The trader who accurately called the 2021 crypto market crash says that Bitcoin (BTC) is likely gearing up for a sudden rally. Pseudonymous analyst Dave the Wave tells his 143,500 followers on the social media platform X that Bitcoin’s price action on the monthly chart has touched upon a key support level on the Gaussian […]
The post Bitcoin Just Hit ‘Springboard’ for Price, According to Trader That Called 2021 Crypto Collapse – Here’s What He Means appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Despite new investment in the crypto exchange, Blockchain.com’s valuation has more than halved from its $14 billion peak.
Crypto exchange and wallet provider Blockchain.com closed a $110 million Series E financing round, an investment that more than halves its previous 2022 valuation of $14 billion.
In a Nov. 14 blog post, Blockchain.com said the closing of its Series E round was led by the United Kingdom-based venture capital firm Kingsway Capital. It also saw participation from Baillie Gifford, Lakestar and Coinbase Ventures, among others.
A Nov. 14 Bloomberg report citing sources familiar with the matter said the $110 million round places Blockchain.com at less than half of its $14 billion valuation from March 2022.
On March 30, 2022, Blockchain.com closed a funding round that saw its valuation spike from $5.2 billion to $14 billion, less than two months before the collapse of Do Kwon’s Terra ecosystem triggered a liquidity cascade that bankrupted hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and a slew of high profile crypto lenders.
Blockchain.com’s March 2022 funding round was led by global venture capital firm Lightspeed Ventures and Baillie Gifford & Co. — an investment management firm renowned for its early involvement in growth stocks such as Tesla.
Related: Goldman Sachs leads $95M funding round for blockchain payment firm Fnality: Report
While the new investment saw the firm’s valuation dip, the funding activity hints at a newfound investment appetite for crypto firms, buoyed by a continued uptick in digital asset prices more broadly.
The broader market enthusiasm for crypto assets is tied to multiple pending applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) products from financial firms such as BlackRock and Fidelity.
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently up 116% in the last year, while other major cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) are respectively up 61% and 300% over the last 12 months.
Founded in 2011, Blockchain.com has 37 million verified users with 82 million wallets and over $1 trillion in total transaction value across its platform.
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The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has returned to levels not seen since the peak crypto market rally of November 2021.
Bitcoin (BTC) market sentiment has returned to levels not seen since its price reached $69,000 in mid-November 2021, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.
The index is now at 72 out of a total possible score of 100, placing it within the “greed” ranking — a six-point increase from Oct. 24 and a 16-point bounce from its 50-point “neutral” rank on Oct. 18.
The strengthening market sentiment follows a wave of excitement that BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) could be inching toward approval by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Oct. 24, Bitcoin staged its largest single-day rally in over a year, recording a 14% daily gain as its price briefly moved above the $35,000 mark.
The index gathers and weighs data from six market key performance indicators — volatility (25%), market momentum and volume (25%), social media (15%), surveys (15%) Bitcoin’s dominance (10%) and trends (10%) — to score market sentiment each day.
Nov. 14, 2021, was the last time the index reached a score of 72, just four days after BTC notched its all-time high of $69,044 on Nov. 10, 2021, according to CoinGecko data.
Related: BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF now listed on Nasdaq trade clearing firm — Bloomberg analyst
The index recorded its lowest-ever score of 7 on June 16, 2022, after the collapse of Do Kwon’s Terra Money ecosystem.
The fallout from the Terra collapse triggered a cascade of price-dampening effects which later claimed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and crypto lender Voyager Digital as casualties, among others.
Following the wave of excitement for spot ETFs, crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital has predicted that the price of Bitcoin could increase by more than 74% in the first year following a successful approval.
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Additional reporting by Tom Mitchelhill.
“The gravitational pull in crypto for the time being stays in BTC,” said K33 senior analyst Vetle Lunde.
The relatively lackluster performance of nine new Ethereum futures exchange traded funds (ETFs) has prompted analysts at K33 Research to urge a “rotate back” into Bitcoin (BTC).
In an Oct. 3 market report, analysts Anders Helseth and Vetle Lunde said that it’s “time to pull the brakes on ETH and rotate back into BTC,” with the initial trading volume of Ether futures ETFs only accounting for 0.2% of what the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) amassed on its first day of trading in Oct. 2021.
