CryptoNews of the Week by NordFX

CryptoNews of the Week


– Bitcoin recorded its first green September since 2016, increasing from $26,012 to $26,992. According to TradingView data, the cryptocurrency market's market capitalization also experienced an uptick. It stood at approximately $1.029 trillion at the beginning of September and rose by 6.1% to $1.092 trillion by month-end.
Ran Neuner, a trader and the founder of Crypto Banter, emphasizes the significance of the positive September closing for the leading cryptocurrency. "The last time bitcoin saw a rise in September in a year preceding a halving, we had another rally of 70% in the final quarter. That was in 2015," he notes.
Analysts at Bitfinex share a similar sentiment. "The cryptocurrency market closed September in the green, which is rare but typically leads to a bullish trend in October," they write.
According to a report by Bitfinex Alpha, futures market indicators also confirm an optimistic outlook for October. The report includes network data, which shows that the current price is supported by dynamics between long-term and short-term holders. Indicators reveal that seasoned long-term investors are resolved to remain holders within the current price range. Bitcoins held for 6-12 months remain largely stagnant, and the supply of BTC that is more than three years old has been inactive since February 2023.

– According to data from network analytics firm Santiment, "whales" (wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC) have been quietly accumulating bitcoin and Tether (USDT) over the past six weeks. Their holdings have now reached a 2023 peak of 13.03 million BTC, indicating a bullish long-term outlook for bitcoin. 

– The rise in bitcoin during the early days of October has somewhat offset the negative close of Q3, which saw a 12% decline. However, analysts at QCP Capital have warned that the possibility of retesting the $25,000 level should not be ruled out, despite the positive seasonality often referred to as "Uptober." According to statistics, over the past eight years, bitcoin has only finished October in the red in 2018. In other years, the monthly gain ranged from 5.5% to 48.5%. This time, experts anticipate that the resistance level will be between $29,000 and $30,000.

– On Monday, October 2, bitcoin reached a local peak of around $28,562. However, by the evening of the same day, traders began to take profits, and the coin fell below $27,500. Bloomberg strategist Mike McGlone believes that such a pullback in bitcoin was inevitable. Pressure tends to build when the digital currency gains aggressively in value. Increased volatility is accompanied by heightened activity from sellers looking to profit from the asset's rise.
McGlone doubts that bitcoin will reach $30,000 in the near future. The primary factor hindering further BTC growth is the strict policy of U.S. authorities. Repressive actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are deterring institutional investors from entering the cryptocurrency space. Global recession risks are also dampening risk appetite. In such a scenario, equity markets won't be able to grow, emphasized the Bloomberg strategist, adding that digital currencies will also suffer.

– Donald Trump is considered a staunch opponent of bitcoin. However, former SEC employee John Reed Stark believes that Trump may change his stance on cryptocurrencies during the 2024 presidential elections to garner support from voters who use digital assets. This speculation is supported by two facts. First, last year Trump released and sold a collection of NFT Trump Digital Trading Cards. Second, he still owns $2.8 million worth of Ethereum. Stark suggests that if Trump returns to the presidential office, he will prompt the SEC to approve the issuance of bitcoin ETFs and will also ease regulatory pressure on the crypto industry.

– The SEC has asked the U.S. District Court in New York not to dismiss its lawsuit against Coinbase. In its statement dated October 3, the Commission responded to Coinbase's claims, reiterating its position that certain cryptocurrencies traded on the platform qualify as investment contracts and, therefore, must be registered with the SEC. The regulator noted that Coinbase "has always known" that the cryptocurrencies it offers are securities and claimed that the exchange has already acknowledged this in its documentation.

– Additionally, on October 3, the court rejected the SEC's motion for an interlocutory appeal in its case against Ripple. The agency wanted to appeal the court's decision that the sale of XRP on crypto exchanges does not constitute an investment contract. However, this plan by the officials fell through. Against this backdrop, XRP appreciated by 5% within 24 hours.

– In July, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the crypto lending platform Celsius. The crux of the accusation is that Celsius attracted billions of dollars through the illegal and unregistered sale of "cryptocurrencies recognized as securities," repeatedly misled investors about its financial condition, and manipulated the price of its own token (CEL). The SEC has also levelled fraud charges against Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky, with a court hearing set for September 17, 2024. The platform plans to partially repay its debt to creditors this year, transferring to them bitcoin, Ethereum, and shares in a new organization, NewCo, totalling $2.03 billion.

– Trader under the alias Bluntz is confident that bitcoin has "officially" entered a bull market and that all predictions of a drop to the $24,000 level are unfounded. In his opinion, the coin's rise above $27,000 confirms that BTC is currently in a bull market. "I think it's time to let go of any bearish bias," wrote Bluntz.

– Last week, we reported that the Artificial Intelligence from CoinCodex predicted the flagship crypto asset's price to be around $29,703 by Halloween (October 31st). This time, another AI, the machine learning algorithm of the forecasting platform PricePredictions, gave a similar result. According to its analysis, the BTC price on October 31st will hover around the psychologically important mark of $30,403. The forecast was made using several key technical indicators, including the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), the Relative Strength Index (RSI), Bollinger Bands (BB), and others.

– In his forecast, trader, analyst, and founder of venture company Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, is optimistic about not only October but also Q4 of 2023. He attributes his positive outlook to the potential approval of spot bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and the halving effect. The expert anticipates that the growth in the last quarter could elevate the price to around $40,000.
It's worth noting that the historical performance of BTC in this period has been quite mixed. For instance, in 2018, the digital asset's value declined by nearly half over three months, but a year earlier it had surged 142.2%. 

– The analyst known as dave the wave believes that Ethereum will continue to depreciate against bitcoin at least until the end of 2023. The expert published a chart depicting the price dynamics of ETH relative to BTC, which shows a descending triangle indicating a fall in the altcoin's price.
Dave the wave drew an analogy to the trend observed from 2017 to 2018, suggesting that Ethereum will significantly devalue against bitcoin due to a strong BTC market rally. The chance for ETH to appreciate could come during the "altcoin season," which would begin after BTC reaches its peak value.
The analyst also made a long-term forecast on the price changes of bitcoin using logarithmic growth curves. According to this forecast, over the next 10 years, the cryptocurrency will outperform stocks in terms of investment returns and will become a primary means of wealth accumulation due to a significant increase in value.

– Bestselling author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki urged people to invest in the first cryptocurrency before the launch of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). "The Fed's CBDC is coming," he wrote. "Privacy is gone. Big Brother will be watching. When the CBDC hits the market, gold, silver, bitcoin, and cash will become invaluable. Start accumulating them now before it's too late." It's worth noting that in February, Kiyosaki predicted that bitcoin would rise to $500,000 by 2025 and called it the best hedge in turbulent times, while also cautioning about the asset's volatility.

– The total value of cryptocurrencies stolen by hackers since the beginning of 2023 has exceeded $1.15 billion, according to calculations by PeckShield. Nearly a third of all losses occurred in September, with damages from 22 crypto project hacks during that month amounting to almost $356 million. In contrast, only $17 million was stolen in the previous month, suggesting that even hackers take a vacation in August.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital, stated at the Messari Mainnet conference in New York that the worst is over in the current bear market for digital assets. "If you own bitcoin, I wouldn't sell it. You've weathered the storm. [...] The next 10-20 years will be extraordinarily bullish," he said. 
The investor acknowledged that there are "headwinds" for bitcoin in the current macroeconomic environment, such as high interest rates, scepticism from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, and negativity surrounding the acceptance of digital assets. However, he is confident that bitcoin offers more potential than gold. In his view, the proliferation of bitcoin ETFs will lead to the widespread adoption of digital assets.

– Mark Yusko, the CEO of consulting firm Morgan Creek Capital, believes that a positive decision on bitcoin ETF applications will trigger an inflow of $300 billion in investments. In such a scenario, the coin's market capitalization and value would see significant growth.
 
– Several other experts have predicted a decline in bitcoin's value leading up to the April 2024 halving. An analyst going by the pseudonym Rekt Capital compared the current market conditions to the BTC price dynamics in 2020 and speculated that the coin's price would decline within a descending triangle. However, in his opinion, the drop will be significantly less severe, as the coin will depreciate by 27% to $19,082.
Renowned trader Bluntz, who had previously predicted how far bitcoin's value would plunge during the 2018 bear trend, also foresees a continuation of the downward trajectory in the cryptocurrency market. He doubts that the asset's value has reached its bottom, as the descending triangle forming on the chart appears incomplete. For this reason, Bluntz anticipates that bitcoin will decrease in value to around $23,800, thereby completing the third corrective wave.

– Noted analyst Benjamin Cowen also believes that after several weeks of trading within a narrow range, the BTC price could fall to the $23,000 mark. Cowen bases his forecast on historical patterns, which indicate that the flagship cryptocurrency's price usually experiences a significant dip before a halving event. According to Cowen, data from past cycles suggest that BTC and other cryptocurrencies do not perform exceptionally well in the period leading up to such a pivotal event.

– Research firm Fundstrat speculates that, contrary to a bearish outlook, the price of BTC could actually surge more than 500% from its current value due to the halving, potentially reaching a level of $180,000. Meanwhile, financial corporation Standard Chartered estimates that the price of the oldest cryptocurrency could rise to $50,000 this year and to $120,000 by the end of 2024.
Current network activity suggests that investors are likely anticipating a new price surge, as bitcoin reserves on exchanges are approaching a six-year low.

– Over the years, the crypto community has been rife with bold speculations and conspiracy theories about who created bitcoin, how it was created, and why. One theory posits that it was conceived by the Communist Party of China, ostensibly for global domination. Others contend that it was the work of "good Samaritans" who aimed to aid societal progress. Some even believe the trail leads back to the CIA.
Within the bitcoin ecosystem, there is another persistent group that claims Satoshi Nakamoto was an employee of the National Security Agency (NSA). One of the most secretive U.S. intelligence agencies, according to this view, had an active role in creating the first cryptocurrency. Nic Carter, co-founder of research firm Coin Metrics, lends credence to this theory by pointing out that the Secure Hash Algorithm 256 (SHA-256) was created by mathematician Glenn M. Lilly. Lilly developed it under the supervision of the NSA and published the algorithm in 2001. He later served as the head of the NSA's mathematical research department.
Carter refers to his new theory as the "bitcoin lab leak hypothesis." He suggests that the bitcoin blockchain was initially an internal research project by the NSA aimed at collecting adversary information—a new "monetary weapon" for undermining third-country economies.
Matthew Pines, Director of Intelligence at Krebs Stamos, concurs with Carter's opinion. The cryptography analyst believes the creation of the BTC blockchain could be the result of collaboration between NSA cryptography experts and crypto enthusiasts. During the process, a communication breakdown occurred, and the anonymous developer inadvertently leaked proprietary information, thus making the project public property.
It is worth noting that the NSA was one of the first organizations to describe a system similar to bitcoin in a 1996 paper titled "How to Make a Mint: The Cryptography of Anonymous Electronic Cash." The paper proposed a system using open-source cryptography to allow users to make anonymous payments without revealing their identity.

– Dune Analytics is tracking 295 wallets that, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), belong to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus. According to the latest data, these wallets currently hold digital assets amounting to approximately $47 million, including $42.5 million in BTC, $1.9 million in ETH, $1.1 million in BNB, and $640,000 in stablecoins, primarily Binance USD. It's worth noting that this is the lowest estimated value of Lazarus Group's crypto assets.
Meanwhile, Lazarus' wallets continue to show high activity: the last transaction was recorded on September 20. Interestingly, the hackers do not hold reserves in privacy coins like Monero, Dash, or Zcash, which are much more difficult to trace.

– Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, has compared the rate of fiat currency devaluation to inflation dynamics. He demonstrated that individuals could lose their savings if held in traditional currencies, as funds in U.S. dollars would have lost about 99% of their value over the past 100 years.
Saylor believes that bitcoin mitigates these risks due to its inherent characteristics. According to him, the flagship cryptocurrency represents a revolutionary technology with numerous advantages, including a capped supply of 21 million coins. Consequently, BTC is the best way to preserve your reserves, the billionaire concludes.

– The analyst known as CryptoCon notes that currently, bitcoin may be reflecting a pattern reminiscent of the 2015 market cycle, potentially paving the way for a new all-time high. According to his analysis, bitcoin is most likely to reach such a peak in December 2025 and could trade between $90,000 and $130,000.

– The Shanghai Intermediate People's Court has recognized bitcoin as a unique digital currency, despite the existing ban on trading these assets in China. The court granted bitcoin this status for several reasons: 1. It possesses qualities inherent to money, such as being storable, usable as a means of payment, and a measure of value for goods and services; 2. It enjoys global popularity; 3. It is valuable due to its limited supply of coins.
The court's decision does not impact the circulation of bitcoin in China and does not legalize cryptocurrency trading. However, the recognition of BTC as a digital currency lends the coin legitimacy. It is likely that, moving forward, it will be treated as virtual property in legal proceedings.

– Trader DonAlt believes that Ethereum could experience a significant devaluation before reaching the bottom of its cycle. "The worst is yet to come," he writes. "I would say we are, at best, two weeks away from the bottom." According to DonAlt's calculations, the floor for ETH stands at 0.047 BTC or $1,232.

– Cryptocurrencies have come to the aid of Lebanese residents who have been impoverished due to hyperinflation and governmental missteps. The economic crisis in the country erupted in 2019, leading to a 95% collapse of the national currency against the U.S. dollar. Moreover, in March 2023, the inflation rate almost doubled, ranging from 252% to 269%. According to the United Nations, about 78% of the country's population now falls below the poverty line.
As a result, a shadow crypto economy has emerged. Lebanese citizens are using USDT stablecoins as a means of payment and are earning their wages in bitcoin. Bitcoin mining has become not only incredibly popular but also highly profitable. According to CoinGecko data, Lebanon has the lowest cost of mining 1 bitcoin, at just $266. In comparison, due to higher electricity costs in the United States, this figure reaches $46,280.

– Experts have once again turned to artificial intelligence, this time to forecast the price of the flagship cryptocurrency by Halloween (October 31). CoinCodex's AI posits that by the specified date, the price of bitcoin will rise to $29,703.
Interestingly, the crypto market even has a term called "Uptober." The idea is that every October, bitcoin experiences significant price gains. Considering data from 2021, bitcoin was valued around $61,300 on October 31, marking a more than 344% increase compared to 2020. This phenomenon held true even in the past year of 2022, despite the high-profile crash of the FTX exchange. On October 1, 2022, the asset traded at $19,300, but by October 31, it had reached $21,000.
On the flip side, there are currently no concrete reasons for expecting a serious bull run. The key factor exerting downward pressure on the crypto market continues to be the Federal Reserve's tight monetary policy. As of the end of September, the U.S. regulator chose not to raise the refinancing rate but did not rule out such a move in the near future. Moreover, there is a likelihood that the regulator will maintain its course of tight monetary policy into the next year. It's also unclear how the SEC will act concerning applications for spot bitcoin ETFs.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Bitcoin is grappling with the $27,000 level ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, set to be announced on September 20. John Bollinger, the creator of the Bollinger Bands volatility indicator, believes that the leading crypto asset is poised for a breakout. The indicator employs standard deviation from a simple moving average to identify asset volatility and potential price ranges. Currently, the BTC/USD pair is forming daily candles that touch the upper band, which may suggest a reversal back to the central band or, conversely, an increase in volatility and an upward movement. The narrow Bollinger Bands on the charts indicate that the latter scenario is more likely. However, Bollinger himself is cautious in his commentary, stating that it's too early to draw any definitive conclusions.

– Many participants in the crypto community are confident that bitcoin will continue to grow. For instance, an analyst going by the pseudonym Yoddha believes that bitcoin has a chance to reach a new local high and target $50,000 by the end of the year. Following that, a correction to $30,000 could occur in early 2024, ahead of the halving event.
Crypto blogger Crypto Rover argues that troubles in the U.S. economy will serve as a catalyst for bitcoin's growth. Should a confident breakout occur around the $27,000 resistance level, a price movement to $32,000 could be anticipated.
Analyst DonAlt, who accurately predicted the cryptocurrency rally earlier this year, posits that bitcoin has a chance for another significant rally and could set a new high for 2023. "If we rise and overcome the resistance we're currently battling," he writes, "the target could be around $36,000. [...] I don’t rule out missing a good entry at $30,000 because if the price takes off, it may rise too quickly. [However] there are substantial reasons for a downward move as well. In the worst case, I'll take a minor hit if it dips into the $19,000 to $20,000 range."

– Prominent analyst known by the pseudonym PlanB has reaffirmed his forecast made earlier this year. He noted that the November 2022 low was the bottom for bitcoin, and its ascent will commence closer to the halving event. PlanB believes that the 2024 halving will propel the leading cryptocurrency to $66,000, and the subsequent bull market in 2025 could elevate its price beyond the $100,000 mark.

– According to CoinShares, investments in crypto funds decreased by $54 million last week, with bitcoin accounting for $45 million of the outflows and Ethereum making up $5 million. Investments in funds allowing for short positions on bitcoin decreased by $4 million. This marks the fifth consecutive week of capital outflows, which have occurred in 8 out of the last 9 weeks. The total outflows over the past two months amount to $455 million. Meanwhile, weekly trading volumes have increased to $1 billion, representing a 42% surge compared to the previous week. 

– Chainalysis has compiled a ranking of 154 countries based on the proportion of citizens investing a significant share of their savings in crypto assets. India topped the list, followed by Nigeria and Vietnam. The top 20, in descending order, included the United States, Ukraine, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Thailand, China, Turkey, Russia, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Mexico, Bangladesh, Japan, Canada, and Morocco.
Analysts noted that the global cryptocurrency adoption index is far from the historical highs seen in 2021 and is showing a declining trend. Most countries occupying leading positions in the ranking are categorized by the World Bank as nations with below-average income per capita.

– A new wave of cryptocurrency scams impersonating Elon Musk has emerged on the social media platform TikTok, as reported by Bleeping Computer. According to the publication, videos are being uploaded hourly, featuring Musk purportedly giving interviews to major outlets and directing viewers to a website where a giveaway is taking place. Fraudsters have created hundreds of such websites, some of which pose as cryptocurrency exchanges.
Journalists from the publication tested one of the giveaways: they created an account on the platform and entered the promo code provided in the TikTok video. They were then promised a bitcoin deposit into their account. A balance of 0.34 BTC (~$9,000) allegedly appeared in their wallet. However, upon attempting to withdraw the funds, they were asked to activate their account by depositing 0.005 BTC (around $132). 

– U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown has called for stricter disclosure requirements for companies in the digital assets industry. Brown sent letters to the U.S. Treasury Secretary, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), emphasizing the significant financial losses suffered by cryptocurrency investors. According to his data, investors lost approximately $10 billion in 2022 due to fraud and hacking attacks.
Additionally, nine American lawmakers have endorsed a bill aimed at combating money laundering through cryptocurrencies, which has been reintroduced for consideration in the U.S. Congress.

– Analysts at Matrixport, a provider of cryptographic services, believe that the surge in applications for launching spot bitcoin ETFs is revitalizing the digital asset market and could act as a catalyst for the price growth of the flagship cryptocurrency. The company notes a substantial "potential buying pressure for bitcoin," particularly from investors interested in the offering of a spot exchange-traded fund. Against this backdrop, bitcoin's dominance level has risen to 50.2%, marking the highest level in a month and nearing the 26-month peak of 52%, reached at the end of June.

– According to data from Chainalysis, cybercriminals from North Korea stole $340 million in 2023, with a third of that amount coming from just two attacks. This figure is significantly less than the previous year's record of $1.65 billion stolen in 2022. However, the attack dynamics are causing concern among experts. In the last 10 days alone, the Lazarus Group has hacked the Stake platform for $40 million and the CoinEx exchange for $55 million. 

– Investor and bestselling author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," Robert Kiyosaki, believes that traditional fiat currency has no future, and the future of money lies in cryptocurrencies. According to the expert, the U.S. economy is on the brink of a serious crisis, and cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, offer investors a safe haven during these turbulent times. Kiyosaki forecasts that the price of bitcoin could soar to $120,000 next year, with the 2024 halving serving as a key catalyst for the rally.
The specialist also revealed that he personally owns 60 BTC, which he acquired at $6,000 per coin. As a result, his current profit from this transaction exceeds $1.25 million. 

– Analyst Jason Pizzino believes that bitcoin's bullish market cycle began to form around January and this process is not yet complete, despite the recent price consolidation. According to the trader, bitcoin will confirm its bullish sentiment if it crosses a key level at $28,500.
"In this market, we've rarely seen levels below $25,000. I'm not saying it can't go down, but for the last six months, the weekly closes have been above these levels. So far, so good, but the bulls aren't here yet. They need to at least occasionally see closes above $26,550," states Pizzino. "The bulls still have a lot to accomplish. I'll start talking about them once we cross the white line again at the $28,500 level. That's one of the key levels for the beginning of bitcoin's upward movement, to then attempt to break through $32,000.".

– According to popular analyst and host of the DataDash channel Nicholas Merten, the crypto market may be in for another downturn, signalled by decreasing stablecoin liquidity. "It's a good indicator for identifying trends in the crypto market. For example, from April 2019 to July 2019, bitcoin rose from $3,500 to $12,000. During that same period, stablecoin liquidity increased by 119%. Then we see a period of consolidation where liquidity also remained stable. When bitcoin rose from $3,900 to $65,000 in 2021, stablecoin liquidity soared by 2,183%," shares the expert.
"Liquidity and price growth are linked. If liquidity is decreasing or consolidating, then the market is likely not going to grow. This holds true for both cryptocurrencies and financial markets. Market capitalization needs liquidity to grow, but we're seeing it constantly decrease, making a decline in cryptocurrency prices more likely," states Nicholas Merten.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, addressed the United States Senate, stating that the vast majority of cryptocurrencies fall under the jurisdiction of his agency. Consequently, all market participants, including exchanges, brokers, dealers, and clearing agencies, must mandatorily register with the SEC.
Gensler drew parallels between the current crypto industry and the tumultuous years at the beginning of the 20th century when securities market legislation was still in development. During that era, the agency implemented a series of stringent enforcement actions to regulate the industry, and many cases ended up in court. Similar measures are needed today. They are not only intended to deter entrepreneurs but also to safeguard investors, as perceived by the head of the SEC.

– Starting from November 1, 2023, Sarah Breeden will assume the position of Deputy Governor at the Bank of England. According to her current statements, cryptocurrencies do not currently pose a significant risk to the country's financial stability. However, they could become problematic if closely integrated into the financial world, such as in the case of using stablecoins for payments.
In her perspective, "cryptocurrencies are assets without intrinsic value. Their price can potentially drop to zero, so investors should be prepared for the possibility of losing all their money. Nevertheless, blockchain technology can be valuable for the financial system." The official has pointed out that recent events have underscored the risks within the cryptocurrency sector. Consequently, the cryptocurrency market's downturn has adversely affected two major American banks, Silvergate and Signature, and has also led to the collapse of the stablecoin UST, along with the bankruptcy of several crypto-lending institutions. Given the global nature of the cryptocurrency market, collaborative efforts among regulatory authorities are crucial for devising comprehensive oversight measures for crypto assets, as highlighted by Breeden.

– On Monday, September 11, the BTC price dropped below $25,000 despite the weakening dollar and rising stock indices. This drop occurred amidst rumours that the controversial exchange FTX plans to sell digital assets as part of a bankruptcy procedure. On Tuesday, investors started buying again at the lower price points, causing the coin's value to rise above $26,500.
According to several analysts, there is no fundamental justification for these fluctuations in the price of bitcoin. Essentially, due to low liquidity and a declining market capitalization, the asset is shifting between different groups of players. In reality, investors are looking ahead to September 20 when the next Federal Reserve (FRS) meeting is scheduled.

– We have previously reported on the case of James Howells, a programmer who accidentally discarded a hard drive containing cryptocurrency during an office cleanup in August 2013. Consequently, the hard drive, which held 7500 BTC, ended up in a landfill in Newport, United Kingdom.
Over the course of ten years, Howells has been petitioning local authorities for permission to search for his lost wealth. Recently, his legal representatives sent an open letter to the municipality, requesting access to the landfill site by September 18th. In the event of refusal, the unsuccessful crypto investor intends to initiate a legal lawsuit against the city council, seeking compensation for the value of the lost bitcoins, which currently stands at approximately $250 million. Howells also plans to challenge the authorities' decision to deny him access to the landfill.
Howells stated, "I've tried everything I could over the past decade, but they have been unwilling to cooperate, so I am left with no choice but to pursue legal action. They have even refused to engage in serious discussions about the matter. Regardless of the type of asset, whether it's bitcoin, gold, or diamonds, not addressing this issue is simply imprudent.".

– Analysts from the cryptocurrency platform Matrixport have issued a warning that if Ethereum (ETH) were to fall to $1,500, it could pave the way for a further drop to $1,000. This lower level is considered justified based on their revenue forecasts for the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. Matrixport highlights that ETH is not a "super-hard currency" capable of resisting inflation, as last week, the number of newly issued coins exceeded the amount burned by 4,000, deviating from the deflationary model that the blockchain transitioned to when switching from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm.

– Analyst Benjamin Cowen has set an even lower target. He stated that Ethereum is on the brink of "extreme swings," which could result in its price dropping to a range of $800 to $400 by the end of the year. This potential decline is linked to the possible reduction in the profitability of blockchain platforms built on Ethereum's smart contract technology.
According to Cowen, both the Ethereum bulls and bears "have suffered setbacks and failed to execute their strategies." This will likely lead to both sides realizing losses by the end of 2023.

– The Twitter account of Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin was compromised as a result of a SIM card swap attack. Buterin had not enabled two-factor authentication, allowing the attacker to change the login password for his account by entering a code sent via SMS. Subsequently, the criminal posted a message on Buterin's behalf, falsely claiming a free NFT giveaway, and stole digital assets worth $691,000 from individuals who followed the provided link and linked their crypto wallets.

– David Marcus, co-founder of PayPal and CEO of Lightspark, a company specializing in integrating BTC payments using the Lightning Network, has made an unexpected statement. It turns out he himself doesn't believe that bitcoin will become a popular method of payment for purchases. Marcus explained that the currencies transmitted over the network will still remain fiat currencies that people are familiar with and use today. As for bitcoin, he likened it to a small data packet on the internet that is used to transfer values such as dollars, yen, or euros.

– Trader, analyst, and founder of the venture company Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, is predicting the last correction in the price of the leading cryptocurrency before an upcoming bull rally. In his view, if the bears manage to breach the exponential moving average line, which is positioned at $24,689, the worst-case scenario would see the coin drop to $23,000.
The specialist believes that this upcoming correction provides the final opportunity to buy bitcoins at a lower price. Institutional demand for digital assets is growing, so in the long term, the cryptocurrency's price will rise due to buying pressure.
However, it's worth noting that on August 17th, the BTC price broke below the ascending trendline that began in December 2022 and stayed below it. This suggests a high risk of a prolonged bearish trend.

– Dan Gambardello, the founder of Crypto Capital Venture, predicts that the next bull cycle could be the most impressive in the cryptocurrency market. The analyst has singled out ETH and XRP as cryptocurrencies to watch in the upcoming bull rally. His attention to these two altcoins is driven by Ripple's victory over the SEC in court and the approval of ETH ETF applications submitted by reputable fund managers.
At the same time, Gambardello has cautioned that the cryptocurrency market follows cycles, and it appears to be in an accumulation phase at the moment. Consequently, the analyst has warned that there is a possibility that the price of bitcoin could drop to $21,000 in the coming weeks. He attributes this potential drop to market manipulation by large players who may be suppressing prices and accumulating coins in anticipation of the next bull run.

– Prominent analyst known as CrypNuevo has analysed the current dynamics of bitcoin. According to this specialist, in the near future, the flagship cryptocurrency could reach the $27,000 mark. However, as the analyst emphasized, this is likely to be a false move. Furthermore, a subsequent drop is expected, potentially down to the $24,000 level.

