Category Archives: Bitcoin
Bitcoin briefly tops $28,000 for the first time in 9 months after bank crisis sparks weekend rally – CNBC
Bitcoin is up 50% so far in 2023, beating major commodities and stock indexes. Industry insiders said the bank collapses have sent investors looking for alternatives to the traditional banking system and there is also anticipation of a slowdown in interest rate rises, which is helping bitcoin.
Filip Radwanski | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Bitcoin climbed past the $28,000 level over the weekend as investors rediscover its appeal as an alternative banking system.
On Monday, the cryptocurrency had pulled back a bit. Bitcoin fell more than 2% to $27,705.23, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier in the day, it hit $28,554.07, it's highest level in nine months. Meanwhile, ether fell 3.5% to $1,765.60.
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Bitcoin (BTC) this month
The weekend rally in bitcoin came amid continued turmoil in the global banking sector. On Sunday, UBSagreed to buy Credit Suissefor 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.2 billion) in a deal partly brokered by the Swiss regulators looking to stem contagion.
"Bitcoin continues to trade like a leading risk-on asset, like it has for the past two years," said James Lavish, managing partner at the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund. "The rescue of Credit Suisse has put out a large credit fire ... this emboldens bitcoin buyers who are now anticipating the Fed slowing the increase in rates and signaling a coming pause this week."
As of Monday afternoon, there is about a 72% chance of a quarter-point increase by the Fed, according toCME Group's FedWatch tool. The other 28% anticipates there will be no hike and that Chairman Jerome Powell may start to ease his aggressive tightening campaign due to the emerging financial contagion.
Bitcoin is coming off its best week since January 2021, which was right before the first bull run that year, while ether just posted its best weekly gain since August 2021. The two are up for the year by 67% and 46%, respectively.
Advocates of bitcoin have often dubbed it "digital gold" referring to it as a store of value, particularly in moments of global turmoil, and one that is uncorrelated with other asset classes.
Now, there are signals bitcoin's price movement is beginning to decouple from stocks, for now. The cryptocurrency's correlation with the S&P 500 is now at its lowest since September 2021, after reaching its highest in 2022, according to Coin Metrics.
"If one looks at the history of bitcoin and why it was created in the first place, it was precisely for events like this where the current system shows signs of weakness and hence owning an uncorrelated asset helps," Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC. "Over the years, this argument of bitcoin being an uncorrelated asset class has been debated quite a bit, but we are now potentially seeing that viewpoint being vindicated."
Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and Manas Agrawal argued in a Monday note that the market has been trading closer to its "uncorrelated non-sovereign roots" since the demise of FTX and the market structure "feels a lot healthier, with no more distortions caused by FTX and Alameda."
In contrast to bitcoin and ether's year-to-date gains, returns on gold, the dollar, U.S. equities and bonds were "less impaired last year, but have not bounced back as sharply" either, and tech-dominated indices have performed only marginally better when high growth assets were beaten down during the rising rate cycle, they added.
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Bitcoin briefly tops $28,000 for the first time in 9 months after bank crisis sparks weekend rally - CNBC
$28.7K Could Be Next Level To Break For Bitcoin, Heres Why – NewsBTC
On-chain data suggests the $28,700 mark, which Bitcoin has yet to hit since the LUNA collapse, could be the next major obstacle to clear for the asset.
According to data from the on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the $28,700 is the cost basis (that is, the acquisition price) of a specific whale group in the BTC market. The relevant indicator here is the realized price, a value derived from the realized cap, a capitalization model for Bitcoin.
Instead of taking the value of each coin in the circulating BTC supply the same as the current asset price, the realized cap assumes that the actual value of any coin is the price at which it was last transacted on the chain.
The realized price is obtained when this metric is divided by the total number of coins in circulation. As the realized cap accounted for the price at which holders bought their coins, that is to say, their cost basis, what the realized price signifies is the cost basis of the average investor in the market.
In the context of the current topic, the realized price has been applied to three whale cohorts to find their average acquisition prices. To better identify the price at which these whales first bought their coins, Glassnode has used their exchange withdrawal transactions as the point at which they acquired their Bitcoin (as exchanges are what holders generally use for buying purposes).
Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin realized price of these whale groups over the last couple of years:
Whales have been put into these three groups based on the period they bought their coins. For example, the 12 March 2020 cohort includes all whales that have acquired their coins between now and then.
