What a week it’s been for cryptocurrency
The Week in Review
With Jason Deane
This is one of those weeks where so much has happened I’m going to have to be selective.
Let’s start with inflation – now at 7.5 per cent across the pond. This is a, frankly, terrifying number and puts the USA ahead of South Africa (5.9 per cent) Mexico (7.07 per cent) and creeping dangerously close to Russia (8.73 per cent) and Brazil (10.38 per cent). As mentioned last week, the Bank of England predicts we’ll be there ourselves in just a few months.
You’d expect Bitcoin to rally on the news as investors moved from fiat to what many consider is the ultimate store of value, but Bitcoin fell instead because much of the price action is still driven by market narrative and speculative trading. Although this will probably remain the case for a few years yet, it’s worth remembering there will come a time when this will no longer be true.
We also saw the launch of the Valkyrie Miners ETF on the Nasdaq this week, where 80 per cent of funds will be directed into companies that earn at least half of their earnings through Bitcoin mining activity. Brilliantly, the ticker for this ETF is WGMI – the oft quoted Bitcoiners’ mantra “We are Gonna Make It”. Bravo, Valkyrie, bravo.
Meanwhile, while Jack Mallers has been orange-pilling the IMF, Fitch has downgraded El Salvador’s long term credit rating from B- to CCC, blaming, among other things, its president’s forbidden love of Bitcoin. The stakes just went up for Nayib Bukele, but somehow I’m not sure he’s worried. If this plays out how many of us think it will, El Salvador could end up leading the way for most of us. That’s worth the risk, right?
On the other side of the world, Putin suddenly announced that Russia would be “legalising” Bitcoin just days after the Russian central bank said it should be banned. However, the exact meaning of this won’t be clear until after the February 18 draft law is made public. Your move, USA.
Finally, the world’s most unlikely alleged criminal masterminds were charged this week with laundering the proceeds of the 2016 Bitfinex hack in what appears to be quite a sophisticated process. The fact that one of the accused – Heather Morgan – is a rather unconvincing rapper means there is enough meme material to fill Crypto Twitter for the next five years, but the question everyone is asking is the same one – how on earth did these guys even manage to get their socks on in the morning, let alone stand accused of laundering 25,000 Bitcoin? I guess we’ll find out.
What a week… and we wait with baited breath to see what happens next.
Until then, 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/insights/
Total crypto market cap
The total capitalisation of the entire cryptocurrency market at time of writing is currently $1.952 trillion, down from $2.007 trillion yesterday.
What Bitcoin did yesterday
We closed yesterday, February 10 2022, at a price of $43,565.11, down from $44,338.80 yesterday. The daily high yesterday was $45,661.17 and the daily low was $43,402.81.
This time last year, the price of Bitcoin closed the day at $47,909.33. In 2020, it closed at $9,856.61.
Bitcoin market capitalisation
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation at time of writing is $820.19 billion. To put it into context, the market cap of gold is $11.579 trillion and Tesla is $934.86 billion.
Bitcoin volume
The total spot trading volume reported by all exchanges over the last 24 hours was $34.934 billion up from $22.585 billion the day before. 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 61.84%.
Fear and Greed Index
Market sentiment today is 50, in Neutral.
Bitcoin’s market dominance
Bitcoin’s market dominance today is 42.45. Its lowest ever recorded dominance was 37.09 on January 8 2018.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
The daily RSI is currently 58.93. 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
“Bitcoin is the great uniter.”
US Senator Cynthia Lummis
What they said yesterday
Who will be next?
If you’ve got a minute…
Just for a laugh 🤣
Crypto AM: Editor’s picks
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
Exclusive: FTSE plots development of digital asset index in crypto push
Crypto could give London a unique post-Brexit advantage, says Hammond
Diamond claws: Crypto trading hamster dies after standout investing career
New cryptocurrency named ‘JRR Token’ blocked by lawyers for Lord of the Rings creator Tolkien
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