– Mike McGlone, Senior Macroeconomic Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, has cautioned investors that the near future could be challenging for the crypto sphere. In his view, digital assets gained popularity during an era of zero interest rates. However, monetary policy is currently undergoing changes, which could pose problems for the industry. This is evident in the decline in Bitcoin's price, despite positive news about the impending approval of spot ETFs in the United States.
"Cryptocurrencies flourished during an unprecedented period of zero interest rates, but this policy is rapidly changing, with consequences for prices. In Q3, bitcoin dropped by 15%, despite the potential approval of spot ETFs. Cryptocurrency, traded around the clock and without weekends, could become one of the most accurate indicators of an impending reset in the global economy. It has been overly inflated with liquidity, and now we're witnessing a liquidity unwind," believes the analyst.
McGlone pointed out that by November, according to futures, the yield on US government bonds is expected to reach 5.45%. This is significant, especially when considering that from 2011 to 2021, this figure was only 0.6% annually, precisely when bitcoin and other digital assets experienced substantial growth. Therefore, the liquidity outflow from cryptocurrencies is not surprising.
(Recall that back in June, Mike McGlone had already warned about the potential decline in bitcoin's price and turned out to be correct)
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– 9% of Nigeria's population is aware of the existence of digital assets, surpassing the United States, which has an awareness level of 95%. Of these, 76% have owned or currently own cryptocurrencies, with the most popular coins being bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, and Dogecoin. The instability of the national currency has driven Nigerians toward the acquisition of digital assets, according to a study by ConsenSys.
Among Nigerian respondents, 70% stated that they understand the fundamental concepts of blockchain technology. They are followed by citizens of South Korea (63%), South Africa (61%), Brazil (59%), and India (56%). Experts note that the level of awareness about this technology is much lower in Europe and the United States compared to African countries. Meanwhile, only half of the surveyed Americans are using digital assets.

– A People's Court in China has declared that cryptocurrency falls under the category of legally protected property. According to the verdict, virtual assets have economic characteristics and should therefore be classified as property that is legally protected.
In light of this, legal experts have put forward a set of measures aimed at combating criminal activities in the realm of cryptocurrency. They have also underscored the need to harmonize criminal and civil laws to address the challenges associated with asset confiscation.

– In a recent Twitter post titled "What's Happening with XRP," Ripple's Chief Technical Officer, David Schwartz, suggested that this particular altcoin could become the global reserve currency. According to Schwartz, a significant portion of the world has already moved away from the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency. Every nation would prefer its own currency to take this position and would not want a rival country's currency to do so. Schwartz believes that this situation could lead to the world transitioning to a digital currency like XRP, which is not controlled by geopolitical competitors.

– The artificial intelligence platform PricePredictions has calculated a projected bitcoin price of $26,228 for September 30. The forecast is based on several key technical indicators, including Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), Relative Strength Index (RSI), Bollinger Bands (BB), among others.

– In a TradingView publication, an analyst using the pseudonym Tolberti has indicated that the recent fluctuations in bitcoin's price could serve as the year's "bull trap." Tolberti notes that a "Head and Shoulders" pattern, typically a bearish indicator, appears to be forming on the current BTC chart.
Additionally, Tolberti cites several key metrics that bolster his bearish outlook. A particularly telling indicator is bitcoin trading below its 200-week moving average (MA), which is traditionally a sign of extended bearish sentiment. He suggests that bitcoin's value might plummet to $10,000, with a potential market turnaround perhaps occurring as late as March 2024.

– Alistair Milne, the Chief Investment Officer of the digital currency fund Altana, believes that the price of bitcoin could reach $100,000 without the approval of spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) in the United States. In his view, the ETF topic merely distracts market participants. It's worth noting that in June, when BlackRock and several traditional financial organizations submitted ETF applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the flagship cryptocurrency experienced its most significant growth in over a year, surpassing the $30,000 mark. However, this upward momentum was short-lived.
Milne is confident that issues in the U.S. banking sector, stabilization of risk assets following the completion of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes and increasing profitability in the crypto-mining sector will drive bitcoin's price upward.

– According to analysts at Cointelegraph, the value of "digital gold" could experience a significant drop in the coming weeks. This forecast is based on the bearish trends emerging in bitcoin derivatives. The BTC price chart leaves little doubt that investor sentiment has not improved following Grayscale's victory over the SEC on August 29, 2023. Consequently, experts anticipate that the leading cryptocurrency's value could decline to $22,000 in the near future.
Cointelegraph analysts believe that the delay in launching spot Bitcoin ETFs has left a negative impact on the market. Furthermore, many experts link market troubles to the U.S. regulatory actions against exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. Multiple sources suggest that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is likely to level charges against the world's largest trading platform and initiate a criminal investigation, focusing on allegations related to money laundering and violation of sanctions against Russian companies.
Currently, market participants are in a state of limbo, unsure of what to expect. This regulatory uncertainty is tipping the scales in favour of the bears. Fear and doubt reign in the derivatives market, creating favourable conditions for those betting on a decline.

– Renowned blogger and analyst Lark Davis has stated that the bitcoin halving scheduled for April 2024 could lead to a 500-600% increase in the cryptocurrency's price, potentially pushing it to around $150,000 or even $180,000. According to additional data from the expert, the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs could attract about $20-30 billion in "new money." Davis asserts that this influx of capital would allow investors to purchase nearly half of all circulating bitcoin on centralized global exchanges (CEX).
Lark Davis also shared a chart comparing the price trajectory of physical gold. He noted that when the first ETF for the precious metal was approved in the U.S. markets, its price initially dipped. However, it subsequently rallied, adding over 110% to its peak value. Davis opined that a similar scenario could unfold for bitcoin.

– At the end of August, the monthly chart for digital gold indicated an exit from the overbought zone according to the Stochastic Oscillator, signalling potential disappointment for bitcoin bulls. This observation was made by experts at Fairlead Strategies. According to the analysts, such a signal often indicates the passing of a local peak. They pointed out that similar scenarios occurred under comparable circumstances at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2021.
"The decline in the Stochastic Oscillator suggests that the process of establishing a bottom could be prolonged, especially considering the looming Ichimoku cloud serving as resistance (~$31,900)," the report stated.

– Popular analyst and crypto-millionaire William Clemente has stated that interest in the crypto industry has significantly waned recently. According to his observations, the total trading volume of digital assets has dropped to its lowest levels since 2020. Additionally, based on Google search statistics, people are searching for information on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies far less frequently, reaching multi-year lows.
Clemente also highlighted another sign of market participants' apathy. According to him, indicators for realized and implied volatility, as well as the Bollinger Bands' divergence on a weekly timeframe, are near record lows.
Another well-known trader and analyst going by the pseudonym DonAlt concurred with Clemente. He noted that this is precisely what failure looks like but ironically emphasized that there's no turning back now.

– Trader, analyst, and founder of venture firm Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, noted that the markets appear unstable and are generating many doubts. Bitcoin's dominance level is starting to decline, and the majority of altcoins in trading pairs with BTC are beginning to regain their positions. This signifies interest in this asset class rather than a lack of it. Van De Poppe emphasized that this traditionally occurs 8-10 months before a BTC halving. 

– Arthur Hayes, co-founder of the crypto exchange BitMEX, stated that bitcoin has been in a bullish trend since March 2023 and is expected to experience a new surge over the next 6-12 months. Hayes believes that the uptrend was triggered by the Federal Reserve's $25 billion banking sector stabilization program in light of the "rescue" of Silicon Valley Bank. According to Hayes, this situation has prompted traders to focus on assets with limited supply, like bitcoin. While this currently only involves a small portion of market participants, their numbers will continue to grow, he is convinced.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have introduced regulations for the taxation of cryptocurrencies. Officials anticipate that the new rules will "close the tax gap and ensure that everyone is playing by the same set of rules." According to the proposed guidelines, crypto brokers will be treated in the same manner as traditional brokers, such as stockbrokers.
Under the new regulations, the category of "brokers" includes cryptocurrency platforms, payment systems, and certain crypto wallets. The IRS and the Treasury Department emphasized that decentralized exchanges also fall under these rules. These entities are required to conduct customer identification and, starting in 2025, provide tax reporting. The U.S. Treasury expects that the cryptocurrency industry will generate $28 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years.

– The analyst known as A Chain of Blocks believes that the BRICS nations' intention to move away from the U.S. dollar should draw attention to Ripple (XRP), the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. According to him, the majority of the member countries view XRP as a viable global payment option capable of facilitating transactions between member states.
At the most recent summit of the group, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that BRICS countries would not use the U.S. dollar for transactions among themselves. However, India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, expressed during the same summit that the U.S. dollar would continue to dominate international trade. Puri noted that talk of de-dollarization is premature at this stage. His statement is corroborated by statistical data. Despite calls from BRICS authorities to use national currencies, the dollar's share of international transactions processed through the SWIFT system reached a record 46.5% in July.

– The crypto exchange HashKey Group has submitted an application to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for the issuance of cryptocurrency derivatives. If the regulator gives the green light, the exchange's clients will be able to trade futures on bitcoin and Ethereum.
To mitigate financial risks, novice traders will be restricted from executing certain trades. All clients will receive a warning if they invest more than 30% of their capital in cryptocurrencies, and their transaction limits will be reduced. Additionally, account balances can only be replenished using bank cards, creating challenges for residents of countries that have banned cryptocurrency trading.

– Tom Lee, co-founder and chief researcher at Fundstrat Global Advisors, predicts that due to the halving event, the bitcoin price will reach $100,000 per coin. In his view, halvings serve as catalysts for bitcoin price growth, as they reduce the supply of new coins and increase scarcity. Lee also considers factors such as rising demand for bitcoin from institutional investors, corporations, and retail buyers, as well as advancements in technological development and innovations within the bitcoin network. However, he acknowledges that bitcoin could experience significant price volatility on its path to reaching the targeted level.

– In contrast to Tom Lee, Nassim Taleb, a renowned writer, philosopher, and former trader, has a bearish outlook on bitcoin. He argues that bitcoin lacks intrinsic value and is purely a speculative asset, prone to extreme volatility and manipulation. He also criticizes bitcoin for not being an efficient medium of exchange, citing high transaction fees, slow transaction speeds, and low throughput. According to Taleb, bitcoin cannot compete with traditional currencies or other cryptocurrencies that possess superior technical attributes. He predicts that by the end of 2023, the price of bitcoin will drop to $0 per coin.

– British billionaire Jeremy Grantham, founder and chief strategist of GMO, one of the largest investment firms in the world, also has a bearish outlook on Ethereum and the cryptocurrency market overall. He believes that Ethereum is part of a global cryptocurrency bubble that will eventually burst. The billionaire compares cryptocurrencies to historical examples of bubbles, such as the Tulip Mania in the Netherlands in the 17th century, the South Sea Company in England in the 18th century, and the dot-com boom in the United States in the late 20th century. In his opinion, cryptocurrencies lack real value and are fueled by irrational enthusiasm and investor greed. Jeremy Grantham predicts that by the end of 2023, the price of Ethereum will drop to $100 per coin.

– Vitalik Buterin, co-founder and chief developer of Ethereum, has a contrasting view, believing that ETH could rise to $10,000 per coin. He bases his forecast on the idea that the leading altcoin will continue to develop and improve through new technological updates, the implementation of sharding, enhanced security and privacy, as well as the expansion of the DApps and smart contracts ecosystem. Buterin also believes that Ethereum will attract the attention of institutional investors who will use it as a means to diversify their portfolios and hedge against inflation.

– The Israeli government is shifting towards a more lenient approach to cryptocurrency regulation. To that end, a special research group has been created to study the regulation of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), which is also conducting public consultations on this matter until September 2023.
Currently, cryptocurrency in Israel is recognized as a financial asset, and any capital gains are taxed at a rate of 25%. If transactions involving cryptocurrency are classified as commercial, the tax rate could be much higher—up to 53%. Lawmakers appear to have recognized the severity of such regulations and are moving towards a more moderate approach: a bill exempting foreign residents from capital gains tax on the sale of cryptocurrency has already passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
As for mining, profits from this activity are subject to regular income tax (17%). Israeli mining company Kafkamining noted in its blog that conducting such a business in the country is entirely feasible.

– In August, PayPal launched its own stablecoin, PYPL, in partnership with Paxos on the Ethereum blockchain. This raised valid concerns about its demand for transactions due to Ethereum's high fees. Recently, analytics firm Nansen confirmed that PayPal's stablecoin has not yet gained traction among cryptocurrency users. Nansen speculated that the payment giant is likely targeting a different demographic altogether. 

– According to Santiment data, only 5.8% of the total bitcoin volume is currently held on exchanges. This marks a historic low for the asset, a level not seen since December 17, 2017.
Analysts believe that several factors have influenced this trend, including a long-term holding strategy. Additionally, faith in bitcoin's potential as a reliable store of value is growing, while confidence in the safety of funds on cryptocurrency exchanges is diminishing. This shift is prompting individuals to opt for self-custody of their assets. Regulatory pressures on leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, particularly issues with the SEC, have acted as a catalyst for this process. Due to regulatory scrutiny worldwide, bitcoin whales withdrew 5,000 BTC from the trading platform in just one minute.

– According to an analysis published on TradingView by TradingShot, bitcoin could reach the Fibonacci correction level of 0.86 at $50,000 by the end of 2023. The TradingShot analysis focuses on historical readings of the MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) indicator. Additionally, the analysts point to a support level established based on the last bear cycle's lowest peak. This level has shown resilience, consistently closing all monthly candles above it, with the exception of the sudden crash triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

– Despite BTC trading in a consolidated phase, demand for the leading cryptocurrency appears to be increasing. Over the past 12 months, Google Trends has shown a surge in searches for the keyword "buy bitcoin." Activity from bitcoin whales also corroborates this sustained interest in the primary cryptocurrency; transactions exceeding $100,000 are averaging around 57,400 transactions per week.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has called for the regulation of cryptocurrencies rather than their outright ban. According to the bank's experts, a ban that's hard to enforce might hamper innovation. BIS also pointed out that cryptocurrencies are especially popular in emerging markets due to the volatility of local fiat currencies and challenges in accessing banking institutions. However, they could trigger severe sudden shifts in capital flows, threatening the financial stability of these nations.
Additionally, the BIS assessed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Analysts believe that the introduction of such investment products will also increase risks, as it provides market access to a broader audience lacking financial expertise.
It's worth noting that in June, several major investment firms, including BlackRock, submitted applications to launch spot bitcoin ETFs. However, according to some experts, the current regulatory body is likely not to approve them, and the process could be postponed until 2024. Analysts opine that if such products receive approval in the US, the cryptocurrency market could access up to $30 trillion in capital, and the price of bitcoin might exceed $150,000 per coin.

– The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund has filed a petition on behalf of 12 Bitcoin Core developers in the High Court of the United Kingdom, seeking to dismiss a lawsuit from Craig Wright, who they regard as the self-proclaimed creator of the first cryptocurrency, and his company Tulip Trading. The case dates back to February 2021, where Wright demanded access to two wallets containing approximately 111,000 BTC (~$2.86 billion at the time of writing), allegedly stolen due to the fault of Bitcoin Core employees. One of the addresses is associated with the hacking of the crypto exchange Mt.Gox.
The fund's lawyers insist that Wright, mockingly referred to as "pseudosatoshi," must prove his ownership of the bitcoins before the court makes a final decision. The document states, "Dr. Wright has a long history of fraudulent schemes, forgeries, and dishonesty (including in legal cases within this jurisdiction and internationally). [...] These proceedings are an attempt by Wright, through Tulip Trading, to use British courts as an instrument of fraud."
Craig Wright claims that he purchased the bitcoins at the end of February 2011 from the Russian exchange WMIRK. However, he has been unable to provide any evidence of this transaction. Furthermore, the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund emphasized that if Wright truly owns the address containing 79,957 BTC, it would be tantamount to complicity in the hacking of Mt.Gox.

– An analyst known by the pseudonym Tolberti has predicted a continuation of the bearish trend in the bitcoin market and a decline in the cryptocurrency's value to $10,000. This forecast is based on the BTC price falling below the 200-week and 20-month moving averages (MAs), and the formation of a bearish flag on the chart, signalling the persistence of the negative trend.
According to the expert, the price of bitcoin will oscillate within a downward channel until it reaches a bottom around $10,000 by the time of the halving in April 2024. During the bearish trend, two significant corrections will occur, providing opportunities to profit from short positions.
Tolberti also noted the low demand for BTC and the weakness of digital gold relative to physical gold. Since reaching its all-time high of $68,917 in the fall of 2021, bitcoin has depreciated by more than 2.6 times. In contrast, the price of the precious metal has increased during the same period, reaching a historic value of $2,080 on May 4.

– Trader, analyst, and founder of venture firm Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, noted that bitcoin's dominance is declining, increasing the likelihood of an altcoin rally. According to him, as soon as bitcoin's dominance tested the 200-week moving average (MA) and exponential moving average (EMA), BTC's market share started to decline, indicating a potential shift in market dynamics.
The downward trajectory described by the analyst may persist in the coming months and could signal a temporary diversification in the cryptocurrency market as investors turn to other fast-profit instruments. However, if the leading cryptocurrency rises above the 200-week MA and EMA, it will lead to a restoration of bitcoin's dominance and a growth in its price.

– In the opinion of many investors and traders, the Relative Strength Index (RSI), a classic indicator, serves as a valuable tool to gauge the condition of an asset. It fluctuates between 0 and 100, with values above 70 typically indicating overbought conditions, and values below 30 suggesting oversold conditions.
The current fall of bitcoin's daily RSI below the 20 mark (17.47 at its lowest) is comparable to the oversold conditions during the market crash in March 2020, when the entire financial landscape was gripped by fear and uncertainty.
Analysts and traders are now closely watching this RSI movement, as it could signal a potential bullish reversal in the BTC trend. Historically, extreme oversold values have often preceded significant price rebounds. However, this indicator must be approached with caution. RSI oversold levels can provide insights into potential price reversals, but they are not a guaranteed sign. Cryptocurrency markets are known for their unpredictability, and their direction can be influenced by a multitude of factors, among which political and macroeconomic factors play a huge role. 

– Analyst Dave the Wave, who accurately predicted the cryptocurrency market crash in May 2021, believes that the current bear market for bitcoin will last at least until the end of the year. The expert used his own version of logarithmic growth curves, which allow for predicting bitcoin's macro-maximums and macro-minimums, filtering out medium-term volatility and noise. Currently, according to his calculations, bitcoin is trading at the lower boundary of the logarithmic growth curves but is still in the "buy zone." Dave the Wave does not rule out that bitcoin may decline a bit further, and by mid-2024 will rise to new highs above $69,000.

– According to popular analyst Benjamin Cowen, the current decline in the price of the first cryptocurrency may be far from final, and bitcoin will continue to fall. This bearish trend, in his opinion, aligns well with the current trend of the global economy.
Cowen also noted that a similar drop in bitcoin occurs every four years. "The fact is that every four years, in August or September, the year before the U.S. presidential elections, there's a correction in the American market. And bitcoin correlates with the indices of the U.S. stock market. If we look at 2023, we will see this as well. In 2019, bitcoin plummeted by 61%. In 2015, the decline was about 40%. In 2011, we saw a 'black swan' of 82.5%. So, every year before the halving and the American elections, we see a decline in bitcoin."

– Wall Street legend, analyst, and trader Peter Brandt already allowed for a drop in the bitcoin price back in May, as he identified a pattern on the price chart known as a "pennant" or "flag," indicative of "bearish consequences." Now, he has warned that bitcoin may break out of the upward trend that began in January 2023, as it approaches a critical price region. The expert clarified that a close below $24,800 will damage the daily and weekly charts and increase the likelihood that the bullish impulse in BTC will fail. 

– Another analyst, publishing under the pseudonym Credible Crypto, noted that the current market scenario closely resembles what was observed in 2020. Back then, the leading digital currency rose in price from approximately $16,000 to $60,000 within a few months. The specialist stated that the market's flagship is now "taking a breather" after the price increase since the beginning of this year. According to the analyst, this is a normal correction. The current situation almost entirely reflects the price movement dynamics of bitcoin from March to August 2020. What's happening now, in his opinion, indicates that the goal is asset accumulation. Credible Crypto pointed out that bitcoin began a "parabolic rally" in 2020 precisely after such a phase. "The breakout from the accumulation range last time triggered the next step upward, causing BTC's price to soar." And according to the expert, this time bitcoin has twice as much time, or about 4 months, to do it again in 2023. Meanwhile, the analyst emphasized that his forecast will become invalid if the digital gold's quotations fall below $24,800. (This is the support level that Peter Brandt also identified as critical.)

– Since 2018, criminal groups from North Korea have conducted over 30 hacking attacks, stealing digital assets totaling around $2 billion, according to a report by TRM Labs. In just the first seven months of 2023, hackers from North Korea stole about $200 million in cryptocurrency. However, analysts note that criminal activity has significantly decreased compared to the previous year. At that time, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the North Korean government-controlled group Lazarus carried out the largest hack in history, stealing $625 million from the crypto project Ronin Bridge.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that North Korea continues to develop its nuclear program, and an important source of its funding is becoming the funds obtained from attacks on bitcoin exchanges.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– The digital gold market has reached a stage of extreme apathy and exhaustion, with volatility indicators at the beginning of the week hitting record low levels. This conclusion was drawn by Glassnode analysts. To support their statement, the experts pointed to the Bollinger Bands spread narrowing to 2.9%. Lower values were observed only twice in history: 1) in September 2016, when quotes were at $604 ahead of the bull market's onset, and 2) in January 2023, when the price traded between $52 and was at $16,800.
Such low volatility reflects a situation where the acquisition cost of most coins moving on the blockchain is very close to the spot price. For this reason, realized gains and losses are relatively small. "This suggests that all investors wanting to lock in profits or losses at this price range have done so. The market needs to take steps to incentivize new spending and break the investors' apathy," the specialists explained.

– Michael Van De Poppe, a trader, analyst, and founder of Eight Venture Company, posits that we're currently in the second phase of capitulation. This phase is often perceived as the most uneventful period in the cycle, making it feel as though the markets are stagnant. "Stay patient and find solace in the fact that you're still engaged in the market. Continue to accumulate positions," Van De Poppe suggests. He emphasizes that as major corporations make their moves, the smartest strategy is to follow their lead. He believes that for bitcoin to experience substantial growth, it needs to break the $29,700 barrier. Once this is achieved, its next significant milestone will be reaching $40,000.

– Kevin Kelly, the co-founder and head of research at Delphi Digital, has identified signs of an early bull rally. According to Kelly, a typical crypto cycle begins when bitcoin reaches an all-time high (ATH), followed by an 80% drop. Roughly two years later, it rebounds to its previous ATH and continues to ascend to a new peak. This pattern typically spans about four years.
Kelly believes this trend isn't arbitrary and aligns with a "broader business cycle." He observed that bitcoin's price peak often coincides with the ISM manufacturing index, which is currently in the final phase of a downtrend. This situation reminds Kelly of the market dynamics between 2015 and 2017.
He pointed out that the last two bitcoin halvings occurred approximately 18 months after the asset hit its lowest point and seven months before it broke its historical high. The next halving is anticipated in April 2024. Following that, Kelly estimates that about six months later, bitcoin might reach a new ATH. However, he cautioned that there's no certainty this scenario will play out as described. He also speculated on the possibility of a "false bottom" emerging.

– An analyst known as Ignas has also conducted a cyclical analysis and predicts a bitcoin bull market in 2024. He bases his projection on a recurrent sequence observed in the primary cryptocurrency over the years: 1. A descent of 80% from its all-time high (ATH), bottoming out a year later (4th quarter of 2022). 2. A two-year period to recover and reach its preceding peak (4th quarter of 2024). 3. An additional year of price appreciation leading to a new ATH (Q4 2025).
Ignas notes that in 2022, the cryptocurrency sector grappled with macroeconomic hurdles. However, current indications suggest an improving landscape. The anticipated bitcoin halving in April 2024 might align with a worldwide uptick in liquidity, potentially fuelling the expected bull run. Furthermore, emerging applications for bitcoin and the initiation of spot bitcoin ETFs, once greenlit by the SEC, are likely to have a consequential impact on its price.

– Based on a survey conducted by the popular blogger and analyst known as PlanB, 60% of respondents believe that a bull market will commence following the halving. PlanB himself estimates that by the time of this event, BTC will be valued at around $55,000. Indications for the coin's potential rise to this level are suggested by the Bitcoin forecasting model S2F, which was developed by him.

– Since November 2022, the Russian rouble has depreciated by approximately 65% (from 50 to 100 roubles per $1). This devaluation has allowed miners in Russia to earn substantially more since mining costs have remained constant. This has sparked a significant surge, despite international sanctions. Representatives from the company BitCluster have shared that orders for large batches of equipment (of 10, 20, or even 30 MW) are coming in almost daily. "The market simply can't construct new data centres fast enough to meet the demand. Major clients find themselves waiting for months," shared sources at BitCluster.
A significant portion of the demand comes from Chinese miners who are migrating from the US to Russia. However, there remain inherent risks in conducting this business in Russia due to the near absence of regulatory oversight.

– The author of the best-selling financial book "Rich Dad Poor Dad," Robert Kiyosaki, dubbed gold and silver as "God's money," while designating bitcoin as the "dollar of the people." "I have an affinity for bitcoin primarily because we both oppose the same entities - the US Federal Government, its Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and Wall Street. I hold no trust in them. If you trust them, then keep your savings in dollars; you'll essentially have an IOU," he expressed.
He further opined, "Bitcoin seems to be on a trajectory towards $100,000. The downside: if there's a crash in the stock and bond markets, we might see gold and silver prices soaring astronomically. Even grimmer, a collapse of the global economy could see bitcoin valued at a million, with gold potentially costing $75,000 and silver around $60,000. The magnitude of the national debt is alarming, putting everyone in a precarious position," Kiyosaki commented. He concluded with, "I sincerely hope I'm mistaken.". 

– Goldman Sachs strategists anticipate that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut its key interest rate in the second quarter of 2024. Such a move is expected to provide a boost to BTC's price. The motivation behind this rate cut could be the inflation reaching its target rate of 2.0%. However, Goldman Sachs acknowledges that the Fed's actions remain unpredictable, and the rate might linger at its peak level for an extended period.
For context: According to the CME FedWatch Tool, 68% of market participants expect that by May 2024, the rate will be reduced by at least 25 basis points.

– American political commentator Jon Stewart accused Wall Street, the global financial hub, of corruption and compared its operations to the schemes of Sam Bankman-Fried, the head of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. "His objective was to sow discord in certain parts of the financial system, namely the cryptocurrency sector. When I look at the intricate workings of Wall Street, it doesn't seem much different from what Bankman-Fried was up to," Stewart stated.

– Well-known trader and analyst, Dave_the_Wave, who has a reputation for accurate predictions, has cautioned that bitcoin might undergo a major correction by the end of 2023. He suggests that bitcoin could drop to the lower end of its Logarithmic Growth Curve (LGC), marking an approximate decline of 38% from its high this year. However, Dave_the_Wave also points out a silver lining: as bitcoin experiences heightened price stabilization from a macroeconomic standpoint, it's gradually shedding its volatility and evolving into a more stable investment asset.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist and businessman who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, has now expressed his disillusionment. "As the creator of bitcoin, I am both fascinated and disappointed by how far the so-called cryptocurrency industry has deviated from bitcoin's original vision," he wrote. Wright insists that bitcoin was never intended to be an investment or a store of value. Yet, the focus has now shifted towards speculation, quick profits, and "pump and dump" strategies. "It's saddening to see so much attention given to the price, rather than the transformative power of the technology," laments the scientist.

– Adam Back, one of the leading figures in the crypto industry and CEO of Blockstream, has wagered a million satoshi (0.01 BTC) that the price of bitcoin will reach $100,000 before the next halving. The bet was the result of a wager made with a user of platform X (formerly Twitter) under the pseudonym Vikingo. Vikingo believes that the 'digital gold' will not achieve this price level until at least 2025. The head of Blockstream is confident it will happen by March 31, 2024, which is roughly a month before the halving. Blockstream's former Director of Strategy and now CEO of Jan3, Samson Mow, agreed with his former colleague. He also anticipates a new all-time high will be reached before the halving, not after.
At the time of writing, a bet of 1 million satoshi is approximately worth $290. Considering Adam Back's net worth is estimated to be between $100-300 million, the bet amount elicited a number of cheeky comments. Some users even offered to provide the entrepreneur with financial assistance.

