Editor’s Note: Happy Chinese Lunar New Year! First Mover will not publish on Monday, February 15, which is Presidents’ Day in the U.S. Cryptocurrency markets will be open, as they always are. Price Point Bitcoin (BTC) was lower, after pushing early Friday to an all-time high price of $48,925, based on CoinDesk pricing. Market activity was quiet due to the Lunar New Year celebrations across Asia […]
Bradley Keoun
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Bitcoin (BTC) which seemed uncannily listless for most of this wild week, suddenly found energy after Elon Musk, the electric-vehicle and private-spaceflight entrepreneur who’s also reportedly the world’s richest man, changed his Twitter bio to mention the cryptocurrency. (See screen grab below, in Omkar Godbole’s Bitcoin Watch column.) The price of bitcoin, the oldest and largest cryptocurrency, surged 12% to about $37,400, around the highest in […]
Bitcoin prices were higher, though staying in their range over the past week between roughly $30,000 and $34,000. “Signs of market exhaustion from the bulls are becoming more prevalent,” said Lennard Neo, head of research for the cryptocurrency-focused Stack Funds. And in what appears to be a crypto segue from the GameStop episode that has riveted global financial markets, CoinDesk’s Tanzeel Akhtar reported Thursday that prices […]
(EDITOR’S NOTE: First Mover will not publish Monday, Jan. 18, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., a CoinDesk company holiday. The cryptocurrency market will be open, as it always is.) Bitcoin (BTC) was lower, trading around the $38,000 level where prices have gravitated for the past week. The market faces price resistance around $41,000, with support seen around $34,000, Mark Warner, […]
Bitcoin (BTC) was higher, pushing back toward $40,000 after a 9.9% surge on Wednesday, the biggest calendar-day gain in a month. Such a powerful recovery after a steep sell-off earlier in the week has quickly reinvigorated trader spirits. “This bubble doesn’t look set to burst,” said Don Guo, CEO of Broctagon Fintech Group, which helps smaller cryptocurrency exchanges tap into bigger pools of liquidity available from […]
With a runway of a year or more before the Federal Reserve and other major central banks can launch digital currencies, bitcoin and other private cryptocurrencies could gain a foothold in electronic commerce. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde says bitcoin needs to be regulated. (European Central Bank, modified by CoinDesk) Source link
Bitcoin (BTC) was down for a fourth straight day, though changing hands well above Monday’s low around $30,000. After soaring to a new all-time high around $40,000 last week, prices have tumbled about 13% since Saturday, the most for a three-day stretch since March 2020, according to TradingView. “Volatility is the price you pay for performance,” as the investing-legend-turned-bitcoin-bull Bill Miller put it last week to CNBC. In traditional […]
Cryptocurrencies could grow fivefold by 2025 into a $3 trillion market, under new projections from Bakkt Holdings, the digital-asset financial firm. Bakkt published the estimate as part of an investor presentation released Monday in connection with its new plan to go public via a merger with Victory Park Capital, a special-purpose acquisition company. Bakkt is majority-owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc., which also owns the New York […]
Bitcoin’s momentum showed few signs of slowing on Friday, as prices pushed to a new all-time high after blowing through $40,000 for the first time. In traditional markets, Asian and European shares rose and U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open, as investors bet that a dismal jobs report expected early Friday from the Labor Department on the December employment situation would strengthen the case for additional economic stimulus. Gold weakened […]
Bitcoin’s prices reached all-time highs above $40,000 less than a month after breaking $20,000 for the first time. Since the start of the most recent rally, ostensibly begun in October, its value has increased fourfold. So for pros and newbies alike, or if you want to be the cryptocurrency expert at your next Zoom party, it’s natural to ask: Why are prices going up, and will […]
SkyBridge’s bitcoin investment has already climbed to more than $300 million, mostly due to price appreciation in the past couple of months. Source link
For many reasons 2020 will loom large in future textbooks on financial history. This year saw the biggest drop-off in economic output since the Great Depression, the biggest spate of money printing in the Federal Reserve’s 107-year history spurred by a coronavirus pandemic, an epochal shift toward remote working and negative prices for crude oil futures. Perhaps as important in the pantheon of monetary milestones, 2020 […]
