Bitcoin (BTC) Reviews - Page 8

Crypto markets continue to struggle, and it seems like traders aren’t sure what to do after the massive sell-off. Basically, there is a lot of confusion among investors and traders when they look at Bitcoin. Firstly, when they look at the price action, they know that Bitcoin struggles when it gets closer to the resistance of 50 to 52K, but then they also know that the current upward trend is still intact. On the regulatory side, things have also started to look more difficult as the new Sheriff on Wall Street has started to make its presence known. For instance, Coinbase receiving a regulatory letter from the SEC isn’t a small thing as the crypto exchange is the most regulated one. If Coinbase can receive such a strong letter from the SEC, other exchanges which have much looser regulatory frameworks should be seriously worried. Having said that, traders shouldn’t allow their judgment to be clouded with the regulatory scrutiny, as it was very much expected that the regulators would adopt a tough stance towards crypto actors, but this has nothing to do with the existence of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is here to stay now, and any pullback could only be considered as an opportunity to bag some bargains.

The slump in equity markets seeped into the performance of crypto markets as well. Yesterday, crypto traders were in a frenzy after El Salvador officially declared Bitcoin, the gold standard of cryptocurrencies, to be its legal tender. Businesses are required to accept Bitcoin in exchange for goods and services under the country’s new regulations. The government has purchased the digital coin worth $20 million and has placed 200 Bitcoin ATMs across the country to facilitate its citizens. Rather than having a positive impact on markets, investors were on a selling spree, despite Bitcoin reaching its highest price since May, surpassing $52,000. Yesterday, Bitcoin fell as much as 16% and is currently trading near $46,500, while Ethereum dropped nearly 12%. Similarly, stocks that are positively correlated with cryptocurrencies fell. Coinbase and MicroStrategy both fell nearly 4% and 9%, respectively. Major exchanges reported operational issues, causing transactions to be delayed in the midst of the market meltdown.

Speaking of the first cryptocurrency, Wadsworth believes that its value will increase "in September, October and, presumably, in November." Some of the leading altcoins (such as ethereum), he said, could also rise significantly, since a rise in prices by 3-4 times is quite likely. PlanB analyst is also confident that BTC will break the $100,000 level by Christmas. This is indicated by the signals of his S2F forecasting model. Bitcoin's prospects for further growth are also indicated by year analysis of cryptocurrency behavior. Analysts at Twitter Root channel are confident that the main driver of BTC is halvings (a 2-time reduction in mining awards). They form a shortage of coins in the market, which positively affects the value of a digital asset. As for bitcoin, it has yet to fulfil the growth potential that halving put into it in May 2020. Another growth driver, besides halving, is the US Federal Reserve's full-fledged printing press. Moreover, both corporations and individuals get substantial chunks of this dollar "pie". CNBC revealed that 11 per cent of young US residents have invested some of the capital they received in the form of assistance from the state during the COVID-19 pandemic in bitcoin and other coins. And 60 per cent of them are set to hold the asset long-term.

In the crypto space, we are still seeing more momentum for the second biggest coin by market cap, Ethereum. It is highly likely that the price may test the 4K price level, and that may open the door for the price to retest all-time high, which matters the most. As for Bitcoin, the price level which matters the most is 50K. BTC has tested the 50K price level a few times now, and if the positive momentum continues to support the price action, we could be looking at a healthy weekend for cryptos.

With each passing day, more and more people and companies are showing interest in the blockchain space. This belief is supported by the fact that venture funding in this industry is at an all-time high. Prior to June, $17 billion had been invested in the crypto business, compared to $7.4 billion in 2018. This is a truly incredible accomplishment. Big corporations have also become key players in the market and are working on ways to let their consumers get in on the action. The scenario of Alpaca and Offchain Labs receiving $170 million in funding can serve as an example of how the funds are being utilised. The funds will be used to improve Arbitrum, the technology that underpins its main net, Arbitrum One, through additional research and development. It also intends to grow its business by hiring more employees.

