Kategorie: Bitcoin News

• The Bank of England delivered another interest rate hike.

• The BTC/GBP and GBP/USD pair diverged after the report.

• It has formed a bullish flag pattern on the daily chart.

The BTC to GBP pair moved sideways after the latest Bank of England (BoE) interest rate decision. Bitcoin was trading at £23,000 on Thursday, where it has been in the past few days. This price is about 7.2% below the highest level this month. On the other hand, the GBP/USD pair slipped to a low of 1.2625, the lowest level since June 30th.

Bank of England decision

The BTC/GBP pair moved sideways after the latest interest rate decision by the BoE. In a statement, the bank decided to hike interest rates again by 0.25% to a 15-year high of 5.25%.

The committee did that in a bid to fight the elevated inflation. In a statement, Governor Andrew Bailey said that the hike was necessary to combat the stubbornly high inflation. In a statement, he said:

“Inflation is falling and that’s good news. We know that inflation hits the least well-off hardest and we need to make sure that it falls all the way back to the 2% target. That’s why we’ve raised rates to 5.25% today.”

The most recent data showed that the headline consumer inflation dropped from 8.3% in May to 7.9% in June while wage growth jumped by 7.7%. There are signs that the British economy is slowing. 

For example, data published this week by Nationwide showed that the country’s house price index plunged at the fastest pace in over a decade. Still, the bank believes that the UK will narrowly avoid a recession this year.

NEW@bankofengland raises interest rates for 14th successive meeting: up by 0.25 percentage points to 5.25%.
– UK to avoid recession but economy effectively flatlining with 3yrs of near-zero growth, acc to Bank forecasts.
– Rates to stay high for a long time, Bank signals

— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) August 3, 2023

Bitcoin reacts moderately to the actions of central banks like the Bank of England (BoE), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of Japan (BoJ). It also reacted mildly to actions of the Federal Reserve, which delivered its last rate hike of the year.

BTC/GBP technical analysis

The daily chart shows that the BTC/GBP pair rose to a key resistance level at 24,711 in July. This was an important price since it was the highest point in April. A closer look shows that the pair has formed a bullish flag pattern. Also, it has risen above the 25-day and 50-day moving averages.

Therefore, the BTC to GBP price will likely have a bullish breakout in the coming weeks. If this happens, the next level to watch will be at 24,711.

How to buy Bitcoin

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• MicroStrategy bought another 12,333 Bitcoin in its second quarter.
• The business intelligence company returned to profitability in Q2.
• MicroStrategy stock has roughly tripled versus the start of 2023.

MicroStrategy Inc – one of the most prominent institutional holder of Bitcoin – says it returned to profitability in its second financial quarter. Its shares are still down 2.0% after-hours.

MicroStrategy continued to buy Bitcoin in Q2

The business intelligence company added another 12,333 Bitcoin in Q2 – the most it has bought in a quarter in about two years. In total, it now has 152,800 BTC on the balance sheet worth about $4.4 billion.

MicroStrategy narrowed the impairment charge related to its crypto holdings in the second quarter to $24.1 million versus close to a billion-dollar last year. Andrew Kang – its Chief Financial Officer said in the press release:

We continued to increase bitcoins and did so against the promising backdrop of increasing institutional interest and ongoing regulatory clarity.

Bitcoin is currently up about 80% for the year.

MicroStrategy topped Q2 earnings estimates

MicroStrategy earned $22.2 million in its recently concluded quarter that translates to $2.35 a share (adjusted) on $120.4 million in revenue – down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis, as per the press release.

In comparison, analysts were at $1.64 a share and $126 million, respectively. According to CEO Phong Le:

Growth in our recurring revenue this quarter illustrated the strength of our enterprise cloud platform, despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds.

The news arrives only days after a TD Cowen analyst Lance Vitanza dubbed MicroStrategy the best way for institutional investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin. He sees upside in the software stock to $520 – about a 21% premium on its current price (find out more).

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• TD Cowen analyst sees upside in MicroStrategy to $520.
• Lance Vitanza explained his bullish view in a research note.
• MicroStrategy stock has already tripled since the start of 2023.

MicroStrategy Inc has already tripled since the start of this year but a TD Cowen analyst continues to see further upside in this stock.

MicroStrategy stock could climb to $520

Lance Vitanza assumed coverage of the software company today with an “outperform” rating and said its shares could climb to $520 – up another 22% from here.

For institutional investors, he said in his research note, MicroStrategy stock is the best way to gain exposure to Bitcoin.

