Omkar Godbole

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Commitments of Traders report released on Friday showed leveraged funds held a net short position of 31,000 contracts in the seven days to Oct. 19, marking an increase of 6,000 from the previous week. Source link

Shiba Inu (SHIB), the self-proclaimed dogecoin killer, tapped lifetime highs on Sunday as bitcoin appeared on track to snap its three-week winning streak. The Shiba Inu coin traded at $0.0000455 at 11:20 UTC, topping the previous record price of $0.0000388 reached on May 10, according to data source Messari. Prices for the meme token have risen by nearly 50% in the past 24 hours, extending the month-to-date gain to almost 500%. SHIB’s latest leg higher from $0.0000270 comes amid rumors that online brokerage platform Robinhood may soon list the cryptocurrency. Prices surged over 200% in the month’s first week on the […]

The Mayer Multiple, which measures the spread between bitcoin’s price and the 200-day moving average (MA), also shows the bull market is still far from peaking. While the metric has risen to a five-month high of 1.39, it is well below the 2.4 threshold, above which previous bull markets peaked. Source link

The cryptocurrency hit five-month highs of over $4,200 earlier today, extending Wednesday’s 7.3% gain – the biggest since Oct. 1. The price chart shows the path of least resistance is to the higher side, and record highs could soon come into play. Source link

Ether continues to struggle for a breakout above key resistance even as bitcoin, the crypto market leader, looks north after record daily close. The native token of Ethereum’s blockchain is yet to take out the falling trendline drawn from May and September highs. Bitcoin cleared similar resistance two weeks ago and ended Tuesday above $64,000 – its highest daily close ever. Ether’s rally from September lows has stalled near the trendline resistance (above left). A convincing close higher may revive the uptrend, opening doors for a re-test of May highs near $4,400. The relative strength index (RS) is well short of […]

The amount of money locked in the bitcoin futures contracts on the global derivatives giant Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) surged to record highs on Friday as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenlighted futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETF) tied to the cryptocurrency. Source link

Assuming Wall Street embraces these ETFs, the futures premium, or the spread between futures prices and spot prices, would rise significantly, boosting yields from cash and carry strategy, which involves buying the asset in the spot market and simultaneously selling futures contracts. Carry trades are direction-neutral and profit from an eventual convergence of the two prices. (Futures price converges with the spot price on expiry). Source link

A trader essentially takes a loss on both the collateral and the futures contract. Thus, margin requirements increase at a faster rate with price declines, and longs get liquidated relatively quickly. That, in turn, puts further downward pressure on the market, leading to a deeper slide, also known as leverage washouts, like the one seen in May. Long liquidation refers to forced closure (forced selling) of bullish positions due to margin shortage. Source link

Bitcoin’s rally looks to have legs as the ascent is backed by a pickup in blockchain activity and a long-term technical indicator which is about to turn bullish. While bitcoin has gained 30% this month, the user activity on the network, as measured by the seven-day average of the number of active entities, has increased 19% to 284,179, according to data provided by Glassnode. An increase in network adoption along with a price increase is said to confirm the uptrend. According to Glassnode, “more active market participants has historically correlated with growing interest in the asset during early-stage bull markets.” Glassnode […]

“The futures-based ETF, if approved, will be an inefficient product,” Ilan Solot, global market strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, told CoinDesk. “Because bitcoin’s futures curve is typically in contango, the fund is going to suffer from a negative rollover.” Source link

Bitcoin jumped to a fresh five-month high early Monday, extending the two-week price rally even though Friday’s weak U.S. jobs report failed to dampen expectations for Federal Reserve (Fed) tapering in November. The market also turned a blind eye toward the data showing supposedly bearish positioning by leveraged funds in the futures market. The cryptocurrency rose to $57,000 during the early European hours, hitting the highest since mid-May, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Prices rose 13% in the week ended Oct. 10, registering its second straight double-digit weekly gain. Bitcoin’s continued resilience to usually bearish macro factors could be attributed to […]

While general interest has picked up slightly with SHIB’s 230% weekly gain, it is nowhere close to the peak of 100 reached on Google Trends in the second week of May. A score of 100 represents peak popularity among the general population – the maximum number of searches observed for a term during a given time frame. It indicates that more and more people are scanning the web for information on the trending topic. Source link

This is notable because the exchange is seen as a proxy for institutional demand. Further, its latest jump from last month’s fourth spot is reminiscent of the exchange’s rise to the top seen during bitcoin’s four-fold institutional-driven rally to nearly $40,000 in the final three months of 2020. Source link

Bitcoin’s options contracts used to hedge spot and futures market exposure are exhibiting bullish sentiment across all time frames in a sign of confidence in the cryptocurrency’s price rally. The one-week and one-, three- and six-month put-call skews are hovering below zero, indicating calls – or bullish bets – are drawing higher prices than puts, which are bearish bets. The one-week and one-month metrics have recently flipped bullish, having seen positive values greater than 10% in the past month. Back then, traders sought short-dated downside protection on concerns the instability in China’s property industry and risk aversion in traditional markets would […]

