Tag: Investment

Is Bitcoin Gearing Up to Exit the Current Bottom?

by Blockchain News

Since Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading above the psychological price of $20K, Glassnode has released its weekly on-chain report titled “Hammering Out The Bottom,” scrutinizing the stakes and the risks that may lay on the road ahead.

The market insight provider stated:

“Bitcoin has rallied back above the $20k level this week, pushing off a low of $19,215, and trading as high as $20,961. After consolidating in an increasingly tight range since early September, this is the first relief rally in many months.”

Source: Glassnode

Bitcoin was up by 6.6% in the last seven days to hit $20,626 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

With the realized price being the average acquisition price per coin, Bitcoin is presently approaching the underside of the realized price set at $21,111. A break above it would signify notable strength. 

Source: Glassnode

Redistribution of wealth continues to happen

During the Bottom Discovery phase, diminishing investor profitability usually triggers the redistribution of coin wealth because weaker hands capitulate into severe financial pain. 

Using the UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) indicator, Glassnode noted that more consolidation and duration may still be required in the current bear market because coins changing hands are lower than the 2018-2019 bottom discovery phase where 22.7% of total supply was redistributed.

The market insight provider pointed out:

“Performing the same analysis in 2022, we can see that around 14.0% of supply has been redistributed since the price fell below the Realized Price in July, with a total of 20.1% of supply now having been acquired in this price range.”

Even though Bitcoin is getting ready to exit the bottom, the bear-to-bull transition has not completely formed because of the lack of a convincing influx of new demand. 

Meanwhile, crypto trading firm Cumberland recently highlighted that Bitcoin volume remained absolutely massive given that BTC derivatives worth approximately $50 billion were being cleared on crypto exchanges daily, Blockchain.News reported. 

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Crypto Firm Q9 Capital Wins Dubai’s Regulatory Approval for Provisional Virtual Asset

by Blockchain News

Crypto investment platform Q9 Capital has received regulatory approval for a provisional virtual asset (VA) from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the company announced.

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The entry into the UAE is part of the company’s expansion efforts and aims to acquire a full operating license in accordance with VARA requirements.

“Q9 aims to make a meaningful contribution to the VARA ecosystem as an engine for crypto product creation and execution in a regulated environment,” the company said.

VARA is the world’s first independent regulator for virtual assets. 

Following the approval, investors can create and execute products and strategies on Q9’s platform. Furthermore, investors can build and access systematic investment portfolios and white-labelled offerings within VARA’s framework. The company said that the global distribution of these portfolios and offerings will be conducted in an “automated, transparent, regulated and compliant manner.”

Q9 Capital is a crypto investment management platform which helps crypto and TradeFi firms to “expand their offerings, distribute innovative products and simplify operations for enhanced innovation.”

The company’s management system allows investors to build, customize and fully-automate systematic portfolios. They can do so by using a wide product range and simultaneously accessing the entire market.

In Dubai, after winning a full operating license, Q9 will gain access to run its key features to help crypto and TradeFi firms by extending products and services to qualified investors and financial service providers.

Furthermore, Q9 plans to set up a regional hub in Dubai to expand and develop its business in the region and globally.

Besides gaining provisional approval in Dubai, other registrations for Q9 include Hong Kong.

According to Blockchain.News, Dubai is one of the most active influencers among gulf nations. 

While many state actors may see it as a threat, many others are embracing the opportunities it brings. Dubai comes off as one of the latter, with the slew of licenses being granted to cryptocurrency exchanges today.

Besides Q9, other companies, such as the crypto trading platform OKX have also been given the green light to operate in Dubai.

As announced by the crypto trading platform, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) granted it a provisional virtual assets (VA) license in July, an allowance that will let it offer targeted crypto products to qualifying investors.

Besides OKX, the duo of Binance and Huobi have also tapped related licenses to operate in Dubai. The implication of this is not just for the benefit of the exchanges. The masses will also have a unique diversity in their payment options, while the government will be able to generate revenue in the form of taxes.

