It’s been a funny old week in the world of Bitcoin
The week in review
with Jason Deane
This week can only be described as the “week of international events” for Bitcoin as news has come thick and fast from all corners of the world.
In my view, the oddest development was definitely a quiet and confusing announcement from the Central African Republic (CAR) that it had suddenly, and seemingly quite randomly, adopted Bitcoin as a national currency. So out-of-the-blue was this announcement, none of us knew what to make of it and it was several days before it was confirmed.
It was definitely done in a chaotic way with, allegedly, members of the ruling powers not even being aware of it, but happen it did. It makes sense as CAR does not have its own currency, meaning it has to rely on the management of it from another sovereign state, but it is also one of the world’s poorest countries. It has a size not dissimilar to the UK but a population of only 4.83 million, many in rural areas.
In addition, only around 11% of people have internet access and electricity is sparse, so there are many issues to overcome. Perhaps this is a chance for this struggling nation to leapfrog its neighbours and take a lead since it is now inevitable that this will attract international interest from Bitcoiners in the same way El Salvador did and continues to do.
But that wasn’t all. In the same week Panama passed a bill that gives Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, legal status in the country, a move necessary to get to adoption. CAR had, in fact, gone through the same process in June this year.
Elsewhere on the same continent, Cuba announced the issuing of licences for crypto exchanges, Brazil passed a law regulating cryptocurrencies and Mexico installed another Bitcoin ATM, this time in the Mexican senate as a symbolic statement about striving for its adoption and inclusion.
Bitcoin, however, remains range bound despite all the news as the level of global uncertainty on, well, pretty much everything, continues unabated. Russia continues to shock the world with its tactics and rhetoric and inflation continues to pump through our monetary systems. Just yesterday Germany’s official rate reached 7.3%, the highest since 1981 and it’s likely we’ll see new records set in the coming weeks as energy and food prices really start to bite.
Meanwhile in the UK, some interesting research carried out by Quantum Economics via 3Gem earlier this year asked a sample of residents about various aspects of cryptocurrency including CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies). Since the Bank of England has announced “looking into” the idea, would it be well received by the public?
With only 25% saying ‘yes’ it shows there’s a long way to go, but is it as simple as that? I suspect not, so I put together an article on this yesterday pulling apart the data and discussing what might be really going on behind the scenes. Top line numbers aren’t always what they seem!
Have a great weekend!
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Yesterday’s Crypto AM Daily in association with Luno
In the markets
The Bitcoin economy
*Definitions and insights can be found at https://bytetree.com/research
Total crypto market cap
The total capitalisation of the entire cryptocurrency market at time of writing is currently $1.818 trillion.
What Bitcoin did yesterday
We closed yesterday, April 27 2022, at a price of $39,241.12. The daily high yesterday was $39,397.92 and the daily low was $37,997.31.
Bitcoin market capitalisation
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation at time of writing is $753.63 billion. To put it into context, the market cap of gold is $11.952 trillion and Tesla is $911.04 billion.
Bitcoin volume
The total spot trading volume reported by all exchanges over the last 24 hours was $31.38 billion. High volumes can indicate that a significant price movement has stronger support and is more likely to be sustained.
Volatility
The price volatility of Bitcoin over the last 30 days is 32.4%.
Fear and Greed Index
Market sentiment today is 24, in Extreme Fear.
Bitcoin’s market dominance
Bitcoin’s market dominance today is 42.02. Its lowest ever recorded dominance was 37.09 on January 1 2018.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
The daily RSI is currently 49.52. Values of 70 or above indicate that an asset is becoming overbought and may be primed for a trend reversal or experience a correction in price – an RSI reading of 30 or below indicates an oversold or undervalued condition.
Convince your Nan: Soundbite of the day
“The nature of Bitcoin is such that once version 0.1 was released, the core design was set in stone for the rest of its lifetime.”
Satoshi Nakamoto
What they said yesterday
Who’s next?
Hear, hear!
What are you waiting for?
Crypto AM: Editor’s picks
‘Let people invest’: Matt Hancock makes case for liberal crypto rules
Explained: Why the Treasury is so sold on stablecoins
Fears crypto is used to avoid sanctions ‘misplaced,’ says Matt Hancock
Meet the hackers helping people recover lost crypto assets
The cryptocurrency fundraisers behind Ukraine’s military effort
Exclusive: Fireblocks valuation climbs to $8bn in $550m funding round
Crypto crazy couple name baby after favourite digital asset
Bitcoin hashrate touches new all time high
Peter McCormack: Transforming Bedford FC into a global Bitcoin brand
Crypto AM: Features
Crypto AM: Founders Series
Crypto AM: Industry Voices
Crypto AM: Contributors
Crypto AM: In Conversation with James Bowater
Crypto AM: Tomorrow’s Money with Gavin S Brown
Crypto AM: Mixing in the Metaverse with Dr Chris Kacher
Crypto AM: Visions of the Future, Past & Present with Alex Lightman
Crypto AM: Tiptoe through the Crypto with Monty Munford
Crypto AM: Taking a Byte out of Digital Assets with Jonny Fry
Crypto on the catwalk
Crypto AM: Events
For those of you who missed the Crypto AM DeFi & Digital Inclusion online summit 2021 – you can now watch the event in two parts via YouTube
Part One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvqNMNZTIDE
Part Two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXhX_-Tr5j0
Cautionary Notes
It’s definitely tempting to get swept up in the excitement, but please heed these words of caution: Do your own research, only invest what you can afford, and make good decisions. The indicators contained in this article will hopefully help in this. Remember though, the content of this article is for information purposes only and is not investment advice or any form of recommendation or invitation. Morning Wire, Crypto AM and Luno always advise you to obtain your own independent financial advice before investing or trading in cryptocurrency.
All information is correct as of 08:00 BST