As shown in the above graph, the 5 July 2017 whale group has the lowest cost basis at $18,000, below which BTC was stuck during the lows after the FTX collapse. Sometime later, the coin attempted to put together a rise and get above this level, but it found rejection.
However, with the rally this year, BTC finally broke through this level. The rise continued until the cryptocurrency tested the 16 December 2018 whales cost basis of $23,800 and found resistance.
From the chart, its apparent that the asset struggled around this mark for a while until the sharp price surge of the past week took place, and the asset managed to clear this level.
Now, Bitcoins price is above the $28,000 mark, and the coin is fast approaching the cost basis of the final cohort, the 12 March 2020 whales. Given that the other two whale groups provided resistance to the price, its possible that the $28,700 cost basis of the last group could also cause trouble to the asset.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $28,000, up 9% in the last week.
Featured image from Kanchanara on Unsplash.com, charts from TradingView.com, Glassnode.com
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$28.7K Could Be Next Level To Break For Bitcoin, Heres Why - NewsBTC
Mt. Gox creditor saga: What lessons has the Bitcoin community learned? – Cointelegraph
In the early days of Bitcoin, Mt. Gox was by far the most prominent Bitcoin (BTC) exchange in the world. The Tokyo-based company was responsible for more than 70% of all Bitcoin transactions in 2013. However, by early 2014, it had collapsed spectacularly, leaving investors and traders with losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The downfall of Mt. Gox was a defining moment in the history of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general, with several regulators, market analysts and industry experts continuing to study the case to prevent such instances in the future. Moreover, the saga has continued to serve as a cautionary tale for the cryptocurrency industry, highlighting the potential risks and pitfalls associated with digital currency trading and investments.
Mt. Gox was launched in 2010 by Jed McCaleb, a programmer and entrepreneur who had previously founded the file-sharing network eDonkey2000. At the time, Bitcoin was still a niche technology that was largely unknown outside of a small group of enthusiasts and developers. Mt. Gox was one of the first exchanges that allowed users to buy and sell Bitcoin for fiat assets, thereby quickly amassing a high degree of popularity among early adopters and traders.
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In 2011, McCaleb sold Mt. Gox to Mark Karpeles, a French software developer who had previously worked on various projects, including an online marketplace called Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange. Karpeles moved the companys headquarters to Tokyo and began to expand its operations, opening up new markets and adding support for additional cryptocurrencies. This transformed Mt. Gox into the most prominent crypto trading ecosystem of the early 2010s.
In February 2014, Mt. Gox abruptly halted all withdrawals from its platform, citing technical issues and security concerns. The companys website went offline, and rumors circulated that the exchange had been hacked. A few days later, Karpeles held a press conference in Tokyo where he confirmed that Mt. Gox had indeed been hacked, and miscreants had stolen 850,000 Bitcoin worth approximately $450 million at the time.
The Mt. Gox hack was one of the largest thefts in the history of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, and it had a significant impact on the broader industry. The price of Bitcoin dropped sharply in the days following the announcement, with many investors and traders losing confidence in the security and reliability of digital currency exchanges.
In the months following the Mt. Gox hack, there was great uncertainty and confusion about what had happened to the stolen Bitcoin, and who was responsible for the theft. Karpeles initially claimed that the coins had been stolen due to a bug in Mt. Goxs software, but experts and members of the Bitcoin community widely criticized this explanation.
In March 2014, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan, and Japanese authorities seized the companys assets. Karpeles was eventually arrested and charged with embezzlement and fraud in connection with the exchanges collapse, but he has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming that he was simply a victim of circumstances beyond his control.
The Mt. Gox bankruptcy proceedings were complicated and protracted, with multiple legal challenges and competing claims from creditors and investors. In 2018, a Japanese court ruled that Mt. Goxs assets should be liquidated and distributed among its creditors a process that is still ongoing.
In 2018, after several years of legal battles and investigations, a Japanese court approved a plan to compensate the victims of the Mt. Gox hack. The plan, which a court-appointed trustee proposed, called for the creation of a trust to hold the remaining Bitcoin and distribute them to the creditors. The trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, was tasked with overseeing the distribution of the remaining funds.