Bitcoin ran through key technical resistance levels on Wednesday, strengthening a bullish bias, and extended gains Thursday. The cryptocurrency jumped above $55,000 yesterday, breaching the downtrend line connecting the April high of $64,801 and September highs near $52,000. Buyers also flipped the horizontal resistance at $53,000 into support, having taken out a significant hurdle at $51,109 earlier in the day. That level marked the widely tracked 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the September sell-off. “BTC/USD technicals flipped into the bullish territory after breaking above a key trend line,” research boutique Delphi Digital said in its daily analysis. “The move was catalyzed by […]

The increase in premium “suggests that there is high demand among the CME traders to build long exposure in bitcoin at the moment,” Arcane Research’s weekly research note published Tuesday said. “The front-month contract on CME is by far the most frequently traded BTC futures contract on the exchange, and right now, bullish tendencies seem to be brewing on the institutional platform.” Source link

“Inflation is here to stay, and every household is starting to see prices skyrocket for goods and services nationwide,” Carlos Betancourt, co-founder of BKCoin Capital, said. “Many savvy investors look for asymmetric opportunities and a hedge against inflation, and there is always one common asset that comes to mind … remember, bitcoin is the only asset that governments or central banks cannot manipulate.” Source link

“Bitcoin finally resolved its 10-day sideways range by exceeding the downtrend which had been in place since early September,” research firm FSinsights said in an email. “Note, trends had turned negative a month ago technically, but after a visible three-wave decline into late September, Friday’s move is a big positive in helping to resolve this consolidation. The first upside target lies at September highs at $52,956, then $64,895.” Source link

Bachchan has a strong mass appeal, thanks to a film career spanning more than five decades, and has endorsed Pepsi, Cadbury, Tata Sky, Reid & Taylor, and several government campaigns in the past. CoinDCX is confident the megastar will help the exchange reach a wider audience. Source link

The monster-battling game that uses non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to reward players made 64,933.71 ether (ETH), worth $220.32 million, in September, down from a record $342 million in August, data center Axie World shows. While September’s figure represents a nearly 3,000-fold year-over-year growth, it’s only about 10% of the pace of the month before. Source link

At 10:41 UTC, the cryptocurrency was trading 7% higher on the day near $47,200. The broader crypto market is also positive, with native cryptocurrencies of smart-contract blockchains like VeChain, Tezos, and Elrond gaining more than 8%. Ethereum’s ether traded 7% higher at $3,245. Source link

Bitcoin appeared set to end the seasonally bearish month of September on a negative note, thanks to instability in global financial markets, regulatory concerns, and China’s decision to blanket ban crypto businesses. Despite trading 2.8% higher on the day at $42,200 on Wednesday, the leading cryptocurrency was nursing a 10% monthly decline, the biggest since May, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The positive market sentiment seen at the start of the month was bogged down by renewed regulatory fears stemming from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attempts to stop the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase from launching its lending program […]

The crypto market leader is trading near $41,800 at press time, down 2% for the week, having bounced from $41,000 to $44,000 over the weekend. Gold is nursing a 0.5% loss at $1,740 per ounce, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback’s value against majors, has jumped to 1.5-month highs above 93.00. The 10-year Treasury yield is seen at three-month highs near 1.5%, and the two-year yield is hovering at an 18-month high of 0.28%, according to data provided by TradingView. Source link

“Huobi Global will gradually retire existing Mainland China user accounts by 24:00 (UTC+8) on Dec 31, 2021, and ensure the safety of users’ assets,” the exchange’s official statement published early today said. “We will inform users of the specific arrangements and details through official announcements, e-mails, text messages, etc.” Source link

On Friday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) declared all virtual currency-related activities illegal, banning offshore exchanges from serving mainland Chinese users. The statement also disqualified tether, the largest stablecoin globally, as legal tender along with bitcoin and ether, marking toughest crackdown to date. Source link

China renewed its crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and mining in the second quarter amid pilot testing of digital yuan. However, according to China journalist Colin Wu, the latest central bank statement is quite detailed and mentions tether (USDT) as illegal for the first time. Tether, the largest stablecoin per market value, is widely used to fund crypto purchases and as collateral in decentralized finance. Source link

Bitcoin alcanzó un nuevo valor máximo al superar los $50.000 esta mañana, después de haber desplazado el exceso de apalancamiento alcista en el mercado de derivados con una rápida caída del precio el lunes. Por un breve momento, y durante las primeras horas de trading en Nueva York, bitcoin superó por primera vez los $50.000. El lunes, los valores de bitcoin habían caído $3.000 hasta situarse por debajo de $45.926 durante las primeras horas de trading en Asia, lo que provocó liquidaciones de posiciones largas por aproximadamente $392 millones en el mercado de derivados.   Tras una breve caída, bitcoin superó los […]

Bitcoin printed new lifetime highs near $50,000 this morning, having crowded out excess bullish leverage in the derivatives market with a swift price drop on Monday. The top cryptocurrency by market value clocked a record high of $49,950.93 at around 08:00 UTC Tuesday and was last seen trading near $49,280, representing a 2.8% gain on the day, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Prices had fallen Monday by $3,000 to below $45,926 during the early Asian trading hours, triggering nearly $392 million-worth of long liquidations in the derivative market. While the dip was short-lived, a breakout above $50,000 has so far remained […]