Bitcoin (BTC) was lower for a second day, slipping below $18,000 to the lowest in almost two weeks. “The momentum that characterized bitcoin throughout October and November seems to have cooled down,” Matt Blom, head of sales and trading for the cryptocurrency-focused financial firm Diginex, told clients Friday in a note. “Prices retrace even in light of positive news.” In traditional markets, European shares fell as Germany […]
Bitcoin (BTC) was lower while staying mostly within this month’s range of roughly $18,200 to $19,700. “Upward price action seems to stall, and our analysts believe more inertia is required to push bitcoin beyond the $20,000 psychology barrier,” Lennard Neo, head of research for the cryptocurrency investment firm Stack Funds, wrote Thursday in a report. In traditional markets, European shares were lower even after the European Central […]
Bitcoin was lower, staying in the past week’s range of roughly $18,500 to $19,700. Prices are up 167% year to date, having started off 2020 at around $7,160. “There is no doubt that $20,000 remains a barrier, both from a technical perspective and on an ideological level,” Simon Peters, an analyst for the trading platform eToro, wrote Monday in an email. In traditional markets, European shares fell, […]
Bitcoin was higher, in an indecisive-looking market swinging between about $18,300 and $19,300. Prices have failed to push higher after surging to a new all-time high of $19,920 earlier this week. “Expect additional short-term volatility,” Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies, told CoinDesk’s Daniel Cawrey. In traditional markets, European stocks slipped and U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open as lawmakers discussed new economic-stimulus […]
Bitcoin surged Monday to a new all-time high price of $19,864, extending its year-to-date rise to an astounding 170% during a 2020 that has seen tumultuous swings in global markets. Here are five reasons why the oldest and largest cryptocurrency has pushed to new highs. Some institutional investors are taking on bitcoin exposure, such as buying into the publicly traded Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), according to […]
Bitcoin is trading above $18,500, having charted a minor pullback to $17,800 over the weekend. The cryptocurrency’s one-month implied volatility metric has jumped to four-month highs, suggesting increased expectations for price turbulence over the next four weeks. “It’s likely the week ahead is filled with volatility with the possibility of a trading range between $19,000 and $17,000 the likely outcome. However, if the bulls take charge, […]
Bitcoin was higher, climbing back above $16,000 on Monday after dipping below the mark over the weekend. “Should we trade back above $16,490, then we expect to see the bulls take the market by the horns and drive prices to a $17,000 handle,” Matt Blom, head of sales and trading at the cryptocurrency financial firm Diginex, told clients in an email. “If we remain capped by […]
Bitcoin was lower after surging nearly $600 on Thursday to climb above $16,000 for the first time in almost three years. “Investors should plan for volatility as well as price appreciation,” the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis wrote in a newsletter. In traditional markets, European shares fluctuated and U.S. stock futures pointed toward a higher open as investors weighed prospects for a new stimulus package against record coronavirus […]
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said she believes the region’s monetary authority will move to launch a digital version of the euro in the next two to four years. “We might well go in that direction,” Lagarde said Thursday on a virtual panel with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. “My hunch is that it will come.” ECB officials […]
Bitcoin briefly climbed above $16,000 for the first time in three years before quickly falling back below the psychological threshold. Digital-asset market traders and analysts say the cryptocurrency is likely to make another run higher, with strong demand expected from traditional investors looking for a hedge against inflation, at a time when sellers appear unwilling to part with their bitcoin holdings. “Against the backdrop of […]
Bitcoin was higher for a second day, staying in a range between roughly $15,200 and $15,600, as news of progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine appeared to touch off a rally in U.S. stocks. With the outcome of last week’s U.S. presidential election now mostly settled, crypto analysts turned to other market factors, such as whether investors and bitcoin miners might take advantage of the recent price increase […]
