2023-10-26 20:42

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - US natural gas futures jumped 3% on Thursday, returning to the mid-$3 perch held two weeks ago, amid a smaller-than-expected storage build for last week and as bulls sought a hedge against concerns about an impending data blackout on associated gas production until mid-November. The most-active December gas contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Henry Hub settled up 10.1 cents at $3.477 per mmBtu, or million metric British thermal unit, after reaching as high as $3.543 during the session. The rally came after US Energy Information Administration's storage report on gas for the week ended Oct. 20 came in at 74 billion cubic feet, or bcf. That was still higher than the 61-bcf injection seen during the same week a year ago and the five-year (2018-2022) average increase of 66 bcf for this time of year. But it was lower than the 80-bcf build forecast by Wall Street’s analysts who follow natural gas. “The EIA’s storage report came in at 74 Bcf, lower than the analyst average,” Gelber & Associates, a Houston-based advisory on energy trading, said. “Near term contracts along the forward curve saw a boost in price similar to the front-month contract in response to the (data_ release, and have rallied sharply since.” The Gelber note said most weather models also foresaw what it described as “notably colder temperatures to the Lower 48” states in the coming week, a development that ought to positively impact the forthcoming gas storage report. Since a key report from Rescom on associated gas will also not be published for another three weeks, traders sought a higher risk premium in Thursday’s market, the note said. Associated gas is a by-product of shale oil drilling and has been partly responsible for the record daily production of 103 bcf this week. “The associated storage release through ResComm demand increases …will be unavailable until mid-November, as a planned EIA systems upgrade has caused the release to be delayed until the 16th,” Gelber said. “That release will contain storage data for both next week and the week following. Without access to the prior week’s storage data that normally serves as a baseline to their models, analysts may be significantly off the mark, especially if fundamentals see notable shifts in the meantime. As a result, the potential for price volatility on the 16th is high.” Until August came along, the year had been a maddening one for gas bulls, who got up each time only to get squashed again by record gas production, often benign weather that needed neither heating or cooling and spotty export demand for liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The sum effect of all these, of course, was a stockpile overhang running double-digits higher than a year ago and looking impossible to clear right away. Yet, like the skies opening up after a storm, things suddenly began to brighten up for gas longs over the past two months: Production started tapering, the volume of gas burned for power generation became consistent, LNG takeup improved and gas in storage started melting. Yet, the nightmares of the past seemed to revisit the gas market last week after the US government’s weekly storage report on gas for the week ended Oct. 13 that came in at 17 billion cubic feet, or bcf, higher than the forecast level of 80. That pulled December gas to a low of $2.88, signaling that the market could get boxed in again at the mid-$2 level it had been trapped in between February and July. Latest storage report may have restored faith of gas bulls But the latest EIA report seems to have restored the faith of gas bulls. The government agency’s report for the week ended Oct 20 showed total storage at 3.7 trillion cubic feet, or tcf, up 9.2% from a year ago and 5.2% higher from the five-year average. Both the percentages were up double digits just months ago. Sunil Kumar Dixit, chief technical strategist at SKCharting, said gas bulls seemed poised to retain the upside momentum here. “Stability above the 50-week EMA, or Exponential Moving Average, of $3.33 is a sign of strength for further upside, toward the next leg higher at the 200-week SMA, or Simple Moving Average, of $3.78,” Dixit said. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/natural-gas-back-at-mid3-on-modest-storage-build-impending-data-blackout-3210973

2023-10-26 19:59

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters BitPay, the cryptocurrency payment service provider, has broadened its global reach through a collaboration with Banxa, enabling retail investors worldwide to purchase more than 175 cryptocurrencies. The digital currencies, including Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE), XRP, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and others based on 20 blockchains, can now be bought via the Wallet app and BitPay's website using multiple international banking payment methods. The partnership significantly extends accessibility to users in countries such as Brazil, New Zealand, Turkey, Africa, and Australia. The payment methods supported include iDEAL, SEPA, ACH, Interac, Faster Payments Systems, PayID, POLi, PIX, and Turkey Bank Transfer. In a separate agreement with the AMC movie theater network, BitPay has also facilitated crypto payments for tickets to Taylor Swift's concert tour movie. Cryptocurrencies such as Shiba Inu, XRP, and Bitcoin are among the accepted forms of payment for this purpose. This move further demonstrates the growing acceptance of digital currencies in various commercial sectors. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitpay-and-banxa-partnership-expands-global-crypto-accessibility-93CH-3210797

2023-10-26 19:13

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Bitcoin's price has experienced a significant resurgence this week, soaring from approximately $30,000 to over $35,000. The surge is attributed to increased inflows and the anticipation of a U.S.-approved Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), despite previous rejections by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Anthony Rousseau from Trade Stations expressed skepticism about Bitcoin reaching a new high before the April halving event. The expert highlighted macroeconomic uncertainties and upcoming Federal Reserve rate decisions as potential hurdles. John Glover of Ledn, on the other hand, forecasts that Bitcoin will fluctuate between $30,000 and $37,000 by the end of this year. He further anticipates that the cryptocurrency could potentially touch $45,000 by the second quarter of next year. Despite these optimistic projections, it is worth noting that Bitcoin still remains more than 50% below its November 2021 peak of $68,990. Even with a 110% upsurge this year, the digital currency has not yet managed to reclaim its previous high. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-rebounds-amid-etf-expectations-and-increased-inflows-93CH-3210764

