Category Archives: Bitcoin
Avoid Buying Bitcoin on Weekends Now. It Could Save You Some Money. – Barron’s
What the price of Bitcoin will do this weekend is anybodys guess, but heres one good bet: The past weeks tumult in banking will make it more costly to trade.
Since Silvergate Capital (ticker: SI) said it was winding down and Signature Bank (SBNY) failed, token prices on various trading platforms like Coinbase and Gemini have diverged widely. Traders have been paying hundreds of dollars, and sometimes more than $1,000, more for a single Bitcoin on one platform than on others.
The inefficiency in the crypto market appears to be at least in part the result of the debacles at the two banks. Each ran prominent payments networkscalled SEN and Signetthat allowed customers to send dollars to each other almost instantly at any time, seven days a week.
Thats important to crypto traders, who buy or sell tokens outside of banking hours and often need liquidity more quickly than the couple of days it can take to process a wire transfer. The ability to move money fast is also crucial for market makers who need to get dollars from one exchange to another to take advantage of price differences and potentially arbitrage them away.
Silvergate, which is in the process of closing its operations, has shut down SEN. Signet is still operating, but some customers have stopped using it given its uncertain future. Reuters reported that government regulators have said any buyer of Signature Bank will have to abandon its crypto business.
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Since most banks dont process transfers on weekends, it translates into pure inefficiency in the market, said Dave Weisberger, CEO of CoinRoutes, which provides market data to help traders decide where to buy or sell. We havent seen anything like this, frankly, for years.
Over the weekend, the difference between the prices of Bitcoin on most exchanges was about 0.1%, about 10 times as much as it usually is, according to CoinRoutes data. By Wednesday, the spread was three times as much as before, but Weisberger said it could increase again this weekend with banks closed.
That price difference might seem slight, but over time it adds up to a sort of shadow trading tax on investors. It is far greater than similar price discrepancies that regulators have tried to stamp out in the stock market, Weisberger says.
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For the trading platform run by Gemini, the dispersion was even wider, with traders paying nearly 2% more on average. At the height of the turbulence, a Bitcoin trader on Gemini was paying more than $1,000 more for a Bitcoin than traders on other platforms, Weisberger says.
A Gemini spokesperson didnt respond to a request for comment.
Traders could eventually find workarounds. For example, the difference in Bitcoins price on different exchanges when buying with the Tether stablecoinwhose value is pegged to the dollar and isnt transferred with bankshardly moved last weekend.
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Later this year, the Federal Reserve also plans to debut its own long-awaited 24-7 payments network, called FedNow, a service similar to what the banks provided that could solve the problem of moving money on weekends.
Crypto could also speed adoption of FedNow as it is a way for investors to fund and cash out of trades without having to leave cash or digital dollars on a trading platform, wrote TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg in a research note this week.
Until then, Bitcoin traders might just consider taking the weekend off.
Write to Joe Light at joe.light@barrons.com
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Avoid Buying Bitcoin on Weekends Now. It Could Save You Some Money. - Barron's
Amid Crypto Bank Crisis, Fidelity Expands Bitcoin, Ether Trading To … – Forbes
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Fidelity Investments has quietly opened access to bitcoin and ether trading to all of its retail traders, filling a void created by the closures in recent days of cryptocurrency-friendly banks that bridged the divide between digital and traditional finance.
The Fidelity Crypto platform, previously available only to institutions and some waitlisted customers, was made available earlier this month. Individual investors can now buy and sell bitcoin and ether and use custodial and trading services provided by Fidelity Digital Assets.
Clients are not yet able to transfer cryptocurrency to or from their Fidelity accounts. The company said it would be exploring cryptocurrency transfers in November, shortly after announcing the waitlist, but hasnt provided a clear timeline.
The separation of investors from the passwords known as private keys that allow direct owners to take custody of their cryptocurrencies combined with the inability to transfer holdings means that Fidelity retains custody of the assets. A string of bankruptcies among crypto exchanges and investment programs last year illustrated the drawbacks of entrusting digital assets to intermediaries, though Fidelitys size and reputation likely mitigates the risk.
The company has not responded to a Forbes request for more information.
Trading is open only to U.S. citizens over the age of 18 who reside in one of the 36 states where Fidelity Digital Assets offers services.