– The popular analyst known as PlanB, who created the S2F (Stock-to-Flow) bitcoin forecasting model, believes that by the time of the next halving, BTC will be valued at around $55,000. The S2F model's signals indicate the likelihood of the coin moving to this price point.
Opinions gathered by the BeInCrypto editorial team vary from PlanB's prediction. For instance, analysts from Seeking Alpha believe that the cryptocurrency should be priced at about $98,000 for miners to remain profitable after the halving event.

– Mayor of Miami and U.S. presidential candidate, Francis Xavier Suarez, told CoinDesk TV in an interview that his election campaign is accepting donations in the leading cryptocurrency. Supporters of the politician can donate a minimum of 0.00034 BTC or an equivalent of $1.
"Nobody wants the federal government to know how much money you have and where you keep it," Suarez stated. "The biggest mistake made by this administration [under President Biden] is that they don't understand the crypto industry, so they've resorted to a heavy-handed regulatory approach instead of establishing basic rules.".

– Trader, analyst, and founder of the venture company Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, debunked investors' speculations about the first cryptocurrency's price plummeting to the $12,000 mark and reassured those talking about a total capitulation of altcoins.
"The bear market has been ongoing for over two years," he wrote, making it the longest market in cryptocurrency history. However, this is unsurprising against the backdrop of hacks, bankruptcies, and legal disputes in the crypto industry. From the analyst's observations, bearish sentiments are most often found among those who invested in digital assets for the first time in 2021. "For them, the slow loss of money feels extremely painful, and they only anticipate further portfolio value decline," noted the expert.
In his view, we are currently in the second stage of capitulation – the most boring period of the cycle where it seems like nothing is happening in the markets. "Be patient, take solace in the fact that you're still in the game, accumulate positions. [...] Major companies are entering the fray, and the wisest thing you can do is follow their lead," Van De Poppe advised.

– Founder of the charitable foundation The Bitcoin Foundation, Charles Shrem, believes that the issuance of stablecoins by PayPal (PYUSD) will lead to an increase in the price of bitcoin to at least $250,000 much faster than anticipated. In his view, ETH will surge at an accelerated pace to $18,000 since PYUSD is issued on the Ethereum blockchain. Consequently, the value of this altcoin may rise due to an increased number of network users brought by PayPal clients.
It remains a mystery why Shrem believes PYUSD will positively impact bitcoin's price. A crypto trader known by the pseudonym Smitty thinks that the issuance of stablecoins will, on the contrary, result in a decrease in BTC's value, as it will boost the investment appeal of its competitor, ETH.

– The primary digital asset has been held within a narrow trading range for two months, and network indicators point to accumulation in anticipation of a price breakout. According to the Blockware Intelligence newsletter, the volume of liquid and highly liquid supply is at its lowest level since 2018. Speculative traders swap a decreasing number of coins back and forth, while long-term holders consistently resort to cold storage, Blockware stated.

– Prominent trader, Tone Vays, noted that selling pressure is on the rise and the price of the foremost cryptocurrency could significantly decline. "Bitcoin continues to struggle, but I'd say there's a high probability of the BTC rate dropping to the next moving average. And if daily candles keep closing below the previous ones, I'd advise reducing the position by 50% because I can't pinpoint to what levels bitcoin might drop. It could potentially fall to $25,000. There are enough people in the market who, for some reason, keep selling their coins," the analyst writes.
Tone Vays is convinced: if bitcoin does drop to $25,000, there's a high likelihood of further long-term decline. From an expert's perspective, the primary cryptocurrency "stands on the edge of a cliff, and things are looking grim." "The price needs to rebound immediately, I mean, within this month. We can't afford to decline for another month; otherwise, panic will ensue in the market, and I wouldn't be surprised if BTC trades below $20,000. Moreover, miners might start offloading their reserves, which is highly risky," the specialist warns.
It's worth noting that in late May, Vays predicted a swift rise of the premier cryptocurrency above $30,000. The forecast turned out to be accurate; however, BTC couldn't sustain that level.

– The Arkham Intelligence platform has offered a $46,000 reward for credible information leading to the perpetrator behind the FTX exchange hack. It's worth noting that on November 11, 2022, FTX suffered a theft of crypto assets amounting to approximately $400 million. On the same day, the exchange filed for bankruptcy. To claim the reward, individuals are required not only to identify the hacker but also to provide indisputable evidence of the individual's guilt. Submissions for this bounty must be made by August 17.
Miguel Morel, CEO of Arkham, has expressed that the platform will persistently support such investigations in the future to deter potential offenders.
 

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Michael Novogratz, the CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, shared his investment advice in a recent Bloomberg interview. "For young investors who are comfortable with taking risks, I would advise buying Alibaba stocks and investing in silver, gold, bitcoin, and ethereum, which would make up my $100,000 portfolio," he said. For those who are more cautious, he recommends allocating only 30% of their investment to this portfolio, with the remaining balance to be invested in bonds and index funds.
Novogratz's confidence in the future of bitcoin has been bolstered after the largest investment company, BlackRock, filed for a spot bitcoin ETF. The businessman noted that Larry Fink, BlackRock's CEO, had never believed in bitcoin, but has now changed his opinion. "Now, he's saying that BTC will be a global currency, and people worldwide will trust it. He's taken the orange pill. He believes in bitcoin," said Michael Novogratz.

– Peter Brandt, a legendary trader and veteran of the financial industry, believes that over time, bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, will "emerge from the shadow" of more traditional investment assets like stocks and gold, and in the future, it will be bitcoin that sets the tone in the financial market.
Brandt emphasized that U.S. regulators will certainly approve the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs. However, the analyst believes this approval, and even the halving, won't be news. Following these events, instead of rising, the price of BTC could decline. "In 48 years of speculation," Brandt writes, "I have always found that markets anticipate events before they happen." The Wall Street legend advises always adhering to the adage, "Buy on the rumour, sell on the facts."

– Robert Kiyosaki, the investor and author of the financial bestseller "Rich Dad Poor Dad", has stated that he still favours bitcoin, along with gold and silver. He has noted that the rise in the stock market won't save the U.S. economy as it occurred solely due to President Joe Biden raising the debt ceiling.

– Fernando Perez Algaba, a prominent crypto and forex influencer who disappeared on July 18, was found dead in Argentina, according to media reports. A group of children discovered the millionaire's mutilated body in a suitcase. His head was later found in a backpack, which had been shot three times.
Algaba, in the months prior to his death, had been sharing photos of his opulent lifestyle with his nearly 920,000 Instagram followers. He had also recounted a fairy tale-like story to the media about his rise from a simple pizza delivery man to a highly successful "Forex and crypto trader". However, it came to light at some point that Algaba was grappling with escalating debts, tax complications, and monetary demands from investors in a crypto scheme that he admitted had "spiralled out of control".
A threat to gouge out his eyes and cut off his hands was received by Algaba a week before his assassination. The New York Post reported that one suspect has already been apprehended by the police in relation to the murder of the crypto millionaire.

– Cryptocurrency traders lost digital assets amounting to $303 million due to hacking attacks in July, according to experts from CertiK. The latest major breach involved an attack on DEX Curve Finance's stablecoin pools, exploiting a vulnerability in the Vyper code. The exchange lost digital assets worth about $52 million. It's worth noting that, as per data from PeckShield, the crypto industry experienced at least 395 hacks from January to June 2023, resulting in a theft of approximately $480 million.

– Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper, in an interview with FOX Business, stated that the acceptance of the first cryptocurrency, bitcoin, by the world is simply a matter of time. "Retailers will eventually recognize the 2% savings they could make by accepting bitcoin, eliminating the need to pay banks and credit card companies," he explained.
Draper repeated his prediction in July that the value of bitcoin would ascend to $250,000, a milestone he expects will be reached by 2025. Notably, Draper had made the same price prediction back in 2018, although he then envisaged that bitcoin would hit this mark by 2022, a forecast that evidently did not materialize.

– An analyst under the pseudonym TechDev forecasts a slightly lower but still significant figure for BTC. To predict the price of BTC, he relies on the behaviour of traditional financial markets, such as the price of 10-year Chinese government bonds, the dynamics of the Dollar Index, as well as the balance sheets of Central Banks in major countries, and so on. According to him, the coin's price closely follows global liquidity indicators, and the current economic cycle should once again conclude with a substantial increase in the money supply. Therefore, bitcoin is gearing up for growth.
The analyst believes that the logarithmic growth curve indicator, which overlooks short-term asset fluctuations, suggests that by 2025, the leading cryptocurrency will reach a level of $140,000. "Note that this is a very rough approximation, based on specific parameters of the indicator and the steepness of the momentum," TechDev warned. He also noted that another indicator, Bollinger Bands, is in a very narrow range. The last time bitcoin exited such a range, a full-scale bull trend began.

– According to Crystal Blockchain, an analytics firm, Ukraine has received $225 million in cryptocurrencies since February 2022 to counteract the deployment of Russian troops. The bulk of these donations have been in USDT ($83 million), ethereum ($79 million), and bitcoin ($41 million), with additional contributions made in other cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, Russia has also solicited cryptocurrencies for military expenditure, though the total collected is significantly less, ranging between $2 million to $8 million. 

– George Milling-Stanley, the Chief Gold Strategist at State Street Global Advisors, maintains that bitcoin cannot be considered a replacement for gold due to the risk of extensive losses. He emphasized that gold has a history spanning 6,000 years during which it has repeatedly proven its reliability and value, whereas bitcoin has only been around for a dozen years. "Bitcoin's volatility merely refutes claims that the primary cryptocurrency is a long-term strategic asset and can compete with gold. Gold is a hedge against inflation. Gold is insurance against a stock market fall. Gold is insurance against a weakening dollar," the strategist stated.
Notably, State Street Global Advisors manages the world's largest physically backed gold ETF. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that George Milling-Stanley is defending the positions of the precious metal. 

– Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX exchange, has published an article in which he predicts the flagship cryptocurrency will skyrocket to $760,000. In his view, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects into the bitcoin blockchain will significantly increase the coin's attractiveness as the base asset of the ecosystem.
Hayes believes that ethereum should exhibit a similar development model. If AI-based projects are integrated into this altcoin, the investment attractiveness of ETH, the primary transaction tool in the network, will greatly intensify. In this case, the altcoin could appreciate by 1,556%. Thus, the BitMEX co-founder doesn't rule out the possibility that ETH might soar to $31,063.
Another factor Hayes considers will stimulate the growth of ETH over the next five years is the expansion of the decentralized finance (DeFi) market. The majority of protocols in this ecosystem are based on ethereum, and their popularity continues to increase. The growth in the number of decentralized exchange (DEX) users will lead to a rise in ETH transaction volumes and, consequently, an increase in the altcoin's price.

– A CME Group report reveals that ETH/BTC exhibits almost zero correlation with changes in interest rates, gold futures, and crude oil. However, it is significantly influenced by factors such as the strength of the U.S. dollar, changes in bitcoin market supply, and the performance of tech company stocks. The research states that ETH is more vulnerable to USD, and the ETH/BTC pair is more influenced by changes in BTC supply than ETH. Simultaneously, ETH often grows relative to BTC on days when tech company stocks increase in value.
According to CME Group economists' predictions: 1) ETH/BTC will follow the price dynamics of bitcoin. This is due to the fact that ETH strongly correlates with BTC, yet it's more volatile than bitcoin. 2) Increased demand for BTC due to geopolitical factors will also strengthen ETH. 3) ETH will strengthen ahead of the bitcoin halving in 2024, assuming BTC's price increases. However, the analysts noted that the growth in demand for crypto assets, which was very strong during the first eight years of bitcoin's existence, has noticeably slowed down in the past five years. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the halving will lead to a price increase for both BTC and ETH.

– A survey conducted on the financial platform Finder has given insights into the future prospects of Ethereum. Industry experts who took part in the survey predict that Ethereum (ETH) will reach an average value of $2,400 by the end of 2023. Furthermore, they estimate that Ethereum's price will escalate to $5,845 by the end of 2025, and by 2030 it will rise to $16,414. It's important to highlight that 56% of these experts believe the present time is the most favourable for purchasing ETH. Approximately 41% recommend holding onto the cryptocurrency, while a meagre 4% suggest selling it.
 

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Robert Kennedy Jr., a U.S. presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, advocates for the support of the U.S. dollar using hard assets such as gold, silver, platinum, and bitcoin. The politician believes that this move could stabilize the economy, curb inflation, and usher in a new era of financial stability and prosperity in America.
Market strategist Todd "Bubba" Horwitz responded to Robert Kennedy Jr.'s inclusion of bitcoin in the basket of hard assets. According to him, this will enable bitcoin to reach a price of $35,000, and then $40,000, within the next six months. Horwitz highly praised the growing recognition of BTC by regulatory bodies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which will also contribute to the growth of the leading cryptocurrency.

– The implementation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) worldwide varies significantly: projects are divided into retail ones, intended for citizen use, and so-called wholesale ones, geared towards interbank transfers and large businesses. Currently, 125 central banks are working on launching national CBDCs, but only three countries, Nigeria, the Bahamas, and Jamaica, have already put their CBDCs into full operation. Meanwhile, Ecuador and Haiti have abandoned this idea due to the high cost of the projects and low demand from the population. Ecuador launched its project as early as 2014 but withdrew it as the number of users did not exceed 3% of the country's population.
Even a number of senators resist the development of a digital dollar in the U.S. In a pre-emptive move, the governors of Texas and Miami banned its circulation within their states in May of this year.

– Bloomberg Senior Analyst Eric Balchunas believes that the approval of applications to launch spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. will open up the bitcoin market to $30 trillion in capital. According to forecasts by analytics firm Fundstrat, the launch of a bitcoin ETF could increase daily demand for bitcoin by $100 million. In this case, even before the halving scheduled for April 2024, the price of BTC could rise by 521% from current levels and reach up to $180,000.

– Craig Steven Wright, an Australian computer scientist and businessman, has claimed since 2016 that he invented bitcoin. He filed a lawsuit against 13 BTC developers and several crypto companies, including Blockstream, Coinbase, and Block, alleging they infringe his copyright to the first cryptocurrency.
However, Wright lost the copyright lawsuit in February. The court deemed his arguments insufficient. Now, a UK court has satisfied an appeal that has granted Wright the right to claim copyright over bitcoin.
Whether Wright truly created bitcoin and hid under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto will be determined by the court during a trial in January 2024. "Copyright protection issues will be resolved during a full court hearing, but only if Dr. Wright demonstrates that he is Satoshi Nakamoto," the court statement said. Meanwhile, Wright's lawyers stated that he is "pleased" with the outcome of the case and acknowledged his high chances of winning.

– Experts at SlowMist reported the discovery of a phishing program in the App Store aimed at stealing user data and cryptocurrencies. It mimics legitimate applications and thereby ends up on the user's device. The victim is then asked to enter their Apple ID password. Once they have this information, the malicious actors add their phone numbers to the trusted list for Apple's two-factor authentication. This allows them to control account permissions and gain full access to its contents. To mask their activity, the hackers create additional Apple IDs and use the victim's resources through the family account access feature. 

– Just like on traditional markets, changes in investor sentiment on the crypto market follow certain patterns. Considering the so-called "Wall Street Cheat Sheet," which describes the psychology of market cycles and the corresponding emotions of traders, after passing through the pessimistic phases of "panic," "capitulation," and "depression," bitcoin is moving towards the "hope" stage.
According to analyst CryptoYoddha's chart, the cryptocurrency is currently going through the "disbelief" or "sucker's rally" stage. The next step is the "hope" of price recovery, potentially to $50,000 and above by the end of 2023. The upward movement will correspond to the passage through the stages of "optimism," "belief," "thrill," and finally, "euphoria."

– An analyst known as Trader Tardigrade believes that bitcoin is replicating the same price structure as it did in the period from 2013 to 2018, when it followed the pattern of transitioning from the "previous peak" to the "top-1", which preceded "top-2" and the "retest" (the stage at which bitcoin currently stands). If this model holds true, the next step would be a price "boom" which could lead to bitcoin rising to $400,000 by 2026.

– According to another expert, Stockmoney Lizards, bitcoin has just emerged from its third historical cycle, during which it reached an all-time high of $68,900, and has entered its fourth price cycle. The culmination of this cycle could be a new record between $150,000 and $200,000 in Q2 or Q3 of 2025.

– Cody Buffington, the host of the Altcoin Buzz YouTube channel, holds the view that a surge in bitcoin's volatility will occur sooner than everyone anticipates. According to him, the upcoming volatility of the flagship cryptocurrency could rival its growth since January 2023.
Buffington noted that in July, the price of bitcoin oscillated in a narrow range around the $30,000 mark, which served as a kind of test for both bulls and bears. And more often than not, such flat trading occurs before major movements. As proof, he pointed to the Bollinger Bands and a visual display of the indicator, which shows that the bitcoin price chart is in its narrowest state since the start of 2023.

– Ripple recently released a review examining the impact of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry on business and the financial sector. According to the document, more than 90% of global financial leaders believe that blockchain technology will significantly influence business and finance over the next three years, indicating a substantial increase in their confidence in virtual currencies. 79% of business leaders expressed interest and confidence in using cryptocurrencies in their business. When considering various areas of cryptocurrency application, 44% of financiers chose their use for cross-border payments. Moreover, over 76% of company leaders are interested in institutional DeFi as a strategy for implementing innovations.

– According to a survey of 29 analysts conducted by Finder.com, their median forecast is as follows. Experts expect that by the end of the year, BTC will rise to $38,488, while the potential peak of bitcoin in 2023 could reach $42,000. By the end of 2025, according to the averaged opinion of analysts, the coin's price could reach $100,000, and by the end of 2030 - $280,000.
Naturally, individual forecasts of experts varied. Overall, the majority of survey participants (59%) are optimistic about BTC and believe that now is a good time to enter the market, 34% simply advise holding the existing cryptocurrency, and 7% suggest selling it.

– At present, there is a certain hype around the artificial intelligence industry. Experts from the publication Finbold decided to ask Google Bard, a machine learning system, how much the flagship of the crypto market will cost after the long-awaited halving in 2024.
The AI noted that several factors could influence this, but bitcoin is very likely to reach a new all-time high. This will be facilitated not only by halving, but also by a more global implementation of BTC, as well as interest from institutional investors. Speaking of specific figures, Google Bard noted that after the halving, the coin could on a sharp impulse reach the $100,000 mark. On the other hand, Google Bard highlighted factors that could limit the growth of bitcoin. The AI also did not rule out the possibility that the crypto winter may continue in 2024.

– Sam Altman, founder and CEO of OpenAI, which created the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has launched his own cryptocurrency, Worldcoin, based on a blockchain system that uses eye recognition for user authentication and distinguishes between humans and bots. On July 24, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange listed the Worldcoin (WLD) token and preliminary trading began in the newly added spot pairs WLD/BTC and WLD/USDT.
 

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Mike Novogratz, the CEO of blockchain company Galaxy Digital, recommends buying bitcoin, pointing to the rising US national debt. In just the first week of July, the country's debt to creditors has increased by $1 trillion, reaching a total of $32.47 trillion. It is evident that this could destabilize the financial system, lead to another round of inflation, and result in a drop in the dollar's value. "This is madness... Buy bitcoin," Novogratz urged in response to a publication about the escalating debt of the United States.

– However, not everyone, like Mike Novogratz, foresees a bright future for BTC. According to the educational project 99bitcoins, bitcoin has been declared dead 474 times. The published "obituaries" spoke of the "insolvency and uselessness" of the primary cryptocurrency, asserting that the Bitcoin network is a "bubble," an "elaborate Ponzi scheme," and a "cryptocurrency dummy, with no real substantiated value."
Among the authors of these "posthumous messages" in 2023, there were quite a few well-known names in the financial world. These included Chamath Palihapitiya, the founder and CEO of venture company Social Capital; Robin Brooks, the chief economist of the Institute of International Finance (IIF); Harvey Jones from the British news agency Daily Express; Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase; TV host Jim Cramer; and John Reed Stark, a former official of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Vitalik Buterin has recently also criticized bitcoin. In the view of the creator of ethereum, the flagship cryptocurrency lacks scalable second-layer solutions to become more than just a payment network.

– Crypto market experts have drawn the results for Q2 2023. These three months proved to be turbulent, and the industry experienced a series of ups and downs. Most high-capitalization projects displayed negative dynamics during this period, primarily due to ongoing legal disputes between the SEC and major crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase. This had a significant negative impact on many coins in the TOP-100, as the SEC classified them as securities.
However, amidst the turbulence, bitcoin, and some other digital currencies, such as BCH and LTC, demonstrated high performance. According to the CryptoRank report, their success was driven by news related to exchange-traded funds and institutional listings. Bitcoin, in particular, delivered an impressive return that outperformed traditional financial instruments, overshadowing the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes, as well as gold and silver, in the first half of 2023.
Undoubtedly, one of the most significant events was the application for a spot bitcoin ETF by BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. This event particularly benefited BTC, which reached a new high for 2023. BlackRock's initiative started a chain of events where numerous asset managers also began either renewing or submitting new applications for spot bitcoin ETFs. It is important to note that the SEC has previously rejected all such applications. In this case, a final decision on BlackRock's application is expected no earlier than the middle of Q3 2023 and no later than mid-March 2024, just a month before the next BTC halving.

– The crypto market traditionally experiences a lull during the summer. Admittedly, trading volumes increased in June thanks to spot bitcoin ETF applications from BlackRock and other companies, but overall, Q2 witnessed a decrease in trading activity. According to CryptoRank, crypto exchanges recorded a decline in trading volume in Q2, reaching the lowest level in the last two years.

– The bitcoin halving in 2024 is tentatively set to take place on April 12. It has the potential to exert a fundamental influence on both the price of BTC and the overall cryptocurrency market, as it is a crucial mechanism in the primary cryptocurrency's protocol. Every 210,000 blocks, or once every four years, it halves the reward that miners receive for mining a block. This is done to create a deflationary environment and to support the value of BTC by reducing the rate of new coin issuance. (The total emission size is set at 21 million coins.)
Originally, from 2009, miners received 50 BTC for each generated block. In 2012, the reward decreased to 25 BTC, in 2016 – to 12.5 BTC, and after 2020 – to 6.25 BTC. When the 2024 halving occurs, the mining reward will be reduced to 3.125 coins.
Historical data suggest that after this event, the bitcoin exchange rate may once again sharply increase. After the 2012 halving, the BTC price rose from $11 in November 2012 to $1,100 in November 2013. Following the 2016 halving, the price increased from $640 in July to $20,000 in December 2017. The 2020 halving enabled the coin's price to rise from $9,000 in May 2020 to a peak of $69,000 in November 2021. However, despite this statistic, experts warn that past results do not guarantee their repetition in the future.

– After the 2024 halving and the halving of the reward for a mined block, miners will have to adapt to a new reality. They will need to acquire more powerful and energy-efficient equipment or upgrade their existing ones. According to forecasts, many small companies will most likely leave the market or be acquired by larger players. As a result, we should expect the mining market to become centralized, falling under the control of a few large pools. This would make the network more susceptible to manipulations and hacking attacks. However, a sharp increase in the price of bitcoin could at least partially offset these negative factors.

– Analysts asked ChatGPT to talk about some potential events that could have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market. The Artificial Intelligence's response was as follows:
1. Regulation: Legislative or regulatory changes in key countries can greatly affect the cryptocurrency market. If important jurisdictions adopt laws that severely limit the use or trade of cryptocurrencies, it could strongly affect their prices and accessibility.
2. Large-scale hacking attacks: If large-scale hacking attacks occur on major cryptocurrency exchanges or wallets, it could cause panic in the market and lead to significant losses.
3.Technological breakthroughs: New technologies or improvements in blockchain and cryptocurrencies can also have a significant impact. This can include new consensus protocols, improved scalability, or enhanced privacy protection methods.
4. Large companies' investments: If major companies like Apple, Google, or Amazon start actively investing in cryptocurrencies or integrating them into their services, it could significantly increase the value of cryptocurrencies and overall interest in them.
5. Global economic events: Cryptocurrencies are often considered a "safe haven" during economic instability. So global economic crises or significant changes in inflation, interest rates, or currency exchange rates could also influence the crypto market.

– The former CEO of BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, Arthur Hayes, has speculated that bitcoin might become the ideal currency for artificial intelligence (AI) systems. In his opinion, digital gold is superior to other assets in this respect, as it possesses characteristics such as decentralization, resistance to censorship, proven deficit, and dependence of intrinsic value on energy costs. "There is nothing today that can compare to bitcoin in these parameters," wrote Hayes.
He believes that in the future, investors may reevaluate the first cryptocurrency due to its "adoption" by artificial intelligence. According to Hayes, this will occur due to a desire to "avoid inflation in the fiat financial system" and to "capture part of the next phase of human and computer evolution." The former CEO of BitMEX added that by 2025-2026, the AI economy will account for up to 50% of global GDP, against which backdrop bitcoin will reach $760,000.
 

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– As of the end of June, the primary cryptocurrency holdings belonging to Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the nephew of the 35th US president and a current electoral candidate, reached $250,000. This was revealed by a financial report discovered by CNBC. Kennedy's representatives confirmed that the funds are personally his.
Interestingly, during the Bitcoin-2023 conference, this presidential candidate called digital assets "a symbol of democracy and freedom," yet denied his investments in cryptocurrency. "I'm not an investor, and I'm not here to give investment advice," stated this electoral race participant at the time.

– Standard Chartered bank specialists predicted in April that bitcoin would reach $100,000 by the end of 2024. The figures from the July forecast look slightly higher. According to analysts, the price of bitcoin could exceed $50,000 this year, and by the end of next year, it might reach $120,000. "Increased miner profitability per mined BTC means they can sell less, preserving the inflow of funds, which reduces the net supply of the asset and leads to a price increase," explained Geoff Kendrick, the bank's analyst.

– The involvement of major investment firms in the race to launch spot bitcoin ETFs suggests that the leading cryptocurrency is no longer a "passing fad," stated Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO of Grayscale Investments. According to him, market participants are "responding positively to the inclusion of traditional financial institutions in bitcoin." "Recent news [...] underscores the resilience of this asset class in a broader sense, and many investors view [digital gold] as a unique investment opportunity," Sonnenshein added.

– Meta's new network Threads, often referred to as a Twitter clone, was launched on July 5. The user base of the new platform is approaching 100 million, largely due to Instagram users, though it is still far from matching Twitter's 450 million users.
It was previously reported that in the spring, eight popular cryptocurrency accounts on Twitter were hacked, resulting in the hackers acquiring nearly $1 million. It now seems that fraudsters have also turned their attention to the new network. Developers from the decentralized finance platform Wombex Finance reported the appearance of a counterfeit duplicate account on Threads, suggesting that extortionists may be operating there. Leonidas, one of the popular NFT bloggers, reported a similar case.

– Michael Van De Poppe, the founder of venture company Eight, believes that bitcoin is preparing for a surge to $41,000. The popular analyst bases his opinion on the recent rise in the price of the leading cryptocurrency and Fibonacci levels. According to him, "the previous annual high for BTC was overcome in April. And now we are seeing increasingly higher highs, as traders build upward momentum and positions." "To continue the upward trend that we call a bull cycle, bitcoin needs to reach a new and clearer high," explains Michael Van De Poppe. "There are several points that can help determine the potential for further growth using Fibonacci levels. And right now, I would say we're facing a rally up to $41,000."
"There are two scenarios - growth above the current high, followed by some consolidation and retracement before a new rise. Or consolidation at current levels, followed by accelerated growth over the next few months. For bitcoin, this is pretty standard behaviour. And then we'll move towards $41,000 or even $42,500," predicts the analyst.

– Robert Kiyosaki, an economist and the author of the well-known book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," has made another bold statement. He asserts that by 2024, bitcoin will reach a value of $120,000 per coin. Kiyosaki bases his forecast on the belief that BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will soon adopt the gold standard and release their own gold-backed cryptocurrency. This could undermine the dominance of the US dollar in the global economy and lead to its devaluation. He also warns that many traditional financial institutions may go bankrupt in the near future due to their imprudent decisions and corruption.
In light of this, Kiyosaki recommends protecting one's funds from inflation by purchasing physical and digital gold. He also believes that bitcoin is one of the best ways not only to preserve but also to increase capital amid the instability of the financial system.
(For reference: On July 11, the Russian Parliament passed a law establishing legal norms for the introduction of the digital rouble.)