The first step in the plan was to convert the remaining Bitcoin into cash. The trustee sold over 35,000 BTC and 34,000 Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on various cryptocurrency exchanges, raising over $400 million. This was a significant achievement, as it represented the largest sale of cryptocurrency by a single entity in history.
In March 2020, the trustee announced that a new system had been implemented to allow creditors to make claims for the remaining funds. Creditors were required to submit proof of their claim, including documentation such as bank statements, transaction records and identification documents. The deadline for submitting claims was set for October 2020, which was subsequently pushed back to December.
In December 2020, the trustee announced that it had received claims from 99.9% of the creditors. The total amount of claims submitted was approximately $16 billion, which was significantly higher than the remaining funds available for distribution. This presented a significant challenge for Kobayashi, as he had to determine how to distribute the remaining funds fairly.
In January 2021, the trustee submitted a draft rehabilitation plan to the court. The plan proposed that the remaining funds be distributed in Bitcoin rather than cash, as this would avoid the need to sell the remaining cryptocurrency and risk affecting the market. The plan also proposed that the creditors be given the option to receive reimbursement in Bitcoin or cash, with the conversion rate based on the market price at the time of distribution.
As expected, the proposed rehabilitation plan received mixed reactions from the creditors. Some creditors welcomed the plan, as it offered the possibility of a higher reimbursement if the price of Bitcoin increased. However, others were skeptical, as the value of Bitcoin is highly volatile and subject to significant fluctuations. Some creditors also expressed concerns about the potential tax implications of receiving reimbursement in Bitcoin.
During the first week of September 2022, Kobayashi announced that former Mt. Gox customers had until Sept. 15 to make or transfer a claim. This date was then pushed back to Jan. 10, 2023, with Kobayashi urging creditors to complete the necessary steps before the deadline.
Kobayashi informed creditors that those individuals who failed to do so would be unable to receive their funds quickly or would be required to supply several documents to the firms head office in Japan. Even then, they would only be able to receive payments in Japanese yen.
However, the deadline was moved to March 10, citing the progress by rehabilitation creditors in the selection and registration as a reason for the change. In fact, as part of a March 7 announcement, the trustee reiterated a January notice reminding creditors who had not registered for repayment that they had until March 10 to do so two additional months as part of the rehabilitation plan proposed earlier.
Kobayashi did not provide a reason for the extension, which would allow individuals who suffered losses at Mt. Gox to select a repayment method and register their information in an online rehabilitation claim filing system.
Additionally, it bears mentioning that amid all these changes, Mt. Gox Investment Fund the largest creditor of the defunct crypto exchange opted for an early payout in Bitcoin rather than wait longer for a larger payment after a legal battle. The early payout meant creditors would receive approximately 90% of what was due. The bankruptcy trustee doesnt have to sell tokens to acquire fiat funds for the payment since the creditor also chose to be paid in BTC.
Most recently, the timeline for filing claims and distribution of assets to Mt. Gox creditors seems to have been amended again. As per an official announcement, the deadline for filing claims has been extended by another month, from March 10 to April 6, 2023, allowing creditors to register their claims for an additional period. The distribution of assets has also been pushed back by another month, with the process now starting on Oct. 31 instead of Sept. 30.
The official statement released by the Mt. Gox trustee cited several reasons for the delay in the deadlines, including the progress made by rehabilitation creditors in terms of selection and registration. Creditors have multiple options for receiving payments, including a lump-sum payment, bank remittance, via a transfer service provider or a cryptocurrency exchange or custodian.
One crucial lesson learned from the Mt. Gox collapse is the value of transparency and accountability. Many critics argued that the hacks severity was partly due to the exchanges opacity and secrecy regarding its operations. Nowadays, reputable cryptocurrency exchanges are relatively more transparent, with some frequently publishing audits and reports to reassure customers and investors.
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Another lesson from the Mt. Gox failure was the need for better risk management and financial controls. In the early days of Bitcoin, many exchanges were run by tech enthusiasts and entrepreneurs with little to no experience in finance or risk management. Today, exchanges have more professional and experienced management teams implementing better financial controls and risk management practices.
Lastly, the Mt. Gox hack revealed the necessity for improved regulation and oversight of the cryptocurrency industry. Since the collapse, regulators worldwide have proposed new rules and regulations to protect investors and traders, including stricter Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer requirements. While some may view these regulations as excessively restrictive, others believe they are necessary to prevent fraud and safeguard consumers.
