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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies edged lower Monday but remained near recent highs. The reaction in cryptocurrencies to the dramatic production cut by the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations offers important clues as to the next move in digital assets.

The price of Bitcoin has fallen less than 1% over the past 24 hours, changing hands around $28,350. At levels above $28,000shy of its recent peak near $29,500the largest digital asset is trading around its highest level since last June, when the crypto crash accelerated. It has rallied more than 70% so far this year in a bullish turn.

Propelling cryptos higher has been an expectation that easing inflation and stresses on banks will push the Federal Reserve to be more accommodating on monetary policy, moderating interest-rate hikes and possibly even lowering rates this year. Decades-high inflation prompted the Fed to ratchet up rates over the past year, putting pronounced pressure on risk-sensitive assets like cryptos and stocks, which has seen Bitcoin become more linked with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500.

This correlation with equities and wider risk sentiment has dominated the price action in cryptos despite intense regulatory headwinds facing digital assets in the U.S. and overseas. The latest move shows no sign of this trend fading.

As news broke Sunday that the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations would cut crude output by more than 1 million barrels a day in aggregate, Bitcoin quickly dropped from $28,150 to a trough near $27,600, the lowest level in five days. That mirrored a move in futures contracts tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, the index of stocks with which cryptos has proved to be most correlated, since digital assets and tech stocks are among the most risk-sensitive asset classes.

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The pressure on cryptos as a result of the OPEC+ move comes amid soaring oil prices, which threaten to stoke inflationary pressures and could prompt more aggressive action from the Fed. That would be bad for Bitcoin.

It only highlights how dominant the macroeconomic picture and connection to the stock market is for cryptos, setting the stage for the end of the week, when the key U.S. jobs report for March will be released. Until then, barring major unforeseen regulatory shocks, investors can expect digital assets to keep swinging in step with stocks amid moves in wider risk sentiment.

Beyond Bitcoin, Ether the second-largest cryptoslipped near 1%, holding above $1,800. Smaller cryptos or altcoins were more mixed, with Cardano up 3% though Polygon was below flat. Memecoins were further in the red, with Dogecoin down 5% and Shiba Inu shedding 3%.

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Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com

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Bitcoin's Price Slips but Remain Near Recent Highs - Barron's

Bitcoin (BTC) is "untouchable" despite ongoing regulatory pressures in the crypto sector and those who don't have some crypto exposure are "seriously silly" according to Bloomberg's senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.

During an April 3 stream with crypto podcaster Scott Melker, McGlone argued that unlike other cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH), Bitcoin couldn't be killed by regulators because it's more decentralized.

"There's so much disdain about regulators pushing back on the whole space, and that's the key thing where Bitcoin sticks out, McGlone said.

"You could make a case that Ethereum is a security when you hear about all these upgrades and people doing this and people doing that to make it better, I'm like okay well that's kind of scary, can't do that to Bitcoin, it's why it's fine and impressive," McGlone added.

The crypto sector has faced a wave of crackdowns in the United States recently, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing charges against crypto exchange Kraken for its staking services, then suing stablecoin issuer Paxos over Binance USD (BUSD). The regulator also proposed rule changes targeted at crypto firms operating as custodians.

McGlone stated he is still bullish on BTC but expects the price to go down again in step with other assets if a recession hits.

Back in January, he warned BTC might not see the surge being predicted just yet, as there are challenging macroeconomic conditions and pressure from interest-rate hikes.

According to McGlone the April 2 decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce daily oil output makes a recession more likely, as well as interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve to clamp down on inflation.

"We had our morning call this morning and our economist Anna Wong said, Yeah, their base case is for that recession to kick in Q3," he said.

"OPEC is helping that. Fed tightening is helping that. So all assets have to go down. That means Bitcoin too. It's the fastest horse in the race. So I'm overall, certainly relatively bullish."

Related: Bitcoin likely to outperform all crypto assets following banking crisis, analyst explains

In McGlone's opinion, it's "seriously silly" to risk not having some exposure to crypto or trying to stand in its way.

"The key thing I look at simplistically for Bitcoin is, if you're a money manager, why take the risk of not having some of this revolutionary asset, particularly because it's so controversial you want to have at least some in it because you don't want to look like an idiot over history, he said.