While the analysts noted that no one expected to see initial trading volume on the Ether futures ETFs “come anywhere close” to that of the Bitcoin futures ETFs — launched amid a raging bull market — the underwhelming first-day numbers “strongly” missed expectations.
This lack of institutional appetite for Ether ETFs caused Lunde to walk back on his previous advice of increasing ETH allocation to best capitalize on the ETF hype.
“The ETH futures ETF launch provides an important lesson for evaluating the impact of easier access to crypto investments for traditional investors: increased institutional access will only create buying pressure if significant unsatiated demand exists,” wrote Lunde.
“This is not the case for ETH at the moment.”
In the section of the report titled “more chop ahead,” Lunde explained that the vast majority of the crypto market lacks any meaningful short-term price catalysts and will most likely continue on its sideways trajectory for the foreseeable future.
Related: Bitcoin bull market awaits as US faces ‘bear steepener’ — Arthur Hayes
In Lunde’s view, this landscape is only really favorable for Bitcoin, which has a potential spot for ETF approval to look forward to early next year, as well as the halving event which is currently on track for mid-April.
“The gravitational pull in crypto for the time being stays in BTC, with a promising event horizon down the line, still favoring aggressive accumulation.”
Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro, charted a similar path ahead for crypto assets, albeit with a slightly more bearish sentiment.
In emailed comments to Cointelegraph, Laidler pointed to current macro trends as a potential downward trigger for prices of mainstay crypto assets like Bitcoin.
“The Fed and oil prices have been consistently powerful macro influencers on the crypto market in the past couple of years,” wrote Laidler. “At the late stage of the rate hike cycle we’re in, the market is looking for further good news to push on, but with oil prices rising again, this could have a cooling effect on sentiment.”
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The price of Bitcoin and Ethereum surged nearly 4% in just a 15-minute window, sparking bullish predictions for the remainder of October.
More than $70 million in crypto shorts were suddenly liquidated after a surprise jump in the price of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies on Oct. 1.
According to data from TradingView, the sudden pump saw Bitcoin surge 3% in just 15 minutes from $27,100 to $28,053 before settling down just below the $28,000 mark at the time of publication.
Happy Uptober to those who celebrate.
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) October 2, 2023
Remember 2021? pic.twitter.com/qgHy1ThGOf
Similarly, the price of Ethereum’s native currency Ether also surged, gaining as much as 4.7% in a brief spike to $1,755 before leveling out to $1,727 at the time of publication.
The sudden movement has left most in the community scratching their heads. Many commentators said the move aligned with the arrival of “Uptober.”
Welcome to Uptober.
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) October 1, 2023
Welcome to Q4, which is leading towards a great quarter, potentially fueled by ETF approvals and the pre-halving rally.
Potentially #Bitcoin to $40,000 is reasonable.
Other community members suggested that “someone knows something” that others don’t.
Uptober is crypto parlance for October typically being a bullish month for the price action of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According to data from CoinGlass, October has only produced negative monthly returns twice since 2013.
One of the events that the crypto market is looking to with optimism is the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF product by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. However, most analysts are tipping Jan. 2024 as the most likely date for such an announcement.
Related: Will Bitcoin ‘Uptober’ bring gains for MKR, AAVE, RUNE and INJ?
Meanwhile, while those holding spot and long positions may have celebrated the first significant price action in over a month, short sellers have had the opposite luck.
The rapid uptick saw $70 million in short positions liquidated in just two hours.
According to data from Coinglass, nearly $36 million worth of BTC shorts and $23 million worth of ETH shorts were “rekt” by the sudden price move.
Magazine: Blockchain detectives — Mt. Gox collapse saw birth of Chainalysis
A veteran investor believes that crypto projects are now more open to private financing than in any period over the past year. Chris Burniske, the founder of Placeholder Capital, tells his 263,300 followers on the social media platform X that crypto projects are actively seeking funds from private investors. However, Burniske says that a lot […]
The post Crypto Private Financings Witnessing Busiest Period in Last 12 Months, Says Investor Chris Burniske appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Millions of new crypto investors could be experiencing their very first bull run soon, and those who’ve been through it have shared how they plan to tackle it.