Bitcoin was lower, pausing after after a three-day rally that saw prices approach $16,000, their highest since early 2018. The recent rally left the largest cryptocurrency up 116% year to date, and some bullish digital-asset market analysts were already looking at even higher levels. Denis Vinokourov, head of research at the crypto prime broker Bequant, said in an email there’s the potential for a squeeze in […]
The statement is in keeping with economists’ expectations for the U.S. central bank to take no new monetary policy actions. Source link
Bitcoin (BTC) was lower, searching for direction as uncertainty over U.S. election results hung over global markets. Prices were down about 2.2% to about $13,700, staying roughly in their range over the past week. With major states yet to be called in the U.S. presidential race and Republican incumbent Donald Trump accusing Democrats of trying to “STEAL” the election, the early read is that bitcoin prices […]
Bitcoin (BTC) was lower for a third straight day around $13,500, having fallen back from a fleeting 33-month high of $14,093 over the weekend. In traditional markets, Asian and European shares rose and U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries increased 0.03 percentage point to 0.88%. Gold strengthened 0.2% to $1,899 an ounce. Market Moves The U.S. presidential election is […]
Bitcoin was lower around $13,400 though on track to gain 24% in October, an impressive performance since U.S. stocks declined 1.6% on the month and gold slid 0.5%. “With the U.S. election just days away, we are going to have to be patient when it comes to headwinds lifting BTC to new multi-year highs,” Matt Blom, head of sales and trading for the cryptocurrency-focused financial firm Diginex, […]
Bitcoin was lower, pausing a powerful rally that has seen the largest cryptocurrency jump 25% in October to the highest levels since June 2019. Traditional financial-media outlets like Bloomberg News were writing about it. Prices appeared to hit resistance just below $13,900, close to last year’s high. But analysts said that if the level is breached, there appear to be few brake points before the 11-year-old cryptocurrency ascends […]
Bitcoin reached a new 2020 high around $13,420 after rising on nine of the past 11 days. The cryptocurrency’s recent rally despite a stall-out in U.S. stocks has rekindled speculation that prices for the two asset classes are starting to diverge, after a recent stretch in which they appeared highly correlated. “We have discussed the potential for a decoupling from traditional financial markets,” analysts for the […]
Bitcoin was lower, tracking what appears to be a new range between roughly $11,200 and $11,700. It’s a step up from levels that prevailed over most of September, between $10,100 and $11,000. “As the bulls push for a return to a $12,000 handle, resistance will be found just below, at $11,900,” Matt Blom, head of sales and trading for the cryptocurrency exchange owner Diginex, wrote in […]
The outcome of next month’s U.S. presidential election may not matter much for bitcoin’s price: Economic stimulus in the trillions of dollars is likely no matter who wins, bolstering the largest cryptocurrency’s appeal as a hedge against inflation. President Donald Trump over the past week has reversed his opposition to another big government-spending bill following April’s $2 trillion coronavirus-aid package. He signaled his eagerness to strike a deal with leaders of the opposition […]
Payments company Square’s announcement that it would put some $50 million, or 1% of its assets, into bitcoin has touched off speculation that more corporations might do the same. Jack Dorsey, the Twitter CEO who also helms Square, is a longtime bitcoin bull, so it wasn’t a huge surprise his company would put some of its corporate liquidity into the cryptocurrency. He’s following the path of MicroStrategy […]
A slowdown in cryptocurrency trading on so-called decentralized exchanges has helped to alleviate congestion on the Ethereum blockchain, at least temporarily mitigating concerns the network was becoming overloaded. The trading lull comes as prices tumble for many of the hottest tokens from the fast-growing arena of decentralized finance, or DeFi. SushiSwap’s SUSHI token, one of this year’s splashiest debuts , fell by 77% in the past 30 days, while DeFi […]
Chinese tech companies were once seen as copycats of their Western peers: Alibaba was a knockoff of eBay and Baidu imitated Google. More recently, Chinese firms like TikTok and Huawei have established such dominant international positions that U.S. authorities have tried to hold them back. Now, the technological arms race is playing out in the cryptocurrency industry, where one Chinese company is taking on Ethereum, the […]
U.S. regulators and law-enforcement officials brought charges on Thursday against BitMEX, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange that has grown in recent years to be one of the industry’s biggest players. According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, prosecutors accused BitMEX of facilitating unregistered trading and other violations, including “conducting significant aspects of its business from the U.S. and accepting orders and funds from U.S. customers,” as reported […]