Despite bitcoin’s rapid $3,000 fall from new record highs seen Sunday, institutions seem confident about the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects. The cryptocurrency dropped to $47,790 earlier on Monday, after just failing to pass the psychological hurdle of $50,000 over the weekend. So far, however, are there are few signs of preparations for deeper losses in the options market. “There is still an absence of any institutional long-term hedging. In fact, funds continue to take advantage of selling June-December expiry put options at strikes below $40,000,” Deribit Insights said in a tweet thread explaining the reasons for the price drop and the resulting changes […]

Bitcoin saw a significant drop early on Monday, soon after it had looked primed for a convincing move above $50,000.  The top cryptocurrency slipped from nearly $49,000 to $45,926 during the early Asian hours and was last seen changing hands near $47,790 – down 1.8% on the day, according to CoinDesk 20 data.  The decline surprised many investors, as a notable all-time high milestone had looked on the cards amid optimism generated by the recent wave of institutional adoption.  So what happened? Here are three reasons that may explain the sudden price pullback. 1. Funding stress “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, in […]

Ethereum’s ether cryptocurrency rallied to new lifetime highs early on Tuesday amid a continued drying up of sell-side liquidity in the market. The second-largest cryptocurrency registered a record high of $1,824.59 during the European trading hours, surpassing the previous peak price of $1,761.35 hit on Feb. 5, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The cryptocurrency is now trading lower at $1,764, representing a 5.5% gain on a 24-hour basis. Ether has more than doubled in value this year, outperforming bitcoin‘s 58% rise. The latest gains could be attributed to expectations that Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) regulated ether futures would boost institutional participation. […]

Investors look to be temporarily shifting focus away from bitcoin and toward crypto tokens associated with decentralized finance (DeFi). In the past 24 hours, DeFi-linked coins such as COMP, AAVE, KNC and ZRX have all leapt to fresh lifetime highs. Compound’s governance token COMP clocked a new record of $500, taking the month-to-date gain to above 40%. The token jumped 130% last month and has risen by 20% in the past 24 hours, according to data provider CryptoCompare. Oracle provider Chainlink’s LINK token is also benefitting from the broad-based rally across DeFi. The token printed a lifetime high of $26.98 during […]

The Indian government has hinted how it might move to regulate cryptocurrencies, previously feared to involve an outright ban. Talking in the nation’s upper house, the Rajya Sabha, Tuesday, a minister specified that the aim would be to curb illicit cryptocurrency transactions and bar their use in payments. “The government does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coins and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system,” Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said during a question-answer session. The Indian crypto community were alarmed on Friday […]

Bitcoin’s on-chain metrics are painting a bullish picture after weeks of consolidation. The top cryptocurrency hit a peak price of $41,962 on Jan. 8 and has mostly traded the range of $29,000–$40,000 since, according to CoinDesk 20 data. However, demand continues to outstrip supply amid the price lull. “In 2021 so far, around 26,000 BTC have been mined. Meanwhile, The Grayscale Investment Trust has acquired over 40,000 BTC in the same period,” Glassnode said in its weekly report. Further, the number of coins held on exchange addresses continues to slide, taking sell-side liquidity off the market. Bitcoin exchange balanceSource: Glassnode The balance […]

Payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP jumped to over two-month highs on Monday. The move more than reversed the late-December price slide triggered by legal troubles at the San Francisco-based payment protocol developer Ripple Labs, which has close ties to the digital asset.  XRP rose to a high of $0.6836 during the European trading hours, its highest level since Nov. 25, extending the weekend’s rally from $0.27 to $0.50, according to CoinDesk 20 data. As a result, the cryptocurrency has replaced tether stablecoin as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value.  XRP prices fell from $0.55 to $0.20, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission […]

XRP rallied hard on Saturday in a move similar to a crowd pump recently observed in out-of-favor stocks such as GameStop.  The cryptocurrency jumped 56% to $0.50944 to hit the highest level since Dec. 22, according to CoinDesk 20 data. That was the biggest single-day percentage gain since Dec. 21, 2017.  The double-digit price rise was likely fueled by members of a Telegram-based group called Buy & Hold XRP (t.me/pumpxrp), which came into existence on Saturday. The group’s membership hit Telegram’s 200K ceiling within the first 24 hours, forcing a migration to a new official channel with a similar title but […]

The Indian Parliament will consider a government-introduced bill that would ban private cryptocurrencies in its upcoming budget session. Given the ruling party controls both houses of Parliament, the chances of the bill’s passage are considered good. According to the Lok Sabha Bulletin published Friday, the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, seeks to prohibit all cryptocurrencies in India and provide a framework for creating an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While the bill is anti-private cryptocurrencies, it will allow certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its […]

