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Does high US consumer debt benefit Bitcoin price?

Cointelegraph analyst and writer Marcel Pechman breaks down consumer debt and why it might lead to a good outcome for BTC.

On the latest episode of Macro Markets, Cointelegraph analyst Marcel Pechman explains why United States consumption remains strong while auto-loan and credit card balance delinquency is accelerating. According to Pechman, consumers built a cushion of extra cash savings as the U.S. government injected money to avoid a recession and temporarily forgave student loan repayments.

But, according to investment bank JPMorgan, “consumers have spent down the entirety of their excess savings from the pandemic, which at one point totaled more than $2 trillion,” as reported by Business Insider. Pechman believes that if JPMorgan’s predictions are correct, the stock market should have been trading much lower. Still, Pechman doesn’t think that betting against the S&P 500 is sound advice, given that inflation is right around the corner and the government will be forced to inject liquidity to avoid a recession.

For the show’s next topic, Pechman dissects the Chinese central bank’s intervention after the yuan hit a 16-year low against the U.S. dollar. For Pechman, the biggest risk is the market doubting the country’s ability to sustain a stronger yuan, meaning betting that the People’s Bank of China’s reserves won’t be enough to sustain the desired level.

In essence, what the Chinese central bank is doing has limits and ultimately is a risky bet, argues Pechman. For now, according to the analyst, there seems to be no imminent risk coming from the yuan, but it is worth keeping an eye on.

For further insights into these matters, tune in to the latest episode of Macro Markets, exclusively available on the newly launched Cointelegraph Markets & Research YouTube channel.

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What are the 3 assets most correlated with Bitcoin?

Bitcoin price is closely linked to several financial assets but the reasons for correlation with certain precious metals and stocks can be quite different.

The financial media often points out Bitcoin’s (BTC) correlation to big tech. “Bitcoin is trading like a tech stock” is a common narrative alongside BTC's often acute inverse-relationship with the United States dollar.

But are these correlations set in stone, and can they be useful for predicting future price moves? Let's take a closer look at several reports analyzing the relationship between Bitcoin and various asset types. 

Bitcoin's historic correlations vary across timeframes

A report published in October 2022 by the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute arrived at several key conclusions regarding Bitcoin’s correlations with traditional financial assets, including:

  • The extreme volatility of the Bitcoin market means that long-term correlations are stronger than short-term correlations;
  • The “positive linkage between Bitcoin and risk assets increases during extreme shocks” such as COVID-19;
  • Bitcoin can be positively correlated with risk assets and negatively correlated with the US dollar;
  • Bitcoin can serve as a hedge against the US dollar.

While some of these points can be countered with newer price data over the last 9 to 10 months, such as a major drop in volatility, insight can still be gained from examining them. In addition, other researchers have gone deeper into the relationship of specific assets to Bitcoin during set timeframes.

Crypto-specific stocks

A few crypto-related equities have been more correlated to Bitcoin than any other assets on the market. The 90-day correlation coefficient for BTC/MSTR, BTC/COIN, and BTC/RIOT have all remained near 1 for the last several months. The symbols "BTC/xxxx" indicate the correlation coefficient for each asset as measured against Bitcoin.

For MSTR, the coefficient has fallen no lower than 0.68 since September 2022. The coefficient for RIOT fell to roughly 0.75 in June 2023, while COIN trended near 0 for a time during May and June. 

COIN, ROIT, and MSTR  year-to-date chart with 90-day correlation coefficients compared to BTC. Source: TradingView

All of these stocks have outperformed Bitcoin so far this year while also showing greater volatility. Investors may be using these assets as proxies for Bitcoin, which can't be bought through a brokerage account. 

One reason these three stocks are so closely correlated to Bitcoin has to do with the balance sheet of their respective companies. They all have a substantial amount of Bitcoin holdings.

As seen in the table below, MSTR has the most holdings of any public company with 152,333 Bitcoin. COIN comes in 4th place with 10,766 Bitcoin, and RIOT is in 8th place with 7,094 Bitcoin.

Bitcoin holdings by public companies. Source: CoinGecko

Precious metals

When it comes to correlation with commodities and precious metals, in particular, silver actually beats gold in mirroring Bitcoin's price moves since 2019. 

A November 2022 report by Jordan Doyle and Urav Soni of the CFA Institute entitled “How do cryptocurrencies correlate with traditional asset classes?” shed some light on Bitcoin's most-correlated assets. 

Crypto and Commodities correlation heat map. Source: CFA Institute

Silver has been the commodity most closely-correlated to Bitcoin from October 2019 and to October 2022 with a correlation coefficient of 0.26, according to the report. Gold’s correlation, by comparison, was just 0.15, perhaps due to silver’s greater volatility.

