Bitcoin, Ether eye new move as stocks plummet on fresh bank fears

  • Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) prices rose nearly 2% respectively as stocks plunged.
  • The S&P 500 was down 1.5% as two bank stocks plummeted.
  • BTC and ETH gains saw altcoins in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap up.

Bitcoin (BTC) price moved above $28,500 again on Tuesday, rising more than 2% in early morning trades during the US trading session. The upside was yet another attempt by Bitcoin bulls to establish a fresj footing in the key price range.

Elsewhere, the price of Ethereum (ETH) rose above $1,860 to hit a new 24-hour high as crypto spot markets climbed. The Ether token was 1.9% up at the time of writing, gains that were being mirrored across the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap list.

BTC and ETH have traded to year-to-date highs above $31,000 and $2,100 respectively.

Stocks tank on bank fears

US stocks opened lower on Tuesday as stock prices of another two US banks plunged amid the latest turmoil in the banking sector. The S&P 500 was down 1.5% while Nasdaq was shedding 1.3%.

After share prices of First Republic Bank fell in the lead up to its takeover by JPMorgan, Tuesday saw prices of Pacwest (PACW) and Western Alliance (WAL) stocks bleed massively.

At about 12:30 pm ET, the PACW and WAL share prices were down 26% and 20% respectively.

The two bank stocks had plummeted more than 30% earlier as investor concerns around the turbulence within the US banking system resurfaced following the losses that followed the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Also on investors’ minds this week is the Fed’s meeting that kicked off on Tuesday. While the market has the anticipated 25bps interest rate hike baked in for after the FMC meeting, what the central bank says in relation to what next is seen as key.

Economist Mohamed A. El-Erian, commented on the market outlook, stating via a tweet:

“The roller coaster continues with, this time around, a 20 bps drop in the yield on 2-year Treasuries.  With such a key market segment continuing to be in urgent need of stabilization, it remains to be seen if the Fed serves this function tomorrow or, instead, is again a source of volatility.”

Barry Knapp of Ironsides Macroeconomics says the Fed’s approach to the inflation question is fraught and dubious. The central bank has to consider what the market is telling it. He shared his views in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box.

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Ethereum price prediction: Here’s why FRC collapse matters

  • ETH price remained under pressure in the past few days.

  • The collapse of First Republic Bank matters for cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum price came under pressure on Monday after the collapse of First Republic Bank (FRC). ETH pulled back to a low of $1,827 as investors also waited for the upcoming interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve. It remains about 107% above the lowest level in 2022.

First Republic Bank collapse

The biggest financial news on Monday was the collapse of First Republic Bank, the second-biggest bank to fall in the US. This collapse happened a week after the company announced that it lost over $100 billion in the first quarter. In a statement, FDIC said that the company will be acquired by JP Morgan, the biggest company in the US. 

The collapse of First Republic makes 2023 the worst year for banks since the 2008 financial crisis. We have seen banks like Signature, Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse, and Silvergate Bank collapse. 

These collapses are positive for Ethereum and other cryptocurrency prices for two reasons. First, the collapse could mean that many people will move to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and ETH. While Bitcoin will benefit more in this transition, other altcoins like Ethereum will also benefit since cryptocurrencies have a positive correlation.

Second, the collapse means that the Federal Reserve will likely consider the health of the banking sector when it starts its meeting on Tuesday. Minutes published last month showed that several officials were concerned about the banking crisis.

Therefore, there is a likelihood that the Fed will consider pausing its interest rates in this meeting. The alternative is that the bank will decide to hike rates by 0.25%  and then point to a strategic pause in the near term.

A change of tune by the Federal Reserve will be bullish for Bitcoin and Ethereum prices. Historically, cryptocurrencies tend to do well when the Fed is pivoting.

Ethereum price prediction

The daily chart shows that the ETH price has been in a bullish trend in the past few weeks. The coin has moved above the 50-day and 25-day exponential moving averages. This is a bullish sign. It has moved above the ascending trendline shown in green. 

It has also moved slightly below the key resistance level at $2,032, which was the highest point on August 12 last year. It is at the 23.6% Fibonacci Retracement level. Therefore, there is a likelihood that Ethereum will have a bullish breakout as buyers target the key resistance point at $2,500.

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Casper price prediction: what next for CSPR after 60% rally in April?

  • Casper Network price rose over 60% in April, hitting a high of $0.060.
  • CSPR traded at around $0.059 at the time of writing, about 6% up in the past 24 hours.
  • While CSPR price is above key support level, here’s the price outlook for Casper Network going into May.

Casper Network price rose more than 60% in April as the value of the native CSPR rallied to above $0.060. The cryptocurrency’s price currently sits around $0.059, up 6% in the past 24 hours and nearly 16% higher in the past seven days.