Besides its role as one of the world’s most visited tourist locations, Dubai aims to become the financial epicentre of the Middle East, then the world. While the growth of digital assets in the region can be attributed to the bullish nature of VARA, chances are that Dubai will eventually become the most sought-after rallying point for crypto exchanges in the near term.

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92% High-Net-Worth Individuals in SG & HK Are Interested in Digital Assets: KPMG

by Blockchain News

To learn crypto perspectives from family offices (FOs) and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in Singapore and Hong Kong, KPMG China and Aspen Digital conducted a study dubbed “Investing in Digital Assets” and discovered that growing interest among this group.

Per the report:

“Despite the volatility in the digital asset market in the past two years, FOs and HNWIs are keen to invest in the sector. The survey found that 92 percent of respondents were interested in digital assets, with 58 percent of FOs and HNWIs already investing and 34 percent planning to do so.”

The growing crypto interest among FOs and HNWIs in Singapore and Hong Kong was being driven by portfolio diversification and high return prospects. 

Confidence in digital assets was also being spurred by heightened participation by mainstream institutional investors. 

“Family offices and high-net-worth individuals in Hong Kong and Singapore have embraced this new asset class, with more than 90 percent of our survey respondents already investing in the space or planning to do so,” according to the study.

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) dominated the group’s investment portfolio. Furthermore, growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) was also noted. 

Direct equity investment emerged as the primary source of funding for crypto service providers. Matthew Lam, Aspen Digital’s head of research, pointed out:

“We have observed that family offices/HNWIs prefer direct equity investments, while crypto-focused venture capital firms favour equity plus token warrant approach to invest in digital asset service providers.”

Nevertheless, respondents cited inaccurate valuation and the changing global regulatory environment as the biggest hurdles to crypto investment. 

For instance, all virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in Hong Kong will be required to apply for an operational license by March 2024. Moreover, Singapore is also eyeing to broaden its crypto regulation scope. 

Meanwhile, Hong Kong recently showed its intention to legalize crypto trading after launching several legal initiatives related to emerging technologies in the cryptocurrency industry, Blockchain.News reported. 

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Are Bitcoin Miners Earning Minimum Reward as Hash Price Plunged to Historic Lows?

by Blockchain News

The revenue of Bitcoin (BTC) miners continues to dwindle, given that hash price has nosedived to historic lows of $66,500 per Exahash, according to Glassnode.

The market insight provider explained:

“The Bitcoin Hash Price has reached an all-time-low of $66,500 per Exahash. This means that BTC miners are earning the smallest reward relative to hashpower applied in history, and likely puts the industry under extreme income stress.”

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Source: Glassnode

Therefore, this indicates that miners are earning the lowest revenue in Bitcoin’s 13-year journey.

Furthermore, this is happening as the mining difficulty in the Bitcoin network hits an all-time high (ATH). Glassnode added:

“BTC mining difficulty just reached an ATH of 158,208,051,864,292,013,637,632. Previous ATH of 152,947,196,320,564,012,646,400 was observed on 23 October 2022.”

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Source: Glassnode

Mining difficulty is a metric of how hard or easy it is to generate new Bitcoin and is often impacted by the number of machines plugged into the network.

High mining difficulty implicates enhanced network security because more computing power is required to mine a similar number of blocks as before. 

78% of BTC Supply has been immobile for More Than 6 Months

With the immobile Bitcoin supply reaching ATH, it seems some hodlers have remained steadfast in their objective.

Market analyst Will Clemente pointed out:

“A new all-time high 78% of Bitcoin supply has not moved in at least 6 months. Pretty remarkable in the face of the worst macroeconomic backdrop in recent history, geopolitical uncertainty, and WW3 fears. There is a group of seriously convicted hodlers out there.”