Bitcoin witnessed a sudden double-digit spike to 10-day highs on Friday. The top cryptocurrency picked up a bid near $32,000 at around 08:30 UTC and jumped to $37,050, the highest level since Jan. 19, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The 15.7% rise happened in less than 15 minutes and more than reversed the early dip from $34,400 to $32,000. While the exact reason for the bullish move is hard to define, prices surged after Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk changed his Twitter bio to mention the cryptocurrency. While the bitcoin community is keen for Musk to come out as a […]

Strong hands look to be backing the recent rally to record highs for Ethereum’s ether cryptocurrency. The number of whale addresses (those holding at least 10,000 ETH) jumped to a 13-month high of 1,103 on Saturday, according to on-chain data from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode. More than 35 whale addresses have been created this month alone, and 75 since mid-November. The increased accumulation by investors with deep pockets may have put upward pressure on the ether’s price. Ether addresses holding more than 10,000 coinsSource: Glassnode The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value rose to a record high of $1,450 late Sunday and […]

Bitcoin’s shorter-term price woes are likely not over yet, analysts say, with one predicting a decline to $26,000. The cryptocurrency fell by 13% on Thursday in a spot market sell-off, hitting a low of $28,845 earlier on Friday, the lowest level since Jan. 4. In the hours since, the cryptocurrency has regained some poise to trade back above $31,000. “I’m not sure the low of $28,000 seen early Friday is the bottom,” Ki-Young Ju, CEO of blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, told CoinDesk. He highlighted a negative “Coinbase premium” as evidence of weak dip demand from large investors. CryptoQuant’s Coinbase premium indicator […]

Amid another price downturn Thursday, bitcoin options traders appear to be becoming less bullish on the immediate prospects for the cryptocurrency. The one-week put-call skew, which measures the spread between prices of short-term puts and calls, has risen to a five-week high of 14%. The skew had bottomed out near an extremely bullish -33% just a week ago, according to data source Skew. One-, three-, and six-month skews have also climbed from recent lows, but are still in bullish territory. The shift is the result of increased demand for downside hedges, or puts, alongside significant selling in bullish calls. “Over 380 […]

Even after setting a new record high of $1,439 on Monday, the rally for Ethereum’s ether cryptocurrency may have only just begun, according to Fundstrat Global Advisors strategist David Grider. Basing his prediction partly on use cases for Ethereum’s blockchain technology, Grider wrote in a note Tuesday that ether has scope for a rally to $10,500, according to Bloomberg. That’s an over seven-fold rise from the current price of $1,320. “Ether is the best risk/reward investment play in crypto,” Grider said, adding that “blockchain computing may be the future of the cloud.” Grider sees bullish pressure stemming from the second-largest cryptocurrency’s […]

Decentralized oracle network Chainlink’s LINK token and other prominent alternative cryptocurrencies (dubbed altcoins) are charting solid gains as the crypto market leader bitcoin takes a bull breather.  LINK set a new record price of $23.68 overnight and is changing hands near $21.73 at press time, a 7.3% gain on a 24-hour basis. The previous lifetime high of $19.90 was reached in August, according to CoinDesk 20 data.  The cryptocurrency has nearly doubled in the first two weeks of the year in a strong follow-through to last year’s 530% rise. Chainlink’s oracles act as a bridge between cryptocurrency smart contracts and off-chain […]

Bitcoin is up only slightly on Monday after seeing its biggest weekly decline in over four months.  At press time, the cryptocurrency is trading 0.2% higher on the day near $35,838, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Prices fell by 6% in the seven days to Jan. 17, a weekly fall not seen since the first week of September.  Bitcoin took a beating a week ago, falling from $40,000 to $30,305 in a matter of few hours, mainly due to heavy selling in the spot market. The cryptocurrency spent the rest of the week trimming losses and tested $40,000 at one point […]

Bitcoin’s two-day rally has stalled as the U.S. dollar gains ground in the wake of Joe Biden’s fiscal stimulus announcement. The U.S. President-elect proposed an emergency relief package worth $1.9 trillion at around 00:15 UTC when bitcoin was changing hands near $39,600. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency by market value is trading down near $38,000, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The lack of a bullish response by the bitcoin market is perhaps surprising, given that fiscal/monetary stimulus is inflationary and bitcoin is widely considered a store of value. Public-listed companies such as MicroStrategy bought bitcoin in the second half of […]

The near-term outlook for bitcoin has dimmed, analysts say, with some now seeing a possible extension of Monday’s major price drop. “There could be another dump as outflows from the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Pro have dried alongside an increased transfer of coins onto exchanges,” David Lifchitz, chief investment officer for Paris-based quantitative trading firm ExoAlpha, told CoinDesk. Bitcoin fell by over 20% on Monday to $10,305 amid heavy selling in the spot market. Bitcoin Coinbase outflowsSource: CryptoQuant Outflows from Coinbase Pro, which are considered synonymous with institutional purchases, have receded sharply from the three-year high of 55,000 BTC observed on Jan. […]

Despite bitcoin’s 20% crash on Monday, some options traders are betting on a continued price rally in coming weeks. At the press time price of $35,580, bitcoin is up nearly 16% from the low of $30,305 observed on Monday. Even so, the number one cryptocurrency by market value is still well short of the weekend highs above $40,000. Some traders, though, have been buying Jan. 29 expiry call options at the $52,000, $64,000, and $72,000 strike prices on the Deribit exchange. A call option gives the buyer the right but not the obligation to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined […]