With as much as 130 million people introduced to cryptocurrencies since the end of 2021, millions of investors could soon be looking at their first crypto bull run, with some suggesting it could come as early as 2024.
However, unlike the current bear market, a bull market is “unlike anything else you've ever experienced” according to Ben Simpson, founder of education platform Collective Shift.
“It's complete and utter chaos. It's just a tornado.”
In August, Cointelegraph spoke to hedge fund managers, heads of research at digital asset companies, and other crypto traders to understand how they’re preparing for the upcoming bull market and some of the learnings they could pass onto newcomers.
Simpson said one of the biggest mistakes that new crypto traders make is holding onto their crypto bags too long — most often caused by getting caught up in the euphoria that they could make more.
“My first cycle, I didn't have a plan. I rode it up and rode it all the way down back in 2017.”
Instead, Simpson said it could be helpful for investors and traders to write down a clear investment goal and understand what assets are in their portfolios — with a hard-set sell price for each one.
Setting hard market exits may reduce the possibility of losing on an investment as “once the music stops in a bull market it stops really quickly,” said Simpson.
There are literally tumbleweeds rolling across Crypto right now.
— Ben Simpson (@bensimpsonau) August 16, 2023
No Engagement
No Price movements
No interest
No investments
I suspect a big move is coming soon.
Prepare accordingly.
On the same note, CoinShares head of research James Butterfill told Cointelegraph that dollar-cost averaging — periodic small asset purchases or holdings sales — could mitigate the volatility of cryptocurrencies, whether it's a bull or bear market.
“Implementing dollar-cost averaging can help lower the average purchase cost and diminish the influence of volatility on one's portfolio,” Butterfill said.
CK Zheng, co-founder and CIO of hedge fund manager ZX Squared Capital recommends investors to look into the more well-established and recognized cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
Butterfill argued Bitcoin behaves similarly to other alternative assets and has “remarkable diversification benefits, surpassing assets like gold, commodities or real estate.”
Bitcoin vs "top altcoins" from 2013.
— James Todaro, MD (@JamesTodaroMD) August 21, 2019
Bitcoin the honey badger. $BTC #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/fP2SNClsE5
Meanwhile, Deryck Graham, founder of crypto hedge fund Portal AM said to consider balancing investments between speculative and mature cryptocurrencies.
Graham added to break down investment sectors — such as Layer 2’s or the Metaverse — and choose related tokens while avoiding those with “little or no practical use,” namely memecoins.
“Consider tokenomics, dev team track record, whale investors coming in and leaving, community size, market momentum and liquidity,” he added.
Matrixport head of research and Crypto Titans author Markus Thielen told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin has “always hit a new high” in a booming market but added new themes drive new bull markets — supporting the idea of investing in new cryptocurrencies instead of those from the previous bull run.
Related: 2024 could be very bullish for crypto — Here’s why
At the same timeSimpson said having high-conviction investments will help with staying on goal as most will have “no chance” of keeping up with a portfolio of altcoins.
“I spoke to a guy the other day that has 80 altcoins in his portfolio. There's no way an individual investor can stay across and know exactly what 80 different coins are doing at any one time.”
Simpson, Zheng and Graham all warned against overexposure to crypto through taking loans to invest in the market, investing more than a person can afford to lose or trading using leverage.
Investing $1000 in 4 Crypto Assets > $100 in 40 Crypto Assets
— Ben Simpson (@bensimpsonau) August 22, 2023
With the 2nd strategy, you are spreading yourself too thin, far lower chance of succeeding.
And you have no idea what any of those 40 coins actually do.
Which means you're not making logical decisions.
You're…
“A leveraged position can result in a total wipeout of capital when one is least prepared,” Zheng said. “It's important to have the mindset of investment, not speculation.”
Simpson added it’s important to have time away from crypto and watching markets. He advised both trading veterans and newcomers to safeguard their mental health.
“Go for regular walks. Go for a run. Go to the gym. Be a human.”
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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.
Rising interest rates, delayed Bitcoin ETFs, global financial turmoil and other regulatory pressures are contributing to the crypto market's underperformance.