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Source: Glassnode

Hodling is one of the favoured strategies in the Bitcoin market because coins are stored for future purposes other than speculation.

For instance, hodled BTC recently hit a 5-year high, Blockchain.News reported. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin price was hovering around $19,315 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap. 

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Citi Ventures Makes First Crypto Investment in Hong Kong-Based Digital Asset Manager

by Blockchain News

Xalts, a Hong Kong-based digital-asset management firm, has raised US$6 million in a capital financing round co-led by Citi Ventures and a California-based venture-capital firm Accel. 

While this is the first digital asset seed investment made by CITIGROUP’S venture capital investing group, Accel previously funded technology firms that include Facebook and Spotify.

Luis Valdich, a Managing Director at Citi Ventures, talked about the development: “The world has changed a lot, you know, with the macro environments, and obviously, markets have been suffering as a result of that. Obviously, we are very prudent in terms of where to and how to deploy capital, but we’re absolutely active with lots of opportunities not only outside of digital assets but also within the digital asset space, which we believe is here to stay.”

Other investors who also participated in the funding round include Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal and other hedge fund managers.

With the fresh funding, Xalts wants to take advantage of what it stated is increased institutional participation in the crypto ecosystem despite this year’s plunge in the prices of digital assets. The firm said it will use the capital to launch multiple fund products tied to digital assets, including mutual funds and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) listed on global exchanges.

Ashutosh Goel, the Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Xalts, said his company is expanding its footprints to multiple locations, including Dubai, Singapore, and New Delhi. The other co-founder is the former Meta Asia executive Supreet Kaur.

Citi’s investment in the digital asset firm signals a continued push by banks to grab a piece of the booming $2 trillion crypto market. In June, UK-based Barclays invested an undisclosed sum somewhere in the “millions of dollars” into crypto custody firm Copper’s latest funding raise.

Banks (such as London-based Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon, Citibank, UBS, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Nomura) are the ones leading in terms of size of funding rounds as a proxy of investment into the crypto space.

Given increased client demand, banks are seeking to increase their exposure to blockchain and crypto services. This has led them to make investments in crypto trading, custody, and asset management.

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Bitcoin’s Small to Mid-Sized Addresses Continue Going Through the Roof

by Blockchain News

As Bitcoin (BTC) continues hovering around the $19K zone, small to mid-sized addresses are scaling the heights, according to Santiment. 

The market insight provider explained:

“Bitcoin’s small to mid-sized addresses (holding 0.1 to 10 BTC) hold an AllTimeHigh 15.9% of the coin’s available supply.”

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Source:Santiment

Therefore, Bitcoin addresses have been witnessing heightened activity. Santiment added:

“The number of Bitcoin addresses holding 10,000 to 100,000 $BTC & addresses holding 10 to 100 BTC have reached their highest amount of respective addresses since Feb, 2021. As the number of addresses on a network rises, utility should follow suit.”

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Source: Santiment

The market insight provider expects Bitcoin’s use case to surge as the number of addresses increases. This is a bullish sign because demand might rise, pushing prices upwards.

Holding the ground at $19.3K level is crucial 

Since Bitcoin has lacked a significant leg up thanks to tightened macroeconomic conditions, Michael van de Poppe believes holding the $19,300 zone is fundamental because this can prompt a push to the $22,000 area. The crypto analyst pointed out:

“The area around $19.3K is key to hold and then we can expand to $22.2K.”

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Source:TradingView/MichaelvandePoppe

Similar sentiments were recently shared by analyst Ali Martinez who stipulated that the leading cryptocurrency should stay above $19,200 to reduce selling pressure, Blockchain.News reported. 

Bitcoin was hovering around $19,260 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

On the other hand, a market analyst under the pseudonym Tajo Crypto believes Bitcoin is not out of the consolidation woods yet based on unfavourable conditions like inflation and interest rate hikes. Tajo Crypto noted:

“Bitcoin has been between $18K and $25K since July and there seems not to be enough catalyst to make it drop to $17K or pump to $26K. The inflation and rate hike will make Bitcoin continue to struggle till prices normalize. Bitcoin consolidation is far from over.”

