Kategorie: Bitcoin News

After the volatility that we saw over the last few weeks, it seems like Bitcoin (BTC) is starting to show a lot of resilience. The coin has regained $40, 000 and new data shows that the flow of institutional money is playing a big role in this. Here are the facts so far:

• New data shows that nearly all trades in BTC consist of transactions above $100,000.

• Institutional money has dominated BTC liquidity since 2020.

• At press time, the coin was trading at $40,974, virtually unchanged in 24 hours.

Data Source: Tradingview 

Bitcoin (BTC) – is $50,000 in sight?

Early predictions for Bitcoin in 2022 were quite ambitious. There were some analysts who even thought that coin would hit $250,000 by the end of the year. In fact, the most conservative estimate had BTC at $100,000 by year-end. 

This could still happen. After all, we are not even in Q2. But the way the broader crypto market has started, Bitcoin will go through a wide period of volatility. It is highly unlikely that we will get to $50,000 in the near term. 

For most parts of 2022, BTC has largely bounced off between $45,000 and $35,000 and we expect this to remain the case for the foreseeable future. The flow of institutional money is also going to ramp up by the end of the year.

Why are institutions buying Bitcoin (BTC)?

Well, there are several reasons. For starters, the coin has dipped quite significantly from all-time highs. This provides large capital holders the perfect entry point to ride the Bitcoin and the crypto wave. 

But also, Bitcoin is a safe bet in the crypto market. It is seen as the gold standard and as such, institutions largely focus on it for the safety and longevity, it has to offer.

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The recent Bitcoin (BTC) rally has halted. After days on the up, the mega-cap coin has fallen below $40,000 once more. The drop has largely been attributed to growing inflation in the US and the threat of economic slowdown due to the crisis in Ukraine. Here are some highlights:

• $40,000 is a key support, and BTC could see more weakness in the coming days.

• US inflation is expected to hit 7.9%, higher than expected and the highest in 40 years.

• At press time, BTC was trading at $39, 200, down about 7% in 24 hours.

Data Source: Tradingview 

Will Bitcoin (BTC) fall further?

The last few weeks have been quite volatile for Bitcoin (BTC). However, even amidst this high volatility, $40,000 has remained a crucial support zone. Every time the mega-cap has fallen below this mark, it has gone on to slide further. 

Most analysts are watching the $37,000 mark. If weakness continues and BTC drops below $37,000, then you can expect it to bottom at around $32,000 before the next rally. But if bulls can somehow push the price action back up to $40,000, we may see some sustained resilience on BTC.

But with high US inflation, threats of economic slowdown, and the crisis in Ukraine, it is highly unlikely there is enough sustainable upward momentum for BTC.

Is this the best time to buy BTC?

Even with recent challenges, overall, the long-term outlook on Bitcoin looks very promising. There are in fact estimates that are looking at $100,000 before the end of 2022. Buying at $39,000 or thereabout could be a great idea. 

Even if BTC does not hit six figures in terms of value, there is a chance it will hit a new all-time high this year. This would still represent gains of over 100% from the current price.

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After jumping by over 8% on Wednesday, Bitcoin has fallen again followed by a majority of popular cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has staged a spirited bullish trend in the past week or so that had seen it rise above $42,000 by yesterday before the tables turned and pushed it to around $39,000 at the time of writing.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has followed suit by nose-diving again and it is now trading at around $2,500. The bear market has affected the majority of the top 100 coins; most of which were skyrocketing for the past few days.

In this article, we are going to look at what is causing the rough tides within the crypto market? Why is it that it is crashing every time it tries to make a comeback?

Why has Bitcoin and the majority of coins fallen today?

The main contributor to today’s crypto market crash is the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine appears to only bear a heavy burden on the stock market but also on digital assets like bitcoin (BTC).

While some analysts like Mark Mobius claim that the conflict in Eastern Europe has most likely helped bitcoin stay strong, the fact is that the crypto market could be heading for a major drop if the conflict continues. And it is evident from how the market has been behaving.