A lot of crypto investors like to think of bitcoin as a bet on higher inflation, or as a futuristic hedge on some imagined economic-armageddon scenario – Gold 2.0, as they say. Lately, it’s looking more like Gold 2x: As bitcoin heads into the final months of 2020, the largest cryptocurrency’s 2020 investment returns are twice those of the yellow metal. Bitcoin gained 50% in the nine months […]
That was the story in cryptocurrency markets in September as prices tumbled for digital tokens from “decentralized finance” (DeFi), the fast-evolving arena of blockchain-based lending and trading platforms. Chainlink, which supplies data feeds to DeFi systems, saw its LINK token fall 42% month to date, the worst return among digital assets in the CoinDesk 20. The DeFi market correction came at a time when traditional markets also were hit […]
There’s a degree of transparency in cryptocurrencies that doesn’t exist in traditional markets like stocks and bonds: Thanks to data that’s easily extracted from blockchains, everyone can see everyone else moving their money around. That means traders can keep an eye on exchange wallets to gauge whether investors and crypto miners are getting their bitcoin into position for a possible sale — or taking balances down […]
The super-charged trajectory of the cryptocurrency industry is translating to faster growth at the publicly traded digital-asset brokerage Voyager Digital, where revenue this quarter is tracking at an eightfold increase over the prior 12 months’ average pace. Voyager CEO Steve Ehrlich told CoinDesk in a Zoom interview that the company’s on pace for revenue of about $2 million during the fiscal first quarter that ends Sept. […]
Compared with the traditional financial system, the cryptocurrency industry is evolving fast. Technologists are experimenting with the vast-reaching potential of blockchain. And regulation is typically immature, inconsistent and unevenly applied across international borders, allowing entrepreneurs to move fast and break things, as it were. But there’s also no shortage of competition. The latest example comes from CoinDesk’s Ian Allison, who reported Thursday that Tron, the three-year-old blockchain headed by […]
The upcoming U.S. presidential election has become one of the most contentious in history, fraught with searing divisions over everything from the economy to race to the continued health of democracy itself. So it’s not surprising that Wall Street options traders are now pricing in expectations of elevated market volatility around the November election. Analysts for the investment banking giant Goldman Sachs noted earlier this month that price swings of […]
In seeking to explain Monday’s sell-off across traditional markets and cryptocurrencies, the digital-asset firm QCP Capital rattled off a list of seven major market events that occurred in Septembers past, from the 1929 stock-market crash to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008. There might be some deep human connection with the fall equinox — when the days turn shorter than nights in the northern hemisphere and summer turns to fall, […]
It’s pretty much guaranteed at this point that higher inflation is coming. The Federal Reserve, which has already printed about $3 trillion of new money this year, is now explicitly devoted to reducing the dollar’s purchasing power in a bid to revive the economy. Higher inflation also typically happens when a country gets laden with debt and interest rates are cut to zero, as is now the case in […]
Earlier this week, analysts with the cryptocurrency analysis firm Arcane Research were musing that new developments appeared to have slowed in the fast-growing blockchain arena of decentralized finance, known as DeFi. But they predicted any lull was likely to be temporary. “A new boost for DeFi tokens could be right around the corner,” Arcane wrote Tuesday in a report. “The sector seems determined to grow further.” As if on […]
Blockchain-based lending and trading systems known as “decentralized finance,” or DeFi, have dominated recent cryptocurrency-market headlines, with collateral locked into the semi-automated platforms surging 10-fold this year to more than $9 billion. DeFi trading platforms like Uniswap, Curve and Balancer have appealed to cryptocurrency traders with their low cost and ease of use, and they’re now starting to steal a growing and no-longer-negligible share of market trading volumes from bigger, established exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, Huobi and OKEx. […]