Therefore, it remains to be seen how the market plays out in the short term because the UNCTAD recently warned that if tightened fiscal and monetary policies continue, a global recession would be inevitable. 

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Step Secures $300m Fund, Introduces Crypto Investment Platform for Young Adults

by Blockchain News

Digital banking service Step has secured $300 million in new debt funding round, which coincided with the company’s launch of a crypto investment platform aimed at minors and young adults – their key clientele.

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The banking platform’s funding round was led by Triplepoint Capital and Evolve Bank & Trust, the company said.

According to the company, minors and young adults can only use the new crypto investment platform with the consent of a parent or legal guardian to buy and sell bitcoin, with additional stocks and cryptocurrencies to join the platform soon.

Alongside the new platform, Step also introduced Money 101 – a financial literacy program – a six-lesson course that spans the banking sector to cryptocurrency investing.

According to The Block, with the funding secured, Step’s raise now totals $500 million, including debt and equity financing, from investors such as Crosslink Capital, Stripe, Coatue, General Catalyst, Triplepoint Capital, Charli D’Amelio, Stephen Curry, Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, The Chainsmokers, Alex Rodriguez, and others.

Step previously, in April 2021, closed a $100 million round of Series C funding after growing to more than 1.5 million users just six months after launch.

The round was led by General Catalyst, which came shortly after Step’s $50 million Series B.

Step is competing in a crowded market of mobile banking services aimed at a younger demographic, but it’s one of very few that targets teenagers ages 13 to 18. 

According to the company, Step’s app allows teens access to an FDIC-insured bank account without fees and a secured Visa card that helps them establish credit before they turn 18.

The app also offers Venmo-like functionality for sending money to friends.

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Institutional Investors are not Yet Buying Bitcoin as Price Slips Below $20K

by Blockchain News

After enjoying notable momentum above $20,000, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped below this psychological price amid low appetite from institutional investors. 

Market insight provider CryptoQuant pointed out:

“Institutional investors not yet buying BTC. If prices rose without buying by Institutional investors before the FOMC rate announcement in November, it is likely to lose its upward momentum and dump it.”

Bitcoin was hovering around $19,494 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

 

This price drop emerged as the United States recorded the slowest month of hiring in 18 months, indicating the hot job market was cooling slightly as the Federal Reserve tried to fight runaway inflation with inflation hikes. 

 

Marcus Sotiriou, a GlobalBlock analyst, stated::

“The jobs report was bearish for crypto and stocks, as the data came in hotter than expected.”

Sotiriou added that the consumer price index (CPI) data expected next week would shed light on the move that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would take with regard to interest rate.

 

The Fed has been at the forefront of interest rate hikes, which have been detrimental to the crypto market as bears continue to bite. 

 

Since June this year, the Fed has adopted the strategy of increasing interest rates by 75 basis points (bps), a scenario last seen in 1994.

 

Nevertheless, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently warned the Federal Reserve not to throw caution to the wind based on its continuous monetary policy tightening because this could trigger a global recession, Blockchain.News reported. 

 

Bitcoin has lacked the significant bullish momentum needed to drive it past the lower $20K zone and the tightened macroeconomic factors have been speculated as the root cause. 

 

Katie Stockton, the founder of Fairlead Strategies LLC., noted:

“I think we need to respect the downtrend and assume that the bear-market cycle is still dominant.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin hodlers have not shown signs of relenting in their quest to have more coins because more than 42 million addresses hold BTC despite the bear market. This is 4.5 million more than in 2021; data analytic firm IntoTheBlock pointed out. 

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Bitcoin Crosses $20K Mark, as Whales Continue to Accumulate Tokens

by Blockchain News

After slipping to lows of $18,000, Bitcoin (BTC) has gained some momentum and crossed the psychological price of $20,000.