– Markus Thielen, Head of Research at crypto financial service Matrixport, forecasts a similar figure, albeit not at the start but by the end of 2024. He stated in an interview with CoinDesk that the quotations of the premier cryptocurrency could exceed the $125,000 mark by the end of next year. "On June 22, bitcoin reached a new annual high. Historically, this signal indicated the end of bearish and the beginning of bullish markets," he explained.
According to Thielen, the price of bitcoin could skyrocket by 123% over 12 months and by 310% over a year and a half. With such growth, the asset's price would rise to $65,539 and $125,731 respectively. The expert's forecast is based on the average returns of similar signals in the past: in August 2012, December 2015, May 2019, and August 2020. Thielen deliberately ignores the first case with a growth of 5,285% over 18 months, describing it as "epic" and "disproportional."

– Guy Turner, the host of the popular cryptocurrency channel Coin Bureau on YouTube, believes that in the medium term, there are two factors in favor of a massive growth of ethereum. The main one is the EIP-4844 update, which is expected to introduce a preliminary sharding (segmentation) mechanism for the network of the main altcoin. This update will be extremely important as it could, theoretically, give Ethereum the ability to scale on par with centralized systems.
The show host also noted that the issue of privacy remains very important. According to him, the developers of the second-largest cryptocurrency remain extremely concerned about this issue. "The huge focus on privacy and security is not surprising if you think about institutional investors. For them, it's a cornerstone," Turner highlighted. He recalled that Vitalik Buterin has raised this issue repeatedly, calling it "one of the three problems that need to be solved, otherwise ethereum will collapse.".

– Analyst and trader Michael Pizzino believes that a fall in the US dollar could lead to price increases for cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, SOL, MATIC, XRP, Gala, and Render. In his opinion, the dollar is ready for a sharp devaluation. However, the expert does not consider an apocalyptic scenario of the collapse of the main global currency, since the dynamics of its exchange rate are slower than for other classes of financial assets.
Still, Pizzino predicts a steady downward trend for USD in the foreseeable period and a redistribution of funds in favor of digital assets. The macrographic chart suggests their upward trend, and considering the correlation between USD and BTC, a decline in the former could contribute to an increase in the value of the latter, which would then be followed by an increase in the value of other crypto assets. 

– Lightning Labs, a company specializing in software development, has unveiled its latest product: a plugin for ChatGPT that allows sending Bitcoin payments. Lightning Labs also presented a set of tools for developers that allow AI models like GPT to carry out bitcoin transactions on the Lightning Network. This step aims to bring AI technologies closer to the world of cryptocurrency, paves the way for new innovations, and promotes the development of this field.
 

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Numerous Twitter users, including many cryptocurrency traders and investors, have voiced complaints against Elon Musk. The discontent was tied to the billionaire and new owner of the social network implementing a series of restrictions. Starting from July 1, 2023, verified users are able to view up to 6,000 posts per day, while unverified users are limited to only 600. At the same time, this limit is further reduced to 300 posts for new accounts.
According to several experts, these new restrictions may have a negative impact on the crypto market. Many industry participants have been receiving a large amount of important information via Twitter. However, it has now become significantly more difficult to obtain current data and news.
Musk himself assured that this measure is temporary and is necessary in order to reduce the load on the system's internal servers. He said that the limits will later increase to 8,000, 800, and 400 posts, respectively.

– The rapid fall in the price of the leading cryptocurrency is only a matter of time. This was asserted by the president of Euro Pacific Capital, "gold bug" Peter Schiff, adding that he had underestimated the "bubble potential of Bitcoin." In his view, most investors do not believe in the first cryptocurrency, they merely hope that someone will buy it at a high price.
The businessman believes that stories about people losing money on cryptocurrency will overshadow those about people getting rich from it. "The peak we saw in 2021, around $70,000, that's it, and ultimately bitcoin will burst," he predicted.

– "The adoption of spot bitcoin ETFs is a major event for the crypto industry," stated Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy. "It's an important milestone on the path to institutional acceptance. I believe it's important, but I don't think bitcoin will rise overnight to $5 million."
"The approval of spot bitcoin ETF applications will make investors realize that the first cryptocurrency is a legitimate asset," the billionaire explained. "If the SEC approves applications for this asset, a user can press a button and purchase $10 million of BTC within 30 seconds." (The SEC is currently reviewing several applications for the launch of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. However, the Commission maintains that these applications are not sufficiently clear and comprehensive.)
For reference: MicroStrategy additionally purchased 12,333 BTC amounting to a total of $347 million between April 29 and June 27. Saylor's company now owns a total of 152,333 BTC, valued at over $4.6 billion, which were acquired at an average rate of $29,668.

– A survey revealed that 92% of Earth's inhabitants have heard of cryptocurrencies at least once. The study involved 15,158 individuals aged between 18 and 65 years from 15 countries across America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
37% of the respondents consider this asset class as part of the monetary system. However, only 15% of Britons and 17% of Germans agree with this statement. Nigerians (65%) and Argentinians (56%) are the most interested in holding digital assets, seeing them as an effective means of preserving value. Analysts attributed this to the instability of local financial systems and state currencies. 26% of those surveyed consider crypto assets to be a scam. Primarily, Americans and Britons associate cryptocurrencies with fraudulent schemes.

– Most cryptocurrency exchanges do not allow minors to trade digital assets, but parents can open accounts on their behalf and allow them to participate in trading. Youth readily engage in this activity, and there are numerous stories of children investing in Bitcoin since its inception. For instance, Erik F. received $1,000 to invest in BTC when he was 12 years old, and by the time he turned 18, he had become a millionaire thanks to it.
According to data published last year by the platform Gohenry, 1.33 million children in the UK invested money in cryptocurrency. Moreover, a study titled "Parents, Kids, and Money," conducted by T. Rowe Price, showed that 57% of children aged 8-14 are familiar with digital currencies. They are better informed about cryptocurrencies than their parents, with only 47% of parents familiar with the technology - 10% less than their kids.

– Market participants should exercise more caution when trading cryptocurrency, warned CoinDesk researchers. The fact is that starting from Q4 2022, global fiat liquidity indicators have been rapidly declining, and the rise in BTC quotes in such conditions is an anomaly. The BTC rate hit a local price bottom of $15,500 in November last year and has since doubled in price to $31,000. Moreover, just since June 15, its value has spiked by over 20%. This occurred against the backdrop of news that major companies had once again submitted applications for the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
According to Lewis Harland, portfolio manager at Decentral Park Capital, the situation remains complex. He confirmed that lately, tracked fiat indicators, such as the Fed's net liquidity and global net liquidity level, have significantly dropped. "This is the main reason why we are cautious about BTC, despite the market's optimistic consensus. We think that investors are overlooking this," Harland added.
The global net liquidity indicator, which takes into account the supply of fiat in several major countries, has decreased to $26.5 trillion - the lowest level since November 2022. Such data was provided by the platforms TradingView and Decentral Park Capital. 

– Crypto strategist and trader known as Bluntz, who accurately pinpointed the bottom of bitcoin's bear market in 2018, believes that ethereum is showing all the signs of a powerful rally that could occur in the coming months. According to his words, the remaining part of 2023 may set ethereum on parabolic growth, allowing the leading smart contract platform to significantly outperform BTC.
Bluntz is considered an experienced practitioner of technical analysis and, in particular, Elliott Wave Theory, which allows forecasting price behaviour following the psychology of the crowd that tends to manifest in waves.
According to this theory, a bullish asset shows a five-wave rally, with the third wave signalling the steepest rise. Bluntz suggests that ethereum is already in the early stages of the third wave's surge, which could lead to ETH approaching $4,000 by the end of 2023.

– Crypto trader Altcoin Sherpa is confident that the leading cryptocurrency may rise to $32,000 first and then to the new 2023 high of $40,000. However, he's not certain about the latter. This should be followed by a significant downward correction.
Addressing the ETH/BTC pair, Altcoin Sherpa noted that ethereum is likely to fall relative to the flagship crypto asset and target the minimum range around 0.053 BTC, or $1,614.

– Well-known crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen made a forecast about the likely price trajectory of Bitcoin and altcoins. In his opinion, compared to current levels, bitcoin could grow approximately by 14% and reach a maximum of $35,000 in 2023. "In the short term, it's really hard to say whether bitcoin can rise a bit again. For myself, I set a target of $35,000," the expert said.
Cowen also talked about what will happen to other coins if the BTC price does reach this goal. He believes this will be insignificant news for the altcoin market, as it will most likely continue to crash in pairs with Bitcoin. "Upon reaching $35,000, Bitcoin at some point must go down," argues Cowen. "I think it will have to repeat some of these movements, as usually happens in the year preceding the halving. And at this point, the altcoin market will drop a little bit more, and the dominance of Bitcoin will continue to grow. Liquidity is drying up, so people see relative safety in Bitcoin compared to the altcoin market. But this does not mean that Bitcoin cannot fall, it means that it is somewhat safer."

– Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel reported that the global financial market is demonstrating a decrease in correlation between two assets that investors traditionally view as effective hedges against market volatility. While the price of Bitcoin is showing explosive growth, the price of gold is gradually decreasing. Fred Thiel suggested that this not only indicates a shift in priorities in favor of digital assets but also demonstrates the widening accessibility of bitcoin to a broader circle of investors.
In April, analytical company Kaiko cited data on the correlation between BTC and XAU within 50%. At the time, according to Kaiko analyst Dessislava Aubert, this represented the strongest link between the two assets in more than a year.

– According to technical analysis data, the main cryptocurrency's rate on the BTC/USD chart may form a new "bullish flag". This opinion was expressed by experts from Fairlead Strategies. "Bitcoin is digesting its gains during the consolidation phase," they said. "A new bullish flag might be forming, which will emerge when breaking above the weekly Ichimoku cloud around $31,900."
The experts explained that this figure consists of a pole and a flag. According to them, its pole represents the initial price rally, and the flag represents the subsequent consolidation, caused by a "temporary exhaustion of bullish sentiments" and the absence of strong pressure from sellers. According to the theory of technical analysis, once an asset breaks the price above the contour of the flag, it tends to grow by an amount approximately equal to the length of the pole.
In the case of bitcoin, the upward movement from the June 15, 2023, low at $24,790 to the June 23 high at $31,388 represents the pole, and the subsequent consolidation formed the flag. According to analysts, a potential BTC breakout will allow the cryptocurrency's cost to reach the next key resistance level at $35,900.

– Venture capitalist Tim Draper has revised the timeframe within which the price of the main cryptocurrency is supposed to grow to $250,000. "I think we'll have to wait a little longer," the billionaire wrote, adding that his forecast will come true by the end of June 2025 with a 100% probability.
Draper had previously predicted that the price of bitcoin would reach $250,000 by the end of 2022. When his forecast didn't come true, he extended the timeline for its realization by another six months to mid-2023. Now he has made a new "correction", adding that the BTC price will exceed his assumptions due to the adoption of cryptocurrency by women.
However, Draper expressed concern about the regulation of digital assets. "Law enforcement regulation is killing our economy," he wrote on June 20. "I think we have a real problem because the SEC is sowing fear, and all innovators are leaving the country... This forced regulation doesn't make sense."
 

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of the 35th President of the United States and participant in the current election race, outlined his plans regarding bitcoin and financial independence of citizens in an interview with The New York Post.
The candidate promised to make decisions that "support bitcoin and transaction freedom, allowing people to manage their own wallets." He clarified that he would create a relaxed regulatory environment in the U.S., which would incorporate "strict control to prevent money laundering." Kennedy also voiced opposition to a digital dollar. "I oppose central bank digital currencies because they are tools of control and oppression, and they are likely to be abused," explained the politician.
He also identified the search for ways to globally regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies as a significant challenge. Citing remarks by Elon Musk, he noted that "AI will first take away jobs, then it will kill us."
For reference: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an American environmental lawyer, radio host, and writer known for his anti-vaccination advocacy and conspiracy theories.

– Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital, a gold enthusiast, and a fervent critic of bitcoin, claimed that there is "nothing lower quality than cryptocurrencies." "Until recently, the rally in highly speculative assets had excluded Bitcoin. Now that it has finally joined the party, it is likely to end soon," he wrote. According to Schiff, such rallies usually end when the "lowest quality things," such as digital assets, finally join them.
Recall that in March, the President of Euro Pacific Capital urged the sale of the leading cryptocurrency and buying gold amidst the issues with Silvergate Bank.

– Cameron Winklevoss, one of the founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, announced on Twitter that both institutional and retail investors have begun purchasing bitcoin. Notably, according to him, institutions are extremely interested in buying Bitcoin ahead of the approval of spot ETFs.
It's worth noting that the investment giant BlackRock recently filed an application to launch a spot Bitcoin trust, intended to simplify institutional access to the crypto market. Another investment behemoth, Invesco, which manages assets worth $1.4 trillion, has applied to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF. (MicroStrategy believes such an ETF could absorb trillions of dollars).
"The window to buy bitcoin in advance is closing. Bitcoin was the most obvious and profitable investment of the last decade. But it will remain just as beneficial in this decade!", claimed Cameron Winklevoss. Hugh Hendry, the manager of the hedge fund Eclectica Asset Management, agrees with him, suggesting that bitcoin could triple its capitalization in the medium term.

– Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise, stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the cryptocurrency market has shown incredible resilience in the face of constantly increasing regulatory pressure. The recent application by BlackRock, the largest asset management company, to launch a Bitcoin spot ETF is just one of the reasons for a new bull cycle.
"In fact, bitcoin has been gradually rising since November of last year when FTX collapsed. Meaning, cryptocurrencies grew despite all the growing anxiety. Now we have BlackRock, who has raised the flag and declared that BTC matters. That it's asset institutional investors want to invest in. I believe we've entered a new era of cryptocurrency, which I call 'prime,' and expect a multi-year bull trend that's only just beginning," argues the businessman.
The CEO of Bitwise predicts that not only cryptocurrencies will flourish, but also companies working in this industry. The businessman is expecting a multitude of new crypto firms to enter the stock market, as well as companies with large cryptocurrency reserves.
As early as 2021, Matt Hougan said that the futures-based cryptocurrency ETFs, which exist in the US market, are not particularly suitable for long-term investors due to their high ancillary costs. Only when spot exchange-traded funds for bitcoin emerge will institutional investors begin substantial capital injections.

– Popular bitcoin maximalist and advisor to the President of El Salvador, Max Keiser, believes that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has sufficient technical and political tools to assign XRP and ETH the status of a security, which would ultimately kill these altcoins. "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) works for the banking cartel, racketeering on behalf of financial structures," Keiser wrote in his blog.
The crypto enthusiast thinks that the mere fact of XRP and ETH's fate being in the hands of regulatory bodies already suggests that these assets are too centralized and incapable of surviving without losses in the lawless and conflict-ridden environment where the SEC operates. Some opponents of the SEC argue that computer code, by definition, cannot be a security. However, Max Keiser considers this a weak and dead-end argument since the functionality and purpose of the crypto asset will play a significant role in its classification.
Recall that the Commission classified Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Coti (COTI), Algorand (ALGO), Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos (ATOM), Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), and Decentraland (MANA) as securities. The crypto community practically did not react to this regulator's statement. Moreover, several cryptocurrency platforms took the SEC's statement as guidance for action and delisted to avoid possible claims.

– The next bitcoin halving, which is expected to occur in April 2024, will reduce miners' rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. According to an analyst operating under the pseudonym InvestAnswers, such a reduction in supply from miners could catalyse a significant bullish surge.
The expert believes that further institutional adoption, including BackRock's application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, will also increase demand for the asset and further reduce supply. Apart from BlackRock, Fidelity, Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole, Citadel, and Invesco have also shown activity in the crypto market. Together, they manage assets totalling $27 trillion. And bitcoin's market cap is just a little more than $0.5 trillion. Only a tiny part of this half-trillion is being traded in the market. This implies that "demand for Bitcoins is growing, and the supply is drying up. And that means the price is rising," explained InvestAnswers. 

– The main altcoin has secured its position above the key $1850 mark, and a number of analysts believe that ethereum has the potential to realize bullish momentum in the near term. For example, popular expert Ali Martinez points out that ETH may face serious resistance near the $2,000-2,060 zone, as over 832,000 addresses previously opened sales in this range. However, if ethereum overcomes this zone, it has every chance of reaching $2,330 on a sharp impulse. And in perspective, a path opens for further growth up to $2,750.
On the other hand, specialists at Santiment believe that the altcoin is currently unstable. This is due to a significant battle between buyers and sellers near the $1,900 region. However, the overall supply of ethereum on centralized platforms has decreased by 9.2%. In theory, this could provide additional support to the main altcoin.

– Futures contracts for ethereum and bitcoin will expire on Friday, June 30. According to AmberDate, more than 150 thousand BTC options will be liquidated by this deadline on the Deribit Exchange, amounting to approximately $4.57 billion. Another $2.3 billion will be allocated to ETH contracts. Experts from CoinGape believe that this could be a trigger for a serious increase in volatility in July and provide significant support to these assets. However, a lot will also depend on the macroeconomic statistics coming from the U.S.

– Morgan Creek Capital's founder and CTO, Mark Yusko, believes that bitcoin and the crypto markets have entered a bullish trajectory. In his opinion, this trend may last up until the next halving. "I think the rally is just starting. We've just entered the so-called crypto-summer season," the specialist wrote. However, he warned that a speculative explosion caused by halving is usually followed by an excessive reaction in the opposite direction, known as a crypto winter.
According to the head of Morgan Creek Capital, bitcoin is digital gold, and it is ready to replace what physical gold has done for 5,000 years. As for ethereum, Yusko thinks of it as a substitute for fiat currency.

– Ten years ago, Davinci Jeremie posted a video on YouTube in which he strongly recommended his viewers spend at least one dollar on Bitcoin, and explained why BTC would grow in the coming years. At that time, this forecast from Jeremie either angered or amused most investors who did not want to heed the recommendation. Now, they bitterly regret it - the $1 invested at that time could have bought more than 1,000 BTC, which today are valued at $30 million.
 Jeremie noted in a recent interview that bitcoin should be bought even now. According to him, only 2 percent of the world's population owns cryptocurrency, so it still has time to please its investors with new records. "However, there is also one problem here," says Jeremie. "Everyone wants to have a whole Bitcoin. No one wants to go to the store and say, 'Can I get one trillionth of an apple'. So even though Bitcoin is divisible, this property is essentially its Achilles heel. The solution to the problem is to make the display of small parts of BTC more comprehensible. For example, do not write amounts like 0.00001 BTC, but replace them with an equal number of Satoshi, that is, the smallest indivisible particle of 1 bitcoin worth 0.00000001 BTC."
 

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Bitcoin experienced an unexpected surge from June 15 to 21, smashing through resistance levels of $25,000 and $26,500, and ultimately peaking at $29,000. This represents an impressive six-day growth of approximately 17%. Following in the footsteps of this leading cryptocurrency, altcoins also witnessed similar uptrends. For instance, Ethereum recorded a roughly 12% appreciation.
This notable ascent cannot be attributed to a single catalyst. Rather, bitcoin's rise coincided with a sequence of positive developments within the industry. Investment heavyweight BlackRock submitted a proposal for a spot bitcoin trust, aimed at streamlining institutional entrance into the crypto market. Deutsche Bank, one of Germany's most formidable financial conglomerates, declared its foray into the digital asset sector, taking on cryptocurrency storage duties. Wall Street powerhouses, Citadel and Fidelity, joined forces to launch a decentralized crypto exchange named EDX Markets on June 20th. Invesco, another investment juggernaut, overseeing $1.4 trillion in assets, has lodged an application to roll out a spot Bitcoin ETF. MicroStrategy has even speculated that such a spot Bitcoin ETF could absorb trillions of dollars. One additional factor potentially fuelling bitcoin's rise could be the minting of a fresh batch of Tether stablecoins (USDT).

– It's worth noting that the surge of the flagship cryptocurrency occurred despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) crackdown on the digital market. Recall that the SEC previously filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing the platforms of selling unregistered assets. In court documents, the SEC classified more than a dozen tokens as securities. Experts believe that a victory for the regulator could lead to the delisting of these coins and limit the potential development of their blockchains. In total, over 60 coins have already made it onto the regulator's blacklist.
Preston Pysh, a popular author on investment books, believes that this regulatory pressure was part of a planned campaign. The goal being to give major players the opportunity to enter the digital asset market under favourable conditions. He substantiated his perspective with the daring moves made by Wall Street giants, as previously mentioned.

– TV host and billionaire Mark Cuban and former SEC executive John Reed Stark discussed the ongoing crackdown on the crypto industry. Stark believes the SEC's actions are necessary. According to him, the regulator is trying to protect investors from potential fraud and scams in this sector. He's also convinced that the SEC's actions will ultimately benefit the industry, by weeding out dishonest participants and increasing transparency.
As for Mark Cuban, he drew a comparison to the early days of the internet. In the billionaire's view, "90% of blockchain companies will fail. 99% of tokens will fail. Just like 99% of early internet companies."

– El Salvador could potentially clear its debts through bitcoin and geothermal cryptocurrency mining. This viewpoint was expressed by Max Keiser, the CEO of Volcano Energy. The former trader and television host moved to El Salvador in 2022 and now serves as an advisor to President Nayib Bukele. Keiser asserts that, owing to its legal framework regarding cryptocurrency and energy resources, El Salvador could become a global centre for bitcoin mining. This could create new jobs, boost the country's GDP, and enable it to settle its debts with creditors.
As for Volcano Energy itself, Keiser believes that the company's market capitalization will grow to $50 billion, exceeding El Salvador's GDP, which is estimated at $29 billion. According to him, this growth will be driven by bitcoin's price rising to $1 million per coin.

– Author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," Robert Kiyosaki, is convinced that the crisis in the banking sector is far from over. Last week, he warned of an impending crash in the real estate sector. According to the expert, California-based mortgage lender LoanDepot is already on the brink of bankruptcy, and the looming real estate market crash could likely be far worse than the 2008 crisis. In light of this situation, Kiyosaki once again advised his followers to prepare for disaster by accumulating precious metals and bitcoin.

– Galaxy Digital's CEO, Mike Novogratz, has compared the recent crypto crash to the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis of 2008-2009. The billionaire believes that the industry needs to be legalized. In that case, it will become transparent, and regulators will be able to ensure investor safety. As it stands, regulators lack sufficient levers to control the movement of funds in digital currencies. Novogratz made these remarks at a summit organized by Bloomberg.
The CEO of Galaxy Digital also believes that in the fight against inflation, demand for alternative instruments will intensify, one of which is bitcoin. He foresees that the price of bitcoin will reach $500,000 in the long term.

– Placeholder venture partner Chris Burniske is known for accurately predicting the crypto bottom in 2022. He also noted that cryptocurrencies often surge when the Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) takes a breather. A cooling down in stocks triggers a capital flow into riskier assets, prompting a bullish rally for BTC.
In this context, Burniske referenced data from Glassnode founders Jan Happel and Yann Allemann. According to their observations, starting from 2019, bitcoin has shown strong growth whenever the NDX showed signs of bullish exhaustion. Currently, bitcoin is just a few steps away from outperforming the NDX again, as the index is nearing its local peak.  

– Popular investor and founder of venture firm Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, believes that the market situation makes the realization of negative BTC forecasts impossible, particularly those predicting a drop in cryptocurrency to $12,000. In his opinion, investors should now be "filling their pockets" in anticipation of further growth.

– BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes believes that U.S. authorities are not only hindering the development of the blockchain industry but are also creating conditions for it to shift to China. Last week, he published an article criticizing the U.S. crackdown on the industry. In his article, Hayes emphasized that China is more flexible than the U.S. and allows investors to enter the crypto sphere through platforms registered in Hong Kong. This metropolis is beginning to accumulate significant capital, which positively affects its financial development. Conversely, the American market is losing appeal, forcing companies and funds to leave.

– Former Coinbase CTO, Balaji Srinivasan, has issued a stark warning. He believes that since Apple, Microsoft, and Google have access to all user data on their devices, including private wallet keys, they could assist authorities in confiscating cryptocurrency from its owners if required. He argues that it would only take permission from the governments of G7 countries and China to do this. Srinivasan considers such permission quite possible, as authorities are interested in the development of CBDCs - digital currencies managed by central banks - and the elimination of their competitors in the form of Bitcoin and various altcoins.

– Prominent analyst Benjamin Cowen has warned of a potential fall in Ethereum compared to the leading cryptocurrency. ETH/BTC could plummet by 45% from its current value of 0.066 BTC. "As far as I can tell from the chart," he wrote, "we constantly see lower peaks in ETH/BTC, at least in the short term. However, in the longer term, we see even lower peaks in 2017 (0.036 BTC). And this is where the level of recovery might begin." At the same time, the analyst notes that the likelihood of a "bull rally" in this pair without a downward correction is quite low - first, the "bears" need to complete this movement. "Only then will we be able to assess the prospects for ETH/BTC," Cowen concluded.

– For the first time since 2021, BTC's market dominance has approached 50%. This means that half of the entire market capitalization is attributed to a single asset. The index last rose this high two years ago, in May 2021. The current rise is associated with SEC pressure on altcoins and the application for a spot Bitcoin trust by BlackRock.
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor believes that bitcoin's dominance will reach 80% in the coming years. There are now about 25,000 tokens of varying quality in the market, and this confuses large investors. After the SEC helps remove excess assets, large capital will be more willing to invest in the leading cryptocurrency.

– Cybersecurity analysts have discovered that 95% of users of hacking software for stealing NFTs are schoolchildren. They are responsible for stealing tokens worth $73 million. They then spent these assets on purchasing skins in Roblox, branded items, food delivery, and gambling. According to The Block, high school students do this without fully realizing the crime. They perceive the theft as a game. The peak activity of young criminals occurs during the summer holidays when they have more free time.
 

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CryptoNews of the Week


– American bitcoin exchanges are likely to be required to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as brokers, and all cryptocurrencies will be classified as securities. These conclusions were drawn by strategists at JPMorgan bank. According to experts, such a situation will exert significant pressure on the industry. However, they believe that this approach also has positive aspects, as digital assets will be subject to the same legislation as traditional ones.
JPMorgan analysts noted that the actions of the SEC highlight the need for U.S. lawmakers to develop a clear regulatory framework. According to them, otherwise, the crypto industry is likely to leave the United States and relocate to other jurisdictions, while venture financing in the sector will decline. The new rules will "rid the industry of bad practices and dishonest players, which, in turn, is necessary for the industry to mature and witness more active institutional participation."
It is worth recalling that earlier, the SEC filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing the platforms of selling unregistered assets. In the court documents, the SEC named over a dozen tokens as securities. According to experts, a regulator's victory could lead to the delisting of these coins and limit the potential development of their blockchains. In total, over 60 coins have already ended up on the regulator's blacklist.

– According to the analytical platform Glassnode, investor behavior has noticeably shifted the distribution of Bitcoin across regions. Experts from the company have reported a significant decline in the share of American players, whose dominance peaked between 2020 and 2021. The downward trend has been observed since the sharp drop in BTC price last year, with the share of Americans decreasing by 11% since mid-2022. During the same period, the share in the Asian region increased by 9.9%.

– Adam Back, the creator of the Hashcash algorithm and CEO of Blockstream, is considered one of the key figures in the field of modern cryptography and the crypto industry. In a recent conversation with Decrypt, this prominent scientist stated that the cryptocurrency market is "anti-fragile." Like water, it flows and, when faced with obstacles, finds alternative paths. Therefore, if any major crypto exchange operating in the United States stops serving its customers due to regulatory pressure, the industry will eventually find a way out. In the event of restrictions on bank transfers in the US, bitcoin traders would simply shift towards opening bank accounts in other jurisdictions in euros or Swiss francs and engage in trading using a different currency.

