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Bitcoin (BTC) tops $20,000 in ‘bearish rally’ as U.S. greenback falls

Institutional investors are becoming increasingly excited about The Merge, says President of Anchorage Digital

Bitcoin prices came under pressure in 2022 following the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD and subsequent bankruptcy filings by lender Celsius and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

Nicolas Economous | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Bitcoin skyrocketed on Friday, breaking through $20,000 again as the US dollar weakened and stocks soared.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last trading 8.7% higher at $20,974.00 after falling to its lowest level since mid-June earlier in the week. Bitcoin briefly jumped above $21,000 earlier in the day.

Other digital coins were higher, including ether, which gained about 4%. The total market value of the cryptocurrency jumped back to over $1 trillion.

The recent uptrend for bitcoin was prompted by a slight weakening of the US dollar, which has staged a stunning rally this year. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of other currencies, was down about 1% on Friday morning.

US stock indexes closed higher on Thursday and futures were higher on Friday. Bitcoin is closely correlated with US markets, which often rise when stock indices do. Bitcoin also tends to rise when the dollar weakens.

Bitcoin has been trading in a range of around $18,000 to $24,000 since June and has failed to break this pattern.

Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, said Friday’s rally could be a “bearish retest” of the price of $22,500-$23,000.

“As such, unless it convincingly breaks through and closes above this level, I would still think this is a bearish rally that could see more reach and downside,” Ayyar said.

Bitcoin has taken a hit this year, and is more than 60% down from its record high in November, when the Federal Reserve aggressively hiked interest rates to dull risky assets like cryptocurrencies.

The crypto market has also been hit by failed projects and high-profile bankruptcies that have spread across the industry.

Ethereum “merge”, focus on inflation

Crypto markets have been anticipating a major network upgrade for Ethereum called Merge, which proponents say will make the blockchain more efficient.

The merger is expected to be completed by mid-September.

Ahead of the event, the price of Ether, Ethereum’s native token, has far outperformed Bitcoin.

Financial markets are also looking for signs of a slowdown in inflation when the US CPI is released next week. And investors are also watching signals on the Fed’s rate hike path.

On Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he was “strongly committed” to fighting inflation and hinted that more rate hikes could be on the way.

As inflation cools and Ethereum merger awaits, Yuya Hasegawa, a crypto market analyst at Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank, said Bitcoin could test $22,000 but also issued a warning.

“Given what some Fed members, including Chairman Powell, have said this week, too much optimism could be dangerous,” Hasegawa said in a note on Friday.

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Bitcoin (BTC) value falls under $19,000 as crypto market drops under $1 trillion

This “crypto winter” is different than the last. Here's why

Bitcoin continues to trade in a tight range of $18,000 to $24,000, keeping investors in the loop as to where the price is headed next. The crypto market has been plagued by a range of issues, from collapsed projects to bankruptcies.

Nurphoto | Getty Images

Bitcoin traded below $19,000 on Wednesday morning, hitting its lowest levels since June following a decline in global stock markets and continued US dollar strength.

The value of the overall cryptocurrency market also fell below $1 trillion as digital coins saw a sell-off across the board.

Bitcoin was trading at $18,812.36 as of 03:50 ET, according to CoinDesk, down more than 5%. Ether, which has far outpaced Bitcoin’s gains over the past few months, fell more than 8% to $1,518.59.

Central banks around the world are fighting rampant inflation by tightening monetary policy. The US Federal Reserve made a series of rate hikes totaling 2.25 percentage points. The markets expect further rate hikes.

The Fed’s tightening of monetary policy has strengthened the US dollar, which has weighed on risky assets. The US 10-year Treasury yield has also risen.

Bitcoin has traded in correlation to stocks, so when they fall, so does cryptocurrency generally.

“The macro environment also continues to prove challenging as the dollar continues to make highs. As we can see, this is affecting all risky assets,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC.

“If we see the dollar turning back down, we should be able to push risky assets like bitcoin back up.”

The crypto market has been hit this year with nearly $2 trillion lost since its peak in November. Bitcoin is down about 60% from its record high of $68,990.90 set in November.

The sell-off was caused by a difficult environment for risky assets, as well as crypto-specific issues including collapsed projects and bankruptcies that have spread across the industry.

Ethereum merge in focus

Bitcoin has been trading in a tight range between $18,000 and $24,000 since June. Luno’s Ayyar said that “when a bottom is formed, bitcoin usually likes to pull back and test previous lows to see if they hold as support.”

He said that if Bitcoin does not drop below $17,500, the market is likely to consolidate within the $18,000-$24,000 range.

In the meantime, ether and so-called altcoins, i.e. alternative coins, have managed to rise further than Bitcoin. Ether has overtaken Bitcoin since both cryptocurrencies hit bottoms in June.