Following the footsteps of stock-trading app Robinhood and crypto exchange Binance.US, the asset manager has touted the offering as commission-free, but theres a catch: a 1% fee will be added to each transaction. The company calls the fee a spread and defines it as the difference between your execution price and the price at which Fidelity Digital Assets fills your order.
The move comes at a time when the U.S. cryptocurrency market is facing regulatory pressure, sparked by multiple high-profile collapses last year, and closures of crypto-friendly banks including the Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate and Signature.
Still, the Fidelity service provides both the credibility that crypto has needed and the opportunity for investors, most of whom rely on their financial advisors for investment strategies, says Ric Edelman, a financial advisor and founder of Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals.
In addition to cryptocurrency trading, Fidelity also provides, Fidelity Ethereum Index Fund, which tracks the performance of the coin in U.S dollars. In December, the asset manager filed three trademark applications for providing NFT and metaverse investment services.
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Amid Crypto Bank Crisis, Fidelity Expands Bitcoin, Ether Trading To ... - Forbes
Fed meeting to spur volatility for Gold and Bitcoin – FXStreet
Gold
Today will see further volatility in the precious metal. The price activity over the last two days has been poor, but keep in mind that the price is already flirting with its all-time high. As a result, it is very logical for traders to take some profit following such a spectacular gain.
For the time being, everything is reliant on how the Fed plays its monetary cards. A hawkish position by them is expected to strengthen the dollar index, which might spark a sell-off as the dollar index gains traction. But, after the first jerk response, the gold price may rise since traders do not want to hear the Fed being aggressive with its monetary policies. This is because it introduces more danger into the system, which everyone is attempting to avoid.
A dovish Fed might boost gold prices if the dollar index continues to suffer. Overall, we feel that the path of least resistance for gold prices is more skewed to the upside than to the downside, given the momentum in gold prices.
The ancient crypto king has received a lot of attention this month as a result of the US and European financial crises. It has reclaimed its status as a safe haven asset while simultaneously demonstrating the very essence of its existence, which is that controlled money via centralised monetary policy is a formula for catastrophe in the contemporary day. This is because banks invent them out of thin air and rely on them to restore trust. This aspect, confidence, has become a scarce commodity, and traders and investors are doubting every legislative action.
Technically, the price is still hesitant to test the 30K price level, but if this level is broken, we are likely to enter a true bullish phase, and talk will begin that the bottom has been reached, Bitcoin's price has doubled in a matter of minutes, and it is time for FOMO.
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Fed meeting to spur volatility for Gold and Bitcoin - FXStreet
How Bitcoin is benefiting from the banking crisis – Fox Business
Allianz chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian says Silicon Valley Banks perfect storm collapse resulted from mismanagement, lapses in supervision by the Fed, and its handling of interest rate hikes.
Bitcoin has emerged as an unlikely benefactor as investors flee banking stocks amid contagion fears following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
The largest cryptocurrency by market value topped $28,000 over the weekend, the highest level since June. For the year, it has gained over 60%, making it one of the best-performing asset classes of the year, blowing past the S&P 500s 2% gain through Friday.
Source: Dow Jones Market Data Group
The upward move may be tied to an unexpected shift in the Federal Reserves battle plan to bring down inflation.
BANKING INDUSTRY ON VERGE OF 'BEAR STEARNS' MOMENT: FMR. FDIC CHAIR
"A strange element to the rally is it comes alongside recent troubles in the banking sector, particularly in two banks [Silicon Valley Bank and Signature] that were heavy lenders to the crypto industry. What does seem to be a major tailwind for bitcoin has been the rapid change of Fed expectations" Jim Iuorio of TJM Institutional said on CME Active Trader.
As of Sunday, the CMEs Fed Watch Tool shows 38% of the market is expecting the Fed to pause interest rate hikes at Wednesdays meeting, with 62% expecting a smaller 25 basis point hike. Zero participants expect a rate cut. The decision will come at 2:30 p.m. ET, followed by Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference.
Bitcoin (Reuters/Benoit Tessier/Illustration/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
Ark Invest founder, CEO and CIO Cathie Wood told "The Claman Countdown" Friday bitcoin is benefiting from banking fallout and a recent shift for the Fed to pause its rate hike strategy and reverse course.
"Recently, when we felt Coinbase was so misunderstood, and when it seemed like the banking regulators were blaming crypto for what's going on right now which is not the case at all at we actually thought, Nope, we think crypto assets could be a beneficiary, a flight to safety,'" she explained.