"The smart guys get it; we're not gonna be a Blockbuster or Sears, and we're going to be part of this technology."

Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

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Bitcoin untouchable amid regulatory pressures, says analyst - Cointelegraph

Cryptocurrency is going to the moon.

Partnering with the planetary mobility firm Lunar Outpost, the California-based social intelligence company LunarCrush plans to deliver a treasure chest of 62 Bitcoins currently worth about $1.5 million to the surface of the moon.

"TheBitcoinbounty, dubbedNakamoto_1, will be unlocked by the first space traveler to reach the moon and obtain the wallet's private key, which will be etched onto a Lunar Outpost MAPP rover launching into space later this year," a press release (opens in new tab) about the project states.

Related: How blockchain can change the space industry

Animation studio Golden Wolf, along with Bitcoin developer tools company Hiro, has collaborated with LunarCrush to conduct this extreme treasure hunt. These partners will sell an exclusive NFT collection to generate the money needed for the Bitcoin bounty, which is intended to inspire the next generation of interplanetary exploration. The sale began March 28 at lunarcrush.com/nakamoto1 (opens in new tab).

"When you put out a seemingly unachievable goal, the innovation that happens can be incredible. Our goal is to inspire people to build communities that will unlock a new era of exploration," LunarCrush CEO Joe Vezzani said in the press release.

"We envision classrooms, groups, companies and even DAOs [decentralized autonomous organizations] coming together to reach the moon and split the treasure chest's rewards," Vezzani added. "It's like Willy Wonka's 'golden ticket' for the Web3 era, and we couldn't be more excited to see how it all unfolds."

Lunar Outpost's MAPP is scheduled to launch late this year atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rover will touch down near the moon's south pole aboard Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander.

After MAPP hits the gray dirt, any ambitious citizen on Earth can devise a mission to reach it and unlock the golden reward.

"What may sound outlandish to some will open new frontiers that haven't been explored outside the mind in a long time. Future generations will look to us as pioneers of interplanetary exploration and adventure," Forrest Meyen, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Lunar Outpost, said in the press release.

"LunarCrush is using modern blockchain technology to deliver a treasure instead of organizing a prize committee. This structure incentivizes exploration while unlocking the best of human ingenuity," Meyen added. "Lunar Outpost is proud to provide our first-in-history commercial lunar surface transportation to innovative projects like Nakamoto_1."

Per the press release, 25% of each NFT sale ($250 each) will be applied toward funding the moon-bound treasure chest, and another 25% of the proceeds will help fund a general "community marketing wallet" to aid future Bitcoin core development and causes related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

Global animation and design studio Golden Wolf was contracted to conceive the NFTs and special imagery that range from static images to heavily animated collectibles to set the proper outer space tone.

"We loved the idea that the art could inspire a new generation of young people to look to the stars, like a contemporary version of an Apollo 11 poster on a bedroom wall," Ingi Erlingsson, founder and CEO of Golden Wolf, said in the press release. "We wanted the aesthetic to feel modern and unique, with a hint of vintage sci-fi art."

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Launch of private moon rover this year will kick off lunar Bitcoin ... - Space.com

Bitcoin behaved more like one of the worlds most historic currencies in March, as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap exhibited a strong correlation to gold.

The value of the two assets moved in similar directions throughout the month, edging higher as a banking crisis reared its head in the U.S. and toppled several institutions like Silicon ValleyBankwhich eventually spilled over to shutter European giants like Credit Suisse.

The correlation between Bitcoin and gold currently stands around 50%, according to blockchain analytics firm Kaiko. It represents the strongest connection between the two assets in more than a year, Kaiko analyst Dessislava Aubert told Decrypt.

It's a significant shift because over the course of 2022 Bitcoin and gold were mostly uncorrelated, she said. So, it was not moving as a safe haven [asset] at all.

Over the past month, Bitcoin has rallied 25% to around $28,000, notching its third positive month in a row despite regulatory headwinds. Meanwhile, gold has risen over 8% during the past month, nearing an all-time high of`$1,988 per troy ounce on Monday.

Cryptocurrencies arent typically viewed as a safe haven assettheyre generally seen as risky investments like stocks. And these risk assets have been hammered over the past year as the Federal Reserve has aggressively raised interest rates to quell inflation.

