Swan’s lawyers in its case against Proton, saying “there has been a complete breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.”

It pointed to Swan’s suit against the law firm and claimed Swan told it that “it will ‘never’ pay the legal fees it owes” and “demanded millions of dollars” not to oppose Gibson withdrawing from the lawsuit.

Related: Court prolongs Tornado Cash developer Pertsev’s pre-trial detention 

On Nov. 25, Swan asked the Superior Court of California for a temporary restraining order to stop Gibson from withdrawing from its case against Proton and block it from bringing on Tether as a client.

It claimed Gibson is “in clear violation of the ‘Hot Potato’ Rule in attorney ethics” — a rule saying lawyers can’t drop a client by withdrawing from a case to avoid a conflict of interest.

A hearing for the restraining order is scheduled for Nov. 26.

Magazine: Legal issues surround the FBI’s creation of fake crypto tokens

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