In today’s bitcoin and cryptocurrency news, read about how Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu were all down as much as 8% in Monday’s trading. In addition, Bitcoin’s price has been persistently hovering around $20,000 for the past few months, indicating that market volatility has subsided. Finally, according to a Sunday report from an anti-corruption group, BANDESAL, El Salvador’s development bank, has flatly refused to answer questions about the country’s questionable purchases of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu Drop 8%
Original Source: Crypto Price Today: Top cryptos in the red; Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu fall up to 8%
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu fell up to 8% Monday.
Ethereum fell 1% to $1589. However, it’s gained 18% in the past week.
The historical tendency for October crypto prices is good.
Dogecoin, which soared 105% in a week after Elon Musk bought Twitter, traded down. Both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu traded 8% lower.
Global crypto market cap was $1.01 trillion, down 1.28% from the day before. Also, crypto market volume fell 18% to $73.05 billion in the last 24 hours.
As Bitcoin stayed over $20K, market downside was contained. The 5.6% advance since Sunday is Bitcoin’s greatest weekly gain in three months.
Now, the November 2 Fed meeting will be significant for the crypto markets. While another 75 basis point or 0.75 percent rate hike is expected, the direction of riskier assets, including cryptocurrencies, will depend on what Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicates in December.
Bitcoin Trading is ‘boring,’ but That’s Not a Negative Thing
Original Source: Bitcoin’s trading has become ‘boring’ — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing
Bitcoin’s lack of volatility isn’t a bad thing and could signal a “bottoming out,” analysts and investors told CNBC.
Digital currencies have declined substantially since 2021, when bitcoin hit $68,990. In recent months, bitcoin’s price has bounced stubbornly around $20,000, indicating market stability.
Last Monday, the cryptocurrency’s 20-day rolling volatility slipped below the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices for the first time since 2020, according to crypto research firm Kaiko.
Stocks and cryptocurrencies are both down dramatically this year as Fed rate hikes and a strengthening currency weigh on the sector.
Bitcoin’s link with stocks has increased as more institutional investors dabble in crypto.
Bitcoin’s price has steadied recently. For some investors, the reduction of volatility is a welcome sign.
“Bitcoin has effectively remained range bound between 18-25K for 4 months, which signals consolidation and a probable bottoming out pattern,” Vijay Ayyar, head of international at crypto exchange Luno, said CNBC in an email.
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“In 2015, we saw BTC bottom as DXY topped, so we could see a similar pattern here.”
Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto lender Nexo, said bitcoin’s price stability was “a significant evidence that the digital assets market has matured and is becoming less fragmented.”
An end to crypto winter?
Cryptocurrencies have lost $2 trillion in value since the 2021 rally. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest digital coin, is down 70% from its November peak.
The present “crypto winter” is largely the product of aggressive tightening by the Fed, which has been rising interest rates to manage inflation. Large crypto investors with highly leveraged investments like Three Arrows Capital were stunned by price pressure, compounding the market’s slide.
Some investors think the ice may be beginning to defrost.
There are indicators of a “accumulation phase,” according to Ayyar, when institutional investors are more prepared to bet on bitcoin given the price slump.
“Bitcoin being trapped in a range makes it uninteresting, but this is also when retail loses interest and smart money accumulates,” Ayyar added.
Matteo Dante Perruccio, president of international at digital asset management firm Wave Financial, said he’s observed a “counterintuitive growth in demand of traditional institutional investors in crypto during a time when you’d see interest fall down in traditional markets.”
Financial institutions have continued to invest in crypto despite falling prices and diminishing interest from individual investors.
Mastercard introduced a solution that allows banks to provide crypto trading, having previously launched a blockchain security tool for card issuers. Visa partnered up with crypto exchange FTX to offer debit cards linked to customer trading accounts.
Goldman Sachs predicted we may be close to the conclusion of a “very bearish” era in crypto movements. In a report posted Thursday, experts at the bank claimed there were parallels with bitcoin’s trading in Nov. 2018, when prices stabilized before climbing steadily.
“Low volatility [in Nov. 2018] followed a major bitcoin bad market,” Goldman’s analysts wrote, adding that investors poured out of stablecoins like tether, limiting liquidity. The circulating quantity of USD Coin, a stablecoin linked to the U.S. dollar, has declined $12 billion since June, while tether’s has dropped over $14 billion since May.