– Journalists from Bitcoin.com conducted a survey with six popular AI chatbots regarding the potential of Bitcoin becoming a global reserve currency. The experiment involved ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4 from OpenAI, Bard from Google, Claude Instant and Claude 4 from Anthropic, as well as the creative mode of Bing AI.
ChatGPT 3.5 struggled to assess the potential of bitcoin and other digital assets, citing existing "issues and uncertainties." According to its response, the likelihood of achieving reserve currency status depends on "current events and the evolution of the crypto currency ecosystem." However, it noted that its information was based on data available until September 2021.
Bard emphasized the need for wider adoption of bitcoin by central banks and other financial institutions, as well as the improvement of price stability and advancements in blockchain technology. The bot stated, "If bitcoin can overcome these challenges, it could become a global reserve asset within the next decade. However, it is also possible that this may never happen or that it will take much longer to achieve this goal."
Claude Instant, pointing out "significant obstacles" for bitcoin in terms of stability and recognition, considered it unlikely for BTC to become a reserve currency in the next 5-10 years. As for the 10–15-year horizon, Claude 4 estimated the probability of such an event to be in the low to moderate range. ChatGPT 4 also stated that it would take "several years or even decades" for bitcoin to achieve reserve currency status and warned that it "cannot confidently predict the future."
Bing AI took a "creative" approach and listed a range of factors that will determine the future of bitcoin. These factors include widespread adoption of the asset, including by financial institutions, innovation and improvement of technology, scalability and user-friendliness, regulation and legal status management, taxation and compliance with regulatory requirements, and competition and interaction with other crypto assets and fiat currencies.
In summary, it can be said that all six Artificial Intelligences behaved like experienced politicians and did not provide any specific answers to the question posed.

– According to The Wall Street Journal, the actions of hackers associated with North Korea have caused $3 billion in damage to the crypto industry. Half of this amount was reportedly used to finance a program for the development of ballistic nuclear missiles. As per the statement by U.S. authorities, North Korea has formed a "shadow" army of thousands of IT specialists around the world for these purposes. Cybersecurity experts believe that the "arms race" with North Korean hackers has only just begun.

– Peter Brandt, known as the "Mysterious Market Wizard," has been successful in accurately predicting the crypto winter of 2018 and many other market movements in the digital asset space. Now, this legendary trader and analyst has virtually "buried" all coins except bitcoin. "Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that will be able to finish this marathon. All others, including Ethereum, are counterfeits or scams," wrote Brandt.
Many members of the crypto community were puzzled by the fact that a respected analyst placed the second-largest cryptocurrency, ethereum, in the same category as fraudulent projects. In response, Brandt stated, "Silver to BTC's gold is ETH. ETH will likely survive, but the real legacy is BTC."

– Vitalik Buterin, the founder of ethereum, believes that the success of his blockchain depends on three main "transitions" that need to happen almost simultaneously. According to him, the leading altcoin is "failing" without sufficient scaling infrastructure that would make transactions on the network cheaper.
Another factor is related to the transition to smart contract wallets, which has been challenging in terms of user interaction. Moreover, these wallets will need to protect data to fully align with the concept of zero-knowledge (ZK) privacy. The last factor for ethereum's success that Buterin mentioned is privacy. In his opinion, significant improvements in identification systems and the implementation of hidden addresses are necessary.
"Achieving scalability, wallet security, and user privacy is crucial for the future of ethereum. It's not just about technical feasibility but also about practical accessibility for ordinary users," concluded the network's founder.

– Benjamin Cowen, the founder of Into The Cryptoverse, has noted that liquidity in the crypto market has dried up for quite some time, and many people have been blaming the SEC for what is happening. Most of them believe it is the end for the entire industry. According to Cowen, altcoins will face retribution, while Bitcoin dominance will continue to grow.
A similar sentiment was expressed by renowned trader Gareth Soloway, who compared the crypto market to the dot-com bubble. He stated that the collapse that occurred in the early 2000s would repeat itself in this industry. Soloway asserted that the "system needs to be cleansed of garbage" in order to thrive. According to him, 95% of all tokens "will strive toward zero."

– ARK Invest CEO Cathy Wood has doubled down on her bitcoin forecast, stating that the leading cryptocurrency will reach seven-figure values. In an interview with Bloomberg, she reaffirmed her confidence that the $1 million target for BTC will be achieved.
According to Wood, the current global economic environment increases her trust in the flagship crypto asset. "The more uncertainty and volatility in the global economy, the more our confidence grows in Bitcoin, which has been and remains a hedge against inflation," she stated. The head of ARK Invest believes that the greater risk lies not in inflation but in deflation, which she sees looming over the world. In this case, the primary cryptocurrency would act as an antidote against the crisis in the traditional financial system.

– Prominent investor and founder of venture firm Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, has analyzed the market capitalization chart of the crypto market and arrived at discouraging conclusions. According to the analyst, the current situation is not what one would want to see. He noted that a breakthrough below the support of the 200-week moving average (SMA) indicates a continuation of the downward trend.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, conducted a Twitter poll on the importance of the U.S. presidential candidates supporting cryptocurrencies for the upcoming 2024 elections. As of May 29, the poll had garnered participation from 31,200 users. Nearly 84% of the respondents answered "yes," while only 16% voted against it.
It is worth noting that in recent times, some American politicians have increasingly expressed their willingness to foster the development of the crypto industry if elected as president. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida recently stated his opposition to the implementation of a digital dollar and voiced his support for Bitcoin. He criticized the approach of the Joe Biden administration towards crypto assets, believing that overly stringent regulatory measures could stifle the industry's growth in the country.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Democratic Party candidate, is also convinced that Bitcoin can save people from financial collapse. The politician pledged to protect the rights of Bitcoin owners and miners if he becomes president.

– After significant and tumultuous events in the crypto space in 2022 and early 2023, such as the FTX crash in November and numerous other bankruptcies including Celsius, Voyager Digital, and Three Arrows Capital, bitcoin managed to reduce its losses and grow by over 60% since the beginning of this year. Business Insider gathered expert opinions on what could happen to the leading cryptocurrency by the end of 2023.
Charmyn Ho, Head of Analytics at the crypto exchange Bybit, believes that bitcoin won't be able to reach a new all-time high until the macroeconomic environment becomes clearer. This depends on the forecast of a potential recession in the US, Europe, and other major economies due to an inverted yield curve combined with a range of other unfavourable macroeconomic factors such as inflation. Another factor to consider is the halving, although it is expected to occur in April 2024.
According to Jagdeep Sidhu, President of the Syscoin Foundation, despite several crypto storms, the ecosystem's resilience remains evident. The market has recovered from the FTX debacle, showcasing its ability to absorb shocks and evolve. If inflation in the US decreases and there is more regulatory clarity regarding digital assets, bitcoin could reach $38,000 by the end of the year, roughly 40% higher than the current value.
Based on Tim Shan's scenario, Chief Operating Officer of the crypto exchange Dexalot, bitcoin will trade in a range of $25,000 to $32,000 by the end of 2023. However, if inflation remains high, it may return to the lows seen earlier this year.
David Uhryniak, Director of Ecosystem Development at TRON, is confident that bitcoin will finish the year above $35,000. According to him, traders are not rushing to invest significant amounts of money and want to assess the direction of the leading cryptocurrency and the market as a whole. By the fourth quarter of 2023, much of the uncertainty should dissipate.

– According to analysts at JPMorgan, the price of bitcoin is expected to rise to $45,000. This is indicated by the current price of gold, which is nearly $2,000 per ounce. Analysts state that these two assets typically move in tandem. JPMorgan strategists estimate that the value of physical gold held outside central banks is currently valued at approximately $3 trillion. This implies a price of digital gold around $45,000 per coin, assuming that the volume of bitcoin in private investor portfolios aligns with the volume of the precious metal.
However, the $45,000 price is considered by JPMorgan analysts as the upper limit for bitcoin, suggesting limited potential for the asset. Nevertheless, this calculation does not take into account the halving event and the increased costs for miners. The upcoming halving in 2024 will automatically double the cost of bitcoin mining to around $40,000, and historically, this figure has served as the lower bound for the asset's price.
Regarding Ethereum, JPMorgan notes that the altcoin may face some selling pressure and is expected to lag behind bitcoin in terms of growth in the near term.

– Renowned cryptocurrency analyst, Tone Vays, believes that bitcoin is exiting its consolidation phase, with many investors having already "bought the bitcoin dip," indicating that the leading cryptocurrency is gearing up for further growth. However, in order to continue this upward trajectory, bitcoin needs to overcome resistance at the $30,000 level. If the bulls manage to do so, BTC is poised to reach new price highs.
"It is indeed time for bitcoin to rise," says Vays. "Although, when looking at the weekly chart, the bulls lack strength. [...] There is still time to overcome resistance. We need to surpass $30,000, reverse the Lucid SAR indicator, and then we will rise to $34,000, where another resistance level awaits."
For reference, the Lucid SAR indicator is a variation of the Parabolic SAR indicator. It is a trend-following indicator that combines price and time to calculate trends and determine entry and exit points.

– Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of BitMEX, believes that 2023 will be highly volatile for bitcoin due to the actions of the US Federal Reserve, but he does not expect the cryptocurrency to reach new records. "I don't think bitcoin will reach $70,000 this year. It is more likely that we will surpass this level next year, after the halving. Bitcoin will continue to grow in 2025 and 2026. And then, I expect an apocalypse. This situation will not occur when everyone expects it... We are currently sitting on a powder keg - the US has printed a huge amount of money, there is no trust in it, and people are trying to earn a living," muses Hayes.
It's worth noting that these are the personal opinions and speculations of Arthur Hayes, and they do not represent a guaranteed forecast for the future performance of bitcoin. Cryptocurrency markets are inherently volatile and subject to various factors, making it challenging to predict their exact trajectory.

– Researchers from VanEck have presented three price scenarios for Ethereum in 2030. In the base case scenario, the coin would be valued at $11,849. In the bullish scenario, the ETH price would reach $51,006, while in the unfavorable bearish scenario, the coin would plummet to $343. "Our estimates are based on the assumption that Ethereum will become the dominant global open-source settlement network. A significant portion of the commercial activity of high-profit potential business sectors will be conducted on the platform. The dominant platform is likely to capture the lion's share of the market," write VanEck analysts.
The report also notes that Ethereum is likely to become a store of wealth similar to bitcoin but with some differences. "We argue that ETH goes beyond being a transactional currency or a commodity similar to oil or gas. We believe that the coin is not a full-fledged store of value like Bitcoin due to the potential for code changes in Ethereum and the overall utility-focused nature of the project. However, this cryptocurrency can become a savings asset for government organizations seeking to maximize human capital.".

– The government of Bali, Indonesia, implemented strict measures at the end of May against cryptocurrency payments for goods and services, reminding tourists that the Indonesian rupiah is the only legal tender. Crypto tourists will face severe consequences, including administrative sanctions, deportation, and even criminal prosecution. As a result, some members of the crypto community have reconsidered their plans to visit Bali.
Tourism plays a crucial role in the island's economy, contributing 28% of its revenue. If a portion of tourists stops visiting the resort, it could lead to various economic problems, including increased unemployment and a decline in people's income.

– Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, believes that the bitcoin network can be an effective tool in combating bots and fake accounts. The businessman cited the use of bots on social media as an example. According to him, the digital "civil war" in modern society is fuelled by billions of fake accounts that sow hatred among real users. With the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence, creating deepfakes has become much easier, while detecting them has become more challenging.

The head of MicroStrategy believes that decentralized identity (DID) solutions can address this issue, increase trust, and ensure secure and independent data exchange. For example, if someone wants to launch billions of bots on Twitter, it would cost them billions of transactions. By integrating cryptocurrencies into social networks and leveraging the capabilities of the decentralized bitcoin network, such actions would become costly and have serious consequences, according to Saylor.

– According to popular analyst Credible Crypto, bitcoin could replicate the impulse waves of growth observed in previous bull cycles and set a new price record as early as 2023. "I keep hearing that it's unrealistic for Bitcoin to set a new price record this year. But I think we need to compare it to the last impulse in 2020. Remember, it took Bitcoin about three months to surpass the $10,000 level. But within the following two months, it grew by an additional 90%. And just four months later, it set a price record, increasing fivefold from $10,000. So don't tell me that anything is impossible for Bitcoin. We'll likely see it at new highs, possibly even this year," wrote Credible Crypto.

– Nova, a specialist in tracking crypto whales' activities, has discovered an average trader who has become a major holder of digital assets in just five months. Trader 0x743 has executed successful trades since January of this year and now boasts a record realized profit of over 10,000%, with their current portfolio valued at approximately $578,345. Nova noted that the crypto whale's success is attributed to a successful trading strategy rather than mere luck. 0x743 did not make reckless purchases and demonstrated "discipline and good trading behaviour."
It's worth noting that the crypto market is highly volatile, and extraordinary profits come with inherent risks. Individual trading outcomes can vary, and it's important for traders to exercise caution, conduct thorough research, and make informed decisions when engaging in cryptocurrency trading.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– Romanian crypto investor Daniel Nita purchased 10,000 pizzas for 1.01 BTC (~$26,800 at the time of purchase) to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day. Nita made the purchase at Vintage Pub in Bucharest, paying through Binance Pay. He then organized a party where he handed out pizzas on the city streets.
It's worth recalling that every year on May 22, the cryptocurrency community celebrates Bitcoin Pizza Day. This holiday was inspired by a landmark event in the industry when, in 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz was the first in the world to buy two Papa John's pizzas, paying for them with 10,000 BTC. However, the primacy of this purchase is now being disputed. In our previous review, we detailed that four months before Hanyecz, someone named Sabunir might have sold a JPEG image for 500 bitcoins, which was about $1 at the time.

– The United States is at risk of losing its leading position in the cryptocurrency industry, potentially giving way to the UAE, South Korea, Australia, and Switzerland, warns ARK Invest analyst Yassine Elmandjra. In his view, the ambiguous regulatory environment negatively impacts existing companies and deters new players. The expert noted that the recent flight of market makers Jane Street and Jump Trading from the United States is a sign of this negative reaction. Citing data from Coin Metrics, he also added that over the past two months, the volume of Bitcoin trading in the country has fallen by 75% - from $20 million per day in March to $4 million in May.
Recall that just in 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought claims against crypto exchanges Bittrex, Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and Genesis. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao.

– Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, believes that the upcoming halving and regulatory intervention in the crypto industry will positively impact bitcoin and strengthen its dominance. Saylor pointed to the growing interest of investors shifting towards bitcoin from other tokens. According to him, BTC's competitors naturally fall away after more stringent industry regulation. This became particularly noticeable after SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that "everything except bitcoin" falls under the securities laws.
"Crypto tokens and crypto securities will be regulated, and they might even cease to exist. Bitcoin is the only commodity that the SEC does not intend to regulate. Bitcoin is the safest network and the safest asset," stated the MicroStrategy CEO. In his opinion, a steady outflow of capital from the rest of the crypto space into Bitcoin will soon begin, and he already sees the start of a new bull cycle.
For reference: As of April 4, 2023, MicroStrategy, along with its subsidiary companies, owned about 140,000 BTC. The company paid a total of $4.17 billion for them. Thus, the average purchase price amounted to $29,803 per bitcoin.

– Obi Nwosu, CEO of the crypto platform Fedi, like Saylor, has stated that bitcoin's superiority over other cryptocurrencies is apparent in all aspects. The specialist expressed confidence that Bitcoin has the fastest, cheapest, simplest, most decentralized, and safest ecosystem. By the end of 2023, this will become even more apparent, as effective solutions for network functionality development are increasingly emerging. However, unlike Michael Saylor, Obi Nwosu believes that there will still be a place for other cryptocurrencies in the crypto space.

– Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone expects a collapse in the bitcoin exchange rate to support at $7,366. This forecast is based on the downward movement of the 52-week moving average (MA) on the BTC chart. McGlone notes that before the massive pump in 2020, this line, on the contrary, was moving upwards.
According to the expert, the negative trend will continue, and the cryptocurrency will face hard times. "The U.S. Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates, despite the banking panic. The drop in commodity prices may argue in favor of the potential for deflation of high-risk assets. The simultaneous increase in the cost of bitcoin and a rally in the stock market seems unlikely," McGlone said.
It is worth noting that not so long ago, at the end of last year, he gave a completely opposite forecast. Then, according to him, bitcoin was supposed to appreciate to $100,000. 

– A trader known as Dave the Wave, known for several accurate forecasts, believes that bitcoin is currently consolidating in the "buy zone" of the logarithmic growth curve. This curve evaluates the long-term highs and lows of the leading cryptocurrency throughout its entire life cycle, ignoring short-term volatility.
The analyst notes that, based on the current market structure, a rise above $32,000 will signal a breakthrough of the consolidation channel. Therefore, according to Dave the Wave, any purchase below $31,000 remains a great deal. In his conservative estimate, the target price of bitcoin by the end of the year should be around $40,000.

– The online publication BeInCrypto decided to find out whether BTC could continue to rise, or if the prolonged sideways trend would end with another drop. Opinions within the crypto community were divided. For example, a forecast from popular blogger CryptoKaleo does not rule out Bitcoin updating its local maximum. Signals that allow betting on the coin's growth were also seen by the trader known as DaanCrypto. He noted BTC's rebound from the weekly moving average (MA200). From a technical analysis perspective, this behavior of the cryptocurrency could indicate buyer strength.
Crypto blogger Nebraskangooner, on the other hand, sees signals for a decline on the chart. His forecast does not rule out the cryptocurrency falling to $25,500. This, the blogger believes, is indicated by the coin's exit from the symmetrical triangle formed on the chart. The negative Bitcoin forecast was supported by typically optimistic analyst Inmortal. He also does not rule out a BTC drop to as low as $22,000. However, Inmortal is confident that the cryptocurrency will be able to quickly recover its positions.
There's a well-known saying that goes, "So many people, so many opinions." In this case, it can be paraphrased as, "As many analysts as there are forecasts."

– Prominent investor and former Coinbase CTO, Balaji Srinivasan, is once again in the news. He previously made headlines with a sensational bet of $1.5 million that bitcoin would reach a value of $1 million within 90 days. This prediction was made in March 2023, but Srinivasan prematurely admitted his loss in early May.
Now, Srinivasan has declared that "if Twitter was the central theme of the presidential election in 2016, in 2024, for the first time, it could be bitcoin." As evidence, the investor cited statements from U.S. President Joe Biden that he does not intend to agree to a deal with the Republican Party aimed at protecting wealthy individuals and cryptocurrency traders who evade taxes. Srinivasan believes another proof of his correctness is the ongoing debates among American legislators over cryptocurrency regulation and the Web 3.0 space.
Interestingly, another Democratic presidential candidate, Robert Kennedy Jr., has challenged Biden by hailing Bitcoin as a tool to support democracy.

– Michael van de Poppe, an analyst, trader, and founder of the consulting platform EightGlobal, has told his Twitter followers that a successful retest of the $26,280 support level (MA200) could signify the end of bitcoin's correction and consolidation. Therefore, he believes this level is a good one at which to accumulate bitcoin.
"If we look at past periods, a retest of the 200-day moving average has always been a great time to accumulate bitcoin. Over the past six months, bitcoin has spent a lot of time below this indicator, making it [BTC] undervalued. The next week will be key: a quick retest and bounce upward will signify the end of Bitcoin's correction," the crypto analyst reasons. Michael van de Poppe is confident that, for bitcoin's future growth to be confirmed, it needs to secure a level above $27,000: this will demonstrate the bullish sentiment of investors. However, if BTC fails to conquer and hold this level, it is likely to roll back to $26,000.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


– According to a survey conducted by Bloomberg, in the event of a US default on its national debt, 7.8% of professional and 11.3% of retail investors would opt for the primary cryptocurrency as a safe-haven asset. Meanwhile, 7.8% and 10.2% would rely on the US dollar, respectively.
Gold tops the list of safe-haven assets. Despite the current price of the precious metal being close to its historical high ($2,000 per ounce), about half of the surveyed investors from both categories have chosen it. The report highlights the current shortage of alternatives to gold for hedging purposes.
US Treasury bills ranks as the second most popular asset, with 14-15% of respondents opting to purchase them. Journalists see a certain irony in this, as it is precisely these debt securities that might be subject to default. Bitcoin comes in third, closely followed by the US dollar, with the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc trailing behind. 

– Debates have erupted online over the first purchase made with BTC. A version has emerged claiming that the first purchase was not, in fact, the legendary pizza. A story is being discussed on Twitter about a user by the name of Sabunir who tried to sell a JPEG picture for 500 bitcoins in 2010, which was about $1 at the time. Evidence provided includes a screenshot with the date of January 24, 2010: four months before Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC. It is also claimed that a certain user named Satoshi Nakamoto even tried to participate in the transaction.
However, it was unclear whether the transaction had actually taken place. Therefore, Gige Energy co-founder Matt Lohstroh decided to conduct his own investigation. It turned out that the transaction did indeed occur. According to on-chain data, 500 BTC (about $13.3 million at the current exchange rate) were indeed transferred to Sabunir's wallet on January 24, 2010. This means that this image is actually the first item purchased with BTC.
Does this mean that instead of celebrating the annual Pizza Day on May 22nd, crypto enthusiasts will have to mark January 24 as JPEG Image Day? But what about the "Bitcoin Pizza" pizzeria owned by Morgan Creek co-founder Anthony Pompliano? You have to agree, "JPEG Pizza" doesn't sound quite as appetizing.

– About half of North Korea's missile program is funded through cyberattacks and cryptocurrency thefts, according to CNN, citing White House officials. They say that US intelligence services are working to identify the companies and individuals associated with this, while the Treasury Department is tracking the stolen cryptocurrency.
At the same time, Nikkei newspaper reported that since 2017, hackers from North Korea have stolen cryptocurrencies from accounts opened in Japan amounting to approximately $720 million. About $540 million was stolen from Vietnamese citizens, and another $497 million from US citizens.

– According to data from analytics firm Glassnode, the number of bitcoin addresses holding at least 1 BTC has increased by ~190,000 since February 2022 and surpassed the 1 million mark. The most notable increases occurred during the sharp decline of bitcoin in June 2022 (the bankruptcy of crypto fund 3AC, preceded by the collapse of the Terra ecosystem) and after November 11 (the FTX crash).
As for forecasts, Glassnode is "confident in a medium-term target of $35,000 as external pressures ease." "The Fed will pause rate hikes in June [...] - optimal for an upward movement [of bitcoin] during the summer. The dollar index has crossed below a significant moving average - explosive movements ahead," the agency's analysts explain.

– Mark Yusko, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund Morgan Creek Digital has reaffirmed his forecast of an inevitable bull rally in the digital asset market. He believes that the "crypto-summer" will likely begin in mid-June. According to him, bitcoin could make a significant breakthrough right now, as a technical reversal pattern is forming on the chart. "If you look at the chart [starting from May 2022], you'll see a beautiful inverted head and shoulders at the $27,000 level," Yusko writes. "It's a really interesting technical pattern. And you know, I think we need some good news to give it a boost."
As for the collapse of several US banks this year, the CEO of Morgan Creek believes that the destabilization of the sector was provoked to facilitate the smooth implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

– Paul Tudor Jones, head of hedge fund Tudor Investment Corporation and a consistent advocate for investing in bitcoin, has stated that the premier cryptocurrency has become less attractive in the current regulatory and economic climate. He noted that bitcoin now has "real problems, because in the US, the entire regulatory apparatus is against cryptocurrencies." In addition, the billionaire anticipates a decrease in inflation in the US, which makes hedging assets less attractive. Bitcoin is often perceived precisely as an asset for protection against inflation.
Paul Tudor Jones himself continues to hold a small amount of bitcoin and has no plans to sell the cryptocurrency even in the distant future. However, he had previously planned to invest up to 5% of his fortune in bitcoin, but it seems that he has now abandoned such plans.

– Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya believes that the devaluation of the dollar actually stimulates the US economy. According to this venture capitalist, the dollar's dominant position in the global economy remains indisputable, despite trends to move away from this currency. It's important to remember that approximately 187 countries rely on the dollar. A weaker dollar allows these nations to purchase American goods at a more favourable price. They all see that importing goods becomes cheaper, their economies improve, and as a result, the dollar still feels strong.
Palihapitiya also believes that in the long run, the US government will likely not be able to avoid devaluing its currency. According to the billionaire, the best way to deal with this trend is to invest in risky assets, such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.

– An Indian YouTuber decided to visit 40 countries in 400 days, using only bitcoin. Paco De La India, as he calls himself, has already visited 7 countries from different regions of the planet. He managed to raise the necessary amount for his travels by selling all his furniture and also through crowdfunding. As a result of his voyage, he was able to draw a few conclusions:
1. Paco believes that the volatility inherent in the market deters people from bitcoin. People are much more willing to use stablecoins, such as USDT, for transactions, while bitcoin is kept in HODL mode. In general, acceptance is happening, but this process needs to be accelerated.
2. The traveller noted that people are usually more generous during a bull market, which makes it easier to receive donations. Paco started his journey when bitcoin was trading around $50,000 and was moving towards an all-time high of nearly $69,000. "Donations were coming in, everyone was very happy... but gradually everything started to shrink," Paco says. "I couldn't travel as freely, so I was always looking for those who could take me in their homes. And this also gave me an idea of the local people."
Unfortunately, Paco's exciting journey had to be interrupted due to the fall in the BTC price and regulatory uncertainty, which affected some of his sponsors (primarily due to the closure of the Paxful trading platform). However, Paco is hopeful and intends to continue exploring where in the world it is most convenient to pay with bitcoin.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- The flagship cryptocurrency market has been under significant selling pressure in recent days. Experts from the WhaleWire publication note that transaction fees in the bitcoin ecosystem have reached global extremes for the third time in history (similar occurrences were observed in 2017 and 2021). Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, has twice suspended bitcoin withdrawals due to network congestion. To expedite the processing of the accumulated transactions, Binance raised its withdrawal fees. The situation is exacerbated by an investigation that US authorities have launched against the exchange. According to Bloomberg, it is suspected of violating sanctions imposed on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.
All of this has caused fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) among cryptocurrency market participants, leading to a decrease in the number of active addresses to yearly lows. Against this backdrop, bitcoin has plunged below $28,000. Analysts believe that a "head and shoulders" pattern is forming on bitcoin's daily chart, and the possibility of a deep correction down to the $24,000 mark cannot be ruled out. However, CoinGape experts emphasize that the supply of bitcoin on centralized platforms is at its lowest level since 2017, indicating that the upcoming correction may be of a local nature.

- People may be losing faith in the dollar, but that doesn't mean bitcoin can become the world's reserve currency. Billionaire Warren Buffett made this statement at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders' meeting. He clarified that he does not see any candidates to replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency. At the same time, Buffett called the continued money printing "madness," while simultaneously expressing confidence in the person responsible for it: US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. According to Buffett, nobody understands the situation with government debt better than the head of the regulatory body.
The legendary investor also believes that the top management of First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank should be held accountable for the issues that have arisen in the operations of these banks.

- Representatives of CNBC criticized Warren Buffett for his extremely negative attitude towards bitcoin. In response, Six Sigma Black Belt founder James Ryan stated that it's not right to criticize the wealthiest investor. However, Ryan emphasized that Buffett does not believe in gold either, as he thinks that "the precious metal does not produce anything and does not generate cash flow."
- Best-selling author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and economist Robert Kiyosaki often reiterates that the American and global economies are heading towards difficult times. This time, he told his 2.4 million Twitter followers that the sharp increase in the yield of one-month US Treasury bills indicates that a recession is likely approaching. "Does this mean the global banking system is collapsing? [...]", wrote the crypto enthusiast. "So, now focus on gold, silver, and bitcoin." It is worth noting that Kiyosaki predicts that the price of bitcoin will soon rise to $100,000.

- Michael Van de Poppe, an analyst, trader, and founder of the consulting platform EightGlobal, analysed the relationship between the banking sector and the crypto market.
Shares of American banks fell in response to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's attempt to calm the financial markets. Within a few hours after the official's speech on May 3, shares of the banking holding company PacWest Bancorp fell almost 58%, and Western Alliance dropped more than 28%. Other financial institutions in the market also experienced declines, such as Comerica (-10.06%), Zion Bancorp (-9.71%), and KeyCorp (-6.93%).
Using a 30-minute chart, Van de Poppe showed that while bank stocks were falling in price, bitcoin and gold were growing in value. According to the EightGlobal founder, uncertainty and distrust towards authorities' statements are growing among bankers. Such sentiments may lead to even greater problems in traditional markets and trigger further growth for both digital and physical gold.