Bitcoin fell sharply early on Monday, having failed to establish a foothold above $40,000 over the weekend. Over the last 24 hours, the cryptocurrency declined by more than $8,000 to $32,400, an over 20% fall from levels over $40,800 late on Sunday (UTC). The cryptocurrency was last seen changing hands up slightly near $35,380 – still down 13.6% on a 24-hour basis. Prices reached a record high of $41,962 on Jan. 8 and ended the last week with 15% gains, its fourth-consecutive double-digit weekly gain, according to CoinDesk 20 data. “Hefty spot selling against an over-levered market caused the price drop,” […]

Another day, another record high for bitcoin’s price. The top cryptocurrency printed a new peak price of $41,026 soon before press time, surpassing the lifetime high of $40,123 reached on Thursday, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Year-to-date gains are now over 40%. Prices have more than doubled in less than a month in a move typical to bull market euphoria. “Fundamentals have gone out the window and irrational exuberance may accelerate bitcoin past the $50k level ahead of the second schedule,” Jehan Chu, CEO at Hong Kong-based trading firm Kenetic Capital, told CoinDesk. The price rally is backed by an uptick […]

Chicago Mercantile Exchange now tops the list of the biggest bitcoin futures trading platforms, accounting for nearly 20% of all open interest. Source link

Investment banking giant JPMorgan has called a long-term bitcoin price target of over $146,000 based on the assumption that the cryptocurrency will grow in popularity as an alternative to gold, Bloomberg reports. “A crowding out of gold as an ‘alternative’ currency implies big upside for bitcoin over the long term,” strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a note on Monday. “Bitcoin’s [current] market capitalization of around $575 billion would have to rise by 4.6 times – for a theoretical Bitcoin price of $146,000 – to match the total private sector investment in gold via exchange-traded funds or bars and coins.” […]

Coinbase Pro exchange registered an outflow of over 35,000 bitcoin worth more than $1 billion early Saturday. Source link

The Takeaway: Bitcoin nearly triples its price in 2020 and ends the year close to $29,000 but ether gained 450%. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $28,963 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining 1.5% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $27,916.63 – $29,280.05 (CoinDesk 20) Bitcoin prices, Dec. 30 – Dec. 31, 2020. Bitcoin printed a new record high above $29,000 early Thursday before charting a quick pullback to $27,900 during U.S. trading hours, according to data compiled by the CoinDesk 20. Despite the minor drop, the number one cryptocurrency by market value is eyeing its third consecutive monthly […]

Large investors continue to accumulate bitcoin, possibly putting upward pressure on the cryptocurrency’s price. The number of whale entities – clusters of crypto wallet addresses held by a single network participant holding at least 1,000 bitcoin – rose to a new record high of 1,994 on Wednesday. The previous peak of 1,969 reached in 2016 was surpassed on Dec. 18, according to data source Glassnode. The metric has increased by over 16% this year and 7.3% this quarter alone. Bitcoin’s price has rallied by over 300% in 2020 and 160% in the Oct-December period. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is […]

The Indian government is considering a bitcoin transaction tax that would add $1 billion in revenue a year, a move some industry participants said is a sign of the government’s growing comfort with cryptocurrencies. A proposal put forward to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) by the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) would categorize bitcoin as an intangible asset and impose an 18% goods and services (GST) tax on bitcoin transactions, according to The Times of India. The proposal also suggests treating bitcoin as current assets and charging GST on margins made in trading. An 18% GST on […]

Bitcoin’s revived uptrend could soon lead to a much-anticipated breakout above the $20,000 mark, according to several analysts. “We have witnessed a large move up over the weekend, with MicroStrategy’s efforts to increase bitcoin holdings from several large players bringing with it fresh optimism,” Matthew Dibb, CEO of Stack Funds, told CoinDesk. “Our belief is that we will see a breach of $20,000 in the coming weeks.” On Friday, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy raised $650 million through a convertible senior note sale to fund bitcoin purchases. Since then, the cryptocurrency has rallied by over $1,000 and was last seen trading near […]

JPMorgan analysts said MassMutual’s recent $100 million bitcoin purchases are a sign of growing mainstream acceptance for the cryptocurrency. Source link

The popular narrative that institutional bitcoin investors have been leading the 2020 price rally looks to be backed up by on-chain data. In 2020, the number of wallets – defined as a set of blockchain addresses controlled by a single entity – holding at least 1,000 bitcoins has increased by 302 (17%) and is now at a record high of 2,052, according to Philip Gradwell, economist at Chainalysis. “That’s a big increase in the wealthiest wallets and provides evidence that institutional investors have entered the market,” Chainlysis noted in its weekly market intel newsletter dated Dec. 10. Bitcoin held per walletSource: […]

Bitcoin is facing selling pressure on Tuesday as traditional markets suffer the jitters over fears of a “no-deal” Brexit. The top cryptocurrency by market value is changing hands near $18,800 at press time, representing a more than 2% decline on the day, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The decline comes after multiple rejections near $19,400 in the past 48 hours. Bitcoin‘s rally has lost steam in the past few days, with large sell orders placed around the all-time high of $19,920 capping the upside. According to observers, people are looking to sell at current levels based on what happened during the […]

