Federal Reserve
Elon Musk, Cathie Wood sound ‘deflation’ alarm — Is Bitcoin at risk of falling below $14K?
Bitcoin (BTC) has rebounded by 20% to almost $22,500 since Sept. 7. But bull trap risks abound in the long run as Elon Musk and Cathie Wood sound an alarm over a potential deflation crisis. Cathie Wood: “Deflation in the pipeline” The Tesla CEO tweeted over the weekend that a major Federal Reserve interest rate hike could increase the possibility of deflation. In other words, Musk suggests that the demand for goods and services will fall in the United States against rising unemployment. A major Fed rate hike risks deflation — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 9, 2022 Typically, rate hikes have been bad for Bitcoin this year. In context, the period of the Fed raising its benchmark rates from near zero in March 2022 to 2.25%–2.50% in August 2022 has coincided wi...
3 reasons why Bitcoin traders should be bullish on BTC
Bitcoin (BTC) has been in a rut, and BTC’s price is likely to stay in its current downtrend. But like I mentioned last week, when nobody is talking about Bitcoin, that’s usually the best time to be buying Bitcoin. In the last week, the price took another tumble, dropping below $19,000 on Sept. 6 and currently, BTC bulls are struggling to flip $19,000–$20,000 back to support. Just this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the Fed’s dedication to doing literally whatever it takes to combat inflation “until the job is done,” and market analysts have increased their interest rate hike predictions from 0.50 basis points to 0.75. Basically, interest rate hikes and quantitative tightening are meant to crush consumer demand, which in turn, eventually leads to a decrease in...
US Fed vice chair Michael Barr favors hard line on crypto, OCC acting head no friendlier
Two United States government financial officials gave speeches on Sept. 7 in which they expressed their positions on crypto regulation. Both had reservations about crypto. Michael Barr, who was recently appointed United States Federal Reserve Board vice chair for supervision, made his first speech in his new capacity at the Brookings Institute. Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, reiterated his feelings about crypto at the annual conference of The Clearing House and Bank Policy Institute. Barr spoke about “some of my near-term goals and how I will approach achieving them.” He mentioned crypto in two contexts. First, he cited historical examples of private money destabilizing the economy and called for action to regulate stablecoin. Barr said: “I believe Congress should work exp...
The Bitcoin bottom — Are we there yet? Analysts discuss the factors impacting BTC price
When Bitcoin was trading above $60,000, the smartest analysts and financial-minded folk told investors that BTC price would never fall below its previous all time high. These same individuals also said $50,000 was a buy the dip opportunity, and then they said $35,000 was a generational buy opportunity. Later on, they also suggested that BTC would never fall under $20,000. Of course, “now” is a great time to buy the dip, and one would think that buying BTC at or under $10,000 would also be the purchase of a lifetime. But by now, all the so-called “experts” have fallen quiet and are nowhere to be seen or heard. So, investors are left to their own devices and thoughts to contemplate whether or not the bottom is in. Should one be patient and wait for the forecast “drop to $10,000” ...
Surge or purge? Why the Merge may not save Ethereum price from ‘Septembear’
Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), is not immune to downside risk in September after rallying approximately 90% from its bottom of around $880 in June. Much of the token’s upside move is attributed to the Merge, a technical upgrade that would make Ethereum a proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol, slated for Sep. 15. But despite logging impressive gains between June and September, Ether still trades almost 70% below its record high of around $4,950 from November 2021. Therefore, its possibility of heading lower remains on the cards. ETH/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView Here are three Ethereum bearish market indicators that show why more downside is likely. Sell the Ethereum Merge news Ethereum options traders anticipate Ether’s price to reach $2,200 f...
Bitcoin holds $20K, but analysts say BTC open interest leaves room for ‘more deleveraging’
Bitcoin (BTC) price continues to struggle at $20,000 and repeat dips under this level have led some analysts to project deeper downside in the short-term. Earlier in the week, independent market analyst Philip Swift tweeted that the Crypto Fear and Greed Index had dropped back to back to “Extreme Fear,” reflecting softening sentiment among investors. The market is not enjoying $BTC hanging around $20k. Back into Extreme Fear today. Live chart: https://t.co/Jr5151zN7I pic.twitter.com/UnztrZP7FP — Philip Swift (@PositiveCrypto) August 31, 2022 On Aug 29, analytics firm Delphi Digital highlighted Bitcoin open interest hitting a new record-high and said: “The Futures Open Interest Leverage Ratio for BTC reached its highest level ever recorded at more than 3% of BTC market cap, following ...