MSTR uses all its retained earnings and then some to buy and hold BTC [that] reflects a belief that Bitcoin will prove a superior store of value relative to metals and fiat currencies.

The Nasdaq-listed firm is set to report its Q2 earnings next week. Consensus is for it to lose 71 cents a share versus an alarming $92.81 per share a year ago.

MSTR trumps BTC or a Bitcoin ETF

The Virginia-based company currently owns more than 150,000 Bitcoin in total.

Vitanza recommends MicroStrategy stock also because it’s free from some of the fees related to investing directly in Bitcoin or a Bitcoin ETF. He’s convinced that its underlying business serves as downside protection as well.

We see MicroStrategy as an attractive vehicle for investors looking to gain Bitcoin exposure.

MicroStrategy is lobbying for a change in accounting rules related to BTC which may also boost its financials. Bitcoin-specific catalysts, including “halving” and approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund will also benefit MSTR, the TD Cowen analyst concluded.

The post Bitcoin-focused MicroStrategy stock has 22% upside – analyst says appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Experts at Fundstrat are super bullish on Bitcoin.
• They see halving and a Bitcoin ETF as material catalysts.
• Bitcoin is already up roughly 80% versus the start of 2023.

Bitcoin has had a massive rally since the start of this year but experts at Fundstrat are convinced it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what may come over the next nine months.

The bull case for Bitcoin

The investment research firm expects BTC to hit $180,000 before its scheduled halving in April of 2024. That suggests about a 500% upside from here.

Fundstrat also sees a Bitcoin ETF as a meaningful catalyst that could boost per-day demand for the world’s largest cryptocurrency by a whopping $100 million.

This would bring daily demand to $125 million, while daily supply is only $25 million. Implied equilibrium price would need to rise so daily supply matches daily demand.

Note that the halving next year will cut the reward for mining BTC to $12 million.

Is a Bitcoin ETF expected soon?

Prominent asset managers, including the likes of Fidelity and BlackRock have filed for a Spot Bitcoin ETF in recent weeks.

According to Sean Farrell – the Head of Digital Asset Strategy at Fundstrat – there’s a 75% probability that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission will approve the said exchange-traded fund.

We anticipate [a Bitcoin ETF] would attract new investors and generate increased demand. Bitcoin ETF eventually could become >$300 billion category.

BTC may also benefit once the Federal Reserve switches to a more lenient monetary policy. The central bank is set to announce its decision on interest rates later today – July 26^th, 2023.

The post Bitcoin could hit $180,000 by April of 2024: Fundstrat appeared first on CoinJournal.

• There has been an increase in the number of early crypto holders moving tokens to new wallets.
• The BTC whale moved all their bitcoins to a new wallet.
• Whales make such moves in preparation for selling or alternative investments.

Lookonchain has revealed that an early Bitcoin (BTC) holder transferred $37 million worth of bitcoins to new wallets after eleven years of inactivity. The move has ignited speculation about the motive behind this move.

In the early hours of Wednesday, the Whale, a term used to describe a powerful owner of any financial asset, transferred all of their 1,037.42 bitcoin to a new address, “bc1qtl.” Although involving a staggering BTC amount, the token movement has had very little impact on the market seeing that Bitcoin (BTC) price has barely moved. BTC was trading at $29,192.78, up 0.06% in the past 24 hours.

It is important to note that the transferred bitcoins were received on April 11, 2012, when the price was $4.92. The 1,037.42 BTC was at the time worth $5,107.

A BTC whale that has been dormant for 11 years transferred all 1,037.42 $BTC($37.8M) to a new address“bc1qtl“ an hour ago.

The whale received 1,037.42 $BTC($5,107 at that time) on Apr 11, 2012, when the price was $4.92.https://t.co/k8ZmO5vc8X pic.twitter.com/xBaw2dQfY8

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 22, 2023

Why did the Whale transfer the BTC?

While such large cryptocurrency movements from early participants are mostly uncommon, they could mean the holder is preparing to sell the cryptocurrencies, stake on an exchange, or diversify their holdings for other tokens.

The move is the most recent in a string of older wallets moving bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) tokens to exchanges this year. At least four wallets transferred millions of dollars worth of bitcoins to exchanges or to other wallets in April.

A wallet that had acquired over 61,000 ether (ETH) in an ICO eight years ago also transferred the entire sum to a wallet connected to the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange last week. These holdings, which were acquired during the ICO for 31 cents per token, are currently valued at over $116 million.

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