"And we also see, in the case of Coinbase, it is, despite what a lot of people think, it is trying to be as regulatory compliant as possible with this new asset class, while, at the same time, educating regulators on what this new asset class is all about."
Other crypto is also benefiting, including Ethereum, which has advanced over 40% this year.
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How Bitcoin is benefiting from the banking crisis - Fox Business
Here’s the pro-bitcoin, anti-bank argument advanced by a former Coinbase executive that’s making waves – MarketWatch
Its not a new view, but in the wake of the collapse of three U.S. banks and Credit Suisses rescue, one investors anti-bank, pro-bitcoin argument is making waves.
Balaji Srinivasan is the former chief technology officer at the crypto exchange Coinbase, as well as the co-founder of Counsyl, a health technology firm. And the argument he made over the weekend seems to be resonating.
Bitcoin BTCUSD was trading over $28,000 on Monday. Gold GC00 or analog crypto, you could say traded above $2,000 an ounce and hit its highest level in 12 months.
Just as in 2008, the bankers lied. This time, the central bankers, the banks, and the bank regulators have lied to all dollar holders and depositors, he wrote in one of new, megasized tweets allowed on Twitter.
His argument is that banks have been able to hide their insolvency in footnotes. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said the U.S. banking system was sitting on $620 billion of unrealized losses. Silicon Valley Bank parent SVB Financial had to sell a portfolio of bonds it wanted to hold until maturity in a bid to meet the surge in deposit outflows. SVB did disclose that in a footnote, and even discussed it on an earnings call.
Srinivasan pointed out, accurately, that banks like SVB binged on Treasury securities and other long-term bonds when loan demand was reduced during the pandemic, believing Fed promises that interest rates would be kept low for a long period of time.
Hiking from ten years of near zero interest rates in the 2010s was a surprise attack on every dollar holder. Economics isnt politics the kind of insane flipflops you see in politics dont work when there are actual contracts involved, he said.
Srinivasan says just as long-term Treasury holders in 2021 suffered, so too will short-term Treasury buyers.
The ~5% interest rate offered by big banks (G-SIBs) is a trap. Most fiat bank accounts are now a trap, for those countries whose central bankers followed the Fed, he says.
In other tweets, he warns of hyperinflation.
In fact he was so confident he made a bet bitcoin will get to $1 million in 90 days.
Of course theres a flip side to his argument. Bank runs, and the fractional bank system, are not new, as most clearly chronicled in the 1946 film Its a Wonderful Life. Banks never have enough money for all their customers all at once; the idea is that banks have adequate cushions, or capital buffers, to meet strong but not overwhelming demand.
A crypto-focused system would by definition concentrate wealth in a very small group of hands and destabilize the middle class. The economy before the advent of central banks was prone to crippling economic cycles.
5 Reasons Bitcoin’s Price Is Soaring Amid the Bank Panic. One Is Key for Stocks. – Barron’s
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies marched higher again Monday, continuing a recent rally into a new week in the face of turmoil across financial markets. There are at least five reasons why digital assets may be outperformingand one is key for stocks.
The price of Bitcoin has risen 4% over the past 24 hours to above $28,300, having traded above $28,500 at points to hit the highest levels since the crypto crash accelerated last June. After stagnating and falling below $20,000 at the start of March, the largest digital asset has resumed its rally to start 2023. It began January around $16,500 with a global banking panic kicking Bitcoin into high gear.
The recent momentum still has some upside potential, said Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at broker FxPro. The $30,000 area was a significant support for a year and a half until the middle of last year and now has a high chance of acting as resistance. As we approach the $30,000 level, we should be prepared for the bulls to start taking massive profits.
Investors have been rocked by a global panic over banks in recent weeks, from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 to the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse (ticker: CS) by rival UBS (UBS) on Sunday. Bitcoin and digital assets have rallied despite the turmoil in wider stock marketswith which cryptos have been correlated for more than a year amid the pain of rising interest ratesas the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 have slid lower and lower.
Why is Bitcoin rallying?
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The banking contagion is uniquely positive for crypto in multiple ways, said Hal Press, the founder of crypto hedge fund North Rock Digital.
