Monat: April 2023

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Bitcoin price falls below $29K, no surprise given volatility and liquidity metrics


Key Takeaways

  • Bitcoin has softened fallen from $30,000 to close to $28,000
  • Our head of research looks into the data, arguing the move should not be a surprise
  • Bitcoin’s fixed supply and lack of dividends or earnings means price is entirely demand-driven
  • Thin liquidity in the Bitcoin market exaggerates every move, with 45% of stablecoins leaving exchanges in the last 4 months
  • Correlation with stocks remains high, with high UK inflation creating pause for thought
  • Market has also peeled back slightly on forecasts for interest rate cuts, and Bitcoin has followed

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked “Why is Bitcoin going up?”, or “what is driving this Bitcoin sell-off?”. 

For many assets, it’s clear as day as to what is driving the price action over any given trading period. Earnings forecast missed by 10%? Hello, red candle. Warren Buffett announced a mass purchase of your stock? Buckle in; we’re heading north. 

For Bitcoin, it’s a little tougher. There are no dividends or dividend forecasts; Bitcoin pays no yield. Nor are there earnings. Additionally, the supply doesn’t waver, instead it follows a pre-determined schedule set by Satoshi Nakamoto in October 2008, governing it block by block in ten-minute intervals. 

With the supply set in stone and out of the picture, and the absence of any periodic yield/forecasts derived from dividends or earnings, this means that the Bitcoin price is all about demand. And that is very difficult to predict. Bitcoin gonna Bitcoin, is often about the best reasoning that can be given. 

But there are factors we can assess. One is liquidity, which I touched on in a recent deep dive as Bitcoin surged beyond $30,000 for the first time in ten months. Order book liquidity is as thin as it has been in a year, while overall capital has fled the crypto space at large. Take a look at the balance of stablecoins on exchanges:

That is 45% of the stablecoin balance taking the exit door in the last four months, the balance as low as it has been since October 2021. 

With Bitcoin already uber-volatile (VIX metric blows that of any “normal” asset out of the water), this amps up its propensity for violent moves even further. In simple terms, thinner liquidity means it takes less action to move the price. 

Why is the Bitcoin price currently falling?

So, it is often difficult to ascertain why Bitcoin is moving, as this thin liquidity and capricious demand combine to make it very sensitive. 

But sometimes, we can make educated guesses as to what moves Bitcoin on any given day. This is one of those moments. 

Macro conditions have long been the key for Bitcoin. Again, a little chart to show this:

Despite some temporary optimism that Bitcoin was decoupling as investors fled a collapsing (fiat) bakning system for the safe haven that is Bitcoin, the orange coin is very much moving in tandem with high-risk assets, such as tech stocks listed on the Nasdaq.

I wrote a deep dive at the time of the banking crisis as to why Bitcoin’s dip in correlation with stocks was just a temporary blip. Looking at the data, it appears to have come back up.

And looking at wider financial markets in the last few days, optimism over the economic climate has pulled back. UK inflation was released yesterday, holding firm in the double digits, fuelling the expectation that the Bank of England will hike further. 

Over in the US, Atlanta Federal Reserve president said he expected another 25 bps hike, casting another bit of doubt for the market that hikes may not be done quite yet. 

Not to mention a rally can’t go on forever. Bitcoin has been on a tear this year, up 74% year-to-date. It’s an asset which has always oscillated, so it’s not a surprise that it is finally showing a bit of weakness. And a fall from $30,000 to $28,000 is merely a drop in the ocean compared to what it is capable of. 

A true Bitcoin red candle cannot be ruled out here, given the volatility and thin liquidity, just like it could suddenly surge further north. As financial markets adjust to new data all the time, like the all-important inflation readings and FOMC minutes, Bitcoin will continue to move like a levered bet on tech stocks. 

As for what direction it will move in, that is anyone’s guess. I don’t have a crystal ball, and I won’t make any predictions just for the sake of it, because I simply don’t know. Not many people do right now, with the world in a precarious state economically. Inflation is still high, yet interest rates are apparently coming to the end of the tightening cycle. 