However, while the Casper token is one of the standout performers of the last month, it remains off its peak of $1.33 by some huge distance. According to data from CoinGecko, CSPR reached its all-time low of $0.022 in June 2022, meaning traders who took positions at these levels are 164% up on their investment.

CSPR at current levels is -95% from the all-time high reached in May 2021.

What is Casper Network (CSPR)?

Casper Network, a layer 1 blockchain network targeted for enterprise adoption of the blockchain technology. CSPR is the governance token of the Casper blockchain, whose mainnet launched in 2021.

As a native token, CSPR has multiple roles in the Casper ecosystem, including network fees, staking rewards and payments as a medium of exchange.

The Casper Network has seen multiple projects built on top of its proof-of-stake blockchain. One of the projects on the smart contracts platform is layer 2 protocol Metis that migrated from Ethereum to Casper. Metis looks to boost development of Decentralized Autonomous Companies (DACs).

Another project is patent encryption platform IPwe, which targets the creation of a decentralised database system for patent management and licensing. There’s also ACDX, a digital assets exchange for structured products and derivatives trading.

Casper price prediction: What next for CSPR?

CSPR price 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Casper’s price could continue to rise into May and potentially break above $0.1. This outlook will materialise if CSPR price consolidates above $0.065, building new momentum for a breakout above $0.080. 

Above the $0.10 level, significant resistance will be around $0.13, with a bullish Casper price prediction of $0.20 in May.

On the downside, CSPR’s outperformance over the past month could see traders eye profit taking deals. Such a scenario will definitely dent the bullish momentum and result in downward action, with a potential slump to $0.025.

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Crypto vs stocks: legendary investor Peter Lynch takes a side

Bitcoin has massively outperformed equities since the start of this year but legendary investor Peter Lynch continues to prefer the latter.

Lynch does not own any cryptocurrency

On Tuesday, the Vice Chairman of Fidelity Management & Research confirmed that he’s not exposed to cryptocurrencies.

Interestingly, Lynch is familiar with the technology that powers the crypto space. Still, he said today on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”:

I do understand blockchain. I know how it works. But what bitcoin is going to be, I have no idea. I don’t own any bitcoin or ether coin.

Lynch is keeping away from BTC even though he knows the total supply of it will be cut in half next year – an event that usually translates to higher price.

Lynch is sticking to ‘buy what you know’

Bitcoin has now slipped back to the $27,000 level but is still keeping above a key support suggesting the bullish sentiment is still there.

But for years, Fidelity’s Peter Lynch has recommended that investors “buy what they know” – and to him, that means stocks. Explaining how to pick stocks and when to pull out of them, he said:

Look at the company, the balance sheet. What’s the reason stock should be higher? When companies go from crappy to semi-crappy to good, stock goes up. When business gets terrific, get out.

Lynch expressed regret today for not investing in a number of large-cap tech companies in recent years, particularly Apple Inc and Nvidia Corporation.

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Ethereum ICO account that bought ETH at $0.31 wakes up after 7 years

  • Ethereum (ETH) ICO price was $0.31 when the address received coins on 30 July 2015.
  • The addresses’ wealth has jumped from $733 to over $4.4 million at the time of the single transaction on 23 April 2023.
  • Last week a Satoshi era wallet woke up after over 10 years.

An Ethereum wallet that participated in the coin’s initial coin offering (ICO) has transacted for the first time, on-chain data shows.

The address received 2,365 ETH on 30 July 2015 and remained dormant until Sunday, 23 April 2023 when it transferred 1 ETH. The address received the ETH at block 0 and transferred the single ETH at prices of $1,868 at block 17110898.

With the ICO price having been $0.31 in 2015, the wallet‘s wealth has grown from around $733 to over $4.4 million.

“An Ethereum ICO participant woke up after 7.7 years of dormancy and transferred 1 $ETH to a new address. He received 2,365 $ETH ($4.42M currently) at Ethereum Genesis, the ETH ICO price [was] ~$0.31,” on-chain data tracker Lookonchain tweeted.

Ethereum price traded at an all-time above $4,800 in 2021 and hit year-to-date highs above $2,100 this month after the Shapella upgrade.

Bitcoin wallet woke up after 10 years

Last week another mega-dormant wallet address woke up, this time a Satoshi era Bitcoin wallet address that remained inactive for over 10 years. 

As highlighted by CoinJournal, the wallet was created in 2012 and held 1,128 BTC for over 10 years. On 21 April 2023, the wallet transferred 279 BTC worth about $7.8 million to three new addresses. 

Bitcoin price at the time of the wallet’s creation 10+years ago was between $12 and $95.

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