This "golden beetle" is known as the man who takes every opportunity to strike at cryptocurrency and call for the purchase of gold. However, this time, he did not undertake to dispute the fact that BTC is a great store of value. In fact, the ROI on bitcoin has been 8,900,000% over the past decade. At the same time, he remains bearish and excludes the possibility that the asset will ever be massively used as a means of payment. According to the financier, the only merit of bitcoin is that people speculate on it. Mike McGlone, senior strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, has also repeatedly predicted BTC's growth to $100,000. But, according to the expert, the mainstream of the second largest cryptocurrency by capitalization can become an obstacle to growth. People are beginning to realize that ethereum is “the building block for all financial technology, DeFi and infrastructure in a world that is going digital,” McGlone said. The expert named non-fungible tokens (NFT) as another powerful support for the price of the main altcoin. Such assets are becoming extremely popular and are mostly issued on the ETH blockchain. At the same time, McGlone considers the former Goldman Sachs hedge fund manager Raoul Pal's forecast of ethereum growth to $20,000 as overstated. But, according to the analyst, the price will not fall below $2,000 either, rather the rate will exceed $4,000. The creator of this altcoin, Vitalik Buterin, is much more optimistic about the future of ethereum. He expects that after the recent London hardfork and implementation of EIP-1559, the ETH price will be 10 times higher than current levels and reach $30,000. In this case, the capitalization of this altcoin would reach $3 trillion, and exceed the capitalization of all the major technology companies in the world. In the meantime, this figure is about $380 billion.

Bloomberg experts suggest that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve not one, but several applications for the launch of ETFs on bitcoin futures. The goal is to maintain competition and not give anyone any advantage. The SEC may make its decision by the end of October. And the first European bitcoin futures could be launched as early as mid-September. This was announced by Europe's largest derivatives exchange Eurex. Having reached the medium-term target, the BTC/USD pair is "stuck" in the $47,000-50,000 range. This zone is a kind of intersection of two roads: horizontal and ascending channels. And the mood of the market for the coming weeks depends on whether the pair will be able to break through the support at the level of $47,000.

There were no drivers, so the storm hasn't happened yet. Although the news background is generally quite positive. Thus, one of the digital market locomotives, MicroStrategy, purchased an additional 3,907 BTC on August 24 for about $177 million. The average purchase price was $45,294 per coin. And this suggests that the company does not expect any serious drawdown of the BTC/USD pair, and, on the contrary, expects its further growth. In total, this analytics software provider has invested more than $2.9 billion in digital gold. Now there is a total of 108,992 BTC on MicroStrategy's balance sheet worth over $5 billion.
American banking giant Citigroup is awaiting regulatory approval to begin trading bitcoin futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Citigroup will therefore become another megabank after Goldman Sachs offering similar opportunities.

Citigroup has become the latest entrant into the blockchain arena and is considering trading crypto futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. As per reports, the bank has been cornered into being involved in the digital sector because of surging interest by investors. The international bank is interested in products such as futures because such products are governed by strict regulations. The involvement of Citigroup is significant because it operates on a large scale, operating in nearly 160 countries with more than 200 million customer accounts. Citigroup is following in the footsteps of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, both of which have expressed interest in the cryptocurrency sector. In June, Goldman Sachs announced that it, too, would offer Bitcoin derivatives to its clients and would establish an exclusive trading desk for digital assets. Similarly, Morgan Stanley announced in April that it would offer its clients access to cryptocurrencies via two crypto funds.

Mega Bitcoin investors appear to be increasing their holdings in recent months, coinciding with the massive recovery in crypto prices. These investors have exposures in excess of $50 million and have enhanced their purchases since the end of June. The whales’ activity has been linked to price movement since the beginning of 2021. These investors were the driving force behind the rally seen in February, and they were also the driving force behind the price drop in March and April, when they sold off their holdings to gain returns at peak prices. However, since June, these whales have been purchasing digital coins worth nearly $10 billion, and as per reports, their holdings have returned to February levels. These large investors are usually in it for the long haul, keeping nearly 75% of their purchases. Mega-investor interest suggests that a bullish rally to record-high prices is on the horizon.

Bitcoin was finally able to cover ground above the $50,000 territory, which was considered a crucial psychological resistance for crypto traders. Overcoming what some had considered major challenges and barriers, the king of crypto is likely to test all-time highs once again. For the time being, investors can expect the notorious digital coin to trade in wider ranges. The sentiment in the market was boosted by PayPal’s update that it would grant access to consumers in the United Kingdom to crypto transactions. This is the company’s first move to expand its crypto services internationally, indicating a rapid adoption of the industry. Bulls rallied after remarks by Musk and Cathie Wood, of Ark Invest, provided some support for the falling crypto prices. Furthermore, rumours about Amazon’s potential involvement in the crypto sector also helped the bulls to drag the ill-famed digital tokens to month-long highs. The retracement of prices has helped the market capitalization of digital currencies to rise from $1.2 trillion a month ago to nearly $2.2 trillion now. Investors should understand that the hash rate has also displayed a significant turnaround from its July lows. Hash rate is basically an indicator of how much computational power is being pumped in to improve the Bitcoin network. An improvement in this indicator shows that the sector is rapidly adjusting after clampdowns seen earlier in China.