- According to Justin Chapman, Senior Vice President at Northern Trust, institutional investors lost interest in cryptocurrencies after March 2022. Their appetite did not return even after the bullish growth this year. Executives of major financial institutions have shifted their focus to blockchain technology, particularly its potential in tokenizing real assets such as gold for clients.
"Since 2022, things have calmed down on the institutional side," Chapman said. "Before that, we saw traditional fund managers eager to launch crypto funds, ETPs in Europe, which are the equivalent of ETFs in the US – all of that has subsided. Even hedge funds, which are quite active in the crypto market, have definitely reduced their presence."

- The government of Liechtenstein will allow citizens to use bitcoin to pay for government services. This was announced by the country's Prime Minister, Daniel Risch, although he did not specify a timeline. According to him, the government will accept cryptocurrency from citizens and exchange it for the national currency. A similar approach is already used by some Swiss municipalities, particularly the canton of Zug.

- More and more Latin American (LATAM) countries are considering the possibility of adopting bitcoin as a legal means of payment for goods and services. Some of them want to follow in the footsteps of El Salvador, which has already done so at the legislative level. Among these countries are Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Argentina. However, experts point out a key barrier to this initiative: the rise in transaction fees, which could make the move impractical.

- The Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland (BCUS), Gabriel Makhlouf, has urged citizens to be sceptical about investing in cryptocurrencies, calling such investments high-risk and dangerous. He stated that the value of crypto assets is not backed by anything, which means they have no social or economic value. Moreover, they are not properly regulated, causing numerous disagreements among lawmakers and officials. "Investing in such products is like buying a lottery ticket: you might win, but most likely, you will lose. Therefore, it's hardly appropriate to call them investments. 'Ponzi scheme' provides a more accurate definition of cryptocurrencies," said the head of the Irish Central Bank.
Makhlouf's speech took place just a few weeks after the European Parliament voted for a bill on regulating cryptocurrencies in the EU (MiCA). The Irish official assured that he welcomes the document, but he doubts that MiCA will be fully implemented by 2025.

- Trader and analyst under the pseudonym Altcoin Sherpa suggested that the price of the leading cryptocurrency could soon drop to $25,000. According to his opinion, this price largely coincides with the 200-day EMA, the Fibonacci 0.382 level, and serves as a level that was previously tested twice as support/resistance. If the bearish trend continues in the coming days, he wrote, the BTC price will fall to the $26,800 support level. If this support is breached, the next target will be the $25,200 level.

- Researchers from DocumentingBTC have named bitcoin the best investment of the decade. An investor who bought BTC for $100 exactly 10 years ago would now have $25,600 in their account. In second place are NVIDIA stocks - $8,599. The honourable third place goes to Tesla - $4,475.
Apple investors could have received $1,208, Microsoft - $1,111, Netflix - $1,040, Amazon - $830, Facebook - $818, and by purchasing Google stocks, investors would now have $504 in their account. Finally, investing in physical, not digital, gold would have turned the initial $100 into just $134.

- Artificial Intelligence ChatGPT has joined the quest to unravel one of the biggest mysteries in the crypto universe: it attempted to identify the creator of BTC, Satoshi Nakamoto. According to the chatbot's calculations, there is a 60% probability that Satoshi is indeed an individual, rather than a group of developers, and most likely, it is Nick Szabo, a well-known computer scientist and cryptographer. It was this scientist who once proposed the idea of smart contracts and the BitGold protocol, which many consider a predecessor to bitcoin.
Szabo emerged as the winner on ChatGPT's list of contenders, with 30%. Hal Finney and Craig Wright ranked second and third, respectively, with 20% and 10%. However, the chatbot acknowledged that it cannot provide any direct "evidence". You can read more about each of these individuals on the NordFX website.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- The idea of launching a digital dollar CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) in the US has faced active criticism from Republican politicians. In February, Congressman Tom Emmer introduced a bill to protect "financial privacy" when using central bank digital currencies. He also stated that CBDC technology offends American values and may contribute to "financial control" over citizens.
In April, another Republican senator, Ted Cruz, called the launch of the digital dollar "extremely dangerous" for society, as the government would gain access to every transaction. At the same time, he praised Bitcoin and talked about his investments in the asset.
Best-selling author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki joined the chorus of Republicans, consistently urging people to buy "more gold, silver, and bitcoins." "In his book '1984,' George Orwell warned, 'Big Brother is watching.' Biden's CBDC is that Big Brother," Kiyosaki wrote.

- Jenny Johnson, CEO of investment firm Franklin Templeton, which manages assets worth $1.5 trillion, criticized bitcoin, stating that it is the biggest distraction from real innovation - blockchain technology. She also warned that the crypto industry should prepare for tighter regulatory rules. The head of Franklin Templeton further cautioned that bitcoin will never be able to become a global currency, as the US government will not allow it to happen. "I can tell you that if bitcoin becomes so important that it threatens the dollar as a reserve currency, the US will restrict its use." In contrast to the US, Johnson listed Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates as crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

- The White House released a report last September stating that cryptocurrency miners consume more energy than the entire country of Australia and account for between 0.9% and 1.7% of the total electricity consumption in the United States. In response to this, the Council of Economic Advisers under President Joe Biden (CEA) has proposed a 30% tax on miners to discourage their negative impact on the climate. This new measure is expected to generate approximately $3.5 billion in revenue for the government over the next ten years and serve as another method for authorities to exert pressure on an industry they consider a threat.
According to Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, President Joe Biden will sign a law within the next 12 months that will establish new regulations for the cryptocurrency market.

- Legendary trader, analyst, and head of Factor LLC, Peter Brandt, believes that bitcoin will soon outpace other digital assets. "I hold the view that bitcoin will bury all the pretenders. In the end, there will be only one king of the hill," he wrote.
The expert drew attention to the Bitcoin dominance chart, which tracks the share of the first cryptocurrency in the total market capitalization of the crypto market. According to Brandt, the indicator is preparing for a breakthrough after a two-year consolidation in the form of a large rectangle. While the trend is in a "constraining range," the breakout from this range will be crucial for the asset, the analyst explained. Over the past five years, BTC's share has dropped to 32.4% in 2018 and risen to 71.9% in 2021. At the time of writing, it stands at 47.0%. The indicator likely needs to surpass the 50% mark to initiate a bullish movement.

- Investor and billionaire Ray Dalio admitted that although he owns bitcoin, he prefers gold. In his opinion, the first cryptocurrency serves as good inflation insurance, but not a full-fledged alternative to the precious metal. "I don't understand why people lean more towards bitcoin than gold," he wrote. "At the international level, gold is the third-largest reserve asset for central banks, following dollars, euros, gold, and then Japanese yen."
According to Dalio, the precious metal is "timeless and universal." Bitcoin, on the other hand, requires close attention from investors due to its volatility. "You have to be prepared for a significant drop, around 80% or so," the billionaire warned.

- Coinbase Business Director Conor Grogan claims to have found a "jailbreak" (vulnerability) in ChatGPT's software. This "jailbreak" allows for obtaining AI (artificial intelligence) predictions concerning various events. "ChatGPT predicts the future on absolutely any topic (including a person's time of death) and quantifies the probability of the event," Grogan wrote, adding that "ChatGPT clearly sympathizes with BTC while being much more sceptical about altcoins." According to its forecast, there is a 15% chance that BTC will lose 99.9% of its value by 2035 and become irrelevant. In the case of Ethereum, the chances of such a scenario are 20%, with LTC - 35%, and with DOGE - 45%.
ChatGPT stated previously that the price of bitcoin could reach $150,000 by 2024, after which it would increase on average by $25,000 per year and reach $300,000 by 2030. However, the AI honestly warned that it cannot confidently predict cryptocurrency prices. There are many factors that the chatbot cannot account for, such as regulatory changes, government actions, wars, catastrophes, and more. Therefore, while it may be interesting to consider ChatGPT's forecasts, relying on them when developing trading strategies would be unwise, to put it mildly.

- Bitcoin could surge by $20,000 if the US defaults on its debts, according to Geoff Kendrick, Head of Currency Research at British bank Standard Chartered. In an interview with Business Insider, he stated that this could happen in July 2023 if Congress does not approve raising the debt limit to a new level. However, the expert called such a default an "unlikely event" but with "massive consequences."
Kendrick believes that bitcoin will not grow linearly. More likely, after the default, its price will fall by $5,000 in the first days or a week, then sharply increase by $25,000. As for Ethereum, which the analyst considers to be traded like stocks, it is more likely to fall in the case of a default. Kendrick's optimal trading strategy involves opening a long position in bitcoin and a short position in ethereum.
Previously, the Standard Chartered analyst stated that the first cryptocurrency could rise to $100,000 by the end of 2024. Among the main reasons, he cited a banking crisis, halving, and a loosening of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

- Research firm Chainalysis discovered that an anonymous hacker has identified 986 crypto wallets allegedly belonging to Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, Federal Security Service, and Foreign Intelligence Service, and has begun hunting for their digital assets. Initially, the hacker destroyed over $300,000 worth of bitcoin stored in these wallets. To do this, they used the OP_RETURN script, which marks transactions as invalid and effectively burns the coins. However, after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the hacker changed their attack strategy. Instead of liquidating digital assets, they began transferring them to wallets owned by organizations providing support to Ukraine.

- Trader under the nickname Bluntz, who predicted the bottom of the BTC bear market in 2018, believes that the leading cryptocurrency is unlikely to sustainably consolidate above $30,000 in the foreseeable future. His opinion is based on the fact that BTC has already completed a five-wave bullish trend on the daily chart. Bluntz believes that Bitcoin is currently in the middle of an ABC correction formation, and this could lead to a drop to around $25,000. According to the trader, this drop will be followed by a rise in BTC to $32,000, which will occur in the second half of 2023.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- According to experts from the British bank Standard Chartered, bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024, which indicates the end of the so-called "crypto winter", writes Reuters. Standard Chartered believes that at the beginning of 2023 bitcoin profitably took advantage of its status as a "brand haven" for savings and a tool for money transfers. Its further growth will be facilitated by recent turmoil in the banking sector, stabilization of risky assets due to the end of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike cycle and increased profitability in crypto mining.
In addition, support for the main cryptocurrency may be provided by the adoption by the European Parliament of the first set of EU rules on the regulation of crypto-asset markets. According to JPMorgan experts, the growth of BTC will also be affected by halving in April 2024.

- The Bitcoin Archive press service reminded that there is less than a year left until the next bitcoin halving. As of April 24, 2023, this procedure is scheduled for April 06, 2024. However, this date is not final and may change, as it has already happened many times before.
A number of market participants believe that this event will be very important for the future value of the flagship cryptocurrency. In their opinion, the cycles for the cryptocurrency are unchanged, and BTC quotes will reach new all-time highs a year or a year and a half after the halving, as happened in previous cycles. Other experts note that the market situation has changed. Bitcoin has become a mass phenomenon and now "other laws and regulations have started to work" for cryptocurrency, so other factors will be decisive, rather than halving.

- Former Goldman Sachs top manager and macro investor Raoul Pal says that the crypto sector will increase from the current 300 million to more than 1 billion users during the next bull cycle. According to him, risky assets like cryptocurrencies are facing an "inevitable wave of liquidity." And such an influx of capital will "illuminate" the industry with new innovations.
The macro investor believes that the Fed has most likely already completed the interest rate hike. He also speaks about the approaching recession, which will force the regulator to "change course" and support the markets by printing money. "This is exactly what happened in 2019 after the Fed's reversal in 2018. The agency will pause very soon or has already done so," Raul Pal explained.

- According to a recent study by DaapGamble, more than a third of TikTok crypto influencers have posted misleading videos about cryptocurrencies and investing in them. Influencers sometimes share unverified misinformation in an attempt to convince inexperienced viewers to invest their money or their parents' money (since many TikTok users are young people) in cryptocurrencies, which leads to a loss of funds. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, who was ordered by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay a fine of $1.26 million for promoting EthereumMax (EMAX), have been criticized.

- After reports of the activation of a bitcoin wallet with 1000 BTC worth more than $27 million, which has been asleep for 12 years, the host of the CNBC program "Crypto Trader" Ran Neuner expressed concern about what was happening. He fears hacking wallets by a special generator, the work of which is based on Artificial Intelligence. "Activating these old BTC addresses can be a really scary phenomenon," Ran Neuner was alarmed. - I hope it's not about hacking. Otherwise, all this can have catastrophic consequences".
It should be noted that such a case of unexpected awakening is far from being the only one. So, an awakened bitcoin whale of the Satoshi era has recently suddenly scattered 400 BTC to several new addresses. And last week, the Whale Alert service reported that another whale with 1128 BTC, after 10.5 years of inactivity, transferred more than 279 BTC worth $7.6 million to new wallets.
These strange events are taking place against the backdrop of a general surge in activity on the bitcoin network: according to Glassnode, the number of transactions exceeds 270,000 per day at the moment, approaching the average monthly cycle highs.

- Billionaire venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya believes that US regulators have "strangled" the cryptocurrency sector, which is now "on the verge of survival" in the United States. This is done out of concern that digital assets could undermine the dominance of the dollar. However, this will only lead to the fact that American crypto companies will be pushed abroad, and the country will be deprived of opportunities for innovation.
"Cryptocurrencies are dead in America. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler blames crypto assets even for the banking crisis, so it's safe to say that the United States authorities have firmly pointed their weapons at them," Palihapitiya said. The billionaire added that now the main blow of regulators is being taken by good players in the crypto industry, who pay for the collapse of the FTX exchange and the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency hedge funds that "planted a stain" on the reputation of the industry.

- An analyst aka DonAlt, who has repeatedly given an accurate forecast for the price movement of bitcoin, believes that the coin is now ready to return to the level of $30,000. At the same time, he allows a correction up to $20,000, which, in his opinion, should be considered a good level for replenishing the stocks of the main cryptocurrency. At the same time, DonAlt excludes its fall to the lows of November 2022 around $15,400.

- An expert and trader under the nickname Doctor Profit recalled his words that bitcoin groped the bottom at the level of $15,400 and it is unlikely that we will see a repeated decline to this mark. According to him, this dump in November 2022 was a complete capitulation, including for bitcoin miners, some of whom were forced to sell the mined coins and their equipment at a loss.
In his opinion, the market is neither in a bull nor in a bear market now, but in an accumulation phase. At the same time, Dr. Profit has advised traders to closely monitor the correlation between the Chinese stock market and BTC. He believes that China will lift the ban on cryptocurrency and legalize it, which will have a very positive impact on the price of cryptocurrencies in the long run.

- Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jamie Coutts predicts a rise in bitcoin to $50,000 even before halving in April 2024. "The price of bitcoin sinks to the bottom when there are 12-18 months left before the halving. The structure of the current cycle is similar to the previous ones. Nevertheless, many factors have changed: the network has become noticeably more stable, but bitcoin has never experienced a long economic downturn, "said Coutts. If his prediction turns out to be correct, bitcoin will rise in price by about 220% by April 2024 from the bottom reached in last November.

- A popular analyst under the nickname PlanB, known for his Stock-to-Flow model, expects bitcoin to grow significantly. "My predictions continue to come true within the framework of the S2F model. Before halving, you should expect $32,000 per bitcoin, then $60,000. Then [after halving] $100,000 will be the minimum, and the maximum rate can reach $1 million. But, on average, after the next halving, the BTC rate should reach $542,000," PlanB wrote. At the same time, the analyst stressed that the behavior of the crypto market is fully consistent with S2F, so its critics are simply untenable.

- Legendary investor Warren Buffett has called bitcoin "rat poison squared." And he has recently stated that BTC is a token for gambling, noting that "it has no intrinsic value." However, statistics show that the well-known entrepreneur has been wrong in his judgments. If Buffett had added just 2.5% to his portfolio in bitcoins in 2014, this would have increased the investor's total return by 20%.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- Bobby Lee, founder of the Ballet app and former CEO of the BTCC China crypto exchange, noted signs of bitcoin recovery after the 2022 crypto winter in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “It has been like this for a long time. Cryptocurrency has these four-year cycles [...] and now we're almost back on track. It looks inspiring,” said the industry veteran.
According to Lee, amid the banking crisis, digital currencies have demonstrated the qualities of safe-haven assets. “People have begun to realize that their money in the bank is not necessarily in place. Institutions lend these funds to other enterprises and firms. And cryptocurrencies like bitcoin provide self-storage and full control over resources,” he said.
Lee also commented on the regulatory framework for US financial markets, calling it “the most mature and established regulatory regime.” According to the head of Ballet, supervisory agencies like the SEC, after a decade of calls for tougher policies regarding the crypto industry, have changed it to a more favorable one. Lee was also enthusiastic about the adoption of digital asset regulations in Hong Kong. In his opinion, the decisions of the authorities of both jurisdictions demonstrate a global shift towards the recognition of cryptocurrencies.

- Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director and founder of SkyBridge Capital, said he has not lost his enthusiasm for bitcoin. The investor added that he is more optimistic about the first cryptocurrency than ever.
Unlike Bobby Lee, he criticized the head of the SEC, Gary Gensler, for the "mess" in the department. Scaramucci believes that the first cryptocurrency should be classified as a commodity and not subject to regulation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

- Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz named the condition for bitcoin to reach $40,000. In his opinion, the quotes of the first cryptocurrency will rise to this level when the US Federal Reserve starts to reduce the key rate. “The most profitable trades have been and will continue to be longs on gold, euro, bitcoin and Ethereum: these assets will do well when the Fed stops raising [the base rate] and starts lowering it,” Novogratz said. He also predicted a reduction in loans amid the collapse of US banks. In his opinion, this could lead to a credit crisis, and the Fed, against the background of a “slowdown in the economy”, will have to cut the rate more aggressively than expected.
Galaxy Digital CEO called the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) lawsuit against the Binance bitcoin exchange, filed at the end of March, and its accusation of intentionally violating the rules established by the agency as the main uncertainty for the cryptocurrency market.

- Ark Invest has looked beyond Mike Novogratz and has announced the timeline for bitcoin to reach $1 million. “In the next decade, the value of bitcoin could reach $1 million as the digital economy grows,” said Yassine Elmandjra, an analyst at the company. He acknowledged that the 30x coin price growth forecast looks incredible, but it is “quite reasonable” if you look at the history of cryptocurrency development.
According to the Ark Invest analyst, statements that it is now too late to invest in BTC are wrong. The expert noted the impressive performance of bitcoin in recent times, which now makes digital gold an attractive component of investment portfolios. According to Elmandjra, a reasonable share of bitcoin in institutions should be between 2.5% and 6.5%, depending on the overall return of the portfolio and risk appetite.

- Robert Kiyosaki, author of the popular book Rich Dad Poor Dad, spoke again this week about the inevitability of financial turmoil and called on investors to invest more in bitcoin, gold and silver. The businessman promised that he would increase reserves in digital currency in the near future, as he does not trust the US Federal Reserve and the economic policies of the Joe Biden administration. “Why buy more gold, silver and bitcoin? Because the Fed, Treasury and Biden are liars!” Kioysaki said. According to his forecast, if large capital becomes more active in physical and digital gold, their price will rise to $5,000 and $500,000 by 2025, respectively.

- According to a report by Matrixport researchers, the price of bitcoin hit its predicted low in November 2022. The analysts explained that BTC historically bottomed out 515-458 days before the next halving. This event is scheduled for April 2024; hence the predicted low was between November 2022 and January 2023. That's what happened. This gives reason to expect that this model will continue to work further, and the value of the coin will rise to at least $63,160 by the spring of 2024.
In addition, the experts noted an interesting point. Their observations showed that American investors are more willing to invest in bitcoin, while their Asian counterparts prefer ethereum.

- Analyst Nicholas Merten is of an opposite opinion. He announced in a new video on DataDash to his 511,000 subscribers that it's time to sell bitcoin, as the first cryptocurrency has grown by almost 100% since November 2022. Merten believes that the first cryptocurrency's latest breakthrough could be a trap, as crypto markets were overbought.
The expert disagrees with those who believe that bitcoin will follow the 2019 scenario, when it rose by 300% in a few months. According to him, the scenario of June 2021 is likely to be repeated, when BTC reached its historical high and then collapsed.

- The creators of the famous chatbot ChatGPT have banned it from directly providing cryptocurrency forecasts.  It turned out that it is very often wrong, and it is still unknown which algorithms it uses for its predictions. In addition, AI is not able to correctly interpret a lot of important data. These include, in particular, new posts on social networks by well-known analysts. Namely, many traders and investors rely on them when making decisions. Also, ChatGPT is unable to predict the occurrence of certain significant events on the crypto market, which reduces the accuracy of its forecasts significantly.
Based on the foregoing, it becomes obvious that the chatbot can only be used as an auxiliary tool, nothing more. It is extremely risky to create trading strategies and make trading decisions based on it. However, despite this, some users use various tricks to get around the ban, in the hope that a miracle will happen and ChatGPT will open their way to wealth.

- Owners of Android devices are at risk of becoming victims of a new virus that pretends to be the CoinSpot crypto exchange. This is reported by Cyble researchers who identified the Trojan. The list of the virus's functionality includes the ability to steal user credentials, cookies, and SMS messages.
Fraudsters also steal credit card information under the guise of subscribing to a chatbot. It was reported earlier that attackers began to distribute viruses under the guise of desktop versions of the ChatGPT chat bot from OpenAI. Thus, the Android and Windows operating systems were at risk.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- On April 11, bitcoin rose above $30,000, for the first time since June 2022. The main cryptocurrency continues to outperform other major asset classes such as gold or oil. This comes amid expectations that central banks will put a hold on rate hikes.
Several industry analysts have expressed their opinion on what happened. Michael Van De Poppe, a well-known strategist, and founder of the investment company Eight, noted that bitcoin successfully passed the $28,600 test, which led to a breakthrough in resistance and reached $30,000. An analyst with the nickname PlanB tweeted that all the goals he set back in October 2022 have now been achieved. At that time, the expert predicted that BTC quotes would overcome $21,000, $24,000, and then $30,000. And another popular blogger and analyst, Lark Davis, stressed that the time will soon come when buying bitcoins for less than $30,000 will seem as fantastic as buying BTC at $3,000 now.

- In terms of the number of requests, bitcoin has overtaken former President Donald Trump, famous musician Elvis Presley, and Disney World. In the United States, the number of requests related to the first cryptocurrency in the Google search engine reached 1.9 million, and in terms of the global indicator, the figure reached 12 million. This is stated in research by Ahrefs. According to Google Trends, Donald Trump was only two days ahead of bitcoin last month when reports of his arrest surfaced.

- In India, a 23-year-old employee of a large technology company tried to commit suicide after losing 3 million rupees (about $ 37,000) on investments in cryptocurrency. This is reported by The Times of India. According to the publication, a taxi driver noticed the young man on a bridge in Kolkata and reported to the police. As a result, law enforcement officers prevented him from jumping into the river. During the interrogation, the investor spoke about unsuccessful investments in the digital asset market. For this purpose, he used, among other things, his mother's pension and borrowed funds. Recently, he has been receiving threats demanding a refund.
Earlier, The Balance rehabilitation center in Spain began providing treatment services for addiction to digital asset trading. The course is four weeks long. The cost of treatment exceeds $75,000 (that is, twice what the failed investor from India lost).

- The head of the opposition party “For Thailand” (Pheu Thai) and candidate for Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has promised to allocate digital assets to every citizen over 16 years of age if he wins the elections in May. According to Bloomberg, each eligible resident will allegedly be able to receive 10,000 baht (~$290). It is not specified which cryptocurrency the “state-owned AirDrop” is planned to be used in. The office of the incumbent Prime Minister is already concerned about the proposed action and is wondering where the funds (about $15 billion) for this AirDrop will come from. 
It should be noted that such an initiative is not new. The El Salvadorian government has already given away bitcoins to its citizens who used Chivo wallets. True, the amount was 10 times more modest, about $30. 

- ChatGPT artificial intelligence spoke about the formation of a recession-resistant investment portfolio. According to a document published by the Gold IRA Guide, the chatbot recommended allocating 20% for gold and other precious metals. The rest of its hypothetical portfolio consisted of bonds (40%), "defensive" stocks (30%) and cash (10%). 
The chatbot did not mention cryptocurrencies, much to the delight of well-known bitcoin critic and gold advocate Peter Schiff. “After all, artificial intelligence is pretty smart. It did not recommend any bitcoin deposit,” this investor wrote. 
However, ChatGPT's response was not necessarily against digital gold in favor of physical gold. The ForkLog editors asked the chatbot for its opinion on both assets. According to the answer, the choice between them may depend on investment goals, risk level and personal preferences.

- This week, investors will have access to the second most popular cryptocurrency, ethereum, worth more than $33 billion (about 15% of the total). This will happen as part of the planned blockchain modernization, writes Reuters. A new blockchain software update called Shapella will allow investors to redeem their ETH coins they have invested and locked on the network over the past 3 years in exchange for interest.
Traders are now trying to figure out how this sudden flood of cryptocurrency can affect its price. Some market participants are concerned that the unlock could lead to a massive wave of sales, which in turn would drive the price down dramatically. However, the only thing that can be said for sure is that the hard fork will cause an increase in price volatility.

- Dieter Wermuth, an economist, and partner at Wermuth Asset Management, believes that the economy would be better and simpler without bitcoin. In his opinion, these risky investments are associated with social costs, and the cryptocurrency itself does not contribute to global prosperity.
The BTC market is highly centralized and primarily benefits the very first investors and miners. If we consider it as a currency, given the high volatility and lack of real use, BTC is doomed to failure, the specialist believes. In this vein, it makes sense to ditch bitcoin altogether: it could be good for shared prosperity, as investing in cryptocurrencies is wasteful and takes away funds from overall economic growth. In addition, bitcoin creates social inequality, allows for money laundering, tax evasion, and is very energy intensive due to mining. Dieter Wermuth even called bitcoin “the biggest climate killer.”

- It turns out that Apple has been hiding the official description of BTC in every computer since 2018. Technician Andy Baio revealed on Twitter that he accidentally found a copy of Satoshi Nakamoto's official description of BTC on his Apple Mac computer, Business Insider writes. Baio explained it this way: “Today, while trying to fix my printer, I discovered that a PDF copy of Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin datasheet came with every copy of macOS since Mojave in 2018.” According to him, many of his fellow Mac users confirmed this fact: each of them had a file called "simpledoc.pdf".
Baio suggested the reason why, of all the documents, it was the original description of BTC that was chosen to be included in Apple's operating system: "Maybe it was just a convenient, lightweight, multi-page PDF file for testing purposes that was never meant to be viewed by end users."

- The US Department of Defense commissioned a study on the potential collapse of the economy due to the cryptocurrency market. Inca Digital, an analytical blockchain firm, won the competition for this work. A representative of this company noted in comments to the media that the banking system has increasingly intersected with the crypto market recently, and this connection makes this market a subject of national security: “Cryptocurrencies are no longer an independent vertical. They rely on banks, the internet, and that's what people should be warned about: it's a single combined system that is widespread in everyday services." Defense Department officials, in turn, expect the development to shed light on whether hostile groups or nations can use digital currencies against the US.

- U.S. potential presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr called bitcoin a safe haven that, thanks to decentralization, is less exposed to the risks inherent in traditional finance. The politician is confident that the current “financial bubble” will inevitably burst, and cryptocurrencies “will allow people to hide from its splashes” and open up a “way of salvation” for society.

– Lawrence Lepard, managing partner at Boston-based equity firm Equity Management Associates, believes that bitcoin will rise to $10 million due to the collapse of the US dollar. According to Lepard, the dollar will depreciate over the next 10 years, and citizens will begin to actively invest in cryptocurrencies, gold and real estate. The supply of bitcoins is limited, so the digital asset will become a highly sought-after investment vehicle and will benefit from the collapse of the fiat currency. “I believe that the price of bitcoin will go up a lot. I think it will first reach $100,000, then $1 million and eventually rise to $10 million per coin. I’m sure my grandchildren will be shocked at how rich people who own just one bitcoin become,” Lepard said in an interview.
In connection with this forecast, the businessman fears that the authorities will put spokes in the wheels of the crypto industry, trying to slow down the growth in the popularity of digital assets. For example, officials could raise taxes on profits from bitcoin trading and tighten regulation of coins to make it harder for startups to enter the market. However, Lepard is confident that bitcoin will be able to overcome these difficulties and succeed in the long run.