One of the interesting things about cryptocurrency investors is that they really do look at the world very differently from many of their counterparts in traditional finance. The thinking goes something like this: The efforts of governments and central banks to repair the economy are doomed to fail, and likely to make the situation worse. There is no point in moving to a defensive investment strategy, because […]
This column has written in recent weeks about the surprising possibility that cryptocurrency markets might have become the new home for capitalism, in an environment where central banks and governments are intervening deeply in markets while picking corporate winners via emergency aid. If anything, the ridiculousness of the recent weeks’ saga involving the deliciously named startup protocol SushiSwap shows that not only are market signals alive and well in digital assets, […]
Bitcoin was rising for a second straight day, to about $10,281, after a rapid sell-off earlier in the week. “In a flash, investors have gone from running for the hills to buying the dip,” Mati Greenspan, founder of the cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange analysis firm Quantum Economics, told clients in an email. The crypto investment firm Stack Funds wrote in a weekly report that prices appear to […]
You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team and edited by Bradley Keoun, First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around crypto markets, which of course never close, putting in context every wild swing in bitcoin and more. We follow the money so you don’t have to. Price Point Bitcoin was down early Tuesday, barely holding above the […]
You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team and edited by Bradley Keoun, First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around crypto markets, which of course never close, putting in context every wild swing in bitcoin and more. We follow the money so you don’t have to. You can subscribe here. HOLIDAY NOTICE: First Mover will publish next on Tuesday, […]
Bitcoin prices tumbled 6.2% Thursday, falling below $11,000 for the first time in a month. The price drop trimmed the largest cryptocurrency’s 2020 rally to 50% and sent digital-asset market traders and analysts scrambling to explain the sell-off. Here are three reasons cited by analysts: 1. Bitcoin slid in sync with traditional markets The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of large U.S. stocks retreated Thursday after […]
You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team and edited by Bradley Keoun, First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around crypto markets, which of course never close, putting in context every wild swing in bitcoin and more. We follow the money so you don’t have to. You can subscribe here. Price Point Bitcoin was down early Thursday to […]
You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team and edited by Bradley Keoun, First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around crypto markets, which of course never close, putting in context every wild swing in bitcoin and more. We follow the money so you don’t have to. You can subscribe here. Price Point Bitcoin (BTC) was up 2.2% early […]
Price point Bitcoin was rising along with gold and U.S. stock futures early Friday as traders reacted to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s plan to let inflation run hot in coming years as the economy heals from the coronavirus-induced recession. The largest cryptocurrency, seen by some investors as a hedge against inflation, changed hands around $11,451, staying in the range between $10,900 and $12,400, where it has been […]
A speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell scheduled for Thursday offers a reminder of just how dramatically once-slow-moving monetary forces have accelerated due to the devastating economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. This time last year, President Donald Trump was vehemently criticizing Powell on Twitter for setting interest rates too high, as U.S. economic growth slowed and the national debt swelled past $22 trillion. This […]
Market moves The explosive growth of decentralized finance, or DeFi, on the Ethereum blockchain has brought unwanted attention to the recent surge in congestion on the network, with a resulting jump in transaction fees. There’s another consequence for crypto traders: Rising volatility in prices for ether, the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency. That’s especially true when ether’s volatility is compared with that of bitcoin. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s […]
Price point Bitcoin was up slightly at about $11,776 early Monday, rising along with European equities, stock futures, gold, copper and oil amid optimism over a coronavirus vaccine and treatments. The dollar weakened. The largest cryptocurrency is coming off a 2.2% decline in the seven days through Aug. 23, breaking a four-week string of gains. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets […]