The report notes:

Silver has the highest correlation, peaking at 0.26 for silver and bitcoin. Bitcoin, the so-called 'digital gold,' exhibits only weak correlation with the precious metal.

Passive and active equity funds and bonds

When speaking of stocks as a whole and their correlation to Bitcoin, looking at an index or ETF would be the most common way to make a comparison. This provides an overview of the asset class in general rather than zeroing in on one specific stock, which may have any number of factors affecting it. 

As might be expected, growth funds tend to be more correlated with cryptocurrencies, presumably due to their more speculative nature. Notably:

“Growth funds exhibit a stronger correlation to cryptocurrencies than value funds. The correlation coefficient between small-cap growth funds and bitcoin, for instance, is 0.41, compared to 0.35 for small-cap value funds and bitcoin.”
Crypto, equity funds, and bonds correlation heat map. Source: CFA Institute

In other words, crypto markets as a whole are “weakly sensitive to interest rate dynamics” that were at least partially responsible for a broad drawdown in equities throughout 2022.

Finally, Bonds bear little to no relationship with Bitcoin. Passive bond funds showed a correlation of just 0.11, while active bond funds were just two basis points higher at 0.13. All data points are for the timeframe of October 2019-October 2022.

Bitcoin's correlations are not a crystal ball

Due to Bitcoin’s large price swings, all correlations can change at a moment’s notice. Still, the data used here provides an accurate picture of the assets most closely correlated to Bitcoin in the recent past.

Related: Bitcoin and correlations: examining the relationship between btc, gold, and the nasdaq

It's likely that crypto-specific stocks will continue having a strong correlation due to their Bitcoin holdings, while the correlation with commodities and equity funds could quickly change course going forward.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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BTC price breakout by end of August? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Bitcoin stays frustratingly quiet after the weekly close, but BTC price forecasts are giving ever-shorter breakout deadlines.

Bitcoin (BTC) is painting a classic August picture as it starts the new week — volatility is nowhere to be seen.

In a continuation of some of the quietest BTC price action ever seen, the largest cryptocurrency remains locked in a narrow trading range below $30,000.

Whether it be long or short timeframes, Bitcoin is giving market observers cause for increasing frustration. Despite a tug-of-war between bulls and bears on exchanges, neither party seems able to set a new BTC price trend in motion.

Will the status quo remain this week?

With few macroeconomic triggers in store, catalysts for change will need to come from elsewhere. Whales are accumulating, data suggests, fueling an argument that Bitcoin is preparing its next major breakout phase in classic style.

A similar conclusion comes from some of the narrowest volatility recorded for Bitcoin courtesy of the Bollinger Bands metric, with current conditions rivalling September 2016 and January 2023.

By definition, it may simply be a matter of time before history repeats itself.

Bitcoin copycat move begins new rangebound week

The weekly close saw a modicum of volatility return to Bitcoin spot price performance, but just like last week, this was short lived.

Following the new weekly candle open, BTC/USD dipped to test $29,000 before returning to its previous position — one that still holds at the time of writing, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, noted the similarities while repeating his view that $29,700 is the level for bulls to reclaim.

Over the weekend, Van de Poppe described the lack of volatility overall as “extremely astonishing.”

“The classic dump on Sunday evening took place on Bitcoin,” he told X subscribers alongside a chart showing relevant areas of interest.

“Holding onto support, all good. Continue the range. Party starts above $29,700.”
BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X

Popular trader Daan Crypto Trades held a similar opinion on short-term movements, noting that even weekend conditions were trending toward unusually calm extremes.

“Dancing around the CME Close price as expected. It's been a long time since we've seen anything different,” he summarized.

“Volatility this time around was extremely low. Even for a weekend.”
BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

An accompanying chart put the CME Bitcoin futures closing price for the week prior at $29,465 as the focal point for the start of the week.

Weekly close clinches key BTC pric level

The weekly close itself nonetheless did manage to offer a glimmer of hope for those analyzing longer-term trends.

Bitcoin, by a hair, managed to close the weekly candle above $29,250 — a key level highlighted in recent weeks by popular trader and analyst, Rekt Capital.

In an X post just before the event, Rekt Capital referenced previous BTC price behavior after a close at $29,250 or higher.

“BTC upside wicked into the ~$30200 region, much like last week and in April 2023,” he noted.

“But if $BTC is able to Weekly Close above ~$29250, then that upside wick won't be as bearish.”
BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X

Providing a potential headwind was relative strength index (RSI) data, which on 1-week timeframes continued to print a bearish divergence with price.

“Weekly Bearish Divergence for BTC will continue to remain intact unless the RSI is able to break its downtrend (green),” Rekt Capital commented about the phenomenon.

BTC/USD annotated chart with RSI. Source: Rekt Capital/X

Historical data gives little clue as to how BTC/USD might behave before the monthly close.