Ether is the native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum network. Ethereum is planning a huge upgrade this month — known as a merge — that proponents say will make the network more efficient.

“Ethereum hit yearly highs against Bitcoin pair in anticipation of merger,” Ayyar said. “As such, there has been much more interest and activity in the altcoin space as Bitcoin consolidates.”

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World News

Bitcoin (BTC) worth drops on China crypto mining crackdown

Bitcoin (BTC) price drops on China crypto mining crackdown

A bitcoin mine near Kongyuxiang, Sichuan, China on August 12, 2016.

Paul Ratje | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Bitcoin sank Monday on reports that China has intensified its crackdown on cryptocurrency mining.

The world’s largest digital currency fell 7% to a price of $32,801 Monday morning, dropping below $33,000 for the first time since June 8, according to data from Coin Metrics. It was last trading at $32,964 as of 5 a.m. ET. Smaller rivals like ether and XRP also tumbled, down 8% and 7% respectively.

Many bitcoin mines in Sichuan were shuttered Sunday after authorities in the southwestern Chinese province ordered a halt to crypto mining, according to a report from the Communist Party-backed newspaper Global Times. More than 90% of China’s bitcoin mining capacity is estimated to be shut down, the paper said.

Bloomberg and Reuters also reported on the move from Sichuan authorities. It follows similar developments in China’s Inner Mongolia and Yunnan regions, as well as calls from Beijing to stamp out crypto mining amid worries over its massive energy consumption.

This appears to have led to a significant decline in bitcoin’s hash rate — or processing power — which has fallen sharply in the last month, according to data from Blockchain.com. An estimated 65% of global bitcoin mining is done in China.

Bitcoin’s network is decentralized, meaning it doesn’t have any central party or middleman to approve transactions or generate new coins. Instead, the blockchain is maintained by so-called miners who race to solve complex math puzzles using purpose-built computers to validate transactions. Whoever wins that race is rewarded with bitcoin.

This power-intensive process has led to growing concerns over the potential environmental harm of bitcoin, with everyone from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raising the alarm. China, where most bitcoin mining is concentrated, relies heavily on coal power. Last month, a coal mine in the Xinjiang region flooded and shut down, taking nearly a quarter of bitcoin’s hash rate offline.

However, miners in China often migrate to places like Sichuan, which are rich in hydropower, in the rainy season. And some industry efforts have been launched — including the Bitcoin Mining Council and the Crypto Climate Accord — in an effort to reduce cryptocurrencies’ carbon footprint.

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Blockchain analyst weighs in on bitcoin (BTC), ether

Blockchain analyst weighs in on bitcoin (BTC), ether

The cryptocurrency space could branch out into three different markets — and people may even stop talking about crypto as a single entity one year on, predicted Paul Brody, global blockchain leader at EY.

Bitcoin and ether have had a wild ride in recent weeks, with billions of dollars wiped off their market value, according to Coinmarketcap.com.

Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market cap, at one point plunged by 30% to hover near the $30,000 level. It has since bounced back partially to current levels of about $38,090, according to Coin Metrics.

There are currently three “very different” stories going on in the cryptocurrency space, Brody told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday.

1. ‘Meme coins’

Read more about cryptocurrencies from CNBC Pro

This segment of cryptocurrencies “could be categorized as investing as entertainment,” Brody said.

“It’s hard for me to predict where they’re going to go, but I don’t see them as having a very big future in the ecosystem,” he added.

2. Bitcoin as ‘digital gold’

The next part of the ecosystem revolves around bitcoin, Brody said. The digital token has often been cited as a potential competitor to gold as a hedge against inflation and safe-haven asset. Still, bitcoin’s price volatility tends to be much higher as compared with gold.

According to Brody, however, bitcoin is “better than gold” in some ways.

“When the price of gold goes up people mine more, but you can’t really do that with bitcoin,” he said.

The cryptocurrency is limited and a maximum of 21 million bitcoins can be “mined” — there are currently more than 18 million already in circulation. New bitcoin is created by computer users who solve complicated mathematical puzzles, and they take up a lot of energy.

“Bitcoin is gonna go up if everybody buys into this idea that you should have some percentage of your … portfolio in bitcoin — that will drive a lot of participation,” Brody said.

Questions remain around bitcoin’s exact place in an investment portfolio, with analysts from Societe Generale saying that it’s still “highly contested.”

3. The Ethereum ecosystem

“The third ecosystem, that could potentially diverge here, is the Ethereum ecosystem,” Brody said, adding that it builds a “whole business ecosystem” around sectors such as decentralized financial services and storage.

It will be “driven by demand for those services and the growth of that ecosystem,” he added.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban is a firm supporter of Ethereum and has said that “the number of transactions and the diversity of transaction types along with the development efforts in Ethereum dwarf bitcoin.”