Soft landing, hard landing, something in between? The future will tell. But whatever happens, the volatility of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency is very real, and abrupt price reversals and large swings won’t stop anytime soon. Bitcoin gonna Bitcoin. 

The post Bitcoin price falls below $29K, no surprise given volatility and liquidity metrics appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Societe Generale’s Euro-pegged stablecoin launches on Ethereum

Key takeaways

  • Society General has launched its Euro-pegged stablecoin on the Ethereum network. 

  • The stablecoin, EURCV, is available to investors onboarded by Societe Generale.

  • The stablecoin is designed to bridge the gap between traditional capital markets and the digital assets ecosystem.

Societe Generale launches its stablecoin

Societe Generale, a major French banking and financial services firm, will launch its Euro-pegged stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain. The bank will launch the stablecoin via its dedicated digital asset arm.

According to the bank, the stablecoin will be called EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) and will be available to institutional clients starting today, April 20th. 

Societe Generale added that the stablecoin would only be available to investors onboarded via its existing Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering procedures.

While commenting on this latest cryptocurrency news, Societe Generale-Forge CEO, Jean-Marc Stenger, said;

“In the weeks to come, Societe Generale-Forge will assess the interest from prospective clients and respond to their questions for gradual adoption. The token will be available exclusively to institutional qualified investors through eligible market platforms, including crypto trading venues.”

EURCV to bridge the gap between the two major markets

Societe Generale commented that the EURCV is designed to bridge the gap between the digital asset space and the traditional financial markets. 

The bank said it is launching the stablecoin due to the rising demand for a new settlement asset for on-chain transactions. With the stablecoin, Societe Generale will also be able to activate new solutions for corporate treasury, cash management and cash pooling activities, on-chain liquidity funding and refinancing solutions.

Stenger revealed that the EURCV smart contract has already been audited by the professional services network PwC. The bank added that the stablecoin was developed in accordance with the upcoming European digital assets regulations known as the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. 

The stablecoin ecosystem has been gaining attention from regulatory agencies in recent months. Last month, the chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Ether and stablecoins are commodities. 

SG-Forge CEO is confident that stablecoins built under a banking-grade structure could boost the trust and confidence in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. He concluded that;

“This issuance is a major step in SG-Forge’s roadmap to deliver innovative solutions to its clients, either real-money institutions and corporates or entities of the crypto industry, and to facilitate the emergence of new market infrastructures based on blockchain.”

The post Societe Generale’s Euro-pegged stablecoin launches on Ethereum appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Solana price prediction as the cryptocurrency market rallies

  • Solana’s price action remains bearish while below $40
  • A series of lower highs is still valid
  • Only a bullish break above $40 invalidates the bearish sentiment

Designed to support smart projects and decentralized apps, Solana was launched in the first quarter of 2020. What followed was one of the most impressive rallies in the cryptocurrency market’s history. 

Sure enough, the pandemic did help, as people were literally throwing money into any project that had something to do with online businesses. Also, governments and central banks flooded the financial system with cheap money, so speculation reached extreme levels in the cryptocurrency market and the stock market. 

As such, at its peak in November 2021, Solana’s performance against the US dollar has reached 18640.78%. It traded above $225, but the drop was as impressive as the rise. 

It now trades around $20, well below its all-time highs. However, in terms of performance since inception, it delivered remarkable results, as even at the current levels the price is up over 1500% since launch. 

Solana chart by TradingView

Bearish sentiment remains while below $40

In 2023, the cryptocurrency market bounced from its recent lows. Led by Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies followed. 

Solana bounced from the lows when other cryptocurrencies bounced – at the end of 2022. Since then, it rallied sharply, but nevertheless, the bearish bias persists while below $40. 

Traders should focus on the series of lower lows that remains intact. Therefore, while below $40, the chances are that the 2023 rally is nothing but a bear market rally. Such rallies are known to be aggressive and misleading. 

Summing up, bulls may want to wait for Solana to trade above $40 again before establishing a long position. Otherwise, the risk is that the lows will be tested sooner rather than later, as bears will keep pressuring the market. 

The post Solana price prediction as the cryptocurrency market rallies appeared first on CoinJournal.