As Cointelegraph reported, August is a mixed bag when it comes to BTC price performance, and so far, Bitcoin has barely moved compared to the end of July.

Data from monitoring resource Coinglass shows that current gains of 0.6% mark Bitcoin’s quietest August month on record.

BTC/USD monthly returns chart (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Low volatility spurs BTC price breakout predictions

It is hard to avoid the topic of volatility — or lack of it — when analyzing the current state of Bitcoin.

Despite heavy press coverage, even outside the crypto realm, the near total absence of snap price moves has been the defining characteristic of BTC price action for much of Q2.

The latest data lays bare just how static the landscape has become — and what should come afterward.

The Bitcoin Historical Volatility Index (BVOL) currently measures 9.57 on weekly timeframes, rapidly retracing to all-time lows from the start of this year.

What happened when Bitcoin broke out from a downtrend in January is no secret, with its Q1 upside totalling 70%.

Bitcoin Historical Volatility Index (BVOL) 1-week chart. Source: TradingView

“The volatility on Bitcoin is getting lower and lower,” Van de Poppe thus stated.

“A matter of 1-2 weeks before we'll be having a big move on the markets.”

Similar findings come from the Bollinger bands volatility indicator, now also repeating behavior from the start of 2023.

Bollinger bands narrowing preclude a price breakout, and while unknown whether this would be up or down, the extent of price compression has market participants preparing for dramatic change.

“The spread between the Upper and Lower Bollinger Bands for Bitcoin is just 2.9% and is as tight as it has ever been,” Checkmate, lead on-chain analyst at Glassnode, wrote in part of an X post on Aug. 14.

Checkmate revealed that Bitcoin had printed tighter Bollinger bands just twice in its history — in September 2016 and January 2023.

“Wild stuff,” he concluded.

Bitcoin Bollinger Bands Range annotated chart. Source: Checkmate/X

Whale "reaccumulation" narrative strengthens

Previously, Cointelegraph reported on interesting shifts among Bitcoin whales underneath stale BTC price action.

This is continuing, analysis shows, and what looks like accumulation is becoming an ever-larger talking point for those seeking signs of the bull market returning.

“In the past two weeks, about 10 Bitcoin whales, each holding at least 1,000 $BTC (worth a minimum of $29.4 million), have joined the network!” popular trader Ali noted at the weekend.

Glassnode data puts the total number of addresses with a balance of at least 1,000 BTC at 2,015 as of Aug. 13 — up from 2,005 on Aug. 1.

Bitcoin Number of Addresses with Balance over 1,000 BTC chart. Source: Glassnode

Maartunn, a contributor to on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, flagged the emergence of new whales on major exchange Bitfinex as proof that “something is brewing under the surface.”

“Strong start off the cycle bottom, now in re-accumulation mode,” on-chain and cycle analyst Root continued, pointing to realized price figures.

Bitcoin’s realized price refers to the aggregate price at which the BTC supply last moved.

Bitcoin realized price chart. Source: Root/X

Fed FOMC minutes lead cool macro week

Crypto markets are in for a relatively quiet macroeconomic data period, in line with the summer lull.

Related: Bitcoin’s sideways price action leads traders to focus on SHIB, UNI, MKR and XDC

This week, while “big” for U.S. consumer data, has Federal Reserve minutes as its main highlight.

Those minutes will show the attitudes of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members toward interest rate policy as they were when rates were hiked last month.

Risk asset traders continue to look toward the September FOMC meeting for a potential rate hike pause — something which should benefit crypto as well.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, the odds of that happening stand at almost 90%, with the meeting still over a month away.

Fed target rate probabilities chart. Source: CME Group

Any knee-jerk BTC price reaction to this week’s data printouts, meanwhile, arguably looks unlikely — last week’s more significant releases failed to move markets.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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Was Sam Bankman-Fried behind a scam project?

This week’s episode of The Market Report explores allegations that SBF was behind the recent BALD token rug pull and dissects why Bitcoin is falling below $29,000.

In the latest episode of “The Market Report,” analyst and writer Marcel Pechman discusses the BALD token rug pull and the allegations pointing toward FTX founder Sam “SBF’ Bankman-Fried as the culprit. The token launched on Coinbase’s Base network, which is currently under development, and witnessed incredible gains between July 30 and 31.

Pechman notes that it is impossible to know how much fake volume and how many trades involving the same entity or small groups were used to prop up BALD’s price on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Further evidence for this hypothesis is the 85% price plunge shortly after BALD’s developer removed the liquidity deposited in DEX pools.

According to internet sleuths, the evidence pointing to SBF being the mastermind of the rug pull includes funding from wallets associated with FTX and Alameda Research, the fact that BALD’s developer was one of the first voters on proposals for decentralized finance project SushiSwap, language used in tweets, and DYDX farming activity.

