Bitcoin
Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High Near $69,000 Before Falling
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) reached an all-time high on Tuesday before falling as some investors locked in their gains.
A new frenzy around the world’s largest cryptocurrency pushed the price to $68,869, surpassing the previous high of $68,789 set on November 10, 2021. It then fell below the $60,000 level again in a matter of hours .
The new rally reinforced a remarkable comeback for bitcoin after the 2022 crash that created huge losses for investors and triggered the downfall of several major industry players, including cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The dramatic pullback from Tuesday’s rally was a reminder of how much volatility still surrounds this digital asset. At one point it fell 11%, the kind of drop last seen during the tumult of 2022.
So far this year, bitcoin has ridden a wave of enthusiasm sparked by a series of spot bitcoin exchange traded funds which began trading in January. These funds gave ordinary investors broad exposure to the digital asset, triggering anticipation of a record year.
See more information: With bitcoin nearing $69,000, does it deserve a place in your portfolio?
“Demand for these ETFs has far exceeded anyone’s expectations,” Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, told Yahoo Finance. Bitwise was among the companies that got the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission to manage one of these funds.
Several money managers are now predicting that the digital asset could rise above $100,000 before the end of 2024.
Investors are also bidding higher for other cryptocurrencies and related stocks. Ether (ETH-USD), the second-largest cryptocurrency, has outperformed bitcoin by more than 7% since the start of the year. Various so-called meme currencies – such as dogecoin (DOGE-USD), shiba inu (SHIB) and dogwifehat (WIF) – are also increasing.
One sign of the new craze surrounding bitcoin is the ETF trading activity launched in January. They raised nearly $8 billion from investors in just two months, with most of it going to Wall Street heavyweights like BlackRock (BLACK) and Fidelidade Investimentos.
This activity has been a boon for major crypto trading venues, including Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD). Coinbase is the crypto custodian for several of these ETFs and receives fees tied directly to these products.
O demand for negotiation on Coinbase was so intense last week that it resulted in a mess in which some customers showed $0 balances in their accounts for part of a day. CEO Brian Armstrong offered assurances to customers that their funds were safe.
The story continues
Some individual customers reported seeing zero balances in their accounts again on Monday.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase. (Brendan McDermid/REUTERS) (REUTERS/Reuters)
Supply and demand
There is also a basic law of economics at play in new market frenzy around bitcoin: supply and demand. The new demand for ETFs means that, on average, more bitcoins are being purchased each day than new coins are being created.
The new ETFs have been buying a daily average of 3,320 to 4,300 coins since the beginning of February, three analysts working for cryptocurrency managers said last week.
This is considerably more than the 900 coins created daily by the Bitcoin network in the same period.
More supply issues are expected for bitcoin this year due to the halving scheduled to take place 46 days from Monday.
When it was created in 2009 by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin was programmed with a fixed supply schedule that is cut in half every four years.
After the next cut, the so-called halving, the daily supply of new coins will be 450 instead of 900.
“We are potentially in the sweet spot here,” Mark Connors, head of research at crypto asset manager 3iQ, told Yahoo Finance. “We cannot produce more bitcoin to meet demand.”
Connor’s company has set its mid-to-high price target for bitcoin this year at between $160,000 and $180,000. Next year, she predicts a staggering target of $350,000 to $450,000 per coin.
Another money manager, VanEck, set a 2024 price target of $80,000 for bitcoin last quarter.
“These estimates are a little stale now,” said Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck.
There are certainly other factors at work in the current supply crisis besides the demand for ETFs.
One example: The US government has seized 215,000 BTC since 2020, according to data tracked by 21Shares. The stockpile includes confiscations in several seizures, such as the 2016 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.
The fact that they are only held and not sold currently has restricted supply. But this could change when the government needs to distribute part of this amount to victims, which could mean selling.
As asset prices rise, many institutional buyers will also need to take profits to maintain balance in their portfolios. This could also impact the imbalance between supply and demand.
There are also certainly less fundamental and more psychological factors driving this new recovery, including the fear of missing out.
Interest in bitcoin among the general U.S. population is far from its peak compared to previous highs, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said in an email on Monday.