2023-10-26 18:42

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters Bitcoin reached a near one-and-a-half-year high, surging almost 6% to $34,872 on Sunday, October 24, 2023. This increase was driven by speculation regarding Blackrock (NYSE:BLK)'s impending investment in Bitcoin for its forthcoming spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The rise in Bitcoin's value was preceded by a 10% rally in the cryptocurrency and a 4.5% uptick in Ethereum (ETH). The crypto market has been showing signs of robust recovery throughout 2023. After facing significant challenges such as the Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary tightening campaign, the Terra Luna crash, and FTX's bankruptcy, Bitcoin managed to rebound to $31,000 in early July. It later stabilized around the $25,000 mark. Investor optimism was rekindled after the SEC decided against appealing its loss to Grayscale Investments. This decision has led to heightened speculation that Blackrock will purchase Bitcoin this month as initial capital for its spot Bitcoin ETF. The anticipated approval of a Bitcoin-backed ETF is expected to draw conservative investors into the crypto market through traditional stock markets. This could potentially stimulate new investments and boost demand. Several companies are poised to benefit from this positive trend in the crypto market. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:NVDA), a leading player in the semiconductor industry, is forecasting an earnings growth rate of 221.6%. Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ), an online digital and mobile payment platform, anticipates a growth rate of 69%. Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), a provider of financial infrastructure and technology for the global cryptocurrency economy, projects an earnings growth rate of 85.2%. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-climbs-to-18month-high-amid-blackrocks-etf-speculation-93CH-3210725

2023-10-26 18:05

In the latest developments in the cryptocurrency market, a Ripple-affiliated wallet transferred nearly 50 million XRP coins to EU-based Bitstamp and Mexican crypto unicorn Bitso. Whale Alert reported these large-scale transfers, which were valued at approximately $25.8 million. During this period, XRP's value increased over 15%. Both Bitstamp and Bitso are collaborating with Ripple on its "Ripple Payments" service for cross-border payments via RippleNet, previously known as On-Demand Liquidity (ODL). Today, the cryptocurrency community was buzzing with speculation after Ripple Labs' CTO David Schwartz's frog picture post. PEPE-themed accounts interpreted it as an endorsement of the frog-themed meme coin, which saw a significant 60% increase this week. In other news, following the collapse of FTX, the trustees have transferred over $19 million in various tokens to exchanges like Binance and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN). These tokens include 470,000 SOL ($15 million), 11,000 COMP ($2.5 million), LINK ($2.2 million), AAVE ($1 million), MKR ($2 million), and ETH ($3.4 million). Prior to its collapse, FTX had staked $150 million in SOL (5.5 million tokens) and ETH (over 24,000 tokens) to provide returns for investors. The staked assets are expected to yield an annual return of 6.79% for SOL and 3.4% for ETH, potentially resulting in over $8 million in SOL returns alone. A transfer of $8.6 million from FTX and Alameda Research to a Binance address was also reported today. This transfer follows FTX's previous efforts to provide returns for its investors through staking large amounts of SOL and ETH. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/ripple-affiliated-wallet-transfers-50-million-xrp-coins-sol-and-eth-staked-by-ftx-yield-returns-93CH-3210704

2023-10-26 16:43

Copyrighted Image by: Igor Faun The cryptocurrency market recently saw a significant increase in large-scale transactions, commonly known as 'whale' transactions, involving Bitcoin (BTC) and Ripple (XRP). These transactions, amounting to around half a billion dollars, took place within a span of 15 hours, according to Whale Alert (@whale_alert). The sequence of these substantial transactions started with a transfer of 2,664 BTC, valued at $92.22 million, from an unidentified wallet into Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN). Following this, there were notable BTC movements that included a withdrawal of 1,059 BTC ($36.53 million) from Binance US to an unknown wallet and an inflow of 2,766 BTC ($96.2 million) into Coinbase. Gate IO also recorded a significant withdrawal of 682 BTC ($23.7 million), which was transferred to an undisclosed wallet. It is worth noting that these transactions prominently featured American exchanges such as Coinbase. Alongside Bitcoin, Ripple's XRP also experienced considerable activity. A total of 26.5 million tokens ($14.74 million) were transferred to Bitstamp and another 20 million XRP ($11.12 million) moved to Bitso exchange. These movements are consistent with the increasing use of Ripple Payments. In addition to the Bitcoin and XRP transactions, there were also transfers involving Tether (USDT) amounting to $385 million, most of which revolved around Binance. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-and-xrp-witness-halfbilliondollar-surge-in-whale-transactions-93CH-3210645