While Pechman believes SBF certainly has the technical knowledge to issue tokens and offering liquidity pools on DEXs, there is no way to know what sort of devices and internet access he currently has while under house arrest.

Now, on to the show’s next topic: Pechman explores why the U.S. Dollar Index’s recent gains from a one-year low could be the leading cause for Bitcoin’s (BTC) drop below $29,000. For Pechman, this illustrates investors’ confidence in a soft landing by the United States Federal Reserve, meaning the recession will be mild.

Want to know if Pechman thinks the U.S. government will be able to roll over and issue new debt in the second half of 2023 and what the consequences will be for Bitcoin’s price? Get answers to those answers on the latest episode of The Market Report, which runs exclusively on the new Cointelegraph Markets & Research YouTube channel.

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Bitcoin whale exchange inflow share hits 1-year high — over 40%

Bitcoin whales account for the most exchange inflows volumewise since June 2022 as short-term holders become increasingly active.

Bitcoin (BTC) whale buying and selling in 2023 is mostly from speculative investors, new data reveals.

In the latest edition of its weekly newsletter, “The Week On-Chain,” analytics firm Glassnode shows that contrary to popular belief, opportunistic entities are the most active whales.

The birth of the Bitcoin “short-term holder” whale

Since BTC price action returned to $30,000, a shift has taken place among Bitcoin traders.

As Glassnode shows, so-called short-term holders (STHs) — investors holding coins for a maximum of 155 days — have become significantly more common.

As it turns out, the largest-volume investor cohort, the whales, is also composed of large numbers of STHs.

“Short-Term Holder Dominance across Exchange Inflows has exploded to 82%, which is now drastically above the long-term range over the last five years (typically 55% to 65%),” Glassnode states.

“From this, we can establish a case that much of the recent trading activity is driven by Whales active within the 2023 market (and thus classified as STHs).”
Bitcoin short-term holders dominance of exchange inflows (screenshot). Source: Glassnode

Interest in trading short-timeframe moves on BTC/USD was already evident before May. Since the FTX meltdown in late 2022, speculators have been increasingly eager to tap volatility both up and down.

The results have been mixed: Realized profits and losses have routinely spiked in line with volatile price moves.

“If we look at the degree of Profit/Loss realized by Short-Term Holder volume flowing into exchanges, it becomes evident that these newer investors are trading local market conditions,” Glassnode continues.

“Each rally and correction since the FTX fallout has seen a 10k+ BTC uptick in STH profit or loss, respectively.”
Bitcoin short-term holder profit-loss to exchanges (screenshot). Source: Glassnode

Whales show “elevated inflow bias” to exchanges

Closer to the present, whales have ramped up exchange activity, at one point in July accounting for 41% of total inflows.

Bitcoin whale-to-exchanges inflows (screenshot). Source: Glassnode

Related: Biggest mining difficulty drop of 2023? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

“Analysis of the Whale Netflow to Exchanges can be used as a proxy for their influence on the supply and demand balance,” The Week On-Chain comments on the topic.

“Whale-to-exchange netflows have tended to oscillate between ±5k BTC/day over the last five years. However, throughout June and July this year, whale inflows have sustained an elevated inflow bias of between 4.0k to 6.5k BTC/day.”
Bitcoin whales and exchanges net flow volumes (screenshot). Source: Glassnode

As Cointelegraph reported, whales are not the only forces at work when it comes to BTC sales.

Mining pool Poolin hit the headlines with its transactions destined for Binance, while miners potentially hedging profits also contributed to sell-side activity.

Magazine: Tokenizing music royalties as NFTs could help the next Taylor Swift

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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Enterprise blockchain: ‘Ethereum for Business’ explains key use cases

Paul Brody’s “Ethereum for Business” gives a basic overview of enterprise Ethereum, while providing real-world use cases of how EY clients leverage the technology.

The cryptocurrency market has encountered its share of ups and downs over the past year, but blockchain technology continues to see impressive growth as businesses seek digital transformation. 

Recent findings from the market research platform, MarketsandMarkets, estimated the global blockchain market size to be $7.4 billion in 2022. While notable, the report indicates that the blockchain sector is expected to generate $94 billion in revenue by the end of 2027. If these findings are accurate, this will result in a compound annual growth rate of 66% from 2022 to 2027.

Breaking down ‘Ethereum for Business’

Specifically speaking, many enterprises today are using the Ethereum blockchain to improve outdated business processes. Paul Brody, global blockchain leader for Ernst & Young (EY), told Cointelegraph that he believes the Ethereum network will drive the most growth for the enterprise blockchain market going forward.

To bring this to light, Brody recently published Ethereum for Business. According to Brody, this book intends to help non-technical, C-level executives and company leaders understand how and why Ethereum applies to specific use cases.