In the run-up to the 2017 market peak, stories abounded of traders who bought bitcoin in the spot market just a few months before only to cash out to the tune of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. The days of tripling or quadrupling your money in just a week or two just by buying bitcoin may be behind us. But since those heady days of three years ago, the crypto derivatives market has taken up the mantle of being the place where astonishing returns can occasionally be had by taking huge risks.  Indeed, some traders with bullish outlooks […]

India-based investors may soon have to pay taxes on returns earned from bitcoin investments. The country’s income tax authority is tracking investors making money amid the ongoing bitcoin price rally and is all set to demand taxes, two sources familiar with the matter said, according to The Economic Times (ET), a business-focused daily newspaper.  The tax department collected information about bitcoin trades executed through banking channels before the Reserve Bank of India’s (the country’s central bank) crypto ban took effect in April 2018. The Supreme Court overturned the ban in early March, bringing cheer to both investors and local cryptocurrency exchanges.  […]

The path of least resistance for bitcoin is on the higher side, and the cryptocurrency could more than double from its current value in 2021, according to Bloomberg analysts.  “Bitcoin will maintain its propensity to advance in price into 2021, in our view, with macroeconomic, technical and demand vs. supply indicators supportive of $50,000 target resistance, implying about a $1 trillion market cap,” noted Bloomberg Crypto in a monthly report. The demand-supply mechanics are currently skewed bullish, as only 900 new coins mined each day vs. 1,800 in 2017, and institutional participation is increasing.  Notably, assets under management at Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has […]

Bitcoin has come a long way since bottoming out below $4,000 in March. The cryptocurrency clocked a record high above $19,900 early Tuesday and is up nearly 170% this year. While institutional participation has increased, a large part of the retail crowd may have stayed away from the market. For that group, the fear of missing out (FOMO) on the opportunity to make triple-digit gains may have set in over the past few weeks. Yet, investing now while the cryptocurrency is trading near lifetime highs may seem risky because there is always a possibility of significant price pullback. Bitcoin has seen […]

Despite the sharp pullback last week, bitcoin looks on track to post its highest-ever monthly price close. The number one cryptocurrency by market value fell by over $3,000 to $16,242 on Nov. 26, clearing out excess leverage from the derivatives market. The dip was short-lived and prices have recovered more than 50% of the pullback in the days since. At press time, bitcoin is trading around $18,600 on major exchanges. That’s significantly higher from the peak month-end price of around $13,880 observed on Dec. 31, 2017. The impending record close could be a harbinger of a stronger bull run, according to […]

Bitcoin may have a tough time charting a V-shaped recovery to recent highs in the short term, with on-chain activity showing increased selling pressure in the market. Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant’s exchange inflow indicator – which measures the 144-block (roughly 24-hour) average of mean bitcoin deposits across major cryptocurrency exchanges – has risen to 2.5 bitcoin, the highest level since March 20. In other words, the average size of inward-bound transactions to trading platforms has risen to eight-month highs. “The data shows whales [large traders] are transferring their coins to exchanges,” CryptoQuant CEO Ki-Young Ju told CoinDesk. “The cryptocurrency usually trades […]

Canada-based investment firm Cypherpunk Holdings has dumped its holdings of two alternative cryptocurrencies and put the proceeds into bitcoin. In an announcement Thursday, the company said that its bitcoin holdings have increased to 276.479 BTC from the balance of 72.979 BTC seen at the end of the second quarter, a 279% increase. The company financed the additional bitcoin purchases with the “full liquidation” of positions in privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero and ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. Part of the proceeds generated from a private placement of CA$505,000 (nearly US$400,000) closed on Aug. 27 were also used to purchase bitcoin. Other […]

South Korea-based exchange Upbit has announced a limited cryptocurrency withdrawal delay in an effort to protect user accounts from malicious attacks. Scheduled to take effect on Nov. 28, the new restriction will only allow users to withdraw digital assets equal in value to the total of Korean won (KRW) deposited 24 hours after a withdrawal was requested. The withdrawal delay is only applicable to cash deposits that are exchanged for cryptocurrency. There is no time limit on Korean won (KRW) withdrawals corresponding to KRW deposits. Similarly, users can deposit digital assets and withdraw KRW or digital assets within 24 hours. “If […]

Bitcoin suffered a price crash earlier on Thursday, having missed record highs by a narrow margin earlier this week. The top cryptocurrency by market value fell from over $19,300 to $16,327 during the early European trading hours and was last seen trading near $17,200, representing a 10% drop on a 24-hour basis, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The sudden fall caught many traders off-guard, given the cryptocurrency was trading just 2% short of its record high of $19,783 on Wednesday. So, what’s behind the $3,000 decline? Here are three of the primary factors responsible for the price drop: 1. Excess leverage […]