The leading cryptocurrency was up by 7.77% in the last seven days to hit $20,154 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

The upward momentum is experienced amid Bitcoin whales on a spending spree based on heightened accumulation. Market insight provider Santiment explained:

“Bitcoin whales are showing signs of sustained accumulation, which has been a rarity in 2022. Since September 27th, addresses holding 100 to 10k BTC have collectively added back 46,173 BTC back to their wallets as large USDT holdings have dropped.”

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Source: Santiment

Therefore, whales on the Bitcoin network are showing a sustained hodling trend, which can also be depicted by the fact that more coins have been leaving crypto exchanges.

Santiment added:

“Bitcoin continues to see its supply moving away from exchanges as traders show further signs of being content with their current holdings. With less than 9% of BTC on exchanges for the first time since 2018, it is a good bode of confidence for bulls.”

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Source: Santiment

Bitcoin exiting exchanges usually reflect a hodling culture because coins are transferred to digital wallets or cold storage for the future other than speculation. Therefore, it’s a bullish signal because it slashes selling pressure.

Bitcoin hodlers have not shown signs of relenting in their quest to have more coins because more than 42 million addresses hold BTC despite the bear market. This is 4.5 million more than 2021; data analytic firm IntoTheBlock pointed out. 

The bullish momentum being experienced in the BTC market is coming at a time when the UNCTAD has cautioned the federal reserve not to throw caution to the wind when tightening fiscal and monetary policies because this could prompt a global recession. 

The Fed has been at the forefront of increasing interest rates, which have been detrimental to the crypto market as bears continue to bite. 

Therefore, if the Fed heeds to this call, a bullish trend might be triggered in the crypto market because interest rate hikes have been the primary stumbling blocks. 

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SoftBank Vision Fund to Cut 30% of Global Workforce

by Blockchain News

According to Bloomberg reports, the investment department of the Vision Fund under the Japanese multinational company SoftBank Group is preparing to lay off 30% of its global employees, a total of about 150 staff.

Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Group, publicly stated that the reason is that the valuation of the companies invested in has fallen sharply, and SoftBank Group has collectively suffered a record quarterly loss.

The group lost about 3.2 trillion yen ($23.4 billion) in the three-month period through June, with $17.3 billion tied to the Vision Fund, according to Bloomberg.

SoftBank Vision Fund is a venture capital fund founded in 2017 and is part of SoftBank Group. With more than $100 billion in capital, it is the world’s largest technology-focused portfolio investment fund. In 2019, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 was established. As of March 31, 2021, the combined fair value of the two funds was $154 billion.

The second phase of the Vision Fund has invested in 269 companies, and the investment cost is about 48.2 billion US dollars. As of the end of June, the value was only 37.2 billion US dollars.

The Vision Fund has invested in many companies, such as Uber and Didi. From April to June, the Vision Fund lost $23.1 billion.

Japan’s SoftBank invested $200 million into the Mercado Bitcoin crypto exchange in Brazil, which is considered the largest capital raised through a Series B funding round in Latin America’s history in 2021.

In August, Softbank Ventures also invested in MarqVision, a startup known for its Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered platform.

The startup fights to counterfeit with an “advanced technology that effectively removes knockoffs and digital piracy – including product images, NFTs, and more.”

To raise cash, SoftBank has pulled out of companies such as Uber and property sales platform Opendoor Technologies for $5.6 billion.

Z Holdings, the internet subsidiary of Japanese multinational SoftBank Group, plans to launch a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by the end of this year, according to reports.

The marketplace aims to help the company hit its mid-term revenue goals by capitalizing on the growing craze surrounding digital collectibles. A market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is planned to be launched by the end of this year.

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 43,837.75 4.88%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,290.65 2.26%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 73.72 1.35%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 252.19 2.05%