Price Point Bitcoin was slightly lower early Friday, leaving the cryptocurrency on track for its first weekly price decline since mid-July. The largest cryptocurrency broke above $12,000 earlier in the week and failed to hold the gains, though John Willock, CEO of crypto asset manager Tritum, told CoinDesk Thursday that “maybe we’ve got $13,500 in the next phase up in the coming days.” You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets […]
Price Point Bitcoin traded slightly higher early Thursday at $11,772 after falling for two straight days. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has declined 1.3% this week as the U.S. dollar strengthened in foreign exchange markets. The greenback gained support Wednesday as the Federal Reserve said it wasn’t immediately planning to implement a “yield curve control” program that probably would have brought an accelerated pace of […]
Price Point It’s been two steps forward, one step back for bitcoin (BTC) over the past couple months. Prices were down early Wednesday for a second straight day after pushing earlier this week past $12,000 to a new 2020 high. The price move accelerated as traders got hit with margin calls on the BitMEX exchange. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team, First […]
PRICE POINT Bitcoin (BTC) was flat after jumping on Monday to a new 2020 high above $12,400. Analysts are now speculating whether the largest cryptocurrency can hold the higher ground. The latest move up came on high volume, and it was a “convincing break,” Denis Vinokourov, head of research for the crypto prime broker BeQuant, told CoinDesk. Monday’s high was just 11% off the 2019 peak of $13,880. […]
Price Point Bitcoin was mostly subdued over the weekend, staying in its recent range between $11,000 and $12,000. Ether, trading around $430, is looking to extend a run of four straight weeks of gains during which prices have nearly doubled. In traditional markets, U.S. equity futures and European stocks advanced, after China’s central bank pumped about $100 billion into the country’s banking system. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily […]
Bitcoin climbed above $12,000 early Monday, before dipping once more, as traders weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to provide emergency aid amid new signs that the labor market recovery is stalling. The oldest and largest cryptocurrency is up 63% on the year. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team, First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around […]
The Federal Reserve appears ready to pursue yet another untested strategy that could ultimately boost inflation – and possibly prices for bitcoin. The Fed is “preparing to effectively abandon its strategy of pre-emptively lifting interest rates to head off higher inflation,” according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal. The shift signals an explicit willingness by the central bank to tolerate higher inflation, at a time when the spreading […]
Crypto traders didn’t need to work too hard to make money last month. They just had to be in the market. Every digital asset in the CoinDesk 20 ended the month in the black. Bitcoin benefited from bets against the U.S. dollar while ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, gained from speculation over the future of “decentralized finance,” known as DeFi. Source: CoinDesk/Coin Metrics […]
After a two-day closed-door meeting this week, the Federal Reserve issued a six-paragraph statement on Wednesday and held an hour-long press conference. None of that was news, of course, and neither was anything else emanating from the U.S. central bank, which announced no policy changes. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team, First Mover starts your day with the most […]
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would hold benchmark U.S. interest rates close to zero and continue buying Treasury bonds to support the coronavirus-devastated economy. Source link
In the race to become the dominant cryptocurrency platform, Ethereum is gaining on Bitcoin. Take a look at the market capitalization of ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain. Currently, the value stands at about $26 billion. But that figure doesn’t include all of the digital assets built atop the Ethereum blockchain, including some of this year’s hottest tokens: stablecoins like tether and USDC and altcoins like Crypto.com’s […]
Cryptocurrency traders yawned at one of the year’s biggest news stories for bitcoin, with prices barely budging as the digital-asset industry became a primary victim of this week’s massive hack on Twitter accounts. The notoriously volatile bitcoin slid just 0.8% to about $9,100 on Thursday after slipping a meager 0.7% on Wednesday as the news hit. That’s in a market where it’s not uncomon, at least until recently, […]