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx recorded a major bitcoin outflow just minutes after it lifted a five-week-long withdrawal suspension at 08:00 UTC Thursday. About 2,822 bitcoins were moved from OKEx in block number 658,728 mined at 08:12 UTC. That’s the biggest single-block outflow since May 2019, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant. Of the 2,822 coins withdrawn, 456 were transferred to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and more than 400 were moved to other exchanges. Meanwhile, 54 accounts or addresses took direct custody of some coins. OKEx halted withdrawals indefinitely on Oct. 16 after one of the exchange’s key holders went “out of touch” with […]

VanEck, the New York-based investment management firm with around $50 billion in AUM, has launched a bitcoin exchange-traded-note (ETN) that for trading on the Deutsche Boerse Xetra. Listed on the Frankfurt, Germany-based trading venue Wednesday, the VanEck Vectors Bitcoin ETN (VBTC) is physically backed by bitcoin and tracks the MVIS CryptoCompare Bitcoin VWAP Close index. “Bringing to market a physical, fully-backed major exchange-listed bitcoin ETP was a top priority of our firm,” Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital-asset strategy at VanEck, said. “We hope to serve many clients and partners in Europe, Asia, and across the world using our innovative, investment-friendly, and […]

A metric from bitcoin’s perpetual futures market suggests some traders may have become overleveraged during the recent rally to above $18,000. The average level of the “funding rate” across major exchanges has risen sharply from 0.023% to a five-month high of 0.087% in the past 48 hours, according to data source Glassnode. “Rising funding rates have in the past been associated with a larger portion of the market utilizing leverage via perpetuals,” Matthew Dibb, CEO of Stack Funds, told CoinDesk. “If we see continued overleveraging in the derivatives market, bitcoin will be increasingly volatile in the short-term.” Calculated every eight hours, […]

XRP has surged to 16-month highs, leading a pack of cryptocurrencies all benefiting from bitcoin’s rally toward historic levels.  XRP, the native asset of the XRP ledger, developed by payment-focused blockchain firm Ripple Labs, climbed to as high as $0.437564 before retreating to $0.413853 at press time, reaching the highest price point since July 2019, according to The CoinDesk 20. The third-largest cryptocurrency by market value has gained over 33% in the past 24 hours, extending the year-to-date gain to 116%.  Other alternative cryptocurrencies such as ether, litecoin, cardano , bitcoin SV, EOS, tezos and tron are also flashing green. Most […]

Bitcoin reached fresh 35-month highs above $18,400 during the European trading hours. The cryptocurrency has failed to keep gains above $18,000 in the previous two trading days. It will be interesting to see if prices establish a foothold above that level on Friday.  “The market showed a lot of resilience and dip buying interest to shake off any immediate questions about the sustainability of the recent upside. So much so, that bitcoin has moved back above the $18,000 level and remains on track to retest the highs from earlier on in the week,” Denis Vinokourov, head of research at the London-based […]

After running a year-long test, Digital Asset Investment Management (DAiM), a U.S.-based crypto investment advisor, has launched what it says are the first company-sponsored retirement plans supporting bitcoin. DAiM will serve as an advisor and fiduciary while helping companies create a 401(k) plan that allows a maximum allocation of up to 10% in bitcoin alongside varying degrees of exposure to traditional assets, according to an announcement Thursday. Cryptocurrency associated with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-compliant plans will be held in New York-regulated Gemini Trust’s cold storage custody. “From the moment we were approved by the State of California in June 2018, we’ve seen incredible […]

Ethereum’s native token ether has jumped to 28-month highs, taking year-to-date gains to nearly 290%. Source link

Bitcoin’s appeal as an alternative store of value asset is strengthening, according to analysts at Germany-based investment bank Deutsche Bank. “There seems to be an increasing demand to use bitcoin where gold used to be used to hedge dollar risk, inflation, and other things,” Jim Reid, managing director, head of global fundamental credit strategy, said, according to ZeroHedge. Bitcoin has long been considered by supporters as digital gold, due to its limited, predictable supply and use case as a store of value outside banking influence. While bitcoin has gained 144% this year, gold is up 22%. Both assets seem to have […]

Bitcoin’s price surge may be driven as much by a drying up in supply as by an increase in demand.  That’s because Chinese miners are struggling to sell their crypto in ways that would quickly get them much-needed cash in the face of a government crackdown on local exchanges.  “The lack of supply has fed extremely well to the trendiness of this rally, without any of the large sell-downs typical of miner activity in the past,” Singapore-based trading firm QCP Capital noted in its Telegram channel.  QCP’s interpretation of the rally is simpler and less exciting than some of the other popular […]

Bitcoin has plenty of scope to extend its current rally, a price indicator suggests, even as the cryptocurrency is fast closing on the record high near $20,000 set three years ago. With prices rising by 80% to levels above $18,000 in the past six weeks, the cryptocurrency’s Mayer Multiple – the ratio of price to the 200-day moving average – has risen to a 16-month high of 1.67. However, the metric is still well short of the 2.4 threshold that has historically signaled the final leg of the bull markets. The Mayer Multiple flashed similar values around bitcoin‘s second mining reward […]