According to McGlone's forecast, bitcoin could well reach $100,000 in the medium term. The well-known cryptanalyst PlanB calls a slightly bigger figure. In his opinion, bitcoin follows the Stock-to-Flow (S2F) model he developed very closely, so the BTC/USD pair should reach $135,000 by the end of December. Of course, all these figures are only the assumptions of specialists. Another cryptocurrency analyst Benjamin Cowen believes bitcoin is facing a crucial test this September, which will determine the future direction of the entire market. Bitcoin has tested the 20-week moving average every September since 2017 and either bounced or broke through it. And if another test happens this September, it will be possible to make a forecast basing on it until April 2022. “We will find out if the market will be bullish or if growth will stall for several months,” the analyst says. The 20-week MA is currently around $43,500 and if BTC can hold that level as support, according to Benjamin Cowen, we will see an upward move. Santiment, a web data analysis firm, reported encouraging data for investors. Bitcoin supply on exchanges fell to a two-week low. This suggests that a large amount of BTC will go to cold wallets. Analyst firm Glassnode has made a similar observation: “Bitcoin continued to leave exchanges in August at rates ranging from 75,000 to 100,000 coins per month. This outflow is similar to the period between 2020 and the Q1 21, when large accumulations prevailed.”

Very strong drivers are needed to dramatically push the market up or down. World media reporters drew attention to Jerome Powell's online speech to students at the Town Hall conference. The Fed chief noted the ever-increasing importance of cryptocurrencies, outlining the phrase about the U.S. Treasury's examination of holding a portion of the country's reserves in digital assets. Making such a decision would literally blow up the cryptocurrency market, repeating the situation of 2017. The price of bitcoin soared then from $750 to $19,270, which is 25 times, getting the slang name “To the Moon”. But for now, the head of the Federal Reserve's reasoning about supporting cryptocurrencies is only theoretical. Bloomberg analyst Michael McGlone also spoke in favor of the first cryptocurrency, who emphasized that “digitalizing money and the financial industry” gives bitcoin a huge boost to growth. Once upon a time, similar factors allowed the US dollar to dominate the global financial arena. At the same time gold, according to the analyst, has no strong drivers for growth, and BTC is therefore quite capable of replacing this metal as an asset for risk hedging and wealth accumulation.

Bitcoin has slowly and uncertainly creeped up all week, trying to overcome a strong level of resistance around $48,000. Two attempts, on August 14 and 16, ended in failure, after which BTC/USD rolled back to the support of $44,000. At the time of writing this review, towards the end of Friday, August 20, it went to the assault again, broke through the resistance and reached the level of $49,000 in the thin market. The total crypto market capitalization increased over the week from $1.957 trillion to $2.043 trillion, that is, by just 4.4%. And, although it has overcome the $2.0 trillion bar, it is not at all a fact that it will be able to gain a foothold above this level. Trading volumes on the BTC network remain low. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has also remained still at 70 points. This sluggishness and uncertainty may be due to the fact that large institutional investors are currently focusing on the traditional market. But we must not forget that mid-August is the height of the holiday period, and many traders will not step up until the end of the month.

Robinhood reported $565 million in revenue in the second quarter, according to earnings released yesterday. It more than doubled its revenue in the second quarter compared to the first. The company’s financial performance was heavily influenced by cryptocurrency activity. Crypto trading generated $233 million in revenue for Robinhood, accounting for more than half of all transaction-based revenue. This increased the company’s crypto revenue share from 17% in the first quarter to more than 51% now. Despite the boost in earnings, Robinhood’s share price fell as the company warned investors of a drop in trading activity in the coming months. This would have a negative impact on company profits. Furthermore, stock traders are unsure whether the volatile digital currencies can be long-term drivers of earnings.

The slump in equity markets has affected crypto markets as well; as a result digital coins are going through a correction in prices. Going forward, the price action of cryptocurrencies is likely to show strength as they have been testing their respective resistance levels over the past few days. A breakthrough of these levels would propel the digital currencies to fly even higher. Investors should keep in mind that the cryptocurrency industry is undergoing a revolution, and many institutions are working to make the use of these digital assets a reality in the near future. Visa is one of these businesses. Visa is working hard to connect global electronic payment systems to blockchain technology. As of now, 54 fintech companies have joined Visa in its goal of making it simple for consumers to use digital coins as a means of payment. In 2021, the company’s crypto-connected debit cards assisted in conducting transactions worth nearly $1 billion. This development demonstrates the enormous potential of cryptocurrencies, and as a result, now could be a good time for investors to scoop up some bargains before crypto prices resurge again.