Meanwhile, New York University’s Aswath Damodaran told CNBC last week that he sees ether — the cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum blockchain — as having “a better shot” at becoming a commodity than bitcoin.

For his part, Brody predicted that “we’ll stop talking, I think, in a year about crypto as a whole — and start talking about the Ethereum ecosystem or the bitcoin value proposition.”

— CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos contributed to this report.

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Bitcoin (BTC) worth plunges to $30,000, hits lowest stage since January

Bitcoin (BTC) price plunges to $30,000, hits lowest level since January

Bitcoin fell to nearly $ 30,000 at one point on Wednesday morning, continuing a major sell-off in cryptocurrency markets that began a week ago.

On the day just before noon ET, the digital currency fell 13% to $ 37,490, according to Coin Metrics. It only hit $ 30,001.51 as sales increased on Wednesday morning before some of those losses were reduced. The cryptocurrency has not traded below $ 30,000 since the end of January.

At its intraday lows, Bitcoin lost more than 40% over the past week.

That means that after Tesla announced it would buy $ 1.5 billion in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has now wiped out all profits. It’s also down more than 50% since it hit a record high of $ 64,829 in mid-April.

Other cryptocurrencies also fell on Wednesday. According to Coin Metrics, ether, the digital currency that powers the Ethereum blockchain, fell more than 20% to $ 2,699. Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that started as a hoax and was raised by Musk, fell more than 18% to around 39 cents.

Additionally, the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange was temporarily unavailable for some users as the coins fell on Monday morning.

Bitcoin prices fell sharply amid the global sell-off of stocks.

Luke MacGregor | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The announcement that it would suspend Bitcoin payments came just three months after Tesla announced it had bought $ 1.5 billion in Bitcoin and would accept Bitcoin in exchange for its products.

Earlier this week, the Tesla CEO suggested that the company may have sold its Bitcoin holdings, but later clarified that it “did not sell Bitcoin”.

On Tuesday, three Chinese banking and payment companies issued a statement warning financial institutions not to engage in any virtual currency-related business, including trading or exchanging fiat currency for cryptocurrency.

China’s hard line on digital currencies isn’t new. In 2017, the authorities closed the local cryptocurrency exchanges and banned so-called ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings), a way for companies in this area to raise money by issuing new digital tokens.

Traders in China once had a large stake in the Bitcoin market, but after the crackdown, their influence was significantly reduced. Chinese cryptocurrency operations have been relocated abroad.

“The crypto markets are currently processing a cascade of messages fueling the bear for price developments,” said Ulrik Lykke, executive director of the crypto hedge fund ARK36.

In the Bitcoin market alone, more than $ 250 billion evaporated last week, Lykke said. While that number seems “astronomical,” such moves are not uncommon in the volatile crypto market, he added.

“In terms of Bitcoin’s outlook, things may look bleak right now, but historically this is just one more hurdle Bitcoin has to overcome and a small one compared to what it has done in the past,” said Lykke.

Bitcoin is still up over 30% since the start of the year and around 300% in the last 12 months.

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Business

Bitcoin (BTC) value falls after Tesla stops automobile purchases with crypto

Bitcoin (BTC) price falls after Tesla stops car purchases with crypto

Artur Widak | NurPhoto | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China – Hundreds of billions of dollars were wiped from the entire cryptocurrency market after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the electric vehicle maker would stop buying cars with bitcoin.

According to Coinmarketcap.com, the value of the entire cryptocurrency market was around $ 2.43 trillion at around 6:06 a.m. Singapore time on Thursday when Musk made the announcement.

By 8:45 a.m., market cap had dropped to around $ 2.06 trillion and wiped out around $ 365.85 billion. The market has reduced some losses. Since Musk’s tweet, the cryptocurrency market had lost $ 165.75 billion in value at around 9:22 a.m. Singapore time.

In February, Tesla announced in a filing for approval that it had purchased $ 1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and planned to accept the cryptocurrency for payments.

Citing environmental concerns Thursday, Musk said Tesla was “concerned about the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, particularly coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”

Bitcoin is not issued by a single entity such as a central bank. Instead, it is maintained by a network of so-called “miners”. These miners use specially designed computers that use a great deal of energy to solve complex math puzzles in order to make Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin’s energy consumption is higher than in some individual countries.

At around 9:34 a.m. Singapore time, Bitcoin fell more than 12%, falling below the $ 50,000 mark for the first time since April 24, according to CoinDesk data. Despite the recent decline, Bitcoin is still up over 400% in the past 12 months.

Other cryptocurrencies Ether and XRP were also significantly lower.

Musk was a big advocate of digital currencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin and has helped drive prices up over the past few months.