He pointed to how the situation validates the original use case of cryptos as, one, a global financial alternative, and, two, a protection against the debasement of global currencies like the dollar. It also raises the prospect of a return to monetary policy that will benefit Bitcoin, and may distract regulators that have otherwise appeared hell-bent on quashing digital assets. Add technical market factors into the mix and you have five reasons why Bitcoin is rallying.
But not all these reasons are equal.
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There are various theories floating around regarding cryptos strong performance over the last week and frankly, the majority of them are more wishful thinking than logic, said Craig Erlam, an analyst at broker Oanda.
The crypto-native crowd is quick to point to unique characteristics of digital assets to explain the outperformance of Bitcoin and its peers. Bitcoin was founded in the midst of the 2008-2009 financial crisis as a decentralized alternative to the traditional banking system, with its programmed monetary policy expected to be a hedge against inflation.
This is a seminal moment for Bitcoin, said Alex Thorn, the head of research at digital asset group Galaxy. As a fractionally reserved banking system teeters on the brink, Bitcoins resilience, predictability, and relative safety stands in stark relief.
While that may be overstating the matter, there is no doubt that narratives are key for traders and it would be a mistake to discount them entirely. That being said, it is more likely that technical market factors and shifting expectations over the future of monetary policy are driving Bitcoins price action.
Liquidity in digital asset markets has suffered since the meltdown of crypto exchange FTX last November, and the recent collapses of crypto-focused banks
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A lack of liquidity means that price moves can be amplified and extended, especially if investors using borrowed money to trade in the more liquid Bitcoin futures market are wiped out en masse, which causes swings in the opposite direction from their positions.
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More than $1 billion in bearish bets against Bitcoin in the futures market have been wiped out in the past 10 days, according to data provider Coinglass, as prices have risen from $20,000 to above $28,000. These so-called liquidations will have added upward pressure to an already-rising market.
There is also a more fundamental explanation for the crypto rally. Bank stresses have been a result of losses on bondholdings, an unintended consequence of the Federal Reserve dramatically raising interest rates over the past year to combat decades-high inflation. Higher rates also have weighed heavily on cryptos, as demand for risk-sensitive assets is dampened when rates rise.
Traders now expect the Fed to be more accommodating on monetary policy as a result of the bank panic, which would be a tailwind for Bitcoin. The outperformance of the tech-heavy Nasdaq last week is further evidence for this since tech stocks are similarly sensitive to risk.
Cryptos have shown themselves to be among the most leading-edge indicators of risk sentiment, so Bitcoins spike may just be the earliest expression of traders seeing an eventual easing of financial conditions that benefit risky assets. Understanding this trend could be key for gauging how sentiment for stocks more broadly, battered by bank woes, could see a turnaround.
It is unusual to have such a broadly risk-negative event be so positive for a specific asset class (stocks down, crypto up) and this is why it is hard for people to wrap their heads around the current situation, said Press of North Rock Digital.
Beyond Bitcoin, Ether the second-largest cryptowas up less than 1% at $1,790 after a buoyant weekend that saw it top $1,800 from below $1,700 on Friday. Smaller cryptos or altcoins exhibited similar price action, with Cardano 1% higher but Polygon 3% lower as it pared gains. Memecoins were also off their highs, with Dogecoin
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Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com
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5 Reasons Bitcoin's Price Is Soaring Amid the Bank Panic. One Is Key for Stocks. - Barron's
Will the Fed stop rate hikes? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week – Cointelegraph
Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week in an unmistakably bullish position as it passes $28,000.
Crypto markets continue to climb on the back of the banking crisis, which still rages in the United States and abroad where will they go next?
After a week of chaos for macro markets and solid gains as a result, Bitcoin and altcoins are circling levels, which some have not seen for nine months.
The 2022 bear market is feeling like an increasingly distant memory as old resistance levels tumble and bulls attempt to cement newly-reclaimed support.
This week, as last, there are all sorts of potential hurdles to overcome the Federal Reserve will decide on its next interest rate changes and new macroeconomic data will drop.
Markets will likely stay volatile as a result, and any further unexpected events from the banking sector will only add to the instability.
At the same time, Bitcoins own ecosystem is set to become stronger than ever as network fundamentals launch to fresh all-time highs.
Cointelegraph takes a look at five of the key phenomena to keep an eye on when it comes to BTC price action in the coming week.
