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Bitcoin had a rocky weekend. Blame hash rates and death crosses.

Since Friday, Bitcoin has dropped about $3,000, or almost 9%, to about $32,500. Bitcoin traded below that level on June 9, but it hasnt closed below $33,000 since January.

China is problem number one. The hash rate, which is essentially the amount of computing power being used to mine Bitcoin, is falling as China cracks down on miners. China wants the electricity for other stuff. China accounts for a majority of the worlds Bitcoin hashing.

Less mining, of course, means fewer coins, and fewer coins could be a good thing for pricing in the long run. But for now, the specter of government interference outweighs supply/demand considerations.

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A morning briefing on what you need to knowin the day ahead, including exclusive commentary fromBarron's and MarketWatch writers.

Bitcoins tumble created a trading pattern on Saturday that market technicians call a death cross. That means Bitcoins 50-day moving average dropped below the 200-day moving average. A death cross can signal that buying momentum is coming out of a stock, a market, or a cryptocurrency.

With Mondays declines, Bitcoin is down about 50% from its April 52-week high of almost $65,000.

What comes next is, frankly, anyones guess. Bitcoin is volatile and the lack of fundamentals makes it difficult to predict what comes next.

We wont even try, except to say buckle up.

Al Root

*** Join Barrons at noon on Tuesday as corporate and philanthropic leaders examine initiatives to narrow the wealth gap. Viewers will hear from executives of the Ford Foundation, BofA Securities, and Exelon. Register here.

Amazon.coms Prime Day runs today through Tuesday, with 2 million deals for Amazon Prime shoppers in 20 countries, but postponed in Canada and India. Its the first time the event is held in June. Last years Prime Day in October jump-started holiday shopping.

Whats Next: The success of Prime Days has led Amazons rivals to offer membership-free promotions such as Walmarts Deals for Days (through Wednesday), Targets Deal Days (through Tuesday), and Best Buys Bigger Deals (through Tuesday).

Eric J. Savitz and Janet H. Cho

On Sunday, Virginia became the 16th state, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, to reach President Joe Bidens goal of vaccinating 70% of adults with at least one shot. Overall, 65.4% of American adults are partially vaccinated, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Whats Next: Israels Health Ministry on Sunday ordered that all attendees of a performance last week must quarantine for 14 days, even people who are vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19, after recent outbreaks of the Delta variant there. Israel lifted all its coronavirus restrictions on June 1.

Janet H. Cho

FTSE Russell will rebalance its U.S. stock indexes after the market closes this Friday, an annual exercise that affects benchmarks tied to $10.6 trillion of investor assets, according to Bloomberg, and a potential boost to the stocks that caught the attention of retail traders this year.

Whats Next: Three times as much money is invested in passive funds tracking the Russell 1000 indexes, which include giant companies like Apple and Microsoft, as those tracking the Russell 2000 indexes. Historically, stocks that moved from the smaller cap 2000 to the large-cap 1000 lag behind their old index over the next year.

Liz Moyer

Goldman Sachs said Monday it would launch transaction banking activity in Britain, offering cash management and treasury services to business clients, in a bid to grow its presence and diversify its activities in the country.

Whats Next: Brexit notwithstanding, U.S. investment banking giants seem to think that the U.K. market still offers serious growth opportunities, if only as a base for further European expansion.

Pierre Brianon

Shares of British retail group Morrisons shot up more than 30% Monday after the group said it had rejected a bid by U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice that would value the companys equity at 5.52 billion.

Whats Next: Morrisons management team does not seem hostile in principle to a sale. Under U.K. takeover rules, Clayton, Dubilier Rice now has until July 17 to put forward a firm offer.

Pierre Brianon

Child tax credit payments are startingwhen does it make financial sense to opt out of getting this money?

A MarketWatch correspondent will answer this question soon. In the meantime, send any questions you would like answered to thebarronsdaily@barrons.com.

Newsletter edited by Liz Moyer, Matt Bemer, Ben Levisohn

Read the original:
Bitcoin Price Drop: The Death Cross Comes for the Cryptocurrency. - Barron's