Tag: bitcoin price

Binance Coin, XRP, Dogecoin shed up to 13%, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: Major cryptocurrencies were bleeding on Tuesday. All the top 100 digital tokens were trading in the red at 9.30 hours IST, highlighting the gloom in the crypto market. Binance Coin, Ripple, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Polkadot tanked 8-13 per cent.

The global crypto market cap plunged to $1.19 trillion, a 7.48 per cent decrease over the last day. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours was $62.12 billion, increased by 27.76 per cent.

The retreat comes amid a broader risk-off environment that’s also seen US equities fall due to fears of slowing growth and a relentless spread of the delta variant of Covid.

The Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance, announced that a draft bill to create a legal framework for crypto assets is ready for discussion. This comes shortly after El Salvador legalised Bitcoin, and Paraguay has also shown a keen interest in doing so.

Deputy Minister Sakir Ercan Gül announced that the crypto bill would be presented to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, at the start of the next legislative year, which is October 2021.

Zebpay Trade Desk said that the hope of a friendly approach to regulation is high, as doing so would make the country an attractive investment source for leading crypto exchanges across the globe.

“Bitcoin has taken a beating this week, as it fell below $31,000 on Monday evening,” it added. “The most likely general explanation is of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which on Sunday saw a 16,000-BTC unlocking event, which a day later negatively impacted the market.”

The central bank of Turkey had previously banned the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of exchange, and prevented banks from providing deposit and withdrawal services to crypto exchanges. The new legal framework is also likely to put several protective measures, such as security clearance and collateralizing in place.


Tech View by Giottus Cryptocurrency Exchange
Polygon Network (MATIC) has appreciated more than 100x from the start of the year to its new all-time high (ATH of $2.7). MATIC has been in the accumulation phase for months. After breaking out, it zoomed past previous highs in longer time frames and seemed unstoppable until the bearish trend on Bitcoin (BTC) started in May.

On shorter time frames, MATIC has been forming a descending channel, a temporary bearish pattern while the long-term picture remains bullish. MATIC enjoys a strong support zone. It has closed below the EMA20 while the RSI indicator is in the oversold territory, meaning that there are no indicators for a breakout from the channel for now.

Once BTC starts to regain lost momentum, MATIC will hopefully start its uptrend towards its ATH. MATIC is in a consolidation phase after an aggressive pump, and therefore it could be another buying opportunity for investors who missed out on the window earlier.

Major Levels:
Support: $0.7, $0.61, $0.55
Resistance: $0.88, $1.04, $1.1

(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts’ own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the asset/s mentioned.)



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Ethereum, Dogecoin and Polkadot shed upto 7%, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: Major Cryptocurrencies were trading lower on Friday in the crypto market. The digital token market has turned jitter ever since Beijing’s regulatory crackdown. The crypto market tanked as much as 7 per cent from the previous day, with all top-10 digital currencies trading lower at 9.30 hours IST.

The past 24 hours witnessed quite a sell-off across the cryptocurrency spectrum. Multiple factors contributed to this profit booking. Barclays in the UK stopped its customers from depositing money into crypto exchanges.

Global Financial institution, Bank of America Corp. created a new team dedicated to researching cryptocurrencies, marking Wall Street’s latest push to capitalize on investors’ frenzy for digital assets. Alkesh Shah will lead the effort, which will also cover technologies tied to digital currencies.

” As per the technical indicators, the long positions on Bitcoin started dropping. It was just a matter of time before the markets witnessed a sell-off. Polkadot, Solana remained subdued as they tanked by almost 8%. Bitcoin’s downside was a bit capped and is currently hovering around the $33,000 mark.” said Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder of Mudrex.

Back home, Many cryptocurrency traders, shut out of the Indian crypto market by local banks, are now being restrained from buying virtual currencies from overseas markets.

India’s largest private sector bank ICICI is telling customers remitting funds to invest abroad to give a declaration that the money will not be used to buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

Crypto Cart: Quick Glance (Source: coinmarketcap.com, data as of 09.30 hours, IST on July 09, 2021)

Crypto Price % change
Bitcoin $32,975.24 -1.17%
Ethereum $2,120.97 – 6.07%
Tether $1 – 0.10%
Binance Coin $308.79 – 4.13%
Cardano $1.32 – 4.80%
XRP $0.6155 – 3.52%
Dogecoin $0.2034 – 7.23%
USD Coin $1 – 0.08%
Polkadot $15.37 – 4.95%
Uniswap $20.76 -2.11%

Note: Price change in last 24 hours

Tech View by ZebPay Trade Desk
Bitcoin is likely to move out of its seven-week trading range of $30,000 to $40,000. Analysts believe that several indicators tracking the cyclical nature of price volatility suggest that a big move is on the horizon. Bollinger bandwidth, which is a measure of volatility, and is calculated by dividing the spread between its band, by the 20-day average of the asset’s price, has declined to a 2 month low of 0.15.