Tesla CEO said the company will not sell Bitcoin and intends to use it for transactions “once mining moves to more sustainable energy.”

Bitcoin has piqued interest over the past year as companies like Square and Tesla announced Bitcoin purchases and large institutional investors entered the cryptocurrency space. Large investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have also been looking for ways to give their wealthy clients exposure to Bitcoin.

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Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) costs rally forward of Coinbase itemizing

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) prices rally ahead of Coinbase listing

The Coinbase logo is displayed on a smartphone.

Chris Delmas | AFP via Getty Images

LONDON – Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies hit new heights on Wednesday. Traders were waiting for Coinbase’s much-anticipated debut.

According to data from Coin Metrics, the world’s most valuable digital coin rose to an all-time high of $ 64,841 on Wednesday morning. The price of ether, the second largest sign by market value, briefly hit the $ 2,400 level for the first time.

As of 8:30 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading at $ 6.24,248, up 2.2%, while Ether rose 4.5% to $ 2,390. Other Bitcoin alternatives also rose, with XRP rising 0.5% to $ 1.81 and Cardano hitting a new price record of $ 1.56.

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, will go public on Wednesday via a landmark direct listing that could value the company at up to $ 100 billion. The Nasdaq gave Coinbase a reference price of $ 250 per share, which, if fully diluted, would value the company at around $ 65.3 billion.

Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency company to go public. According to CoinMarketCap, it is the second largest exchange for digital assets in the world in terms of trading volume. With its easy-to-use app, crypto was brought into the mainstream. The company had estimated sales of $ 1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021 as the value of Bitcoin and other tokens skyrocketed.

The company’s public listing has sparked renewed excitement in the crypto market, and some investors have referred to this as a “turning point” for the industry. According to analysts, the Coinbase debut shows that crypto has matured significantly in the past two to three years – but it is still in its infancy and continues to be marred by price volatility and regulatory uncertainties.

Bitcoin’s comeback – the price of which more than doubled in 2021 – was marked by big bets from mainstream investors. Tesla invested $ 1.5 billion in the token earlier this year, and Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley wanted to offer their wealthy customers some exposure to crypto.

Bitcoin bulls see it as a kind of “digital gold” that does not correlate with other assets and can serve as a hedge against rising inflation. However, skeptics say the digital asset is still very speculative and consider it to be one of the largest market bubbles in history.

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Bitcoin (BTC) surges again above $50,000 after extra shopping for from Sq.

Bitcoin (BTC) surges back above $50,000 after more buying from Square

The price of the Bitcoin virtual cryptocurrency is shown in this photo on a phone screen.

STR | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Bitcoin’s price soared again on Wednesday after a sharp sell-off and surged again above $ 50,000 when Square announced that the $ 170 million worth of the cryptocurrency had been purchased.

According to Coin Metrics, the world’s most valuable digital coin rose 7.5% at 4 a.m. to a price of $ 50,683. The cryptocurrency rose to $ 51,369 a few hours earlier.

Other cryptocurrencies also got a boost: Ether and XRP rose 11.3% and 7.4%, respectively. So-called altcoins or alternative cryptocurrencies often increase in times of the strength of Bitcoin.

On Tuesday, Square announced it had bought 3,318 bitcoins at an average price of around $ 51,235. The fintech company, led by Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, said Bitcoin now accounts for about 5% of its total assets.

It’s not the first time Square has invested in Bitcoin – the company bought the digital currency for $ 50 million last year. Dorsey is one of the best-known proponents of Bitcoin, having once said that he believes it will eventually become the “single currency” of the internet.

Bitcoin had a difficult start to the week, falling from a record high of $ 58,356 on Sunday to just $ 45,501 on Tuesday. It’s not uncommon for Bitcoin to experience wild volatility attacks – the digital token infamously rose to nearly $ 20,000 in 2017 before entering the bear market the following year.

Bitcoin is still up more than 70% since the start of the year and over 400% in the past 12 months. The formidable rally in crypto assets caught the attention of everyone from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Earlier this week, Yellen described Bitcoin as an “extremely inefficient” means of payment and warned against its use in illegal activities.

“It’s a highly speculative commodity and … I think people should be aware that it can be extremely volatile,” the former Federal Reserve chairman told the New York Times at a DealBook conference. “I am concerned about the possible losses that investors may suffer.”

Musk is now a fan of Bitcoin. His electric car company recently invested $ 1.5 billion in corporate money in the cryptocurrency, and the billionaire tech entrepreneur said it could be “close to widespread adoption” by traditional financial services companies.

But even Musk has suggested that the current price level of Bitcoin may not be sustainable and tweeted over the weekend that he thinks the prices of Bitcoin and competing token ethers are “high”.