The macro event of the week is undeniably the March 22 Fed decision on interest rate hikes or lack of them.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) faces a stark challenge to its current quantitative tightening (QT) policy in place for the past eighteen months.
The unfolding banking crisis has put into doubt the Feds ability to keep raising interest rates, a policy which commentators argue was the death knell for struggling regional banks.
The Fed is nonetheless caught between a rock and a hard place. Raising rates would keep inflation in check but further punish the economy, possibly unleashing a new wave of bank failures.
Next week's FOMC is gearing up to be one of the most interesting ones in a while, with no one really agreeing on what's gonna happen, engineer and trader Tree of Alpha summarized.
According to CME Groups FedWatch Tool, consensus as of March 20 favored the Fed hiking by 25 basis points, rather than pausing hikes altogether. The week prior, Goldman Sachs had predicted that rates would plateau, while Nomura even forecast a rate cut.
This week, the long anticipated March Fed interest rate decision comes out. Currently, markets are pricing in a 62% chance of a 25 bps rate hike. However, markets also see 100 bps of rate cuts by December, financial commentary resource, The Kobeissi Letter, wrote in part of analysis about the long-term rate hike roadmap.
Kobeissi and others also queried how struggling bank stocks would react at the next Wall Street open, given the latest government moves over the weekend.
These included a buyout of Credit Suisse, the European banking giant, which saw a particularly violent reaction to the U.S. meltdown.
Credit Suisse, $CS, was worth $10 billion a month ago and sold for pennies on the Dollar, Kobeissi continued about fellow bank UBS purchasing Credit Suisse and getting $100 billion in government liquidity.
With that, the mood on Bitcoin and crypto markets has understandably taken a fresh turn for the better as the week begins.
At the time of writing, BTC/USD traded above $28,400, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.
Already at nine-month highs, the pair managed to beat out bears during a consolidation period last week to return to target levels not seen in almost a year.
Chief among these is $30,000, a psychologically significant level surrounded by considerable historical liquidity. For monitoring resource Material Indicators and others, meanwhile, a key support level to hold is the 200-week moving average (MA).
Popular trader Crypto Tony focused on $27,700 to support the bull case and potential for an attack on $30,000.
$27,700 ensured we are now in the next range between $27,700 - $31,000. Using $27,700 as a level that bulls need to hold to sustain a move up to $30,000 level, he tweeted.
In fresh analysis, meanwhile, fellow trader Crypto Chase highlighted $28,500 as a potential short entry, while also entertaining a somewhat likely bull case in which selling only kicks in above $33,000.
Please note that I am not abandoning the idea of 28.5K~ shorts. These may still present a great opportunity around FOMC this Wednesday. At the moment though, I cannot imagine an immediate local top, he explained.
For some analyzing the long-term picture, however, Bitcoin has already broken out of a bear market in place since the comedown from its all-time highs and the start of Fed tightening in late 2021.
The weekly close came in at just above $28,000, making it Bitcoins highest since early June, 2022.
For trader, analyst and podcast host Scott Melker, known as The Wolf of All Streets, this has clear implications.
The bear market is officially over, he proclaimed on the basis of the weekly chart data.
Melker linked to a similar post from August 2019, just after BTC/USD had passed $13,000 in a comeback from the pit of its previous bear market.
Equally buoyant about weekly timeframes is trader and analyst Rekt Capital, who continues to eye a disintegration of Bitcoin's "macro downtrend."
On quarterly timeframes, Rekt Capital is monitoring a "bullish engulfing" event in the making, something which has triggered significant upside in and of itself in the past.
In a classic move, Bitcoin's network fundamentals are refusing to abandon their trip to the moon.
The latest estimates from BTC.com and MiningPoolStats show that both hash rate and difficulty are in "up only" mode this month.
Difficulty is set to adjust upwards 3.26% in the coming days, making it almost 45 trillion.
Hash rate hit a local peak on March 13, but is now trending upwards once again as miners respond to the latest price action.
Among miners, however, a divergence is playing out. On a rolling 30-day basis, miners' BTC balances continue to decline, according to data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode.
There may still be reason to be afraid of the current bullish surge in Bitcoin and crypto more broadly.
Related:Bitcoin levels to watch as BTC price eyes highest weekly close in 9 months
A look at sentiment data suggests that the majority of the market is becoming overly confident in the good times continuing.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which uses a basket of factors to produce a normalized sentiment score for crypto, is now at 66/100, firmly in its "greed" zone and its highest since November 2021.