Bitcoin prices have risen in recent weeks, with new data indicating that institutional investors are becoming increasingly interested in the blockchain space. The digital coins are being used as a diversification strategy by large corporations. Capital worth $17 billion has already been invested in the sector as of 2021. The biggest asset manager in the world, having assets worth $9.5 trillion under its management, BlackRock has exposure to cryptocurrencies through its Global Allocation and Strategic Income Opportunities funds. Similarly, CoinDCX has become a first of its kind crypto startup to achieve unicorn status in India. The startup has raised $90 million in funding.

Reputable bankers like Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and fellow JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon continue to criticize cryptocurrency. But at the same time, they and many other banks continue to actively implement services related to digital assets. And analysts at JPMorgan predicted BTC's rise to $146,000 earlier in the year. Disputes about where it is better to invest money, in precious metal or in cryptocurrencies, do not subside. At the same time, simple calculations show the obvious superiority of bitcoin. The price of gold has fallen by about 5.5% over the past 10 years. As for the core cryptocurrency, it grew 571,000% during the same time. That is, having invested only two dollars in bitcoin then, you would be a millionaire by now. In the last five years alone, gold has fallen in price against bitcoin by 25 times. The numbers speak for themselves. But the reliability of investments cannot be forgotten. Between 2010 and 2015, the price of gold experienced a maximum drop, losing approximately 40% in five years. But if you look at the April-May chart this year, you'll see that bitcoin lost the same 40% in just four weeks! Investing in cryptocurrencies requires significantly stronger nerves and a safety margin. During the rapid collapse of the crypto market, some get rid of their coins, succumbing to panic. Others, on the other hand, see such corrections as an excellent buying opportunity.

The past week did not spoil the spring mood. Bitcoin has heaped by about 12% in seven days and is approaching $47,800 at the time of writing. The total capitalization of the crypto market increased over the same period from $1.67 trillion to $1.957 trillion, and the day it will once again cross the bar of $2.0 tn seems not far off. As for the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, it finally moved from the central zone to the green part of the scale, rising from 52 points to 70. At the same time, it is still far away to a state of severe overbought, which foreshadow a strong correction. And it gives investors hope that the day will come when the BTC/USD pair updates its historic high. In addition to optimists, of course there are enough pessimists in the market. Including those among recognized professionals. For example, Bridgewater Associates billionaire founder Ray Dalio does not rule out bitcoin growth, but still prefers gold. Dalio has stated that he holds a "very small volume" of bitcoin. “If you put a gun to my head and let me choose only one of the two, I’ll choose gold,” he said.

According to Tom Lee, head of research firm Fundstrat, the “golden rule” for crypto investors is to buy bitcoin every time the quotes cross the 200-day moving average (MA 200) from the bottom up. Starting in 2017, in three out of five cases, the closing of the daily candle above this line was the beginning of a gradual increase in trading volumes and the development of long-term upward trends that lasted from 4 months to a year. Two failures, according to Tom Lee, do not in any way cancel his "golden rule", since in these cases the BTC rate managed to rise enough for traders to protect their positions from any loss. Tom Lee also reiterated his prediction that he sees bitcoin in the region of $100,000-120,000 in 2022. Bloomberg Intelligence senior strategist Mike McGlone pointed to the same level of $100,000 in his latest report. “Bitcoin seems to have found support around the $30,000 mark, just as it did at $4,000 in early 2019. We see parallels with those events and, apparently, bitcoin may well reach $100,000," he wrote. More modest predictions were given by three other crypto experts. Well-known cryptocurrency analyst Willie Wu believes that, based on fundamentals, the fair price for bitcoin is $53,200. However, he warned that fundamental factors do not allow forecasting for a short period, but with sufficient time, they will fully justify themselves. Another analyst, Will Clemente, agreed with Wu's opinion and noted that, based on the bitcoin liquidity data from the Glassnode analytical platform, he predicted its growth to about $53,000 back on July 31. The well-known crypto strategist with the nickname Crypto Dog confirmed these predictions. In his opinion, "bitcoin will get to $50,000 very soon."