Book cover. Source: University of Arkansas Press

To ease readers into the subject matter, Brody begins part one of the book by explaining how Ethereum works using relatable language. “There are three foundational concepts that are useful to understand — the distributed ledger, the programmable ledger, and consensus algorithm,” he writes. Brody then explains that every “financial system has a ledger,” but notes that the difference between centralized, traditional systems and Ethereum is that “Ethereum’s ledger is public and distributed to all participants.”

The first chapter also explains the terminology associated with blockchain networks. Brody writes that “batches of transactions are known as ‘blocks.’” He ends the chapter by mentioning that the Ethereum network is often attractive to business users because it offers the “convenience of an integrated digital business” without a centralized market operator.

Before going in-depth on specific use cases, Brody spends the next few chapters of the book detailing terminology like wallets, tokens and smart contracts. For instance, in chapter four, he writes:

“In Ethereum, both the money and the stuff can be represented as tokens, while the terms of the exchange between two parties can be captured in a smart contract.”

Brody adds that everything of value is stored in a wallet when using the Ethereum blockchain: “Wallets are just a name for a digital account where you can store your keys and the access rights to contacts and assets you control through those keys.”

Recent: AI in healthcare: New tech in diagnosis and patient care

Chapter five focuses on oracles; as Brody mentions, “enterprise transactions will require extensive use of oracles” since external data sources will be essential for completing smart contracts for business purposes.

The information presented at the beginning of Brody’s book is extremely useful for readers that may be new to the blockchain sector. The following chapters focus on concepts like privacy, which is a crucial consideration for enterprises leveraging blockchain. 

In chapter six, Brody writes, “Though enterprises require privacy, blockchains do not, by default, offer privacy.” Given this, Brody focuses this section on privacy applications that can be applied to support enterprise transactions. Although Brody mentions at the beginning of the book that the read is not meant to promote EY’s blockchain work, he does detail how Nightfall and Starlight — two privacy mechanisms created by EY — are used by businesses to ensure private blockchain transactions.

Real-world enterprise Ethereum use cases

Part two of Brody’s book focuses on use cases and case studies. This section is probably the most interesting because it explains why the technology could be helpful for business processes.

Tokenization is heavily discussed in section two, with Brody writing that it is “the single most important thing enterprises can do in the blockchain space.” He adds that tokenization is often the first decision that firms using blockchain make since this can be used to digitize assets that can be easily tracked and managed.

Although Brody explains the difference between ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens, he emphasizes that the ERC-1155 standard is gaining traction among enterprises due to its blend of fungible and nonfungible properties. Brody shares that an EY client in the pharmaceutical industry is currently using ERC-1155 tokens to track serialized medicine packages. “Using the 1155 standard, this firm can mint large volumes of tokens and transfer them in big batches to distributors and others,” he writes.

Brody continues sharing real-world examples of how EY clients apply the Ethereum blockchain. For instance, he explains how Italian beer producer Peroni uses blockchain for traceability, allowing consumers to scan a QR code to understand how the beer was produced.

“Those looking at a beer non-fungible token (NFT) from Peroni on the Polygon PoS chain (an Ethereum side chain), will be able to see Peroni’s final batch token as well as input tokens from the malt house and farms,” writes Brody.

In addition to these use cases, Brody details how blockchain helps with supply chain management, contract management, carbon emission tracking, payments and more. He emphasizes in this section that “Blockchains will do for business ecosystems what ERP [enterprise resource planning] did inside the single enterprise.”

‘Ethereum for Business’ is educational, but blockchain is broad

While Ethereum for Business provides an in-depth and clear view of enterprise Ethereum, readers should remember that the blockchain ecosystem is broad. There are a number of different blockchain networks that businesses can use aside from Ethereum.

Recent: Bug bounties can help secure blockchain networks, but have mixed results

Yet it’s notable that Brody’s new book gives an in-depth overview of the Ethereum ecosystem, breaking down key concepts while providing real-world use cases. This is extremely important, as education around blockchain technology is still needed to drive mainstream adoption.

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Can XRP price hit $1? Watch these levels next

XRP price almost doubled after Ripple's legal win against the U.S. SEC. But can its rally continue after nearly reaching $1?

The price of XRP (XRP) has skyrocketed in the aftermath of a federal court ruling saying that its sales on crypto exchanges complied with U.S. securities laws.

On July 14, XRP price retreated by about 10% to $0.76, but compared to its lowest price the previous day, it was still up around 65%.

Related: Why is XRP price up today?

At its highest in the last 24 hours, the XRP/USD pairreached $0.93, its best level since December 2021, just shy of hitting the $1 mark.

XRP/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

A whale-backed XRP rally

Certain indicators show that XRP's ongoing price pump may not be just a short-term reaction to the positive news for Ripple.