Its warnings are being corroborated by social media users. A survey from research firm Santiment, which has garnered almost 15,000 responses, shows that most believe that BTC/USD will break $30,000 as the next major crypto market event.
"Crowd bullishness is doubling up bearishness for crypto's top 2 assets," Santiment commented about the results.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
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Will the Fed stop rate hikes? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week - Cointelegraph
Bitcoin is up 60% so far this year as investors rediscover appeal as … – CNBC
Cryptocurrencies stood out this week as bank shares tumbled and the global liquidity crisis rocked the stock market. For the week ending March 17, bitcoin finished higher by 34%, making it the cryptocurrency's best week since January 2021 which marked the start of the institution-led bull run that year. Coin Metrics measures a week in crypto, which trades 24 hours a day, from the stock market close one Friday to the next. Bitcoin is now up 62% for the year. BTC.CM= YTD mountain Bitcoin (BTC) in 2023 Ether ended the week higher by 23%. At one point it traded at about $1,780, a level not seen since its rally ahead of the Ethereum merge in September. Ether is up 45% year-to-date. "Crypto hasimpressedas an unexpected banking crisis has triggered a realization that Fed policy is very restrictive and that the economy is headed towards a recession," said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda."The Fed now has to decide if they have enough information about the escalating risks that are spreading across several banks. Inflation is heading lower, but some officials might want to deliver one more rate hike before pausing and that could trigger a de-risking moment on Wall Street." Bitcoin versus the banks The price of bitcoin twice rose above the key $25,200 level to more than $26,000, according to Coin Metrics. It hasn't seen that level since June, days before its pre-FTX bottom of about $18,000. BTC.CM= 1Y mountain Bitcoin, 1-year Bitcoin's outperformance amid a crisis in the traditional banking system had some wondering if the price rallied on a potential narrative shift. Though bitcoin was initially designed to be digital cash and an alternative financial system, it spent much of last year trading like a speculative asset. Last week, it even fell with risk markets and bank stocks amid the uncertainty surrounding Silvergate Bank. That shifted this week however, following the closures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, giving the appearance that investors were trading it on its core value proposition, the ability to "be your own bank." "When the financial system shows cracks, it provides a use case for decentralization," said Callie Cox, U.S. investment strategist at eToro. "Of course, there are pros and cons to decentralized and centralized approaches, but for now, investors seem to be focusing on one specific angle." However, if the original bitcoin narrative began to click for people this week, it doesn't change the fact that macro themes are still the biggest driver of price. "In practice, bitcoin isn't isolated from the traditional banking system. Crypto prices rose quickly in 2020/2021 due to central bank monetary expansion, causing capital to move from the traditional fiat banking world to the crypto world," Sheena Shah, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a note this week. "So our conclusion is that the Bitcoin network can operate without banks but that bitcoin's price, and thus its purchasing power, has been and continues to be influenced by fiat central bank policy and needs banks to facilitate flows into crypto." The week ahead Many agree the bitcoin price bottomed in late 2022 during the collapse of FTX, but so much uncertainty remains in the market and traders have been finding it difficult to identify what the start of a new bull run would look like. From a technical perspective, this week's close above $26,000 could be that signal, according to Yuya Hasegawa, an analyst at Japanese crypto firm Bitbank. Fairlead Strategies' Katie Stockton, however, is looking for two consecutive closes above $25,200 for the formation of a "bullish long-term development." Investors will continue to monitor the banking crisis and the regulatory landscape in the week ahead. On Tuesday the Federal Reserve will begin its two-day policy meeting. "Bitcoin's rally could remain in place if the Fed opts to end its tightening cycle and wait and see what happens next with banking turmoil," Moya said. "Traders are pricing in rate cuts this summer already, so we will see what happens if the Fed opts to remain focused on inflation and deliver another quarter-point rise. A pause and Bitcoin could have the potential to make a run towards the $30,000 level." Given the pulse of markets and recent Fed comments on inflation, Moya said one last hike should be the base case and that could bring bitcoin back to the middle of this month's trading range, he added.