The Mt. Gox incident continues to serve as a cautionary tale regarding digital assets potential risks and dangers, emphasizing the need for greater transparency, accountability and risk management.
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Mt. Gox creditor saga: What lessons has the Bitcoin community learned? - Cointelegraph
Bitcoins banking crisis surge will attract more institutions: ARKs Cathie Wood – Cointelegraph
The value proposition of Bitcoin (BTC) is on full display amid the current banking crisis, which will only attract more institutions to the BTC market over time, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood believes.
Wood shared her thoughts on BTCs recent price surge in a March 21 Bloomberg interview, stating its price behavior through the crisis is going to attract more institutions.
The fact that Bitcoin moved in a very different way from the equity markets, in particular, was quite instructive, she added.
Institutional interest in Bitcoin may have already arrived, according to Oliver Linch, the CEO of Seattle-based crypto exchange Bittrex.
Linch noted in a March 21 interview on The Wolf Of All Streetspodcast that many big banks bought into crypto as an investment product well before the recent banking crisis:
However, he said that theres still a divide between traditional financial institutions and crypto firms, which has caused headwinds in institutional adoption over the last few months.
Historically, those big players have been the biggest drivers of innovation, he said, adding that the two sides are currently stuck in a bit of a rut and that the big change wont happen until they stop fighting for superiority.
As for the impact on Bitcoins price from the institutional interest, Wood explained in the interview that ARK Invests $1-1.5 million BTC price prediction by 2030 was made on the back of an institutional investor BTC allocation analysis, which estimates most firms would allocate between 2.5% to 6.5% to BTC in their investment portfolios.
These are the sorts of allocations that they would have made to emerging, new categories of assets like real estate in the 70s and small caps in the 80s and 90s, Wood added.
Related: Bitcoin holds $28K due to spot buying, but institutional investors are still selling
Linch, on the other hand, believes that aggressive institutional adoption will come when opportunities become more easily identifiable:
Positive sentiment has surrounded Bitcoin following the collapses of Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature banks. BTC has surged 43.6% since its most recent low on March 11, compared with a 25.3% increase in the broader crypto market over that time, according to CoinGecko data.
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Bitcoins banking crisis surge will attract more institutions: ARKs Cathie Wood - Cointelegraph
Crypto Exchange Bitzlato Restores User Access to Half of Bitcoin … – Bitcoin News
Bitzlato users can now partially withdraw their bitcoin funds from the dismantled cryptocurrency exchange, according to a media report. The Russia-linked trading platform was targeted by Western law enforcement and had its France-based server infrastructure seized in January.
Users of Bitzlatos web portal and app can now withdraw a portion of the funds they had with the crypto exchange when it was busted by French and U.S. authorities in mid-January. Since Monday, its clients have access to half of their bitcoin (BTC) balances.
Account holders can withdraw up to 50% of their bitcoins, Bitzlato representatives told the Russian-language crypto news outlet Forklog. The minimum withdrawal amount is 0.001 BTC and the commission is 0.0003 BTC, the report detailed.
Withdrawals can be ordered through a Telegram bot and users need to provide the email address of their Bitzlato account, the article explained. Upon verification, a code necessary to complete the transfer is generated and sent to that email inbox.
The Hong Kong-registered exchange was dismantled based on allegations that it processed more than $700 million dollars worth of illicit funds, as the U.S. Justice Department announced, or over $1 billion, according to Europol.
The dirty money was allegedly related to various criminal activities and actors, including the former largest darknet market Hydra, which was shut down by Germany in April, and Russias biggest crypto pyramid scheme, Finiko.
Bitzlato co-founder and majority owner Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national residing in China, was arrested in Miami. Four more members of Bitzlatos team were detained in Europe while another co-founder, Anton Shkurenko, was questioned and released in Russia.
In an interview on Youtube, Shkurenko had announced plans to relocate the exchange to Russia and relaunch operations from there. He also promised to partially restore withdrawals despite French law enforcement having seized the platforms hot wallet.
According to a survey conducted among almost 3,300 respondents in Bitzlatos news channel on Telegram, 30% of users are withdrawing funds without issues, 3% experienced short-term asset freezes, the money of another 4% is still blocked, 12% are yet to decide how to withdraw, and more than half of the polled intend to wait for the platforms peer-to-peer market to reopen.
What are your thoughts on the Bitzlato case? Share them in the comments section below.
Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchenss quote: Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do. Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
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Crypto Exchange Bitzlato Restores User Access to Half of Bitcoin ... - Bitcoin News
Bitcoin on Verge of Breakout Towards $30K, But These Metrics … – Cryptonews
Bitcoin on fire. Source: Adobe
According to technical analysts looking at the Bitcoin market on a short-term time horizon, the worlds largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization looks like it could be on the verge of a breakout towards the psychologically important $30,000 level and perhaps on towards the next major resistance zone around $32,500-$33,000.
Looking at BTC/USD on the four-hour candlesticks, a bullish ascending triangle pattern appears to have formed. These technical patterns often form ahead of bullish breakouts.
Though bulls be warned Bitcoin formed a similar pattern between the 16th and 21st of February but failed to break higher (in the immediate future anyway), and instead spent the next few weeks pulling lower again.
Traders are looking ahead to Wednesdays US Federal Reserve policy meeting as the next potential bullish catalyst.
The bank is expected to lift interest rates by a further 25 bps to the 4.75-5.0% range, but there is a chance they could hold amid concerns about cracks appearing in the US banking system.
Analysts have argued that whatever the outcome (i.e. hawkish or dovish), Bitcoin could benefit.
On the one hand, a hawkish Fed could worsen the bank crisis and further spur safe-haven appeal for Bitcoin (this has been a key tailwind for Bitcoin in recent weeks).
On the other, a dovish Fed could result in financial conditions easing, which could also boost Bitcoin (and broader crypto markets).
While many bulls are feeling confident in Bitcoins near-term outlook, it might be wise to temper expectations for further short-term gains, given that a number of metrics point to the Bitcoin market having become very hot.
In wake of the recent surge from earlier monthly lows under $20,000 to current levels above $28,000, Bitcoins 14-Day Relative Strength Index (RSI) score has leapt from oversold territory to overbought territory (defined as above 70).
Bitcoins RSI was last around 71.5.
That doesnt necessarily mean the market cant keep pushing higher. On January 10th, Bitcoins RSI pushed into overbought territory, but prices proceeded to rally from $17,500 to around $23,000 by the end of the month anyway.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin is trading at historically significant levels of elevation versus many of its major moving averages. BTC/USD was last around 18% higher versus its 21-Day Moving Average (DMA), 19% up versus its 50DMA, 32.5% up versus its 50DMA and 40% up versus its 200DMA.
Thats the most up the cryptocurrency has been versus its 100 and 200DMAs since late 2021, right when Bitcoin was hitting all-time highs. Meanwhile, thats close to the most Bitcoin has been up this year since its 21 and 50DMAs.
An alternative way at looking at the Bitcoin markets momentum and assessing as to whether the cryptocurrency is getting overstretched is to look at its Z-score to its 200DMA.
This is essentially how many standard deviations Bitcoin is (at its current price) above its mean price over the last 200 days.
Bitcoins Z-score to its 200DMA recently surpassed 3, meaning at current levels in above $28,000, BTC/USD is more than 3 standard deviations above its mean price over the last 200 days.
This is a rare event in Bitcoins history and typically only occurs during aggressive bull markets.
Recent history suggests that the Z-score rising above 3 doesnt necessarily mean an imminent correction is incoming.
In late-2020/early 2021, Bitcoins Z-score was above 3 for a prolonged period during which the BTC price continued to experience exponential gains, before the rally eventually start cooling off.
Another alternative way to assess whether the Bitcoin rally is getting too hot is to look at where the current Bitcoin price is trading versus various estimates of the cryptocurrencys fair value based on its historic relationship to traditional asset classes with which it has a correlation.
The graph below represents how much above or below Bitcoin is trading versus estimates of its fair value given the cryptocurrencys historic relation to the S&P 500, DXY, US 2-year yield and US 10-year yield over the past 60 days. The fair value is calculated by calculating using regression analysis.
Bitcoin is currently trading around 30% above its fair value to each of these assets, close to its highest level since early 2021. At the very least, that suggests we have a very hot Bitcoin market on our hands.
While various metrics suggest things are really heating up, history says things can still get a lot hotter.
The RSI has been higher for longer and more sustained periods of time.
Bitcoin has traded at more extended levels versus major moving averages for sustained periods during bull markets.