The cryptocurrency market has experienced a notable downturn recently, with the total market capitalization falling by 10% between August 14 and August 23, reaching its lowest point in over two months at $1.04 trillion. This movement has triggered significant liquidations on futures contracts, the largest since the FTX collapse in November 2022.
Several economic factors have contributed to this decline. As interest rates have surpassed the 5% mark and inflation remains above the targeted 2%, finance costs for both families and businesses have risen, placing pressure on consumer spending and economic expansion. That causes less money available for savings and could force people to let go of their investments just to cover monthly bills.
Since inflation expectations for 2024 stands at 3.6% and average hourly earnings increased by 5.5% year-over-year, at the fastest pace since 2020, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is likely to maintain or even raise interest rates in the coming months. Consequently, a high interest rate scenario favors fixed-income investments, which is detrimental for cryptocurrencies.
Inflation has receded from its peak of 9% to the current 3%, while the S&P 500 index is only 9% below its all-time high. This could indicate a "soft landing" orchestrated by the Federal Reserve, suggesting that the likelihood of an extended and profound recession is diminishing, temporarily undermining Bitcoin's investment thesis as a hedge.
Investor expectations had been high for the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), particularly with heavyweight endorsements from BlackRock and Fidelity. However, these hopes were dashed as the SEC continued to delay its decision, citing concerns over insufficient safeguards against manipulation. Complicating matters, a substantial volume of trading continues to occur on non-regulated offshore exchanges based in stablecoins, raising questions about the authenticity of market activity.
Financial difficulties within the Digital Currency Group (DCG) have also had a negative impact. A subsidiary of DCG is grappling with a debt exceeding $1.2 billion to the Gemini exchange. Additionally, Genesis Global Trading recently declared bankruptcy due to losses stemming from the collapses of Terra and FTX. This precarious situation could lead to forced selling positions in the Grayscale GBTC funds if DCG fails to meet its obligations.
Further compounding the market's woes is regulatory tightening. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has leveled a series of charges against Binance exchange and its CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, alleging misleading practices and the operation of an unregistered exchange. Similarly, Coinbase faces regulatory scrutiny and a lawsuit centered on the classification of certain cryptocurrencies as securities, highlighting the ambiguity in US securities policy.
Signs of trouble stemming from lower growth in China have also emerged. Economists have revised down their growth forecasts for the country, with both imports and exports experiencing declines in recent months. Foreign investment into China dropped by over 80% in the second quarter compared to the previous year. Worryingly, unpaid bills from private Chinese developers amount to a staggering $390 billion, posing a significant threat to the economy.
Despite the prospect of a deteriorating global economy, which could potentially bolster Bitcoin's appeal due to its scarcity and fixed monetary policy, investors are showing a propensity to flock to the perceived safety of U.S. dollars. This is evident in the movement of the DXY dollar index, which has surged from its July 17 low of 99.5 to its current level of 103.8, marking its highest point in more than two months.
As the cryptocurrency market navigates through these multifaceted challenges, the ebb and flow of various economic factors and regulatory developments will undoubtedly continue to shape its trajectory in the coming months.
Such a situation could possibly be an outcome of excessive optimism following the submission of multiple spot Bitcoin ETF requests in mid-June, so instead of focusing on what caused the recent 10% correction, one could question whether the rally in mid-July from $1.0 trillion market capitalization to $1.18 trillion was justified in the first place.
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.
Crypto data platform Santiment is offering insight into the signals that could indicate the right time to accumulate Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. Santiment marketing director Brian Quinlivan says that buying opportunities for crypto assets have historically presented themselves when trader sentiment is neither pessimistic nor optimistic across the major social media platforms such as Reddit […]
The post One Metric Hinting at Opportune Time To Accumulate Bitcoin (BTC) and Altcoins: Santiment appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal is predicting a huge move to the upside for the crypto market in the coming years. The former Goldman Sachs executive tells his 996,400 Twitter followers that crypto will likely see new all-time highs in what he calls the “Exponential Age,” a time of massive growth of tech and digital […]
The post Macro Guru Raoul Pal Predicts ‘Exponential Move’ for Crypto Over the Long Term, Says Current Selloff Is Noise appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