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Bitcoin is up 60% so far this year as investors rediscover appeal as ... - CNBC
Bitcoin in all its glory, Where’s the stop? – FXStreet
Market picture
Bitcoin jumped 24% last week to close at $28,000. Ethereum added 16.2% to $1800. Other leading altcoins in the top 10 gained between 6.6% (Polkadot) and 19.3% (BNB).
The total capitalisation of the crypto market, according to CoinMarketCap, rose 14% over the week to $1.17 trillion.
Last week proved to be the best week for bitcoin in the last five years, since February 2018. BTC rose sharply along with gold as market participants began to see it as a safe haven for capital amid problems with banks.
At the same time, bitcoin's positive traction has been boosted by technical factors. Having found itself in the $25,000+ territory, the first cryptocurrency appears to be facing an impressive short squeeze.
As is often the case with cryptocurrencies, they only become attractive to speculators after strong moves. The recent momentum still has some upside potential. The 30,000 area was a significant support for a year and a half until the middle of last year and now has a high chance of acting as resistance. As we approach the 30,000 level, we should be prepared for the bulls to start taking massive profits, much as we have seen since the second half of February.
Ryan Selkis, CEO of analyst firm Messari, has predicted that the first cryptocurrency will hit $100,000 within 12 months. He sees bitcoin as a safe investment amid problems in the US economy.
Moody's believes that the recent decoupling of USD Coin (USDC) from the US dollar could hinder the development of stablecoin and lead to tighter regulation.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is exploring the possibility of creating a new trading platform outside of US jurisdiction, Bloomberg reports. Launching an offshore exchange would allow Coinbase to insulate itself from hostile US regulation and offer international customers new products that are not approved in its home market.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for self-storage of digital assets. He said that he personally and the Ethereum Foundation use the MultiSig wallet to store most of their funds.
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Bitcoin in all its glory, Where's the stop? - FXStreet
Bitcoin To $30,000? Fed Unveils New Tool To Bailout Non-US Banks – NewsBTC
As the US banking crisis is growing into a global banking crisis, the Bitcoin price is trading above $28,000 again, showing an extremely strong trend that suggests further gains. One of the main reasons to remain bullish in this regard is that the money printer has been turned on once again by the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
As NewsBTC reported, the Fed added a whopping $300 billion to its portfolio last week, offsetting half of all quantitative tightening (QT) in the last 12 months. And the money printer will run even hotter starting today.
On Sunday, March 19, the Federal Reserve and six of the worlds largest central banks announced a coordinated action to facilitate dollar-denominated banking transactions to calm financial markets.
The Fed, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the central banks of Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada will expand their swap operations, which central banks use to exchange foreign currency with each other, starting today, Monday, and continuing at least through the end of April. The move is intended to provide central banks outside the United States with a better liquidity of the US dollar.
The central banks reportedly agreed to increase the frequency of seven-day dollar currency swaps from weekly to daily. The swaps have been in place for several years previously with weekly maturities.
How it works? The Fed lends dollars to foreign central banks. At the end of the term, the Fed swaps the currencies back at the original exchange rate and collects interest. Its worth noting that the statement comes just hours after UBS announced its so-called takeover (aka bailout) of Credit Suisse.
For BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, the new swap lines are another way to bailout non-US banks that isnt obvious to the average person. According to him, it is politically dangerous for the Fed to bail out foreign banks when so many small American banks need help.
The WSJ reported a few days ago that 186 banks face the same risks as Silicon Valley Bank. At the same time, the Fed cant let foreign banks throw their government bonds into a liquid market and screw up even more.
The solution, according to Hayes, are swap lines. The Fed gives USD liquidity to major central banks like the ECB, while the ECB allows EU banks to give it US treasuries at par. This ensures that the ECB can give US dollars to the banks, which can then handle any outflows of USD deposits.
As a result, the US treasuries market is stabilized because no treasuries are actually sold. Any profit and loss is borne by the central bank, which can absorb infinite losses, which is reflected in the ECBs balance sheet.
Long Term: all treasuries held in the entire developed country banking system can now be lent against at par. Money Printer Go Brr, Hayes concluded. Practically, the Fed becomes the global lender of last resort.
Following the recent news, the Bitcoin price is currently showing an extremely strong upward trend. As the 1-hour chart below shows, the hourly uptrend is still intact. At press time, Bitcoin traded at $28,160.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com
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Bitcoin To $30,000? Fed Unveils New Tool To Bailout Non-US Banks - NewsBTC