For instance, the duration of XRP's massive pump coincides with its trading volumes reaching a 10-month high. Meanwhile, the number of XRP whale transactions — or wallets holding more than $100,000 — climbed to their best level in 2023, suggesting that the richest investors back the XRP rally.

"If key whale and shark addresses are increasing their supply going into this pump, then it is a get foreshadowing signal that the pump may just be getting started, and it's a sign of good things to come," noted Brian Q, analyst at data analytics platform Santiment.

Whale transaction count (>$100K). Source: Santiment

Furthermore, the XRP price gains come in line with a rise in the supply held by entities with a 100,000-10 million token balance.

XRP supply held by whales. Source: Santiment

In other words, whales have not sold the rally but actually accumulated XRP, suggesting most want to position themselves for further gains.

XRP to $1 and beyond?

From a technical standpoint, XRP can test the key $1 level in the coming days, but its potential to continue its rally beyond looks weak for the time being.

Notably, the pullback on July 14 occurred near a resistance confluence comprising of a multi-year horizontal trendline (purple) and a giant descending trendline ceiling (black).

In addition, XRP's weekly relative strength index (RSI) has turned overbought, raising its correction prospects.

XRP/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Should a pullback occur, XRP price risks dropping toward its multi-year ascending trendline support near $0.45 by September, down around 55% from the current price level.

Related: Ripple CTO warns against XRP scams amid SEC-induced hype

Other price targets include the token's 50-week exponential moving average (50-week EMA; the red wave) near $0.48 and 200-week EMA (the blue wave) near $0.50.

On the other hand, an overbought RSI could also result in the XRP price consolidating sideways inside the $0.75-1 range.

XRP/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

If XRP price decisively breaks above $1, then its next price target by September will likely be near $1.35, a resistance level from the August-December 2021 session.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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Bitcoin options strategy: How to trade July’s Q2 earnings

Professional traders can hedge their Bitcoin bets using the iron condor options strategy as Q2 earnings' season comes into play.

The stock market can offer valuable insights into possible Bitcoin (BTC) price movements as a big potential trigger is expected this month.

Q2 earnings' numbers due this month

Notably, Q2 earnings' numbers are expected from some of the largest companies in the world in July, including:

  • UnitedHealth, Citigroup and JPMorgan on July 14;
  • Bank of America and Morgan Stanley on July 18;
  • Tesla, Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon before July 27.

The S&P 500 companies account for an aggregate $36.5 trillion in market capitalization, so it makes sense to expect a positive impact on Bitcoin’s price if the earnings season sustains modest growth.

In other words, investors’ appetite for risk-on assets will increase if the odds of an imminent recession are reduced.

Leverage to be avoided given the level of uncertainty

Traders who have been calling for a global economic slowdown will have a chance to profit if those companies fail to deliver earnings growth, further adding uncertainty to the economies. Governments rely heavily on taxes, both from companies and from consumers, so a weak earnings season represents a serious threat.

Related: How to financially prepare for a recession

Investors are concerned that companies profitability could decline due to the unprecedented tightening of monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve and macroeconomic concerns. Businesses are being forced to reduce hiring and use cost-cutting strategies due to persistent inflation.

Still, the U.S. economy has displayed resilience, as evident by the latest 0.3% retail sales growth month-over-month in May, while economists had been expecting a decline. The retail results demonstrated that decreasing oil prices may be allowing consumers to spend more money on other goods.

Such a scenario explains why professional traders have been using the bullish "iron condor" strategy to maximize gains with limited risk if Bitcoin trades above $31,550 in July.

Using Bitcoin options for a bullish but hedged strategy

Buying Bitcoin futures pays off during bull markets, but the issue lies in dealing with liquidations when BTC’s price goes down. This is why professional traders use options strategies to maximize their gains and limit their losses.

Related: Crypto derivatives 101: A beginner’s guide on crypto futures, crypto options and perpetual contracts

The skewed iron condor strategy can yield profits above $31,550 by the end of July while limiting losses if the expiry price is below $31,000.

It is worth noting that Bitcoin traded at $30,520 when the pricing for this model took place.

Bitcoin options iron condor strategy returns. Source: Deribit Position Builder

The call option gives its holder the right to acquire an asset at a fixed price in the future. For this privilege, the buyer pays an upfront fee known as a premium.

Meanwhile, the put option allows its holder to sell an asset at a fixed price in the future, which is a downside protection strategy. On the other hand, selling a put offers exposure to the upside in prices.

The iron condor consists of selling the call and put options at the same expiry price and date. The above example has been set using the July 28 contracts, but it can be adapted for other timeframes.

Related: Major US banks get passing grade in ‘severe recession’ stress test

Modest 3% Bitcoin price gain needed for profits

As depicted above, the target profit range is $31,550 (3% above the current price) to $38,000 (24.5% above the current price).