BTC saw similar action in December and April after the bandwidth fell to 0.15, and during both periods major movement was seen. Bollinger analysis places volatility bands 2 standard deviations away from either side of the 20-day price average. BTC has witnessed this phenomenon repeatedly in the past too, when it saw big moves during the 2017 bull run, namely when each time the bandwidth fell to 0.15.

The upside is likely to play out, above the 50-day moving average (MA) resistance, which currently sits at $36,000 levels. Most analysts believe that BTC has factored in most, if not all of the negative news during the May sell-off when the price fell from $60,000 to $30,000. Hence, the downside, if any, is likely to be fairly limited.

Time is in UTC and the daily time frame is 12:00 AM – 12: 00 PM UTC

(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts’ own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the asset/s mentioned.)



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Bitcoin swings as China regulators punish company over crypto, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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By Joanna Ossinger

Bitcoin fluctuated Tuesday after China’s central bank and a regulator in the capital city took action against a company that was allegedly providing cryptocurrency-related services.

The largest cryptocurrency had risen as much as 3.7% to $35,094 before dropping back after the People’s Bank of China and Beijing’s local financial regulator ordered a company in the city to cancel its business registration. As of 7:55 a.m. in New York it was trading 1% higher at $34,194.

Financial and payments institutions should not directly or indirectly provide virtual currency-related services, the PBOC and the Beijing regulator said in a statement. It named marketing, promotion and display, and location-setting among prohibited activities.

”Whilst not directly affecting crypto, China clampdown on tech firms is another example of it flexing its regulatory muscles against an industry whose oversight has been lacking,” said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto lender Nexo in London. “Bitcoin too is caught in China’s regulatory crossfire as it’s seen as a threat to the digital yuan.”

China has increased its focus on the cryptocurrency industry, adding restrictions on mining, trading and other services, as well as issuing cautions to entities like banks that might facilitate such transactions. Many miners have shut down or are trying to move out of the country, and mining metrics have showed the decreased activity.

The move came after some chart watchers had been eyeing the 50-day moving average above $36,000 as a potential zone to see a bullish breakout. However, Bitcoin has been stuck in a range of about $30,000 to $40,000 for weeks after dropping from its record near $65,000 reached in mid-April.

“Bitcoin has been trending sideways between $30,000 and $40,000 for the best part of seven weeks now,” Trenchev said. “I expect Bitcoin to remain stuck in this trend for the forseeable future, before grinding higher again.”



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Bitcoin’s year so far, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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LONDON: If you’re a bitcoin investor, your nerves may have taken quite a pounding in 2021.

The cryptocurrency‘s journey towards the investment and commercial mainstream has gathered pace, with major financial firms and companies embracing the emerging asset.

Such interest helped push it to a record high just shy of $65,000 in April. Yet in typically capricious fashion, it has since slumped by almost half.

At the halfway point of the year, the original and biggest cryptocurrency is up around 20% year-to-date. Here are some charts that tell the story of bitcoin’s year so far.

1/STILL VOLATILE
Wild price swings have been a defining feature of bitcoin throughout its near 13-year life. The first half of 2021 has been no different, despite hopes that greater liquidity in markets and stronger infrastructure would dampen swings.

Bitcoin more than doubled from the start of the year to its all-time high of $64,895 hit in mid-April, before slumping by over half in just five weeks as regulators across the world – especially China – cracked down on cryptocurrencies.

In May alone bitcoin lost 35%, in its worst month since 2018. Last week it fell under $30,000 for the first time since January, briefly wiping out its year-to-date gains.

Many larger investors also left the bitcoin market after prices spiked in the first quarter, with some shifting to gold, according to JP Morgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.

“What we found out in the second quarter was that actually demand for bitcoin is price sensitive,” he said. “Some institutional investors started getting out of bitcoin in April … they thought bitcoin prices were too high relative to gold.”

2/BITCOINS OR ALTCOINS?
Bitcoin has attracted the lion’s share of the headlines so far this year. Yet many of its smaller digital currency rivals – known as the altcoins – have posted bigger gains.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has nearly trebled so far this year, bolstered by a surge in the so-called decentralised finance sector. “DeFi” often uses its underlying blockchain technology to offer financial services without traditional middlemen such as banks.