Selling pressure has slowed as bitcoin miners cut their sales of the cryptocurrency, suggesting the worst may be over for the mining business. Goldman Sachs said publicly traded bitcoin miners sold 12,000 bitcoins in June and barely 3,000 in September.
Wave Financial’s Perruccio anticipates crypto winter to break in the second quarter of 2019.
“We’ll have seen a lot more failures in the DeFi [decentralized finance] space, a lot of the smaller firms, which is absolutely important for the market to evolve,” he added.
All eyes on the Fed
James Butterfill, head of research at crypto asset management firm CoinShares, said it’s tough to make conclusions at this time. However, he said, “we lean on the side of higher upside potential rather than further price decreases.”
“The largest fund withdrawals recently have been in short-Bitcoin positions (US$15m this month, 10% of AuM), whereas we’ve witnessed minor but uninterrupted inflows into long Bitcoin over the last 6 weeks,” Butterfill told CNBC via email.
Butterfill said a signal from the Federal Reserve that it plans to reduce tightening would boost bitcoin buying.
The Fed is set to raise rates by 75 basis points at its meeting next week, but members are reportedly weighing reducing future rises.
“Clients tell us that whenever the Fed pivots, or is near to it, they will add Bitcoin positions,” Butterfill said. The current liquidation of net shorts is in line with fund flows and suggests short sellers are caving.
El Salvador Development Bank Refuses to Release Records Regarding Bitcoin
Original Source: El Salvador Development Bank Refuses to Reveal Bitcoin Records
BANDESAL, El Salvador’s development bank, has failed to share information on the government’s Bitcoin buys, an anti-corruption agency said Sunday.
In a weekend tweet, El Salvador’s Anti-Corruption Legal Advisory Center (ALAC), which helps citizens speak out against corruption, posted a bank document. In the document, BANDESAL argues it cannot share “secret” information.
BANDESAL manages funding utilized by the Salvadoran government for Bitcoin projects. The tiny Central American republic became the first to legalize cryptocurrencies last year.
ALAC denounced BANDESAL for the move. “The confidentiality limits citizens’ access to information about BANDESAL’s operations with public cash,” it tweeted.
El Salvador’s government spokeswoman did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
In addition to introducing Bitcoin legal cash in the country and requiring businesses to accept it, the Salvadoran government developed a state-sponsored crypto wallet and gave its residents $30 in Bitcoin to spend.
Bitcoin ATMs are strewn around San Salvador, and travellers may spend their sats at several of the country’s surf destinations, Decrypt discovered.
The objective was to get Salvadorans and tourists as enthused about Bitcoin as the country’s young president, Nayib Bukele.
President Bukele has bought lots of Bitcoin on his phone. In fact, the only knowledge about El Salvador’s purchases comes from the leader’s tweets (he tweets whenever he makes a crypto purchase).
He has spent $107 million on Bitcoin, according to Nayib Tracker. With the crypto bear market, the leader is down $58 million.
The U.S. authorities claimed President Bukele’s Bitcoin bill “posed concerns” this year. IMF, World Bank, and JPMorgan all criticized the move.
Unnamed businessman: “Insanity.”
Decrypt: “Even BANDESAL doesn’t know how the President invested the money.” “He manages Bitcoin from his phone.”
Despite accusations, President Bukele remains popular, according to a CID Gallup poll issued this month.
Summary of Today’s Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency News
In conclusion, the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, scheduled for November 2, will be a major factor for the cryptocurrency markets. Despite widespread anticipation of a further rate hike of 75 basis points (0.75%), the direction of riskier assets like cryptocurrencies will be determined by what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicates about the committee’s plans at their December meeting.
In addition, when asked about Bitcoin, Butterfill said, “Clients are telling us that if the Fed pivots, or is near to it, they will begin increasing positions in Bitcoin.” The recent liquidations of net shorts is in accordance with what we are witnessing from a fund flows viewpoint and signals short sellers are beginning to succumb, the authors write.
Finally, earlier this year, the United States government warned that President Bukele’s Bitcoin bill “posed a threat” to the American banking system. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and JPMorgan Chase all agreed that the change was negative. As he explained to Decrypt, “even BANDESAL does not know how the President has invested the money.” He handles his Bitcoin holdings from the palm of his hand.