To initiate the trade, the investor needs to short (sell) 1.5 contracts of the $33,000 call option and three contracts of the $33,000 put option. Then, they must repeat the procedure for the $36,000 options, using the same expiry month.

Buying 4.8 contracts of the $31,000 put option to protect from an eventual downside is also required. Lastly, one needs to purchase 3.7 contracts of the $38,000 call option to limit losses above the level.

This strategy’s net profits peak at 0.206 BTC ($6,290 at current prices) between $33,000 and $36,000, but they remain above 0.087 BTC ($2,655 at current prices) if Bitcoin trades in the $32,150 and $37,150 range.

The investment required to open this skewed iron condor strategy is the maximum loss (0.087 BTC, or $2,655) which will occur if Bitcoin trades below $31,000 on July 28.

The benefit of this trade is that a wide target area is covered while providing a potential 238% return versus the potential loss. In essence, it provides a leverage opportunity without the liquidation risks typical of futures contracts.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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Universities use blockchain-based storage to protect and democratize data

Decentralized solutions can make academic research more secure and more accessible.

Academic institutions house some of the world’s most important data generated from years of research. Yet centralized data storage models are becoming a concern for many universities looking to keep critical information safe and accessible. 

Danny O’Brien, a senior fellow at the Filecoin Foundation and Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web (FFDW) — an independent organization that facilitates governance of the Filecoin network and funds development projects — told Cointelegraph that data stored by academic institutions is at risk of vanishing due to centralized storage models. To put this in perspective, a recent Filecoin Foundation survey found that 71% of Americans have lost information and records due to challenges like deleted hyperlinks or locked online accounts.

Decentralized storage helps secure and distribute data

To combat this, O’Brien explained that a handful of educational institutions have begun using decentralized data storage models to preserve data sets. “A growing number of higher education institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of South Carolina, and others, are all using Filecoin to store, preserve and archive their most important data on the blockchain,” he said.

For example, O’Brien pointed out that MIT is currently working on a three-year project with the FFDW to explore how decentralized technology can support its Open Learning programs. MIT’s Open Learning programs include “OpenCourseWare,” which is designed to provide free online materials from over 2,500 MIT courses. This will allow anyone worldwide to access MIT courses on the internet.

Recent: Will BlackRock’s ETF slingshot Bitcoin’s price skyward?

O’Brien explained that through the support of the FFDW, MIT’s Open Learning programs will use decentralized storage to house cataloging, while preserving its OpenCourseWare materials. He added that MIT would soon host public seminars about the challenges and opportunities of the decentralized web. “Education’s ongoing embrace of decentralized Web3 data storage offers, via cryptographic proof, a guarantee that data remains available and unchanged over time, preserving their critical data for as long as they want,” he said.

The University of Utah also uses decentralized storage to protect and democratize access to large data sets. Valerio Pascucci, professor of computer science at the university, told Cointelegraph that the institution’s Center for Extreme Data Management Analysis and Visualization recently adopted a solution from Seal Storage — a decentralized cloud storage platform powered by Filecoin — to complement its current centralized infrastructure.

Pascucci explained that the model provided by Seal Storage allows the National Science Data Fabric (NSDF) — a pilot program working with institutions to democratize data — to further its goal of creating new mechanisms for easy access to scientific information.

“Traditionally, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), small colleges and other disadvantaged organizations cannot be part of scientific investigation endeavors because they cannot access the data necessary to do the work,” he mentioned. The NSDF’s use of decentralized storage will change that.

According to Pascucci, the NSDF-Seal Storage partnership has already demonstrated the possibility of distributing massive data collections to different communities without needing to deploy special servers or other complex processing capabilities that may be impractical for many institutions.

“For example, NASA stores on its largest supercomputer, ‘Pleiades,’ an open climate data set that is over 3 petabytes in size. Yet anyone who wants to use the data would need to have a special account on Pleiades and require the training needed to process the data,” he explained, “NSDF has adopted an ‘OpenVisus’ approach that has reorganized NASA’s data so that its distribution through decentralized storage allows for interactive processing and exploration virtually without any local resources.”

Pascucci added that this might be the first time a data set of this size has been made available for interactive exploration directly from the cloud. Moreover, he believes that the decentralized approach has enhanced security.

Decentralized storage is beneficial, but challenges remain

Although several universities have begun leveraging decentralized storage models, challenges that may hamper adoption remain.

For example, Pascucci pointed out that to distribute NASA’s open climate data set, NSDF’s OpenVisus data format had to be extended from traditional file systems to meet the storage model provided by Seal Storage. Jacques Swanepoel, chief technology officer at Seal Storage, told Cointelegraph that mapping and tagging data on the blockchain is a very complicated undertaking.

“Identifying which block on the blockchain contains specific information is key to fully utilizing the benefits of decentralized storage technology. In order to overcome these challenges, providers need to properly track where customer data is on the blockchain with creative software strategies.” 

