2024-04-10 10:38

The broad-based CoinDesk 20, a liquid index of the biggest tokens, minus stablecoins, was down 3%. Bitcoin and major alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) trade weak ahead of the pivotal U.S. CPI release. One observer said the pullback could soon run out of steam as selling pressure from wallets with a history of holding coins for the long term is weakening. Bitcoin (BTC) is on the defensive under $69,000, nursing a 2.5% drop on a 24-hour basis, having briefly climbed to a high of $69,300 during the Asian trading hours. Profit-taking from Monday continued as several major tokens slid lower. Ether and Solana’s SOL lost 2.8% and Cardano’s ADA and dogecoin (DOGE) slumped as much as 4%. BNB Chain’s BNB was the only token in green with a slight 1.8% rise. The broad-based CoinDesk 20, a liquid index of the biggest tokens, excluding stablecoins, was down 3%. The Asian session demand for bitcoin and leading altcoins represented trade optimism, FxPro Senior Market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich told CoinDesk in a message, warning of potential volatility explosion following the release of the U.S. consumer price index later Wednesday. “The U.S. CPI report, which in recent years has caused a spike in volatility comparable to NFP [nonfarm payrolls report], has an impressive potential to influence the market on Wednesday,” said Kuptsikevich. Still, some analysts said bitcoin correction could be over. Selling pressure from certain long-term wallets seems to have cooled in recent weeks, alongside a bump in demand for spot bitcoin, on-chain analysis firm Glassnode said in a Tuesday report. “Bitcoin’s strong performance over the last 12 months is supported by a surge in spot trade volume and exchange deposit and withdrawal volumes,” analysts at blockchain data tracking firm Glassnode wrote. “Profit-taking by long-term holders spiked meaningfully into the $73k ATH and has been cooling down in recent weeks. This comes alongside an uptick in new demand brought on by the U.S. spot ETFs.” The firm defines long-term holders as wallets that keep a token for more than 155 days instead of trading over weekly or daily periods. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/10/bitcoin-falls-below-69k-ahead-of-us-cpi-cardano-dogecoin-lead-majors-losses/

2024-04-10 10:16

Michael Sonnenshein said that some of the selling connected to settlements of bankrupt crypto companies like FTX is "largely behind us." After the approval of several spot bitcoin ETFs in January, investors may have sold their GBTC shares to move into new products. Daily outflows from GBTC have fallen significantly since hitting $600 million in March. Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of digital asset investment manager Grayscale, sees outflows from the company's bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) reaching an equilibrium, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Sonnenshein said that some of the selling connected to settlements of bankrupt crypto companies like FTX is "largely behind us," according to the report, citing an appearance on a Reuters podcast. When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot bitcoin ETFs in January, Grayscale's product (GBTC), which had already existed for several years as a trust, experienced significant outflows as existing investors likely sold their shares to buy into one of the new funds. Another reason for the outflows was GBTC's comfortably higher fees compared to its competitors. Sonnenshein said last month that he expects the fund's fees to decrease over time. In the three months since, GBTC has seen total outflows worth $15 billion, according to BitMEX Research. In March, these were hitting $600 million a day but have fallen significantly since. On Monday and Tuesday this week, they stood at $303 million and $155 million, respectively. Grayscale did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for further comment. Read More: VanEck CEO Says Transaction Fee Is Bigger Story Than Bitcoin or Ethereum ETFs https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/10/grayscale-ceo-says-bitcoin-etf-outflows-are-reaching-equilibrium-reuters/

2024-04-10 10:14

Hong Kong's regulators have sped up the approval process, according to a Reuters report. Hong Kong is likely to approve the first set of applications for spot-bitcoin exchange-traded funds this week, Reuters reported. A total of four entities have submitted applications to launch the spot bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong, the report said. Hong Kong regulators are likely to approve the first set of applications for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) next week, making it possible that the products could be ready to start trading in April, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Australia and Hong Kong are the two jurisdictions that could become the first in Asia to offer spot bitcoin ETFs, with Singapore and the UAE not reflecting immediacy just yet. Hong Kong's regulators have sped up the approval process, Reuters said, citing one of the people. Harvest Global Investments, a major asset-management company in China, and asset manager VSFG, together with its partner, Value Partners, have applied to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for a spot ETF, CoinDesk has reported. The Reuters report said four entities have submitted applications to launch the spot bitcoin ETFs. It named three of them as the Hong Kong units of China Asset Management, Harvest Fund Management and Bosera Asset Management. The SFC and the three companies identified didn't immediately respond to a CoinDesk request for comment. Read More: Bitcoin ETFs in and Around Asia After U.S. Approvals? Analysts Are Optimistic About Momentum https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/04/10/hong-kong-likely-to-approve-spot-bitcoin-etfs-next-week-reuters/

2024-04-10 09:56

While 40% of respondents to the German bank’s survey said bitcoin will thrive in the coming years, 38% said they expect the cryptocurrency to disappear. Consumers have become more positive about cryptocurrencies, the survey showed. 40% of those surveyed say they believe bitcoin will thrive in the coming years; 38% said they expect it to disappear. Over 50% expect another major crypto to collapse by 2026, the report said. Consumers became more positive about cryptocurrencies during the first quarter, according to a March survey by German lender Deutsche Bank (DB). “Consumers have become more positive on crypto in Q1 2024, with less than 1% thinking they are a fad,” the April report said. The data is hardly surprising given the strong rally in crypto markets in that period that was fueled by the January approval of spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Nevertheless, the survey showed that consumers are not overly optimistic about the outlook for the world’s largest cryptocurrency, with only 10% of people saying they expect it to exceed $75,000 by year-end. Bitcoin was trading over 2% lower over 24 hours at around $69,000 at publication time. Just under one-third of the 3,600 surveyed said they expected the bitcoin price to tumble below $20,000 by the end of 2024 and over 50% of respondents said they were worried about another major cryptocurrency collapsing in the next two years. As many as 40% said they expected bitcoin to thrive in the coming years, while almost as many – 38% – said they expected the digital asset to disappear. “78% of U.S. consumers see cryptocurrencies as a form of commodities, 76% as alternative assets, and 74% a store of value. 65% see it as replacing cash,” the report said, adding that 52% see cryptocurrencies as an “important asset class and method of payment.” https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/10/bitcoins-bullish-quarter-eases-retail-skepticism-deutsche-bank/