- A well-known analyst under the nickname PlanB noted that bitcoin has left the deep bear zone and is at the very beginning of a new bull market. According to PlanB, the Stock to Flow (S2F) model he developed is still relevant. The expert claims that bitcoin fundamentals will eventually allow it to rise above the all-time high (ATH) of $69,000 set in November 2021. PlanB has previously predicted bitcoin will rise from $100,000 to $1 million after the 2024 halving.
Recall that the S2F (stock-to-flow ratio) model for predicting the BTC rate measures the relationship between the available stock of an asset and its production volume and has been repeatedly criticized by members of the crypto community. 


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- UK-based crypto companies are having difficulty accessing banking services. According to Bloomberg sources, banks have begun to reject applications, block accounts and request more information regarding customer transactions. 
The agency recalled the decision of HSBC and the Nationwide Building Society to prohibit retail customers from purchasing digital assets using credit cards. Payment service provider Paysafe has announced the termination of its partnership with Binance, citing a “difficult” regulatory environment.
In response to the deteriorating situation, CryptoUK representatives have approached the government with a proposal to create a "whitelist" of companies registered in the country to ease restrictions. And according to Coinpass co-founder and CEO Jeff Hancock, problems with access to banking are contrary to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plans to turn the country into a cryptohub. 

- Cryptocurrency companies may change their jurisdiction from the US to Hong Kong amid increased supervision by US regulators. This was stated to The Wall Street Journal by Ambre Soubiran, the head of the Paris-based crypto asset data provider Kaiko. “Today, the US is tougher on cryptocurrencies than ever, and Hong Kong's regulation [looks] more favorable, which is clearly shifting the center of gravity in investing and trading crypto assets towards it. We want to be where our customers are,” she said. According to Subiran, Kaiko plans to organize a team in Hong Kong, including through access to Chinese institutional investors.

- A cryptocurrency analyst known as Stockmoney Lizards analyzed the dynamics of the flagship crypto asset. In his opinion, the asset's monthly chart looks promising and indicates the potential for further growth. The expert's assumptions are supported by the readings of the RSI indicator. Stockmoney Lizards believes that the current market situation is very similar to the period from 2017 to 2020, when a steady upward trend began to form, and that bitcoin will soon be able to reach the key $47,000 mark.
Another well-known analyst, Michael Van De Poppe, shares this view. According to the expert, buyers are still in control of the situation. If bitcoin quotes remain above $25,000 for some time, we can count on a potential increase up to the level of $40,000.
In turn, representatives of the Derebit platform informed that open interest in bitcoin derivatives continues to grow steadily. They stressed that most of the positions are open to buy, as investors continue to believe in the potential of the crypto market's flagship. 

- Experts from the analytical company Glassnode spoke about the friendliest countries in terms of cryptocurrency taxation in 2023. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) turned out to be the leader. This came as no surprise, as Dubai has made a lot of efforts over the past year to attract crypto companies and other industry participants. In a short period of time, special commissions to regulate cryptocurrencies, separate tax legislation for the digital asset sector, and many other innovations have been created there. All this allows Dubai to claim the title of the world's crypto capital.
The honorable second and third places in the Glassnode list were taken by such states as Malta and Belarus. Next came Monaco, Panama and Malaysia. Among the major countries of the European Union, Germany ranked 7th. Singapore, Switzerland and El Salvador followed closely behind.

- Charles Edwards, founder of digital asset hedge fund Capriole Investments, noted a “familiar” bullish signal on the SLRV Ribbons metric in his tweet. SLRV Ribbons is a tool to measure the potential return of bitcoin. It analyzes the interaction of two moving averages. When the short-term 30-day MA crosses the long-term 150-day MA, bitcoin is in the beginning of a bullish phase. This metric is “as simple as it gets,” Edwards wrote. “It is currently repeating classic bullish behavior with a crossover in early 2023.” The specialist added that SLRV Ribbons, although a relatively new tool, has been tested and shown to be reliable and able to increase the return on investments in BTC.
SLRV is not the only metric that gave the founder of Capriole Investments a sense of déjà vu this month. The Bitcoin Yardstick tool shows a retracement of bitcoin's market value relative to hashrate, but still classifies BTC as "cheap" at current prices. “Bitcoin Yardstick is drawing a very familiar signature to the 2019 lows,” Edwards commented on the indicator readings. At the beginning of that year, after exiting the “cheap” zone, BTC/USD saw only one brief drop during the crisis caused by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. At the moment, according to indicators, price targets for BTC are fixed at $35,000.

- The head of largest crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), believes that competitors to the trading platform pay news agencies and opinion leaders to increase fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about his company. Zhao shared this sentiment as reports surfaced online that he had received an Interpol Red Notice (International Arrest Request). According to the head of Binance, the rumors are not true and are the next wave of FUD.
“All this looks like news leak paid for by another crypto exchange. Amazing. Thus, they [the organizers of the attacks] harm the industry and themselves. We have enough of those who attack us from the outside. At such moments, the cryptocurrency industry should [on the contrary] unite [rather than attack other market players],” Changpeng Zhao wrote in his blog. He did not specify which crypto exchange Zhao believes is attacking Binance.

- According to the analytical company Glassnode, despite the fall in the value of the leading digital currency, its attractiveness as an asset class continues to grow. Thus, the number of unique addresses on the bitcoin network with a balance of at least one coin has reached 992,243. The number of addresses controlling from 100 to 1000 BTC is 14,004. The four largest whales hold between 100,000 and 1 million BTC, including the Binance and Bitfinex exchanges, which control 248,597 and 178,010 bitcoins, respectively. At the same time, it is possible that one of these four whales is the US government. According to the Dune analysts, the total stock of the first cryptocurrency by the US authorities is 205,515 BTC: more than 1% of the coin supply. Most of these assets were obtained when they were confiscated from criminals.
Glassnode experts note that a surge in trader activity was recorded in the second half of last year, when bitcoin fell to $15,000. It was at this time that the number of BTC wallets with a non-zero balance increased sharply, a similar trend is observed in 2023.

- Cybercriminals have stolen $255.8 million in digital currencies since the beginning of the year. "Only" $8.8 million was stolen in January, 3.5 times more - $35.5 million in February, and the figure rose to $211.5 million in March. In total, hackers committed 26 hacks during the first month of spring. The largest amount was stolen during the attack on the Euler Finance DeFi platform, about $197 million, but later the hacker apologized and returned $182.7 million to the project. The reasons for this "nobility" remain unknown. He may have decided that the remaining $14 million would be enough for him.
In addition to cryptocurrencies, $31.5 million worth of NFTs were stolen in three months. A significant part of the stolen tokens was sold on the Blur and OpenSea marketplaces within the first two hours after the theft.

- Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX crypto exchange, has made a bold prediction about the rise in the price of bitcoin to $1 million. He was prompted to do so by the news that the People's Bank of China lowered the required reserve ratios (RRR) for all banks by 0.25%.
For reference: The required reserve ratio is the statutory share of a commercial bank's liabilities on attracted deposits. When this rate is lowered, the amount of funds that commercial banks can provide for lending or investment increases.


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CryptoNews of the Week


- Cane Island Alternative Advisors analyst Timothy Peterson stated that 6 million of the 19.3 million bitcoins mined are irretrievably lost. “This means that there are only 13.3 million BTC left, and only 1.7 million BTC to be mined over 100 years. Another million [coins] will almost certainly be lost during this time,” he wrote. According to Peterson, as new bitcoins are mined, old ones are lost. He called the 13 million BTC circulating today “everything we are likely to have access to.”
Coinmetrics analysts calculated in April 2020 that 2.3 million BTC out of the 18.3 million BTC mined at that time were lost forever.

- Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong, who created the Satoshi Skull mascot for Greenpeace, said his work was “never intended to fight bitcoin.” “I created the Skull believing that bitcoin mining was a classic black and white problem. I've dedicated my entire career to reducing hazardous waste emissions, and PoW intuitively felt insecure. Of course, I was wrong,” Von Wong wrote.
The artist noted that after talking with experts from the crypto sphere, he realized the prospects of blockchain technology. In his opinion, bitcoin “could potentially become more environmentally friendly” without changing the algorithm. “I am excited to hear from the bitcoin community that the first cryptocurrency could achieve negative CO2 emissions by the end of the decade,” added von Wong. And now, instead of fighting mining, the artist calls to join the crypto community and improve it from the inside.
On March 23, Greenpeace unveiled a mascot that represents the "dangerous amounts of pollution" caused by bitcoin mining. Will Foxley, director of media strategy at mining company Compass Mining, called the installation “really cool” and put a skull image on the profile avatar.

- Venture investor and billionaire Tim Draper has published recommendations for asset diversification, including using cryptocurrencies. Draper wrote in a report aimed at entrepreneurs that companies "can no longer rely" on just one bank or regulator. “For the first time in many years, governments are taking over banks at the risk of becoming insolvent. Bitcoin is a defense against the financial domino effect and mismanagement with excessive control,” the businessman said. He added that "many startups" turned to him for emergency help after the closure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank.
Draper suggested keeping short-term deposits for no more than six months in two separate accounts, at a local bank and an international bank. In his opinion, organizations should also transfer an amount equal to two salary funds into bitcoin or other digital assets. The billionaire stressed the importance of such a contingency cushion, as management is responsible for meeting payroll deadlines "even in times of crisis."

- Oliver Linch, CEO of Bittrex Global, links the recent bitcoin rally to the US banking crisis caused by the collapse of Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank. At the same time, according to a CNBC survey among influential figures in the industry, the market remains bullish about the future of the first cryptocurrency. So Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino believes that bitcoin can “retest” the all-time high of $69,000. And Marshall Beard, strategic director of the Gemini crypto exchange, predicts that the coin may reach $100,000 this year. In his opinion, if the first cryptocurrency manages to overcome the previous maximum, it “would not take much time to rise even higher.” 

- Bloomberg strategist Mike McGlone believes that gold and bitcoin will be the most popular instruments for investors in 2023. The precious metal will confirm the status of the safest asset. The cost of a troy ounce of gold will soon exceed $2,000. At the same time, the attractiveness of bitcoin, which is seen as an instrument independent of the traditional banking system, will increase. As the global economy worsens, the number of investors who prefer to keep their capital in BTC, gold, as well as in treasuries, will grow, according to a note prepared by McGlone.
The collapse of the banking sector is reminiscent of the crisis of 1929, so the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy. After the latest rate hike, investment in bitcoin has increased, although many observers expected its value to fall, Bloomberg strategist emphasized. In his opinion, the BTC rebound can be seen as a positive signal, as more traders continue to buy cryptocurrency even amid global uncertainty.

- Place Holder partner and former head of Ark Invest crypto company Chris Burniske, like Mike McGlone, believes now is the time to buy bitcoin and ethereum, as they are created for precisely such crisis moments.

- An analyst with the nickname The Wolf of Crypto found the history of the posts of the famous “gold bug” and bitcoin critic Peter Schiff and recalled that he buried BTC back in 2017. At the time, the coin was trading at $5,000, and Schiff promised that it would soon be completely worthless. Despite the past 6 years, the entrepreneur has not changed his position. And now, in March 2023, he stated that “Bitcoin’s zero price hike just dragged on a bit.”
Analysts recalled that bitcoin quotes rose by 47% after Schiff announced the need to sell assets amid fears caused by a banking collapse caused by the fall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

 - Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, criticized bitcoin, saying that the fundamental value of the first cryptocurrency is zero. He called bitcoin a highly speculative asset with no economic value or utility. It should be noted that Hanke himself is promoting initiatives related to the dollarization of Latin American countries.
Cake Defi CEO Julian Hosp responded to Hanke that BTC can be argued endlessly, but bitcoin definitely has value. According to Hosp, there are undoubtedly people who need bitcoin, so the claim that the first cryptocurrency has zero value is fundamentally wrong.

- The Central African Republic (CAR) will be the next country to legalize cryptocurrency at the state level, writes BeInCrypto. This decision was made after the discussion of the issue in the National Assembly. The debates were held behind closed doors, and after them, the President of the country, Faustin-Archange Touadera, supported the Central Bank's opinion regarding the FCFA cryptocurrency, which will have the status of legal tender in the CAR.

- Analyst Cory Swan has theorized that it was the founder of the Binance Changpeng Zhao (CZ) crypto exchange who was all this time the bear who tried to crash bitcoin to $12,000. “CZ held a large short position against BTC, hoping for $12,000, and paying for his personal big trade with unsecured BUSD and unsecured altcoins,” Swann writes.
A user under the nickname Grinding Poet believes that “Bitcoin at $12,000 is too optimistic. This is a big black swan and a retest of the 2018 lows is imminent. The new target is $3,150.”


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CryptoNews of the Week


- Robert Kiyosaki, author of the bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad and entrepreneur, has once again called for investing in gold, silver and bitcoin amid problems with US banks. In his opinion, regulators will print “even more counterfeit money” to save the “sick economy”. “Take care of yourself. Crash landing is ahead,” Kiyosaki wrote.
Kiyosaki made his announcement amid the recent collapse of major US banks Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, which were taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The latter, together with the Treasury and the US Federal Reserve, said that SVB and Signature Bank depositors will have access to all funds in full. In addition, the Fed announced the creation of the Bank Term Funding Program for banks that may face similar problems (BTFP). $25 billion will be allocated for this purpose. Interestingly, both of these banks were actively used by cryptocurrency companies as fiat gateways.

- Aggressive rate hikes by the Fed and balance sheet cuts have led to bank failures in the US. According to a number of experts, this has become an excellent advertisement for bitcoin, the rate of which is expected to skyrocket. Observers draw parallels to the 2013 Cyprus crisis, which highlighted the shortcomings in the fractional reserve system and drew attention to decentralized hedging as opposed to centralized banking.
“The 18th largest bank [SVB] has collapsed. We have learned how a record sell-off in US Treasuries resulted in billions of dollars of unrealized losses in the banking sector. Thus, we have received another example of the fact that a fractional reserve system has no savers, but only creditors,” writes The Bitcoin Layer.

- Bitcoin reacted with a bullish rally to the news that the US authorities provided liquidity to rescue depositors of Silicon Valley and Signature banks. Market analyst Tedtalksmacro called this move by the Fed the beginning of unofficial quantitative easing. Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes was even more blunt: “Get ready for a rally in risk assets. Money Printer Launched! - he wrote. - Helping the depositors to burst banks means injecting money into the economy, from which liquidity was only withdrawn during the year. This is a great fuel for risky assets.”

- After the aforementioned bankruptcy of these two banks, the BTC rate jumped by more than 30%. This made market participants think again about the potential of cryptocurrency as a tool for capital protection. Meanwhile, CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer continued to criticize the cryptocurrency industry. In the latest episode of his show, he expressed his skepticism regarding the coin's latest price rally. The host also called bitcoin a "strange animal". In his opinion, cryptocurrencies are secretly manipulated by large financial institutions and wealthy investors. “Please don’t think that everything happens by itself,” Cramer warned the audience, adding that he never believed in bitcoin.

- The US Treasury has called for the introduction of an excise duty for mining companies in the amount of 30% of the cost of electricity consumed. This is stated in the Green Book of the department. The tax is planned to be introduced in stages over the next three years, increasing by 10% each year. In addition, miners will be required to report how much electricity and what power they use. The new excise is expected to reduce the total number of mining devices in the US.
Another provision concerns individuals. The US Treasury is proposing that people with foreign financial accounts holding more than $50,000 worth of cryptocurrencies report those assets on their tax returns. Among other things, the agency is discussing the possibility of assessing the market value of digital assets and is proposing to expand the rules for securities lending to include cryptocurrencies.

- Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, one of the largest crypto exchanges, has revealed the content of her investment portfolio. “I have a cryptocurrency portfolio. About 41% is in BTC and ETH, 38% in USDT and USDC, 12% in BGB (this is the Bitget platform token). The rest is small amounts in such altcoins as BLUR, SHIB/DOGE, MANA/SAND, DODO, AVAX, YFI. I look forward to buying more BGB and BTC when the price drops. I have some NFTs, but they are not avatar pictures. I bought artistic NFTs, for example, VR paintings by French artist Anna Zhilyaeva. They are exclusively for my personal collections and not for speculation,” she admitted. 
According to Gracy Chen, ethereum will face increased volatility and a pullback in the next 2-7 months after a short-term market rise. Due to the lack of external liquidity, as well as the fact that current investors are more speculative, in the medium term, the ethereum price may move in the range from $1,200 to $2,000. “Capital inflows into the cryptocurrency market will begin to increase ahead of the bitcoin halving. ETH is expected to reach strong resistance in the $2,400-$3,500 range in 2024,” the expert believes.

- The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned of scammers who create fake mobile gaming apps and use them to steal crypto assets. Criminals position their apps as blockchain games based on the Play-to-Earn concept. Attackers contact victims online and invite them to play online games where players can be rewarded in crypto assets for certain actions (Play-to-Earn). For example, for growing crops on a virtual farm. 
To take part in the game, victims need to download the game app, create a cryptocurrency wallet and buy assets. The more funds a user keeps in their gaming account, the greater their reward will be in the game, the scammers convince. When users stop topping up their account, criminals empty their wallets with malware that is activated when the game is downloaded. 

- US Congressman Tom Emmer has once again opposed the launch of the state cryptocurrency. According to him, the digital dollar can be "easily weaponized" and used to spy on US citizens and to "crush politically unpopular activities."
The congressman noted that the cryptocurrency economy worries the US authorities, as it “takes power from centralized government institutions and returns it to the people.” Therefore, the idea of a controlled state cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly popular with regulators and law enforcement agencies.

- Henrik Zeberg, a trader and well-known macro analyst, has assessed the correlation between the US unemployment rate, the NAHB housing index, the stock market index and cryptocurrencies. The expert has noted the frightening similarity of the current scenario with the crisis of 1929, and has added that the markets are approaching an economic collapse that will drag on for several years. According to him, all markets were "extremely overheated, and the next recession could be much more serious than in 2007-2009." According to the analyst, the cryptocurrency market will also be hit very hard, and many digital coins will not withstand the pressure.
Zeberg has presented a forecast for a macroeconomic recession based on the Elliott wave theory. According to the study, wave 4 could reach its maximum level in early 2024. After that, large financial markets will be doomed to collapse. The specialist has emphasized that all attention should be focused on the economic performance of the third and fourth quarters of 2023, which could be the last bullish period of this market cycle.


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CryptoNews of the Week


- Numerous studies show that despite the unpredictability of the cryptocurrency market, the number of active female investors is only growing every year. The volume of crypto assets traded by women increased from 15.2% in 2021 to 18.5% in 2022. And this happened at a time when the market was facing massive bankruptcies, liquidations and tightening of monetary policy by Central Banks.
According to statistics, female investors choose bitcoin in 21.6% of cases, followed by Tether USD with 21%. Ethereum, Shiba Inu and Dogecoin have also become popular assets. The most active age group is between 25 and 35 years old. The average net worth of a female investor in the UK is estimated at £9,650. And women cite the desire for financial independence as a key reason for investing in digital assets.

- Egyptian authorities arrested 29 people, including 13 foreign nationals, who stole more than $600,000 using the HoggPool scam network. The attackers launched an online platform in August 2022 and lured customers with the promise of “great financial gains” from cryptocurrency transactions. HoggPool went out of business in February, its organizers disappeared with clients' money. But then, the attackers were arrested when they reappeared with the intention of launching the Riot platform.
Back in early 2018, Egypt's chief mufti, Sheikh Shawki Allam, banned trading in crypto assets. It is illegal to engage in such activities in Egypt: you can get a prison term and a fine of up to $325,000. Despite this, Egyptian interest in cryptocurrencies remains high due to economic problems in the country. 

- Michael Van De Poppe, CEO and founder of Eight Global, noted the importance of the next few weeks for bitcoin and allowed it to fall below $20,000.
Digital gold is holding in the $22,000-25,000 range so far. Crypto market capitalization has tested the highs of 2017, with the result that, according to van de Poppe, he is now “looking for a higher bottom.” According to the expert’s forecast, if the indicator falls below the 200-week moving average, the price of bitcoin will fall to $19,700.
 “Capitalization could drop to $860 million, pulling the entire market down by another 15%,” he warned.

- The executives of S&P Solutions, which operated under the Bitcoin of America brand, were accused of manufacturing and installing unlicensed Bitcoin ATMs used for fraud. According to the US Attorney's Office, the company's ATMs were not protected against money laundering, which is why they were actively used by various intruders. “S&P Solutions received a 20% commission for each transfer and continued to do so even after learning about fraudulent transactions,” the prosecutor’s office noted.
For reference, Bitcoin of America operates over 2,600 cryptocurrency ATMs in 35 states and is the fourth largest manufacturer of these devices in the country.

- The lack of clear regulation of the crypto industry in the United States threatens that companies will go abroad and offshore. This, in turn, will have a negative impact on users who “will remain vulnerable to fraudsters.” This opinion was expressed in an interview with Bloomberg by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. He emphasized the importance of adopting a legislative framework and clear regulation of cryptocurrencies, which, in his opinion, will contribute to the growth of the industry. Garlinghouse cited Ripple's legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an example of the imperfection of the law, which showed how much the United States lags behind other countries in this direction.

- Arthur Hayes, former CEO and co-founder of the BitMEX crypto exchange, believes that the bitcoin rally will start at a time when the global economy is in an oil crisis. In his opinion, a sharp increase in hydrocarbon prices will create conditions for the growth of digital assets and, first of all, bitcoin.
Hayes's logic is as follows: against the background of geopolitical tensions in the world, demand for energy resources will increase, as oil exporters are likely to reduce production. In this situation, the United States, as a leading economic power, will have to increase its own oil production. The Fed will need to ease the monetary rate to stimulate business activity in the energy sector. As soon as the regulator starts lowering rates, capital will return to risky assets, including cryptocurrencies. In addition, the former head of BitMEX recalled that the limited supply of BTC will also contribute to its growth, as the US dollar will lose ground.
For the record: Arthur Hayes was charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act in 2022 and sentenced to six months of house arrest, two years of probation, and a $10 million fine.

- More than 90% of bitcoins are currently in circulation, but the asset's inflation rate has dropped significantly in recent years. It is now at least three times lower than that of the US dollar. This allows BTC to act as a possible hedge against capital depreciation and economic uncertainty. According to the WooBull analytical platform, the inflation rate of the first cryptocurrency has been steadily decreasing since its creation in 2009 and amounted to 1.79% as of March 4. At the same time, the same indicator for USD reached 6.4% in 2023, which is 3.57 times higher than that of BTC. 
The decrease in bitcoin inflation is due to the asset's deflationary model, supported by halvings, which reduce the speed of coin mining and halve miners' rewards. Experts also believe that this figure remains low due to the decentralization of BTC, which avoids most of the political and economic risks typical for the US dollar. On the contrary, the USD inflation rate will grow. This is primarily due to an excessive increase in the money supply, a decrease in demand and/or a reduction in production. 

- Nicholas Merten, a well-known crypto analyst and presenter of the DataDash YouTube channel, has not ruled out a new major fall in ethereum. In his opinion, if we take into account previous bear markets when forecasting, ETH could fall by more than 90% from its historical high, that is, find itself at the level of several hundred dollars.
“ETH/USD has a long way to go. “We're only 67% from the record,” Merten says. “And if we see again what we had in previous bear markets, say, a 92 percent correction or a 94 percent correction, then the price of ETH will drop to several hundred dollars. The difference is huge, from $870 to about $500.”
Merten added that the current ETH price action looks very weak, as the altcoin has been stuck in a fairly narrow range for several months and cannot overcome the significant resistance at $1,800.

- Analysts at Santiment have identified massive negative sentiment towards cryptocurrencies. Experts find it difficult to establish the main reason for achieving such high levels. The researchers have noted that the cryptocrash hashtag trended on Twitter long before the 5% drop in the price of bitcoin, which occurred last Friday, March 03. Some members of the crypto community attributed the negative sentiment to problems with the Silvergate crypto bank and the recent SEC statement that all altcoins could be classified as securities.
The good news for investors, according to Santiment analysts, is that the total negative led to a noticeable rebound in prices previously. Felix Zulauf, the founder of hedge fund Zulauf Consulting, has suggested that bitcoin will move into a clear bullish rally sometime in late spring. The expert does not rule out that the asset could reach $100,000 on a sharp uptrend. He emphasized that bitcoin is now in the initial phase of a bullish cycle, which is confirmed by numerous on-chain metrics.

- Despite the bearish dynamics, Credible Crypto experts also remain optimistic about the medium-term prospects for the flagship crypto asset. In their opinion, bitcoin may update its historical extremum this year. However, the asset will face several hurdles before a steady bullish trend begins. Credible Crypto agrees that last year's bankruptcies are having a negative impact on the industry. However, about 73% of all BTC coins are concentrated in the hands of experienced holders who can withstand difficult times.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- Regulation of the crypto market was one of the topics finance ministers and central bankers discussed at the G20 meeting chaired by India last weekend. As a result, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that regulation of the crypto industry is important, while Washington is not considering a complete ban. “It is very important to create a reliable regulatory framework. And we are working [on this] with other governments,” she said in an interview with Reuters. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva agrees with her colleague: her organization also advocates for adequate regulation of digital assets and against their complete ban.

- Michael van de Poppe, the CEO of Eight, believes that bitcoin is currently the most undervalued asset. He has released a video review in which he predicts the growth of the coin to $40,000 this year. This forecast has been made against the background of recent news, according to which inflation in the US showed its teeth again: the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE) was 4.7% against the forecast of 4.3%. It has already been said that because of this, the Fed may raise the interest rate by 50 basis points in March and not by 25 bps, as previously expected.
According to cryptocurrency screener Cryptovizor, bitcoin reached a local high on February 21, and then began to fall. However, both the aggravation of macroeconomic data and the rollback of BTC quotes failed to dampen Van de Poppe's optimism. From his point of view, a pronounced bullish divergence on the weekly chart indicates that we have already reached the bottom. What is happening now is just a bounce off the 200-week moving average and consolidating. According to the trader, a sideways movement is most likely at this stage. In the worst case scenario, BTC/USD will fall to the low of the $18,000 range, and this fall will be a great investment opportunity.
According to Van de Poppe, there is no recession at the moment, but it may begin due to the collapse of the debt market and the real estate market. But before that happens, bitcoin could rise to $40,000, as the crisis usually unfolds 6-12 months after the Fed's significant rate hike. The signal for the start of a new bull rally could be either the lifting of the mining ban in China, or the adoption of cryptocurrency in Hong Kong.

- “Despite the tumultuous events of the past year, US cryptocurrency ownership has remained largely unchanged since hitting an all-time high in early 2022. More than 50 million people in the country own cryptocurrencies, and 76% of them believe that this type of asset and blockchain technology are the future. 67% believe that the current financial system needs a major reboot. These conclusions were reached by Morning Consult experts based on the results of a survey commissioned by Coinbase.
Based on the survey results, Coinbase plans to focus on the development of the industry. The exchange intends to work with politicians and companies in the field of traditional finance, as well as launch an educational campaign explaining the role that cryptocurrencies can play in the renewal of the financial system. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has previously stated that he wants to increase the global cryptocurrency user base to one billion people.

- Investors are again showing an active interest in cryptocurrencies. According to the analytical company Glassnode, the 30-day inflow of capital into the market has exceeded the outflow for the first time in 9 months and has returned to the “green” zone. The cumulative net realized market value position has also turned positive for the first time since April 2022. Over the past nine months, the metric has shown negative values.
According to analysts, another positive indicator is the fall in the number of bitcoin whale wallets to a three-year low. This means that the asset has become more distributed and less concentrated among a handful of large holders. This option is preferable for the entire ecosystem, as it eliminates the possibility of market manipulation by several players. 
Glassnode also reported On February 27 that the percentage of active BTC supply just hit an all-time high of 28.2%. This suggests that the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies is steadily increasing despite the bear market and challenging times for the global economy.

- A 51-year-old American admitted during the trial that he tried to shoot down a bitcoin ATM for the benefit of the people. Last year, Matthew K. walked into the Vapor Maven store in Jefferson City, pulled out a gun, and fired five bullets at the ATM. Returning home, he told his wife about his act and called the police himself. Matthew explained his stunt by the hatred he feels for bitcoin ATMs. The unfortunate killer said that he decided to shoot the device so that "it could no longer take money from anyone." Despite such noble intentions, the court found Matthew guilty of damaging property and sentenced him to five years of probation. (For reference: the first Bitcoin ATM appeared in the US in October 2013, and there are now more than 35,000 of them).