But Aubert said its possible for Bitcoins status as a risk asset to shift somewhat as investors perceptions of its strengths as a store of value change.

For now, people are trying to put Bitcoin in a very traditional framework, Aubert said. Its very hard because it can be a lot of things.

Meanwhile, the correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500a major index often used to gauge movements in the U.S. stock marketfell significantly in March to 20%, adding on to a trend thats been building for months, said Aubert.

Bitcoins correlation with equities has been going down since December, steadily, and it's now very low, she said, adding that 20% is essentially negligible.

However, Aubert said that Bitcoin will remain influenced by factors that also impact stocks, such as the Feds monetary policy. She also noted that Bitcoin is sensitive to changes in liquidity overall.

As Bitcoin begins to behave more like a safe haven asset and less like a risky one, there are some fundamental similarities between Bitcoin and gold that are notable, CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill told Decrypt.

One element that the two assets have in common is that a finite supply supports their value, he said. Similar to how theres a limited amount of accessible gold in the world, Bitcoins supply is capped at 21 millionwith the last Bitcoin expected to be mined sometime in 2140, according to projections.

Bitcoin, in fact, is technically a harder asset than gold because it's a finite supply, but [also] a very well-known finite supply, Butterfill said. Theoretically, you could go out into the universe and find a ton of gold, bring it back to Earth, and flood the market.

In terms of the cultural overlap between Bitcoin and gold, perhaps there is evidence to suggest they are converging on that front as well.

The California-based rapper Snoop Dogg stepped into the ring at WrestleMania 39 yesterday and was seen sporting a golden hardware wallet like an expensive chain.

More:
Bitcoins Correlation to Gold Tightened in March Amid TradFi Woes - Decrypt

A new daily all-time high has been recorded for the number of Ordinals inscribed on the Bitcoin (BTC) network due to a recently launched token standard for the blockchain.

Bitcoin Ordinals reached 58,179 inscriptions on April 2, smashing the previous all-time high of 31,692 on March 9 by 83.5%,according to Dune Analytics data.

The surge is believed to be driven by the recent creation of Bitcoin Request for Comment (BRC-20) tokens on the Ordinals protocol by a pseudonymous on-chain analyst named Domo in early March.

While Ordinals are nonfungible token (NFT)-like digital artifacts which carry data in the form of text, JPEG images, PDFs, video and audio formats on the Bitcoin network, the BRC-20 token standard utilizes Ordinal inscriptions to deploy token contracts, mint tokens, and transfer tokens similar to Ethereums ERC-20 token standard.

The arrival of Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens on Bitcoin were enabled by the Taproot soft fork, which took effect on Nov. 14, 2021.

Over 55,000 of the inscriptions on April 2 came in the form of text-based Ordinals, many of which were represented by BRC-20 tokens, according to Leonidis.og, the host of an Ordinals-focused podcast.

Leonidis explained in a tweet that the spike on April 2 came on the back of new tools used to interact with BRC-20 tokens launched in the last few days.

Among those new tools include Ord.io, UniSat Wallet and BRC-20.io. According to BRC-20.io, 1,600 tokens have been created since the BRC-20 standard was created.

Among the most popular BRC-20 tokens include pepe, ordi, and punk, currently boasting respective market caps of $2.5 million, $2.1 million and $900,000.

Related: Bitcoin Ordinals creator looks for fix after first instance of shock porn

Over 42,700 BRC20 tokens have been minted in the last 24 hours, mostly coming from the tokens wzrd, domo, BAYC, meme and pups.

While the market cap of BRC-20 tokens currently sits at less than $10 million, digital asset investment firm Galaxy Digital believes the Bitcoin NFT market may reach $4.5 billion by 2025.

Members of the Bitcoin community are still split on whether Ordinals is a good fit for the Bitcoin ecosystem. Proponents such as Dan Held suggest it offers more financial use cases on Bitcoin, while others say its straying away from Satoshi Nakamotos vision of Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer cash system.

Magazine: 4 out of 10 NFT sales are fake: Learn to spot the signs of wash trading

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Bitcoin Ordinals daily inscriptions surge due to BRC-20 tokens - Cointelegraph