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AltSignals Has Investors Excited About The Prospect Of Crypto Gains In 2023. Will The New ASI Token Take Off?

With AltSignals’ ASI presale gaining traction, many investors are excited about its potential to offer them substantial crypto gains in 2023 – in more ways than one. In this article, you’ll find out why AltSignals has garnered so much hype in recent weeks and how its ASI token could change the game for investors and traders across the globe.

AltSignals: Generating Crypto Gains Since 2017

Created in 2017, AltSignals has grown to become one of the market’s leaders for trading signals, boasting over 50,000 subscribers to its free signals and 1,400+ members in its VIP group. While there are many signal providers out there, AltSignals has set itself apart from the crowd by focusing on producing high-quality, accurate trading signals in the crypto, forex, and stock markets with its AltAlgo™ algorithm.

AltSignals has used this market-beating system alongside a team of veteran traders to generate over 1,500 signals for traders across the globe. In January 2023, it achieved a 94% win rate across 17 trades as part of its Binance Spot signals program, returning 175% in a single month. The month previous, it produced 384%. These results, while extraordinary, are a regular occurrence for AltSignals. 

AltSignals’ stellar performance is backed up by its TrustPilot page, which features almost 500 positive reviews and an average 4.9/5 star rating. However, a recent announcement by AltSignals has investors excited about the prospect of making even more crypto gains: the ActualizeAI layer and the ASI token.

What Is the ASI Token?

The ASI token will be the backbone of AltSignals’ ActualizeAI ecosystem. ActualizeAI will introduce a unique AI stack to the AltAlgo™ indicator, enabling it to level up through machine learning, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and more. This will, in theory, increase the number and accuracy of the platform’s signals, providing even more opportunities for traders to make some sweet crypto gains. 

The ASI token itself is necessary to gain exclusive access to the ActualizeAI algorithm. By holding over 50,000 ASI tokens, investors will be granted lifetime membership to the algorithm’s signals. Investors holding less than 50,000 tokens will be provided with a 1-year membership. But owning ASI doesn’t just offer access to premium trading signals: it opens up an ecosystem of opportunity for traders and investors. 

For example, holders will be the first to know about the very best presale opportunities – either projects that have partnered with AltSignals, or bubbling presales highlighted by the algorithm’s sentiment analysis feature. Moreover, traders can boost their crypto gains through regularly held trading tournaments for the chance to win significant prizes!

One standout feature that has investors excited is the AI Members Club. Here, members will be able to earn ASI as a reward for contributing feedback and testing the latest updates made to the ActualizeAI algorithm. These tokens can then be accumulated to boost their membership level and open up more advanced ecosystem features, held, or sold for some crypto gains. 

Lastly, the ASI token will be used as the platform’s governance token, allowing the future of AltSignals and ActualizeAI to be determined by the traders actually using the service. ASI holders will be able to vote on and propose changes made to the platform, giving them a chance to direct the project and maximize their utility. 

What Could ASI Be Worth by the End of 2023?

With a proven track record and a well-thought-out plan to supercharge its platform, many analysts are expecting good things from AltSignals in 2023. The ASI token will finish presale at $0.02274 per token, but predictions have been made for it to reach as high as $0.35 by the end of 2023 – potentially offering over 1,400% gains in under a year.

Expect Big Things From the ASI Presale

Overall, it’s easy to see why AltSignals has investors excited. The ActualizeAI algorithm could put AltSignals on the map as one of the most advanced signal providers on the market and lead to a flurry of signups as traders rush to get their hands on its calls. Meanwhile, the community-led governance and feedback system means the product will be vetted by real traders, helping AltSignals to optimize its service and algorithm. 

The projected ASI crypto gains could even be compounded if you act fast. Currently, ASI is in the first stage of the presale, selling for $0.015 per token. That means you could almost double your potential long-term returns on ASI just by being one of its early adopters. Don’t miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the AltSignals AI revolution!

You can participate in the AltSignals presale here.

The post AltSignals Has Investors Excited About The Prospect Of Crypto Gains In 2023. Will The New ASI Token Take Off? appeared first on CoinJournal.