- Robert Kiyosaki, author of a number of books on investing, including the bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad, has long been a critic of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy and expressed concerns about dollar devaluation. And now the writer has made a bold statement that, in his opinion, the fake dollar is leading to the decline of the American empire. This stance of Kiyosaki has drawn approval from the crypto community as it shows the benefits of bitcoin. Experts note that digital assets such as BTC, unlike fiat currencies, are not subject to inflationary pressure, since their supply is limited and predetermined by appropriate algorithms.
Recall that Kiyosaki has recently predicted that the bitcoin rate will rise to $500,000 by 2025. “A giant crash is coming. Depression is possible. The Fed has been forced to print billions in counterfeit money. Gold at $5,000, silver at $500, and bitcoin at $500,000 by 2025,” he wrote. And he added that gold and silver are the money of the gods, and bitcoin is like a dollar for ordinary people.

- Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, said in a recent interview that he is “epically optimistic for the next three years.” In his opinion, there will be a massive adoption of cryptocurrency in 2023-2025 and its prices will grow. “This bull market cycle is going to be the biggest cycle in terms of user adoption, in terms of the cumulative increase in market capitalization, in terms of just about every other thing we care about,” the financier says. “But it won’t happen perfectly up and to the right.” Also, “I'm actually optimistic about regulation,” Matt Hougan added.

– Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has changed his mind about bitcoin over the past few years. He called BTC "digital gold" in 2018. However, he said a year later that the fall of the crypto market reminded him of the dot-com crisis of the early 2000s.
Steve Wozniak was once again bullish this week. He predicted a BTC surge to $100,000. In his opinion, the main cryptocurrency has a huge potential and will increase in value in the coming years. “Currently, only a small percentage of the world’s population owns bitcoin, so the infrastructure is expanding at an extremely slow pace. However, its adoption will accelerate in the future, both the number of BTC holders and users of projects deployed in the DeFi and NFT markets will increase,” Wozniak believes. At the same time, the co-founder of Apple admitted that he  has less than 1 BTC, and he does not plan to make money on investments in cryptocurrency.

- The government of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), one of the UAE's emirates, plans to create a free zone for companies in the digital asset industry. The National News writes about this. According to the statement, RAK Digital Assets Oasis will become a hub for unregulated activities of industry participants. Applications will be accepted as early as Q2 2023.

- The correlation of cryptocurrencies with US stocks and macroeconomic indicators is weakening against the backdrop of the current flat movement in the price of bitcoin. It is reported by The Block, referring to the opinion of analysts from the investment company Bernstein. According to them, the market is balancing between bulls and bears, "waiting for further catalysts", and its susceptibility to events in the world of traditional finance "is not the same as before." The first cryptocurrency's correlation with the Nasdaq Composite index has fallen from 0.94 to 0.58 since early February.
The analysts also point out that the hurdles created by regulators are bearish for the market, as is the lack of institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, the weakening of the correlation with the stock market is a bullish signal.

- The crypto market performed much better at the beginning of 2023 than most of its participants and experts expected. These are the findings of Bank of America researchers. They have published a report in which they emphasize that the market capitalization of digital coins and tokens has grown by 42% to $1.1 trillion. At the same time, Bank of America strategists remain cautious about further capitalization growth, as high dollar interest rates could put serious pressure on digital assets.

- We wrote earlier that Charles Munger, vice chairman of the holding company Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett's right-hand man, called “idiots” anyone who disagrees with him regarding a complete ban on cryptocurrencies. The 99-year-old billionaire said that crypto assets are nothing more than gambling and called them “rat poison”. He also urged the US authorities to follow in the footsteps of China and ban cryptocurrencies. 
And now he received an answer from Elon Musk. The Tesla founder said that Munger considered investing in the company in 2008, when it was valued at just $200 million, but declined. Now, Tesla's current capitalization is about 3,000 times that amount. In this regard, Chris Burniske, an analyst and former head of cryptography at ARK Invest, noted caustically that Munger knows exactly how to miss the chance to make 1000x profit.


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CryptoNews of the Week


- FTX CTO Nishad Singh plans to plead guilty to fraud for his role in the crashed exchange and is discussing a possible deal with prosecutors, Bloomberg reports. Two other associates pleaded guilty to charges related to the collapse of FTX in December, but the head of the exchange, Sam Bankman-Freed, has not made a deal with the investigators.
Singh created the platform software and played an important role in the daily operations of FTX. He was part of Bankman-Freed's inner circle, living with him in a penthouse in the Bahamas. Singh has donated over $9.3 million to US Democratic candidates since 2020 and has also received hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from Alameda.

- The number of addresses with a balance of 1000 BTC or more has dropped to August 2019 levels. According to the analytical company Glassnode, there are 2,024 such whales (as of February 20, 2023). The number of addresses in this category peaked in February 2021, about 2,500. Then, despite the rally of bitcoin to an all-time high near $69,000, the indicator began to decline.
The number of addresses with a balance of 10,000 BTC or more (from $240 million at current prices) is stable near the peaks corresponding to the values of November 2022 and October 2018. There are currently 115 such “mega-whale” wallets in total. But the number of smaller addresses (from 1 BTC) keeps to update the highs. Their number increased by 20% during the year, approaching 982,000.

- The Russian Bureau of Interpol officers, at the request from the United States, detained in Moscow a 31-year-old Briton who helped North Korea circumvent sanctions and advised members of the DPRK government on ways to withdraw funds abroad using cryptocurrencies. 

- Vice Chairman of the legendary holding company Berkshire Hathaway Charlie Munger, who is Warren Buffett's right-hand man, called those who disagree with him on the cryptocurrencies ban "idiots". “I'm not proud of my country [USA] for allowing this crap. It's just ridiculous that someone is buying this [digital assets]," the 99-year-old billionaire said. - This is not good. It's crazy. It only hurts. And it's antisocial." Munger has previously urged the US authorities to follow China's lead and ban digital assets. In his opinion, they cannot be attributed either to currencies, or to goods, or to securities.

- Kevin O'Leary, investor, journalist and host of the hit show Shark Tank, called on crypto exchanges to work more closely with government regulatory agencies. He stated that “American financial regulators are tired” of watching the wave of company bankruptcies in the cryptocurrency industry. And they treat such firms much more harshly now. Therefore, any business in this area should be more careful. 
“You should work with regulators. No need to stand in the way of the SEC and other agencies. These guys in Washington are pretty mean. The collapse of FTX kicked the bear. It woke up and was furious. Senators are really tired: they are tired of meeting every six months when another large cryptocurrency firm collapses. They are fed up with the fact that the industry is not regulated, and everyone can issue their own useless tokens,” said this Canadian entrepreneur.
Kevin O'Leary believes that regulated companies will attract significantly more investment than their unregulated rivals. And in general, unregulated companies run the risk of going bankrupt through the actions of officials. Kevin O'Leary had earlier stated that most crypto assets have no intrinsic value and will collapse to zero in the near future.

- Alex Gladstein, the director of the Human Rights Foundation, said In a recent interview that the first cryptocurrency is able to limit the power of states with "collapsed democracy" and deprive them of the ability to control people. According to him, bitcoin prevents "tyrannical governments" from imposing their will on the people. “Bitcoin restores democracy. Bitcoin is about free speech, property rights, and open capital markets. What do authoritarian countries need? Quite the opposite: censorship, confiscation and closed capital markets,” Gladstein said.

- Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist and creator of the Internet, URL, HTTP and HTML, has criticized cryptocurrencies as dangerous speculative tools for market manipulation. According to the inventor, the Internet should exist without blockchain. The engineer is sure that this technology is not so fast and safe.
In his opinion, crypto assets are very similar to the dot-com bubble, when a large number of Internet companies closed 20 years ago without a fundamental basis for business development. Berners-Lee believes that digital currencies can only be suitable for money transfers if they are immediately converted into fiat currencies upon receipt.

- Bitcoin has the potential to become the digital gold of the 21st century, Deutsche Bank analyst Marion Laboure says, adding that it is important to be mindful of the risks associated with the first cryptocurrency. She recalls that people have always looked for assets that were not controlled by governments, and gold has played this role for centuries.
Laboure is sure that the main problems of cryptocurrencies are the lack of regulation and the environmental consequences of mining. “For example, bitcoin mining requires about the same amount of electricity in a year as the entire population of Pakistan uses, about 217 million people!”

- Asian investors may push bitcoin quotes up, Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of the Gemini crypto exchange, thinks. His thesis is that the next phase of price growth will occur in the East, and the US will have to adjust to new conditions. Recall that according to Chainalysis, the Asia-Pacific region already ranks third in the world in terms of cryptocurrency investments.

- According to Matrix analysts, the price of bitcoin is able to rise to $29,000 by the summer and to $45,000 by the end of this year. However, this will happen under the condition of a further slowdown in the growth rate of consumer inflation in the United States. Matrix notes that the price of the cryptocurrency has recently risen above $25,000 several times. Analysts see this as a positive signal, as BTC's rise has taken place despite the negative news on the tightening of cryptocurrency regulations in the US and Europe.
Speaking about their forecast, Matrix also refers to the “January effect”: price success in the first month often predetermines the movement of the main cryptocurrency throughout the year. In addition, experts recalled that historically, the price of bitcoin tests the lows 12-15 months before the next halving. This time, such period was December 2022 - March 2023.
Plan B also speaks about a possible rally. According to his estimates, bitcoin could test the $42,000 level as early as March.


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CryptoNews of the Week


- Cryptocurrency entrepreneurs should consider moving to a country with favorable regulation of the bitcoin industry. This was stated by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. He considers Dubai (UAE), Bahrain and France to be such jurisdictions. Zhao added that newcomers to the industry will definitely need legal advice in order to "not cross any of the red lines" set by regulators.
This advice came against the background of tightening regulation of the industry by the US authorities. In particular, we are talking about an investigation launched by the New York State Department of Financial Services against infrastructure company Paxos. The regulator later ordered the firm to stop issuing the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin. The SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) also announced its readiness to sue Paxos. 
The CEO of Binance was supported by Uniswap founder Hayden Adams. “It is a shame to watch the US efforts in the cryptosphere. Innovative companies get an additional incentive to go abroad. It's like if the government banned the development of the Internet 30 years ago,” he wrote.

- According to Politico, Senator Elizabeth Warren has begun building a coalition against cryptocurrencies and is actively recruiting conservative Republicans in the US Senate. By doing so, she wants to support her bills, which could have serious consequences for the crypto industry, and which imply tighter restrictions in the fight against money laundering, including additional requirements for verifying the identity of consumers. Warren positions herself as a leading digital asset legislator and enjoys the backing of the banking lobby.
The US Department of the Treasury is currently actively monitoring cases of illegal funding using cryptocurrencies. The Warren bill will extend these obligations to other agencies and entities, including service providers in the digital asset segment.

- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sent 99 ETH (~$155,000 at the time of writing) to Ahbap, a non-profit organization that raises money to help earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. According to Ahbap's official website, the organization has already raised over $4.2 million in cryptocurrencies.
According to the latest data, the disaster has claimed the lives of more than 25,000 people. More than 80,000 people have been injured in Turkey alone. The series of earthquakes has become the largest since 2010 in terms of the number of victims. 

- Investor and star of the TV show Shark Tank, Kevin O'Leary, said on The Wolf of All Streets podcast that most of the 10,000 digital assets are worthless. “They will eventually fall to zero due to the lack of volatility and [trading] volume. They are not needed,” he announced his verdict. O'Leary also talked about losing all of his crypto investments after the FTX crash in November 2022. However, after that, he has already opened new positions in bitcoin, ethereum and 5 other assets (previously his portfolio included 32 positions).

- The South Korean authorities have included in the sanctions list a number of North Korean hacker groups and individuals associated with cyber attacks and cryptocurrency theft. This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Seoul. The sanctions came just hours after South Korea and the United States announced a cybersecurity joint venture.
In particular, hackers working in the information technology sector at the North Korean company Chosun Expo Joint Venture were blacklisted. It is alleged to be a shell company associated with the Lazarus Group. North Korean hackers have stolen more than $1.2 billion worth of virtual assets since 2017, including $626 million in 2022, according to information provided by the Foreign Ministry.

- Former Goldman Sachs CEO Raoul Pal believes Ethereum is destined to reach a five-digit price in the next bull market. The macro expert has set a target price for ethereum around $10,000, primarily due to the good potential of the token. However, he believes that some of the main competitors will surpass him. “ETH is the money of the internet. And I do not think that it will lose this status, but this does not mean that this is the best player, - said the financier. - Solana, I think, aims for the widest possible adoption, making it convenient for the consumer. […] However, ETH is the easiest way because it probably has the least risk.” 

- According to technical analysis by CryptoQuant expert Grizzly, BTC/USD has formed a unique pattern that has previously been observed at market lows. The specialist added the 200-day SMA and the realized price to the long-term chart and concluded that this could be a sign of a long-term uptrend. According to his observations, this was especially evident in 2019, 2015 and 2012.
At the same time, Grizzly noted that macroeconomic factors that put pressure on high-risk asset markets should not be overlooked. It is not known whether bitcoin will be able to “separate” from assets such as stocks and demonstrate “decent behavior” as a reliable hedge against inflation. According to the expert, only time will tell if the largest cryptocurrency maintains its upward trajectory. 

- Another popular Twitter analyst, Kaleo, with 563,000 followers, also shared his prediction about the near future of bitcoin and ethereum. The analyst believes that a price of $30,000 is still possible for bitcoin. Ethereum, in his opinion, will repeat the movement of 2018-2020. The price of this altcoin rose from $80 to $480 then. At the time of writing the review, the ETH exchange rate is $1,580. According to Kaleo's calculations, the target level is located almost twice as high: around $3,000.

- The number of users of the first cryptocurrency will grow from the current over 300 million to 1 billion in the next three years. This would be riughly 12% of the world's population. This forecast was given by well-known analyst Willy Woo. He recalled that it took six months for bitcoin to form an audience of the first 1,000 users. It took five years for that number to rise to 1 million. The network achieved its current figures of more than 300 million, 13.8 years after the formation of the genesis block. For comparison, Woo cited the audience of PayPal (430 million people) and Twitter (400 million, most of which, he believes, are bots).

- Robert Kiyosaki, author of the bestselling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, stated that the price of bitcoin will rise to $500,000 by 2025. “A giant crash is coming. Depression is possible. The Fed has been forced to print billions in counterfeit money. Gold at $5,000, silver at $500, and bitcoin at $500,000 by 2025,” he wrote. And he added that gold and silver are the money of the gods, and bitcoin is like a dollar for ordinary people.
Prior to this, Anthony Scaramucci, founder of the hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, said that the value of one bitcoin on the exchange could double to $50,000 over the next two to three years. Scaramucci called 2023 a “recovery year” for bitcoin.


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CryptoNews of the Week


- North Korean hackers stole a record amount in cryptocurrencies in 2022 and targeted the networks of foreign aerospace and defense companies. This is reported by Reuters with reference to a UN report. Cybersecurity specialists estimate the damage at more than $1 billion. At the same time, Chainalysis analysts believe that the attacks have brought the DPRK about $1.7 billion in cryptocurrencies over the past year.
Most of the attacks were carried out by cybercriminals controlled by North Korea's Main Intelligence Bureau. These include Kimsuky, Lazarus Group and Andariel. They distributed malware in various ways, including phishing. “Initial contacts with individuals were made through LinkedIn, and once a level of trust with the targets was established, the malware was delivered via WhatsApp,” the UN notes, adding that the methods of hackers have become more sophisticated, making it more difficult to trace the stolen assets.

- Morgan Creek investment company CEO Mark W. Yusko, said in an interview with Cointelegraph that the next bull market could start as early as Q2 2023. This will be facilitated by favorable macroeconomic conditions and expectations of bitcoin halving.
According to the top manager, the US Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut the key rate in the near future. However, even a slowdown or pause in this process will be perceived as a positive signal for risky assets, which include cryptocurrencies.
The CEO of Morgan Creek indicated the expectations of the next bitcoin halving, which is expected to take place around April 19-21, 2024, as an additional reason for the bull market He believes that the recovery of the digital asset market usually begins nine months before this event, that is, it is the end of summer 2023 this time. 

- Cathy Wood, the head of ARK Invest, still considers the first cryptocurrency the best form of protection against financial losses and an insurance policy for developing countries. “We're seeing hyperinflation around the world as fiat currencies crash. All segments of the population need a fallback, an insurance policy like bitcoin,” she said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
According to Cathy Wood, all segments of the population, both the poor and the wealthy, will benefit from the use of digital gold. As for the latter, she pointed to bitcoin as a hedge against capital forfeiture in countries like China or Russia.

- MicroStrategy, a developer of analytical software and one of the largest crypto investors, recorded a balance sheet loss for 2022 in the amount of $1.3 billion. This is due to its long-term investment in bitcoin. (As of December 31, 2022, MicroStrategy held a total of 132,500 BTC worth $1.84 billion).
At the same time, the company's management states that it does not plan to stop trading the digital asset. According to Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor, it has “managed to surpass bitcoin as an index” since the company first announced its purchase of BTC in August 2020: its shares have risen by 117% during this time, while the value of bitcoin has increased by 98%.

- Commenting on the collapse of Alameda and FTX, Michael Saylor said that he sees this as a kind of manifestation of Darwin's theory: weak and bad players left the market, and this pushed the industry forward in the long run. At the same time, according to the co-founder of MicroStrategy, cryptocurrencies need a clear regulatory framework for companies to comply with certain standards and protect customers. “What is really needed is supervision. Clear guidance from Congress is needed for the industry to have its own Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock. We need clear rules of conduct from the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) of the United States.”

- David Marcus, former head of Meta's blockchain division and former PayPal president, suggested that crypto winter will only end by 2025, when the market recovers from last year's turmoil. He believes that the time will soon pass when you can create a token out of thin air and earn millions of dollars from it. Much more value will be given to decentralized applications that have practical value for the real world. Marcus expects big breakthroughs in payments, asset tokenization, and decentralized finance (DeFi). However, the specialist doubts that the legislature will be able to develop rules for regulating cryptocurrencies in the near future, therefore, crypto companies will continue to operate in a "vacuum" in 2023, at their own peril and risk.

- Charlie Munger, an associate of Warren Buffett, vice president of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company, called on the US authorities to destroy bitcoin, which the billionaire compares investing in to gambling. He said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that the cryptocurrency industry is undermining the stability of the global financial sector. And that BTC cannot be considered an asset class as it has no value.
Munger has been expressing this point of view over the past few years. And now he calls on the US authorities to deal a devastating blow to the crypto market. In his opinion, it is necessary to push it into the strictest regulatory framework, as a result of which the industry will simply not withstand the pressure and die.

- Crypto trader and investor Tone Vays stated that bitcoin “has risen very fast and very high.” BTC rose from a low of $16,272 in November 2022 to $24,229 in early February 2023 and is now facing major resistance as it approaches the $25,000 level. The specialist believes that BTC will eventually break through the resistance zone, but the asset probably “should take a break” at the moment. Weiss clarified that he expects either consolidation of the rate in a narrow range, or a small pullback.
Many experts are also keeping a close eye on the $25,000 level. For example, analyst Benjamin Cowen believes that bitcoin is on the verge of a potential trend change that could lead to a rise in quotes, as it did in 2019. The legendary trader Peter Brandt predicted earlier that the exit from the “double bottom support” technical analysis pattern would lead the coin to rise above $25,000.

- According to statistics, the media forecast of crypto community members accurately predicted the value of bitcoin by the end of each month, over the past six months with a probability of up to 75%. Finbold experts note that the forecasts obtained from a survey of more than 15 thousand traders, and the predictions of machine learning algorithms, are seriously different at the moment. Real people expect BTC quotes to fall to $20,250 by February 28, 2023, while artificial intelligence points to $24,342. 

- Swiss Rehabilitation Center The Balance has offered a course of treatment for addiction to crypto trading. According to some reports, about 1% of crypto traders have such a serious pathological addiction. The course is designed for a four-week stay in the center itself or in its branches in Mallorca, London or Zurich. The cost of treatment exceeds $75,000. Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, said the course is similar to treating a gambling addiction. At the same time, she called such a high cost of treatment unjustified.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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CryptoNews of the Week


- Bitcoin has had its best start to the year since January 2013. The rate rose by 51% then, the growth was 40% last month. It happened against the backdrop of the weakness of the US dollar. “At the same time, 85% of the contribution to the rally is associated with investors from the United States,” says Markus Thielen, head of research at crypto services provider Matrixport. The bullish stance of US companies is also confirmed by the renewed premium in bitcoin futures listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. “We interpret this as a sign that faster institutional traders and hedge funds are actively buying back the recent fall in the cryptocurrency markets,” Thielen said.
Deutsche Digital Assets made a similar observation earlier, on January 20, drawing attention to the increase in Coinbase's premium as evidence of increased buying interest from sophisticated US investors. An institutional-led bullish reversal in bitcoin could be a good sign for the US stock market, given that the cryptocurrency bottomed a few weeks before the S&P 500.

- Binance Bitcoin Exchange reported that user interest in digital assets remains high. According to the survey, more than 88% of Binance customers plan to continue investing in cryptocurrencies, and only 3.3% do not consider this possibility. Bitcoin is still the dominant asset, owned by 21.7% of those surveyed. The top three also include Tether (17.8%) and BUSD (10.3%).
Over 40% of respondents bought digital assets last year for investment purposes. Other motives were the decline in the value of bitcoin and the general bearish trend. Almost 8% cited the geopolitical situation in the world as a reason for the purchase, and 11.5% expressed distrust of the traditional financial system. 40.8% do not use traditional investment opportunities (buying shares, investing in real estate, mutual funds), while 32.4% do use them. At the same time, 79.7% are sure that cryptocurrencies are necessary for the development of the global economy, and 59.4% of respondents believe that deposits in cryptocurrencies will be able to replace bank deposits over time.
According to statistics, the total number of digital wallets with a balance of $1,000 or more in bitcoin or ethereum has increased by 27% in 2022.

- Despite the fact that 2022 was a challenging year for the crypto industry, 82% of millionaires considered investing in digital assets like bitcoin. This follows from a survey conducted by financial consulting company deVere Group. The results of the survey, published on January 30, show that 8 out of 10 surveyed clients of the company, with assets to invest from $1.2 to $6.1 million, turned to financial advisers for cryptocurrency advice.
Nigel Green, CEO and Founder of the deVere Group, believes that while the group surveyed is “generally more conservative,” its interest stems from the core values of bitcoin: “digital, global, borderless, decentralized, and secure from unauthorized access". Green also notes a growing interest in crypto services from older financial institutions such as Fidelity, BlackRock and JPMorgan, and considers this a good sign for the industry. He predicts that the momentum of interest will build as the “crypto winter” of 2022 thaws due to changing conditions in the traditional financial system.
For the record: A June 2022 report by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers found that roughly a third of 89 traditional hedge funds surveyed had already invested in digital assets like bitcoin.

- The Fear and Greed Index, a metric showing the community's general attitude towards bitcoin, entered the “Greed” zone for the first time since March 30, 2022. This is due to the increase in the bitcoin rate in the first month of the year and the general revival of the entire market. It is worth noting, however, that the increased confidence among crypto investors should not be directly viewed as a catalyst for the resumption of bullish growth in the bitcoin price. In fact, a Fear or Extreme Fear metric could indicate a good buying opportunity, and too high a Greed reading could mean the market is headed for a downward correction.

- Tron founder Justin Sun said that the legalization of cryptocurrency will not only make it easier to buy and sell goods and services but will also give the public more control over their financial future. “Cryptocurrency can become a powerful tool for financial inclusion and improving the lives of people in all corners of the world. […] Let's work together to create a more inclusive and equal future for all,” wrote Justin Sun.
For the record: TRON is a decentralized entertainment content platform based on blockchain and using the TRX token. The platform also offers tools that allow developers to build and launch their own dApps.

- Jordan Belfort, a former stockbroker widely known as “The Wolf of Wall Street”, also believes that regulation of the digital asset segment may be a bullish catalyst for bitcoin in the future. According to the entrepreneur, the flagship cryptocurrency will only benefit from this. He also emphasized that if world governments continue to print money uncontrollably, more and more users will see bitcoin as a reliable tool to protect against inflation.

- The price of bitcoin on Nigeria's popular NairaEx exchange jumped in terms of local currency to almost $40,000, which is about 70% higher than the global market. The discrepancy is due to the limit imposed by the country's Central Bank on withdrawing funds from ATMs. The regulator took this step in order to reduce the share of cash in cash turnover.

- Arizona Senate Member Wendy Rogers has once again proposed approving bitcoin as legal tender in the state. In a tweet, Rogers quoted Goldman Sachs data that the first cryptocurrency is “the world's most profitable asset this year.” If the law is passed, the cryptocurrency will receive the same status as the US dollar.

- Billionaire founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd Mike Novogratz, having endured a challenging 2022, is now determined to increase investment in bitcoin mining. His focus is Texas, where Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd is buying the Helios mining operation from Argo Blockchain for $65 million. 
There are currently almost 30 mining companies in Texas. In total, they have already created about 2,000 new jobs directly, and indirectly, about 20,000 more. The Governor's Blockchain Working Group believes that Texas, which leads in oil production, is able to maintain leadership in the US in bitcoin mining as well.

- According to Matrixport experts, the flagship cryptocurrency rate may reach $45,000 by Christmas 2023. Researchers released a report in which they shared a historical observation: when January's bitcoin quotes on the chart were in the “green” zone, the price rally usually continued in the following months of the year.

- A popular analyst Plan B has outlined a scenario that, in his opinion, could raise the bitcoin price to $1 million by 2025. As for this year, he predicts the price will rise above $100,000. The analyst also said that the January bitcoin pump confirms that the asset's 4-year cyclical price bottom is over.
Plan B is known for the "Stock-to-Flow" model, which attempts to model the price of bitcoin based on its scarcity. His concept involves a parabolic jump in the price of an asset every 4 years due to halving. That being said, the analyst was heavily criticized in 2022 due to an unfortunate prediction that BTC would rise well above $100,000 at the end of 2021. After that, he adjusted his model based on 18-month statistics, as a result of which a smoother growth of the main cryptocurrency was incorporated into it.

- Cryptocurrency analyst Benjamin Cowen said that bitcoin has a “long year” to look forward to. According to the expert, it may appear that BTC has significant strength, while in fact the asset is likely to be in the process of forming a wide sideways range as a base. Cowen explained that sideways movement is not always an indicator of the growth of the first cryptocurrency and may also signal a fall in quotes.
The analyst reminded traders that a bearish cycle is usually followed by a year of sideways movement. Thus, there were three upward impulses in 2015, and only the last one turned into a real rally. There were also periods of growth in quotes in 2019, then their active fall followed, and a cycle that brought the crypto market to new highs started only after that.
The analyst noted that 2023 can be seen as a year of accumulation and that investors can take advantage of this period to increase their holdings of BTC. In addition, Cowan believes that the US Federal Reserve should ease monetary policy in order to increase cryptocurrency prices.

- Peter Brand, a well-known cryptocurrency trader, has a bearish forecast for the near future, as BTC has not been able to gain a foothold above $23,500 for a long time and is in consolidation. As the expert noted, many traders and investors are now waiting for a certain pullback in order to enter the market at better prices. The specialist believes that the flagship of the crypto market may reach the level of $25,000 in the near future, after which there will be a correction closer to $19,000. Brand remains optimistic from a medium-term perspective, predicting bitcoin to rise to $65,000 in the middle of this year.

- This release of CryptoNews was prepared a few hours before the meeting of the US Federal Reserve, following which the decision on the key rate will be announced. If the rate, according to forecasts, increases by 0.25%, and at the same time the head of the Fed, Jerome Powell, clearly hints at the dovish attitude of the regulator, this will most likely weaken the dollar and push the quotes of risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, up. On the other hand, if, contrary to the expectations of investors, the refinancing rate rises by 0.50%, a wave of panic sales in the crypto market cannot be ruled out. You can find out what will actually happen in NordFX's regular analytical review, which, as usual, will be published at the end of the week.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

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