Yet it remains notable that academic institutions are using decentralized storage models. “Often considered slow-moving, academia has proven to be an early adopter of blockchain-based technologies, including decentralized storage, and continues to be a leader in adopting and deploying these tools,” O’Brien said. 

Magazine: Bitcoin 2023 in Miami comes to grips with ‘shitcoins on Bitcoin’

This may very well be the case, as Pascucci shared that The University of Utah and NSDF are working on implementing additional use cases with different universities.

“While the NASA use case is very high profile both for size and application to the important field of global climate change, we are already working on other use cases, including the experimental facility of the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source. This is where thousands of scientists go every year to collect data and share it with collaborators across the nation,” he said.

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Bitcoin options: How will tomorrow’s $4.7B expiry impact BTC price?

Bitcoin ETF requests, miners' sell pressure, and regulatory hurdles create uncertainty for the $31,000 BTC price resistance.

The $4.7 billion Bitcoin (BTC) monthly options expiry on June 30 might play a decisive role in determining whether the $30,000 price will consolidate as long-term support and open room for further bullish momentum.

Why is Bitcoin breaking yearly highs?

Many analysts consider Bitcoin's recent breakout above $27,000 a bet on the multiple spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) request applications, including those of BlackRock and ARK Invest.

The news also fueled expectations for Grayscale to be able to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to a Bitcoin ETF.

 $31,000 caps Bitcoin price gains for now

On the other hand, Bitcoin bears will try to take advantage of macroeconomic and regulatory headwinds, including exchanges implementing mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.

On June 28, KuCoin announced the upcoming KYC system upgrade in a move to increase compliance with global Anti-Money Laundering regulations.

Moreover, there’s increasing concern over the impact of miners' sell pressure as the network hashrate reached 400 exahashes per second. The Glassnode analytics firm noted that miners sent an all-time high in BTC revenue percentage to exchanges over the past week, totaling $128 million. Curiously, the movement mimics spikes seen during the 2021 bull run as miners took profits.

Additionally, during the European Central Bank forum in Portugal, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell warned that most policymakers expect two more rate hikes this year. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, investors are pricing in 82% odds of a 25 basis point interest rate increase on July 26.

Bitcoin four-hour price movements during option expiries. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin price last flirted with the $31,000 level on June 27, but the resistance proved stronger than anticipated. The subsequent correction to $30,000 supports the thesis of sideways trading in the short term as investors evaluate the impacts of additional interest rate increases by the Fed.

Such a restrictive scenario for the global economy might explain why some Bitcoin traders decided to take profits, which limited the price upside.

$4.7 billion out of reach as bulls were too optimistic

The open interest for the June 30 options expiry is $4.7 billion, but the actual figure will be lower since bulls were expecting $32,000 or higher price levels. These traders got excessively optimistic after Bitcoin’s price rallied 25.5% between June 15 and June 23, testing the $31,000 resistance.

Deribit Bitcoin options aggregate open interest for June 30. Source: Deribit

The 0.56 put-to-call ratio reflects the imbalance between the $3.1 million in call (buy) open interest and the $1.7 million in put (sell) options.

But if Bitcoin’s price remains near $30,500 at 8:00 am UTC on June 30, only $630 million worth of these call (buy) options will be available. This difference happens because the right to buy Bitcoin at $31,000 or $32,000 is useless if BTC trades below that level on expiry.

Bitcoin bears aim for sub-$30,000 to balance the scales

Below are the four most likely scenarios based on the current price action. The number of options contracts available on June 30 for call (bull) and put (bear) instruments varies depending on the expiry price. The imbalance favoring each side constitutes the theoretical profit.

  • Between $28,000 and $29,000: 7,200 calls vs. 16,200 puts. Bears in control, profiting $250 million.
  • Between $29,000 and $30,000: 13,000 calls vs. 12,600 puts. The result is balanced between put and call options.
  • Between $30,000 and $31,000: 1,500 calls vs. 2,100 puts. The net result favors the call instruments by $440 million.
  • Between $31,000 and $32,000: 3,300 calls vs. 800 puts. The net result favors the call instruments by $670 million.

This crude estimate considers the call options used in bullish bets and the put options exclusively in neutral-to-bearish trades. Even so, this oversimplification disregards more complex investment strategies.

For instance, a trader could have sold a put option, effectively gaining positive exposure to Bitcoin above a specific price. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to estimate this effect.

Related: Will $30K be a new springboard for Bitcoin bulls?

Consequently, it will come down to whether BTC price bears are willing to risk exposure while a potential spot Bitcoin ETF approval is being analyzed by the SEC.

Although it is impossible to estimate the potential inflow or the timing of such an event, it paves the way for bulls to secure a $440 million profit by keeping Bitcoin price above $30,000 in the short term.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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