Google searches for “bitcoin” and retail crypto app usage remain well below levels seen during the last bull market, according to Thorn.
“We haven’t even begun to reach the level that this is likely to reach,” Thorn added.
David Hollerith is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering banking, crypto and other areas of finance.
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Bitcoin
RIOT, MARA and CLSK shares at risk
Bitcoin (BTC) Mining stocks like Riot Platforms (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) retreated in pre-market trading as BTC retreated.
RIOT, MARA and CLSK all fell more than 2%, while other crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) fell 1.5%.
Bitcoin sell-off continues
Crypto-linked stocks retreated as Bitcoin resumed its downtrend on Wednesday. After rising to $63,750 on Monday, BTC is hovering at $60,0000 and it is unclear whether it will recover.
More importantly, Bitcoin is dangerously close to the crucial support at $58,273, which is the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The next support level for Bitcoin is $56,426, representing its lowest level in May.
Bitcoin Price Chart
If Bitcoin drops below this price, it will be a sign that the bears have prevailed, which could take it to the $50,000 level, if not below.
This decline happened after a whale deposited nearly 2,000 Bitcoins to Binance in two separate transactions. While this isn’t always the case, deposits to exchanges often happen when holders are exiting their positions.
The whales’ action coincided with a period in which the German government continues to sell off its Bitcoin holdings. It transferred $52 million worth of coins to exchanges on Tuesday.
As a result, data from CoinGlass shows that the volume of Bitcoin balances on exchanges has started to increase. The volume rose to 2.49 million on Tuesday, from last month’s low of 2.47 million.
Bitcoin balances on exchanges
Bitcoin Mining Companies at Risk
If the Bitcoin sell-off continues, it will put Bitcoin mining companies like Marathon, CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms at risk. These companies have tended to have a close correlation with Bitcoin in the past.
This drop is happening a few months after the halving event, reducing the amount of Bitcoins that miners receive.
To compensate for this drop, most of these companies have added their mining equipment. CleanSpark has reached a hash rate of 20 EH/swhich helped her mine 445 coins in June after mining 417 coins the previous month. She did this after purchasing 5 mining sites in Georgia.
Digital Marathon mined 590 coins in June, down 40% from the same month in 2023 and flat from May.
Riot Platforms, on the other hand, focused on acquiring Bitfarms, a company that mined 189 coins in June.
Bitcoin
Michael Saylor Issues Statement on Bitcoin Amid Crypto Market Sell-Off by U.Today
U.Today – Amid an ongoing sell-off in the cryptocurrency market, Michael Saylor, a prominent advocate and president of MicroStrategy, made a statement on X (Twitter) that reverberated across the crypto space: “Just Bitcoin.”
This two-word tweet comes as the cryptocurrency market faces significant sell-offs as the price of Bitcoin plummets.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, began its decline in Tuesday’s trading session, hitting $63,223 at one point before falling further.
Losses deepened on Wednesday as investors considered remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, with Bitcoin hitting intraday lows of $59,509. At the time of writing, BTC is down 2.85% over the past 24 hours to $60,274.
According to data from CoinGlass, the sell-off has resulted in a significant amount of cryptocurrencies being liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling over $166 million. However, this has not deterred Saylor’s confidence in Bitcoin, as he reiterates his longing for the crypto asset in his tweet.
Cryptocurrency market crashes
Cryptocurrencies fell on Tuesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank needs to see more progress on inflation before cutting interest rates, which are now at 5.25%-5.50%. Powell revealed at a monetary symposium in Sintra, Portugal, that the United States is moving closer to a disinflationary path.
“We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably downward toward 2% before we begin the process of tapering or easing policy,” Powell said.
Market losses deepened after Wednesday’s economic releases that indicated the labor market is cooling. Recent data showed weaker-than-expected private payroll growth in June, but weekly jobless claims were higher than economists had forecast. The latest figures come ahead of the highly anticipated June nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.
As the cryptocurrency market goes through a period of uncertainty, the coming days and weeks will be crucial in determining the direction of BTC’s price.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin and Ethereum in GTA 6? Still rumors — for now
Rumors that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 will use cryptocurrency that has been circulating for more than a year now—and they’re spinning again.