Bitcoins Z-score to its 200DMA has also remained at higher than current levels for longer, just has Bitcoins price versus various measures of its short-term fair value.
Meanwhile, as discussed in recent articles, various on-chain metrics pertaining to network activity, the balance of USD-denominated Bitcoin wealth amongst wallets and Bitcoin market profitability and all screaming bull market signals.
If we really are facing a new global financial crisis and central banks like the Fed are forced to start cutting interest rates again/return to quantitative easing, the Bitcoin bull market could yet go into overdrive.
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Bitcoin on Verge of Breakout Towards $30K, But These Metrics ... - Cryptonews
Why Ethereum Could See Further Rise After Bitcoin Rally Ends – Bitcoinist
On-chain data suggests Ethereum is in a better long-term growth position than Bitcoin and could thus see gains even after BTCs rally ends.
As an analyst in a CryptoQuant post pointed out, investors have been depositing Bitcoin into exchanges recently. The indicator of interest here is the exchange reserve, which measures the total amount of a cryptocurrency currently being stored in the wallets of all centralized exchanges.
When the value of this metric declines, it means the given asset is exiting exchanges right now. Generally, when prolonged, this trend can be bullish for the price as it suggests the investors might be accumulating.
On the other hand, the indicators value going down implies the holders are depositing their coins to these platforms. As one of the main reasons investors would transfer their holdings to exchanges is for selling purposes, such a trend can prove to be bearish for the cryptocurrencys price.
Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin exchange reserve over the last few weeks:
As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin exchange reserve went down earlier in the month when the price plunged below the $20,000 level. This suggests that some fresh buying was taking place at these lows.
Since the rally has restarted, however, the indicators value has also reversed its trend and sharply increased along with the price. This could signify that holders may be rushing to sell their coins while the profit-taking opportunity remains.
Though, its hard to say how many deposits are being made for this purpose, as the indicator used here measures the reserves of spot platforms (which investors use for selling and buying) and the derivative exchanges.
Below is another chart, this time for the Ethereum exchange reserve.
From the chart, its apparent that, much like for Bitcoin, the Ethereum exchange reserve plummeted around the recent lows, and the metric has also followed an uptrend during the latest price surge.
However, the pace at which the ETH deposits have taken place is different. BTCs inflows were rapid, and the total number of coins that flowed in during this surge surpassed the amount taken out during the lows. ETHs exchange reserve, however, has been slowly growing and is still far from the level seen before the recent lows.
This could suggest that Ethereum is not yet facing selling pressure of the same intensity as Bitcoin. Because of this, the quant thinks that even after the rise in BTC ends, ETH could still be expected to continue to see a strong rise.
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around $1,800, up 3% in the last week.
Featured image from Kanchanara on Unsplash.com, charts from TradingView.com, CryptoQuant.com
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Why Ethereum Could See Further Rise After Bitcoin Rally Ends - Bitcoinist
Crypto companies finally catch a break with surge in Bitcoin price, app downloads – Yahoo Finance
The collapse this month of Silicon Valley Bank and other banks catering to crypto clients felt like yet another instance of bad news for a crypto industry that's seen more than its fair share in the last six months. But the banking crisis has come with a silver lining: According to data from Apptopia, downloads of crypto apps have jumped more than 15% while those of banking apps have fallen around 5% during the same time.
This suggests a decline of confidence in the banking sector, especially among younger people who are more likely to use financial apps in the first place. This may give you pause about the health of the financial sector (or perhaps about the health of the world in general), but it is certainly good news for crypto companies that have been seeing months of waning interest in their services.
Meanwhile, the spike in app downloads has coincided with a surge in overall crypto prices. Bitcoin is currently trading over $28,000, which is up around 7% in the last week and nearly double where it was trading at the start of the year. Most other cryptocurrencies have experienced double-digit surges as well. This will deliver a welcome boost in trading revenue for the likes of pure crypto companies like Coinbase and Binance, but also for Robinhood, PayPal, and a growing list of other traditional firms that now offer crypto trading.
If you're unfamiliar, the economics of crypto platforms is pretty simple: Firms take a cut of each trade, either as a commission or through the buy-sell spread, and so higher prices mean higher profits. There's more money to be made brokering a trade when Bitcoin is at $28,000 than when it's at $16,000.