Litecoin jumped to nine-month highs early on Tuesday, replacing bitcoin cash as the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market value. The cryptocurrency rose to $75.77 during the Asian trading hours, a level last seen on Feb.24, according to the CoinDesk 20. Trading down slightly at $74 at press time, litecoin is still up 9% on a 24-hour basis. Litecoin now has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, higher then bitcoin cash – which underwent a hard fork on Sunday – at $4.67 billion. Once referred to as the silver to bitcoin’s gold, litecoin has far fallen behind the top cryptocurrency in recent years. […]

Bitcoin’s options market is in the midst of its strongest bullish sentiment on record as the cryptocurrency rallies to three-year highs.  The six-month put-call skew, or the spread between prices claimed by put options and call options expiring in six months, fell to a life-time low of -21.6% early Thursday, according to data source Skew.  A call option gives the holder the right but not the obligation to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A put option gives the right to sell.  Skew’s data shows the net demand for call options, or bullish […]

A bitcoin on-chain metric has increased to three-year highs, suggesting a potential supply shortage and low odds of significant price pullback. While there are conflicting interpretations about this latest signal, many market observers are taking it to be positive for the cryptocurrency.  The percentage of bitcoin unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) in profit recently topped 98%, the highest level since December 2017, according to data source Coin Metrics. As well, the number of UTXOs in profit reached a record high of over 110 million.  The data indicates a large number of holders are currently making money on their coins and may decide […]

Bitcoin (BTC) has chalked up a stellar price rally in the past two months, reaching 33-month highs close to $16,000. The uptrend began in early September after buyers bought a dip below $10,000, and gathered pace in the second half of October. Last week, prices reached a high of $15,971, a level last seen in January 2018. That’s a 63% price gain in eight weeks, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index. Over 2018 and 2019, bitcoin often languished below $10,000, struggling to recover from a crash that followed the late 2017 surge to record highs near $20,000. So, what’s behind the […]

Bitcoin and U.S. stock futures shot up on Monday after Pfizer announced positive results from a trial of its coronavirus vaccine. Source link

With record U.S. money printing failing to achieve much-needed economic stimulus, some observers now expect creation of a “digital dollar” central bank digital currency (CBDC) will not only speed payments to consumers but also spur inflation. The Federal Reserve has consistently undershot its 2% inflation target since the Great Recession of 2008, and the situation has only worsened this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is leading some to speculate that, should the central bank implement a digital dollar – which it’s not close to doing at present – soaring inflation will soon follow.   Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of California-based […]

Bitcoin has closed above last year’s high, toppling a final technical barrier on the road to a potential new all-time high. Source link

Web search data suggests popular interest in bitcoin remains at normal levels, despite a sharp price rally to near $16,000. Source link

Bitcoin’s rally is still going as investors continue to accumulate the cryptocurrency, ignoring overbought signals on technical indicators. Source link

A Reddit user said they accidentally paid a fee 80 times the transaction value while executing a swap on Uniswap. Source link

A wallet possibly belonging to early darknet market Silk Road moved almost $1 billion-worth of bitcoin early on Wednesday. Source link

Bitcoin fell after President Trump alleged “fraud” in the presidential election and pledged to stop vote counting. Source link

Miners’ income from processing transactions on the Ethereum blockchain more than halved in October as the mania for DeFi cooled. Source link

After October’s double-digit price gain, bitcoin may be looking at a short-term pullback. Source link

Daily volume for bitcoin options have hit lifetime highs on crypto derivatives exchange Deribit. Source link

Bitcoin has carved out a 33-month high, showing resilience amid growing instability in the traditional markets. Source link

The cost of doing transactions on bitcoin is surging while the network suffers its worst congestion in nearly three years. As of Wednesday, the mean fee per transaction, or the average transaction cost, was 0.00086764 BTC, the highest since June 2018, according to data source Glassnode. In dollar terms, the average transaction fee was $11.66.  Average fees in bitcoin terms have increased by 573% in the past 12 days alongside the cryptocurrency’s price rally from $11,200 to $13,800.   “Bitcoin mempool [memory pool] is back in focus in the wake of rising transaction volumes, causing congestion in the network and consequently driving […]

Publicly traded digital-asset brokerage Voyager Digital (VYGR/VYGVF) registered four-digit revenue growth in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. In an announcement Thursday, the Canada-based firm said revenue rose to roughly $1.1 million, marking a 1,159% rise from the previous fiscal year’s tally of $87,318. Other figures for the same period are also impressive: customer assets jumped by 1,959% to $35 million, while the total of brokerage accounts were up 750% at 86,000. In its bid to boost growth, the firm formed new partnerships with leading trading platforms including Market Rebellion, LLC, Sterling Trading Tech and RoundlyX, and acquired Ethos Universal Wallet […]

Cryptocurrency-focused money manager sees inflows from hedge funds, financial advisors and family wealth-management offices. Source link

Bitcoin has plenty of room to rally, according to a fundamental analysis indicator that flagged the price bottom in March. Source link

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has climbed to 15-month highs even as coronavirus-induced instability rocks the stock markets. Source link

Regulatory scrutiny is likely garnering more attention for monero amid an upward-trending broader market. Source link