On Wednesday, a pseudonymous Crypto Twitter influencer named Gordon — apparently named after Gordon Gekko from the iconic 1987 film “Wall Street” —shared to his nearly 500,000 followers that “GTA 6 will allow cryptocurrency payments” and that “so far only Bitcoin, EthereumIt is USDT [are] confirmed.”
But in reality, no cryptocurrency has been confirmed for Grand Theft Auto 6, despite ongoing chatter about the rumors. Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two have made no such announcements this week on the subject, nor have they made any prior announcements, and official trailers and announcements have made no mention of cryptocurrency being included.
However, the tweet — which also included a fake trailer for the game — quickly went viral, with over 500,000 views as of this writing in a matter of hours. When Twitter users asked Gordon for his sources, he would jokingly respond that his “uncle works there” or say that previous reports on the matter were “old” at this point.
But really, nothing has changed since then. DecipherGG’s reported in previous rumors in May 2023, not even since the first official trailer — which initially leaked with “BUY BTC” stamped on itApparently by the leaker in question—premiered last December.
DecipherGG reached out to Rockstar Games for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Could Grand Theft Auto 6 implement a crypto element when it releases in 2025? It’s certainly possible, and if so, it would be a transformative moment for cryptocurrency adoption by the traditional gaming industry.
Take-Two Interactive has explored the space before, acquiring casual gaming giant Zynga in early 2022, when Take-Two founder and CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested there were “Web3 opportunities” that they could explore better as a team. Zynga has launched its first blockchain game on Ethereum, called Sugartownbut Take-Two has yet to get involved with other brands.
Rockstar Games, on the other hand, prohibited the use of cryptocurrency or NFTs on player-run Grand Theft Auto 5 servers in late 2022, following a rise in the use of NFTs to represent unique player-owned assets on modded game servers.
And given Grand Theft Auto’s satirical tone, the game may be more likely to criticize cryptocurrency and poke fun at caricatures of crypto fans and NFTs, for example, rather than trying to launch its own on-chain currency. But that’s all speculation at this point, as there are relatively few official details about GTA 6.
For now, at least, don’t believe the hype. While Rockstar Games hasn’t officially closed the door on cryptocurrency usage in Grand Theft Auto 6, it hasn’t confirmed anything about it either. However, it’s sure to remain a hot topic in the long run leading up to release, which is currently scheduled for fall 2025.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Bitcoin
Crypto President Trump’s ‘Lesser’ Regulation Will Bless Coinbase’s Bitcoin Leverage, Expert Says – Coinbase Glb (NASDAQ:COIN)
Chris SenyekChief Investment Strategist at Wolfe Researchrecently expressed his opinion on the potential impact of a Donald Trump win the 2024 elections in the cryptocurrency market.
What happened: Senyek suggested that a Trump presidency could ease cryptocurrency regulations, benefiting companies like Coinbase Global Inc. COIN due to its importance Bitcoin BTC/USD Leverage.
“Trump would be less harsh on crypto regulation, and Coinbase would be a big beneficiary of that given its influence on bitcoin,” Senyek said during CNBC’s “Last Call” on Tuesday.
See too: Enhance Your Retirement Portfolio: The Benefits of Adding Cryptocurrency
Why does this matter?:Senyek’s comments come in the context of the former president Donald Trump‘s reported plans to participate at the Bitcoin 2024 convention, which could reinforce his image as a “Crypto President”.
Trump’s potential participation in the Bitcoin 2024 convention, a major event on the cryptocurrency calendar, could have significant implications for the industry.
Pratik KalaHead of Research in DigitalX Limitedhe has predicted a Trump victory in the upcoming elections, but warns that immediate cryptocurrency-friendly regulations may not be a priority.
A recent report by 10x Search explore the recent rise in Bitcoin price and its potential connection to Trump’s strong position in the 2024 election race. The report, titled “Is the Bitcoin Trump Pump Sustainable?”, highlights a 4% spike in Bitcoin’s price following the news that the president Joe Biden will remain in the race despite a poor performance in the presidential debate.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading 2.10% lower at $60,860.66, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read next:
Image created using photos from Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
News and market data brought to you by Benzinga’s APIs
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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