Signs that the ethereum blockchain is gaining traction with mainstream financial firms has also fuelled gains.

XRP, the seventh-largest coin, has gained a similar amount. Other once-obscure coins such as dogecoin, started in 2013 as a joke, have also far outpaced bitcoin, with investors drawn to the prospect of quick gains. Dogecoin is up over 5,000% so far this year.

3/OUTPACED BY MEME STOCKS
Retail investors have embraced bitcoin this year, attracted by narratives that it can act as a hedge against inflation and as a future payment method.

Also driving gains has been a perception that it is a vehicle for quick gains – a perceived quality shared by another 2021 financial market phenomenon: “meme” stocks, whose value is propelled by social-media buzz.

GameStop Corp and AMC Entertainment Holdings , two of the leading meme stocks, soared in the first quarter along with bitcoin, fuelled by retail investors with spare cash and free time because of coronavirus stimulus lockdowns.

Yet the assets have since decoupled, with bitcoin’s gains for the year so far outpaced by GameStop – up more than 1,000% – and AMC Entertainment, which has surged over 2,500%.

“It’s just an extension of free money just going crazy and so I think that has somewhat you can see that rippling over into cryptocurrencies,” said Joel Kruger, a strategist at crypto exchange LMAX Digital.



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Slips towards $30,000 as strategists flag Bitcoin’s near-term risks, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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By Joanna Ossinger

Strategists are struggling to see a turnaround ahead for Bitcoin, at least for now, as the digital coin hovers around the $30,000 level.

The near-term setup is “challenging,” a JPMorgan Chase & Co. team including Josh Younger and Veronica Mejia Bustamante wrote in a note Friday, while Fundstrat Global Advisors LLC’s David Grider recommended reducing risk or buying some protection.

The JPMorgan team said blockchain data suggests recent cryptocurrency sales were made to cover losses and that “there is likely still an overhang of underwater positions which need to be cleared through the market.”

Bitcoin has halved from a peak near $65,000 in April, hurt by a cryptocurrency clampdown in China, tightening regulatory scrutiny elsewhere and concerns that the servers underpinning the virtual coin consume too much energy. The prospect of reduced emergency stimulus amid the recovery from the pandemic has also emerged as a possible obstacle for the most speculative investments.

Still, the JPMorgan strategists pointed to stability in the Bitcoin futures market as a positive factor, alongside the possibility of increased production costs as China’s crackdown pushes Bitcoin mining abroad. Some researchers argue the marginal production cost plays an important role in Bitcoin prices.

So while the “cryptocurrency market shows signs that it is not yet healthy, it does also appear to be beginning the process of healing,” they wrote.

The largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 6% to $30,296 on Saturday after dropping almost 8% on Friday. Other coins were also under pressure, with Ether dropping more than 5%. Some chart watchers view the $30,000 level as key for Bitcoin, contending a decline below it could open the way to retreat to $20,000.

Grider, lead digital asset strategist at Fundstrat, noted that a large short position has been building again on the crypto exchange Bitfinex — and said the last time there was a similar situation, negative news out of China took prices lower.



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President, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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SAN SALVADOR: Facing resistance from the World Bank, IMF and opposition parties to his move to make bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele has promised $30 for each citizen who adopts the cryptocurrency.

Initiated by Bukele, El Salvador’s parliament approved a law this month to allow the crypto money to be accepted as tender for all goods and services in the small Central American nation, along with the US dollar, its national currency.

The crypto money will become legal tender in September.

Bukele said that in a bid to boost its wide adoption, each citizen who opens an electronic bitcoin “wallet” named Chivo will have the equivalent of $30 uploaded to their account.

“It will be a gift,” Bukele told national television late Thursday. “Just download and register and you will receive the bitcoin equivalent of $30 to use.”

Bukele did not specify where the money would come from.

He said more than 50,000 people in the country of 6.5 million were already using bitcoin.

On Twitter, the president also accused the opposition of trying to “sow fear” among Salvadorans about the bitcoin law.

He gave an assurance that use of the cryptocurrency will be optional, and wages and pensions in the country will continue to be paid in US dollars.

Bukele has touted the move as a way to make it cheaper and easier for Salvadorans abroad — some 1.5 million, mainly in the United States — to send money back home in the form of remittances, which represent almost a quarter of the country’s GDP.