Short-lived effect of Biden’s executive order

The fact is that the recent short-lived bullish trend was attributed to the much anticipated executive order by the president of the United States Joe Biden.  Immediately the executive order was signed it only took a few hours for the effect of the news to fade away leaving the market at the mercy of the ruthless bear forces caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

The threat of the war becoming bigger is threatening the crypto market further since investors are either pulling out their money completely or taking a break from buying risk-based assets like bitcoin for fear that the assets will crash.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett warned that it is not wise to buy bitcoin during times of war and a majority of investors appear to be buying the advice. There are also uncertainties surrounding the future of the ongoing conflict with the majority asking themselves what position nations like the US, the UK, Germany, France, and China will take if Russia intensifies the attacks.

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American cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced that it shall donate $1,000 in bitcoin (BTC) to each of the Ukrainian citizens who opened an account with the exchange before March 10, 2022. Overall, the total amount of funds that Kraken intends to donate to Ukrainians is over $10 million.

Kraken’s initiative aims at supporting the needy at a time when Ukraine is under attack by its neighbor, Russia. It is one among the worldwide support that Ukraine is receiving from the crypto community in terms of crypto donations the majority of the previous donations have been sent to crypto wallet addresses shared owned by the Ukraine government.

Kraken’s CEO Jesse Powell commented on the matter saying:

“We hope to continue being able to provide critical financial services in a time of need to both our clients in Ukraine and Russia. Cryptocurrency remains an important humanitarian tool, especially at a time when many around the world can no longer rely on traditional banks and custodians.”

Free conversion and immediate withdrawals

Once the Ukrainian Kraken account holders receive their donations, they will be free to withdraw the funds immediately. Besides the $1000 donation in bitcoin, Kraken shall also be distributing $1000 Kraken Fee Credits to allow the beneficiaries of the donations to make conversions at zero cost.

Kraken went ahead and explained that the $10 million worth of bitcoin that it wishes to donate to Ukrainians equals the total trading fees obtained from Russian-based clients within the first months of 2022. It is in a show of Kraken’s disapproval of the ongoing military operation in Ukraine and Kraken does not feel it is worthy benefiting from any transactions made by Russians.

Exchanges reaction to the Ukrainian invasion

Immediately Russia began its military operation in Ukraine, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov made a plea to the leading crypto exchanges to freeze all addresses belonging to Russian users.

Binance and Kraken did not however agree with the prime minister’s plea, with Binance arguing that “crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom,” and such a move would go against the core value of the industry. Binance also went ahead to say that a majority of those accounts belong to innocent individuals who are not for the war. Binance views of the cryptocurrency industry being about freedom were supported by Kraken.

Coinbase, on the other hand, went ahead and blocked about 25,000 addresses belonging to Russian clients supposedly connected to the ongoing war.

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The US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that actively calls for policies on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and urgent action in researching and developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the US. The executive order outlines how the government as a whole shall work in approaching the issue of regulating cryptocurrencies. It calls on all regulatory authorities to collaborate in the regulation and development of digital assets.

The order states:

“My Administration places the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC. Any future dollar payment system should be designed in a way that is consistent with United States priorities.”

Recap of the executive order

According to the executive order, most regulatory agencies have between 120 days and one year to provide their reports on how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies operate within the US economy, how they can be regulated, and how to prevent their illegal use.

The order specifically gives a 210-day deadline on a proposal for CBDC development.

Of utmost importance is honing the illicit use of cryptocurrencies like cases of crypto being used in ransomware attacks and the order seeks to properly regulate digital payment methods and stablecoins.

The order states:

“The international Financial Stability Board (FSB), together with standard-setting bodies, is leading work on issues related to stablecoins, cross‑border funds transfers, and payments, and other international dimensions of digital assets and payments, while FATF [Financial Action Task Force] continues its leadership in setting AML/CFT [Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism] standards for digital assets.”

The order also directs the Treasury Department, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, federal banking agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to come up with policies for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to combat the illicit use of digital assets and protect individuals from “systemic financial risks.”

The order states:

“We must mitigate the illicit finance and national security risks posed by misuse of digital assets.”

The executive order did not leave out the matter of national security and it states that a non-state currency can be used to circumvent sanctions issued against regimes by the United States.

Effect of the executive order on the crypto market

The order has been received well by the majority of crypto enthusiasts and the crypto market which has been rising in anticipation of the order has surged even higher after the order was signed.

Bitcoin for example has surged by over 8% today and currently trades above $42K while Ethereum is up by over 5% and currently trades at $2,701.22. Terra (LUNA) which is leading the current bounce back among altcoins has raised by over 16% and currently trades at $99.67.

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