2024-04-10 08:27

The social application was one of the biggest blockchain-based platforms by revenue for a short period last year before usage dropped off. A new version is bringing the hype back. Friend.Tech, a blockchain-based social application that allows crypto personalities on X to issue shares for access to closed group chats, has seen a resurgence in activity and value locked. Recent developments, including a possible FRIEND token and expansion beyond X, have renewed interest in the platform. More than $7 million has flowed into the platform in anticipation of the developments. Money is flowing back into social application Friend.Tech as a new version teases an eventual airdrop, bringing users back to what was among the biggest revenue-generating platforms during the bear market. Over $7 million flowed to Friend.Tech last week after months of outflows, boosting the value locked to nearly $40 million, data shows. Weekly fees have crossed $1.3 million for the first time since November, making the platform over $600,000 in revenue. Built on Base, a layer-2 network, Friend.Tech lets crypto personalities on X issue “shares” for access to a closed group chat. For users, the allure of these chats is that their owners could offer trading insights, token picks or access to seed-funding deals – which raises the value of the shares. The bump in activity precedes the coming of version 2 of the application, which developers said will be released after April 20. A key element of the update is expanding the platform beyond X to attract newer users. Over the weekend, developers also teased a FRIEND token. Expectations among users are that these could be distributed based on how many points – a reward for Friend.Tech usage – they accumulate before the token release. Friend.tech was earning in excess of $1 million per day in fees at its August peak after going viral on X and gaining more than 100,000 unique users, a significant number for crypto application standards. Shares of some crypto X personalities, such as @Cobie and @HsakaTrades, jumped to as much as three ether, or nearly $5,000, at the time. Activity fell off in the months following as the initial allure wore off. Security risks later marred the platform alongside opportunities elsewhere in the sector, leading to months of outflows since November. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/10/friendtech-money-metrics-surge-ahead-of-potential-airdrop-v2-release/

2024-04-10 06:52

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release March 2024 CPI data Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET (12:30 UTC). Bitcoin’s failed breakout likely represents temporary nervousness ahead of the U.S. CPI release, and not an outright bearish trend reversal, 10x Research’s Markus Thielen said. Markets have pared back Fed rate cuts ahead of the CPI release. A soft inflation print could put the June rate cut back on the table, injecting upside volatility in risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 3% in the past 24 hours, invalidating a bullish breakout, ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data that could dictate when the Federal Reserve (Fed) starts cutting interest rates. The leading cryptocurrency by market value slipped back into a triangular consolidation pattern identified by trendlines connecting March 15 and March 27 highs and March 20 and April 3 lows. The symmetrical triangle consolidation had ended with a bullish breakout early this week, opening doors for a rally to $80,000. Failed breakouts often result in short-term traders closing or reversing bullish bets in anticipation of a steeper price decline. Still, Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, cautions investors against reading too much into Bitcoin’s bull failure. “Bitcoin’s failed breakout likely represents nervousness ahead of the U.S. CPI release. I would not write it off yet,” Thielen told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat. Thielen added that Wall Street’s tech-heavy index, Nasdaq, rose Tuesday, offering positive cues to bitcoin and other risk assets. In other words, bitcoin’s dip could be short-lived. The cryptocurrency closely follows trends in the Nasdaq and the Nasdaq-to-S&P 500 ratio. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release March 2024 CPI data on Wednesday at 08:30 ET (12:30 UTC). The consensus is that the consumer price index, a measure of cost of living, has increased by 3.5% since March 2023, accelerating from February’s 3.2% annual inflation rate, according to economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. The monthly pace is forecast to have eased to 0.3% from February’s 0.4% rate. Similarly, the monthly pace in core inflation, which strips out the volatile food and energy component, is forecast to have slowed to 0.3% in March, following February’s 0.4% gain, equating to a 12-month decline to 3.7% from 3.8%. A resilient economy and labor market conditions have already forced markets to pare bets on the timing of the first Fed rate cut and the number of rate cuts this year. On Monday, the Fed funds futures showed expectations for 60 basis points of rate cuts this year, down significantly from 150 basis points in early January. The probability of the first 25 bps rate cut in June stood below 50%, down from nearly 60% before Friday’s upbeat nonfarm payrolls report. Thus, a hotter-than-expected CPI release may not inject a significant downside volatility in bitcoin. On the contrary, a soft print could put the June rate cut back on the table, reviving bullish sentiment in the leading cryptocurrency. “The market is already walking back expectations of rate cuts – the first cut coming in June is now down to a 50% probability, according to CME pricing. In other words, there could be some volatility, but it feels like the market is already more bearish on the inflation outlook,” Noelle Acheson, author of the popular Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter, said in Tuesday’s edition. “Inflation unexpectedly dropping would most likely have a bigger impact on assets, including crypto, as it would signal that maybe the Fed does have an excuse to cut in June after all,” Acheson added. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/10/bitcoin-breakout-halts-as-us-inflation-data-looms/