Bitcoin’s notorious volatility has practically disappeared during the most-recent phase of the coronavirus-induced economic crisis – and that’s now taking a toll on trading volumes at cryptocurrency exchanges around the world. For more than two months, bitcoin has stayed in a range between roughly $8,500 and $10,200, an astonishing stretch of stability for an asset whose price rose 13-fold in 2017, tumbled 73% in 2018 and […]
Bitcoiners, already rocked by this year’s coronavirus-inflicted turbulence, face a fresh source of volatility as the market heads into the second half of 2020: the U.S. presidential elections. According to Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest lender, a reelection victory by President Donald Trump could threaten the U.S. dollar’s century-long reign as the world’s de facto reserve currency. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team, […]
Bitcoin has traded in an ever-tightening range for two months, and digital-market analysts say a new wave of coronavirus cases and emergency measures could provoke the largest cryptocurrency by market cap out of the doldrums. The backdrop is an anemic economy, with the International Monetary Fund projecting last week that global output will shrink 4.9% this year: worse than its April forecast for 3% contraction. Confirmed deaths from the coronavirus passed half […]
The speculative fervor surrounding the autonomous lender Compound’s new digital token rose another notch Thursday as its already relatively lofty price more than doubled in 24 hours. The rapid ascent of the COMP “governance” token comes as something a surprise given it was released just Monday and is still only trading on a handful of lesser cryptocurrency exchanges. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk […]
Whether or not the Federal Reserve eventually cuts interest rates to negative levels, it might be a case of heads: bitcoin wins, tails: bitcoin wins. So far this year, the Fed has created about $3 trillion of new money, an amount equivalent to more than 70% of the total assets created since its founding in 1913. The question now is what the Fed will do next […]
Federal Reserve officials see U.S. inflation as likely to stay below 2% over the next three years, based on a new summary of economic predictions released Wednesday by the central bank. Prices for personal consumption expenditures are expected to climb just 1% this year, down from a December projection of 1.9%, according to the document. Inflation will average 1.5% next year and 1.7% in 2022, the officials […]
Based on a slew of recent predictions, bitcoin prices could more than double this year to $20,000. Or go to $250,000 by early 2023. Or $300,000 within five years. What’s confounding cryptocurrency traders now is the wide gap between such lofty forecasts and the banal reality: Since late April, bitcoin has traded in a range between roughly $8,500 and $10,200. Thursday’s market action was no different, with prices rising 1.3% to […]
Cryptocurrency traders don’t seem to care that Goldman Sachs is such a bitcoin hater. At least, that’s the signal markets are sending. Bitcoin prices have surged since the Wall Street heavyweight’s money-management division declared in a presentation this week that the cryptocurrency is “not a suitable investment for our clients,” merely a beneficiary of a “mania” worse than the infamous run on Dutch tulips in the 1600s. You’re […]
Bitcoin’s rally last week as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of U.S. stocks floundered served to underscore just how different the conversations are right now in digital asset markets and traditional finance. As high-profile investors including Stanley Druckenmiller and David Tepper were warning of looming bankruptcies, overvalued stocks and the increasingly distant chances of a rapid economic recovery, bitcoiners celebrated the cryptocurrency’s third halving and held spirited discussions on the future of money during […]
Bitcoin is rallying again, and some analysts are looking at a potential driver of even higher prices: new data showing that mining pools are hanging onto the cryptocurrency rather than sending it to exchanges for a quick sale. But as with a lot of bitcoin analysis, the interpretation isn’t always clear-cut; the data might be seen differently as a sign of a weak market. You’re reading First […]
After bitcoin’s much-hyped halving failed to generate a price rally, crypto traders are already turning to a new bullish investment thesis: the possibility the Federal Reserve might cut its benchmark interest rate below zero. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a televised interview Wednesday that negative rates are “not something that we’re looking at.” The remark disappointed U.S. stock traders who were hoping for an easier monetary […]