All of this is still a far cry from the giddy days of 2021 when Bitcoin was pushing $60,000 and everyone and their dog was vying to get into crypto. But these recent developments will deliver a nice fillip to quarterly earnings, and provide some breathing room to crypto companies as they try to figure out an economic path forward. Given the events of the last six months, they will be happy to take that.
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Jeff John Robertsjeff.roberts@fortune.com@jeffjohnroberts
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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Crypto companies finally catch a break with surge in Bitcoin price, app downloads - Yahoo Finance
Veteran Trader Peter Brandt Thinks Bitcoin (BTC) Halving Is Non … – U.Today
Tomiwabold Olajide
Legendary Trader Peter Brandt believes Bitcoin (BTC) halving is overly exaggerated
BTC halving is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in Bitcoin's history. The event where the reward for mining new blocks is halved remains the core feature of Bitcoin's programmatic monetary policy.
The potential impact of halving events remains an often-discussed subject in the crypto space.
Veteran traderPeter Brandt, however, thinks that Bitcoin halving is a non-event and way overrated. The veteran trader did not provide any reason for this deduction, but his preceding tweets may provide some context.
Brandt was reacting to trader "Big Cheds" tweet that Bitcoin was unlikely to reach $50,000 or even $1 million in the next 90 days (referring to former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan's BTC prediction).
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The veteran trader responded that all predictions were just guesses. He predicts Bitcoin is 12 months away from new ATHs.
In response to Peter Brandt's prediction, a Twitter user asked, "Aligns with the halving date, coincidence?" Brandt thus responded, "Halving is way overrated and a non-event."
Bitcoin is nearing yet another milestone: its fourth halving event, or the fourth protocol-designed 50% drop in block rewards that happens every 210,000 blocks (roughly every four years).
As reported, on-chain analyst and Capriole Fund founder Charles Edwards believes the market is in optimal halving cycle timing where Bitcoin typically bottoms.
"Like clockwork, Bitcoin has bottomed in the window 12-18 months prior to every halving in the past," Edwards stated, pointing out that January might be the start of the bull market for Bitcoin.
In the third halving epoch, Bitcoin miners receive a reward of 6.25 BTC per block. Around block 840,000, or about May 4, 2024, Bitcoin will go through its fourth scheduled halving, where the per-block reward will be halved to 3.125 BTC.
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Veteran Trader Peter Brandt Thinks Bitcoin (BTC) Halving Is Non ... - U.Today
Bitcoin Network Preps for Another Difficulty Spike as Hashrate … – Bitcoin News
Following the last two difficulty increases on the Bitcoin network, another rise in difficulty is expected to take place on March 24, 2023. Statistics show that Bitcoins hashrate has remained high despite the last two adjustments, and block times have been faster than the ten-minute average.
At the time of writing, Bitcoins difficulty is at an all-time high of 43.55 trillion, and the networks hashrate remains above the 300 exahash per second (EH/s) range at 319.86 EH/s. Bitcoin has risen 26.2% over the last two weeks against the U.S. dollar, which has greatly helped bitcoin miners, and BTCs spot value is now above the cost to mine it.
Bitcoin miners dealt with two consecutive difficulty increases over the last month, with the first jumping 9.95% higher on Feb. 24, 2023, and the second increasing by 1.16% on March 10. The rise hasnt seemed to affect bitcoin miners, as block interval times (times between each block mined) are still less than the ten-minute average. Currently, block times range between nine minutes and 28 seconds and nine minutes and 31 seconds.
At present, the estimated difficulty change for Friday, March 24, is expected to be between 2.51% and 5.7% higher than the current 43.55 trillion. If miners maintain or even accelerate their pace, the difficulty after the next adjustment could potentially rise above the 50 trillion hashes mark. Current estimates suggest the target range will be between 44.64 trillion and 49.25 trillion.
Mining distribution statistics show that Foundry USA is currently the top bitcoin mining pool, with 97.22 EH/s or 30.31% of the global hashrate. Foundry is followed by Antpool with 61.03 EH/s, and F2pool with 46.13 EH/s. The top five bitcoin mining pools, including Foundry, Antpool, F2pool, Binance Pool, and Viabtc, command 84.52% of the global hashrate as of March 21, 2023, according to three-day metrics.
What do you think about the expected difficulty increase set to happen in two days? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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Bitcoin Network Preps for Another Difficulty Spike as Hashrate ... - Bitcoin News