According to World Bank data, El Salvador received more than $5.9 billion in 2020 from nationals living abroad.

But opposition parties have said the plan is “unworkable” and experts and regulators have highlighted concerns about the currency’s notorious volatility and the lack of protections for its users.

On Tuesday, the cryptocurrency fell beneath $30,000 for the first time in five months. At its highest, bitcoin was worth more than $63,000 in April.

Last week, the World Bank rejected a request from El Salvador for assistance in its bid to adopt bitcoin as a currency, citing “environmental and transparency shortcomings”.

The IMF has also flagged concerns, with spokesman Gerry Rice telling reporters El Salvador’s move “raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues that require careful analysis.”

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has said it will provide technical assistance for El Salvador to regulate the use of bitcoin.

On Thursday, the first bitcoin teller machine was opened in the capital San Salvador, where people can deposit dollars in cash into their bitcoin wallet.

The country’s only other bitcoin machine is in the coastal town of El Zonte, where hundreds of businesses and individuals use the cryptocurrency for everything from paying utilities bills to haircuts or buying a can of soda.



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Once an admirer, Nassim Taleb now says Bitcoin is worth zero, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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MUMBAI: Naseem Taleb, renowned author of highly-regarded books such as Black Swan and Skin in the Game, believes that the true value of a Bitcoin is no higher than a zero.

In a paper titled ‘Bitcoin, Currencies and Bubbles’, Taleb said: “In its current version, in spite of the hype, Bitcoin failed to satisfy the notion of ‘currency without government’ (it proved to not even be a currency at all).

The noted author said that Bitcoin can neither be a short-term or long-term store of value, cannot operate as a reliable hedge against inflation, and “worst of all does not constitute, not even remotely, a tail protection vehicle for catastrophic episodes”.

The former admirer of the cryptocurrency asserted that the true value of a Bitcoin is no higher than zero. “Gold and other precious metals are largely maintenance free, do not degrade over a historical horizon, and do not require maintenance to refresh their physical properties over time. Cryptocurrencies require a sustained amount of interest in them,” Taleb wrote in his paper.

After a trailblazing run for much of 2020 and better part of 2021 so far, Bitcoin has undergone a sharp fall over the past two months triggered by China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency miners and backlash from famous enthusiast Tesla Founder Elon Musk.

After hitting a record high of $62,741 in April, Bitcoin has given up more than 50 per cent over the past two months and is now vulnerable to falling closer to its high hit during the 2017-18 bull market of around $19,000.

The surge in the price of the cryptocurrency over the past 14 months had largely been driven by new interest institutional investors such as hedge funds and certain corporations like Tesla and MicroStrategy.

Much of the interest in the coin from institutional investors rested on the notion that Bitcoin can act as a true hedge against inflation, better even then gold in some opinions. Taleb believes that for a currency to be a hedge against inflation it should have minimum variance against a basket of goods and services, a quality Bitcoin lacks.

Taleb’s paper is likely to further ignite debate in the global investment world on the true role of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In India, cryto enthusiasts often call Bitcoin an asset, not a currency. If that is the case, Taleb’s paper may give them a headache.



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Bitcoin hits nearly 2-week low in wake of China crackdown, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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LONDON/TOKYO: Bitcoin tumbled as much as 9% on Monday as recent volatility in the cryptocurrency market showed no signs of dampening down, with market players citing thin liquidity and China’s expanding crackdown on bitcoin mining.

Bitcoin fell as low as $32,288, its lowest in 12 days, and was last down 7.5%. If sustained, the drop would be its biggest in around a month.

Authorities in the southwest province of Sichuan on Friday ordered cryptocurrency mining projects to close. The State Council, China’s cabinet, last month vowed to clamp down on bitcoin mining and trading as part of a series of measures to control financial risks.

“Crackdown on Chinese miners might mean that they are offloading coin into a thin market and taking us lower,” said Ben Sebley of London-based crypto firm BCB Group.

Production of bitcoin in China accounts for more than half of global bitcoin production. Sichuan is China’s second-biggest bitcoin mining province, according to data compiled by the University of Cambridge. Some miners shift production there in the rainy summer to take advantage of its rich hydropower resources.

Companies that mine bitcoin typically hold large inventories of the cryptocurrency, with any moves to sell large amounts depressing prices.

Bitcoin has dropped by over a fifth in the last six days, and is down by half from its April peak of just shy of $65,000. Still, it has gained over 10% this year.