Why September is shaping up to be a potentially ugly month for Bitcoin price
Bitcoin (BTC) bulls should not get excited about the recovery from the June lows of $17,500 just yet as BTC heads into its riskiest month in the coming days. The psychology behind the “September effect” Historic data shows September being Bitcoin’s worst month between 2013 and 2021, except in 2015 and 2016. At the same time, the average Bitcoin price decline in the month is a modest -6%. Bitcoin monthly returns. Source: CoinGlass Interestingly, Bitcoin’s poor track record across the previous September months coincides with similar downturns in the stock market. For instance, the average decline of the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 in September is 0.7% in the last 25 years. S&P 500 performance in August and September since 1998. Source: Bloomberg Traditional chart a...
Bitcoin price briefly loses $20K on ‘bunch of nothing’ Powell speech
Bitcoin (BTC) analysts were keen to draw fresh price targets on Aug. 27 after the largest cryptocurrency briefly fell below $20,000. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Sub-$20,000 BTC price targets stay in place Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $19,945 on Bitstamp the night after hawkish comments from the United States Federal Reserve. Intraday losses for the pair neared 9% and United States equities cratered over the outlook for inflation policy, which looks to increasingly abandon the “soft landing” narrative. “Restoring price stability will take some time and requires using our tools forcefully to bring demand and supply into better balance. Reducing inflation is likely to require a sustained...
A bullish Bitcoin trend reversal is a far-fetched idea, but this metric is screaming ‘buy’
Bitcoin (BTC) price remains pinned below $22,000 as the lingering impact of the Aug. 19 sell-off at $25,200 continues to be felt across the market. According to analysts from on-chain monitoring resource Glassnode, BTC’s tap at the $25,000 level was followed by “distribution” as profit-takers and short-term holders sold as price encountered a trendline resistance following a 23-consecutive-day uptrend that saw BTC trading above it’s realized price ($21,700). Bitcoin total inflows and outflows to all exchanges (USD). Source: glassnode The firm also noted that the “total inflows and outflows to all exchanges” metric shows exchange flows at multi-year lows and back to “late-2020 levels,” which reflects a “general lack of speculative interest.” Stocks and crypto clearly risk off until we...
Warren Buffett pivots to U.S. Treasuries — a bad omen for Bitcoin’s price?
Warren Buffett has put most of Berkshire Hathaway’s cash in short-term U.S. Treasury bills now that they offer as much as 3.27% in yields. But while the news does not concern Bitcoin (BTC) directly, it may still be a clue to the downside potential for BTC price in the near term. Berkshire Hathaway seeks safety in T-bills Treasury bills, or T-Bills, are U.S. government-backed securities that mature in less than a year. Investors prefer them over money-market funds and certificates of deposits (COD) because of their tax benefits. Related: Stablecoin issuers hold more US debt than Berkshire Hathaway: Report Berkshire’s net cash position was $105 billion as of June 30, out of which $75 billion, or 60%, was held in T-bills, up from $58.53 billion at the beginning of 2022 o...
Fed teases master accounts for crypto banks: Law Decoded, Aug. 15-22
Last week, the United States Federal Reserve Board turned its eye to banks and crypto, making (or promising to make) several clarifications, one of them pretty long-awaited. It announced that the final version of guidelines for reserve banks to access Reserve Bank master accounts and services is ready. For crypto, these guidelines hold a prospect of “the most stringent review,” to which non-federally insured institutions that do not have a holding company subject to Fed oversight would be exposed. It is still unclear whether the crypto banks will finally get access to master accounts under the new guidelines and how long they shall wait for it. At the same time, the Fed made itself clear that the traditional banks that intend to deal with crypto assets couldn’t do it without a closer...
3 reasons why the Bitcoin price bottom is not in
Bitcoin (BTC) recovered modestly on Aug. 20 but remained on course to log its worst weekly performance in the last two months. Bitcoin hash ribbons flash bottom signal On the daily chart, BTC’s price climbed 2.58% to $21,372 per token but was still down by nearly 14.5% week-to-date, its worst weekly returns since mid August. Nonetheless, some on-chain indicators suggest that Bitcoin’s correction phase could be coming to an end. That includes Hash Ribbons, a metric that tracks Bitcoin’s hash rate to determine whether miners are in accumulation or capitulation mode. As of Aug. 20, the metric is showing that the miners’ capitulation is over for the first time since August 2021, which could result in the price momentum switching from negative to positive. Bitcoin Hash R...