Smaller rival ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation that tends to move in tandem with bitcoin, dropped as much as 12%, falling below $2,000 for the first time in almost a month. It was last down 10% at $2025.31.



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World Bank rejects El Salvador request for help on Bitcoin implementation, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The World Bank said on Wednesday it could not assist El Salvador‘s bitcoin implementation given environmental and transparency drawbacks.

“We are committed to helping El Salvador in numerous ways including for currency transparency and regulatory processes,” said a World Bank spokesperson via email.

“While the government did approach us for assistance on bitcoin, this is not something the World Bank can support given the environmental and transparency shortcomings.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Salvadoran Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said the Central America country had sought technical assistance from the Bank as it seeks to use bitcoin as a parallel legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar.

El Salvador’s government did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters regarding the World Bank’s decision.

The minister also said ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund had been successful, although the IMF said last week it saw “macroeconomic, financial and legal issues” with the country’s adoption of bitcoin.

Zelaya said on Wednesday the IMF was “not against” the bitcoin implementation. The IMF did not respond to a request for comment.

Investors have recently demanded higher premiums to hold Salvadoran debt, on growing concerns over the completion of the IMF deal, key to patching budget gaps through 2023.

On Wednesday, bonds sold off across the curve, with the 2032 issue down more than 2 cents at 96.25 cents on the dollar. The spread of Salvadoran debt to U.S. Treasuries dipped to 705 basis points after hitting on Tuesday a four-month high of 725 bps.

“There is no fast track for a solution on an IMF program and even uncertainty on whether the bitcoin proposal is compatible with diplomatic U.S. (or) multilateral relations,” said Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America fixed-income strategy at Amherst Pierpont Securities in New York.

El Salvador this month became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, with President Nayib Bukele touting the cryptocurrency’s potential as a remittance currency for Salvadorans overseas.

This month, Bukele also pulled out of an anticorruption accord with the Organization of American States, which dismayed the U.S. government, as Washington looks to stem corruption in Central America as part of its immigration policy.

“The recognition of a ‘Bukele’ risk premium has probably done some permanent damage to investor sentiment,” Morden said in her client note.

The market may be focusing too much on the news headlines, however, and not enough on the possibility of a deal with the IMF, said Shamaila Khan, head of EM debt strategies at AllianceBernstein in New York.

“It is important for El Salvador to get the IMF program done. If it was lost on them, they wouldn’t have the conversations,” she said.

“Our view is too much risk is priced in at these levels.”



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Bitcoin still being called a bubble after May’s 35% crash, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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By Ksenia Galouchko

The view that Bitcoin is a hallmark of speculative excess and froth is still going strong, even after last month’s 35% plunge.

About 80% of fund managers surveyed by Bank of America Corp. called the market a bubble, up from 75% in May. The poll, which captures the view of 207 investors with $645 billion in assets, said “long Bitcoin” is the second-most crowded trade after commodities.

The results point to a skepticism among some professional managers about whether crypto is a viable asset class, given its extreme volatility and regulatory uncertainty. Bubble fears are nothing new for cryptocurrencies, and plenty of investors have voiced doubts over the wisdom of wading into an asset that has no fundamental underpinning.

Even though prices have tumbled, investment banks are still embracing the emerging asset class. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it plans to roll out derivatives tied to Ethereum to clients, and Cowen Inc. plans to offer “institutional-grade” custody services for cryptocurrencies.

Prices also got a boost this week from veteran hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, who reiterated his view that Bitcoin is a good hedge against inflation.

“I like Bitcoin as a portfolio diversifier,” Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment Corp. said in an interview with CNBC. “Everybody asks me what should I do with my Bitcoin? The only thing I know for certain, I want 5% in gold, 5% in Bitcoin, 5% in cash, 5% in commodities.”

Bitcoin still being called a bubble after May’s 35% crashOther highlights from survey, which was conducted June 4 to 10, include:

  • 72% of investors say inflation is transitory
  • 63% expect Federal Reserve to signal tapering in August-September
  • Inflation and bond market taper tantrum tied for the top tail risk
  • Allocation to bonds at three-year low (net -69%), while stocks back up to 2021 highs (61%)
  • Any equity market correction in the next six months likely to be less than 10%, according to 57% of investors
  • Managers favor a mix of value and tech stocks as best-performing assets in next four years
  • Allocation to Eurozone equities increased to net 41% overweight, highest since Jan. 2018
  • Allocation to U.S. equities remained at 6% overweight
  • Exposure to U.K. stocks increased to 4% overweight, highest since March 2014

–With assistance from Michael Msika.



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