The latest moves in crypto markets, in context Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. |
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Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. I'm Bradley Keoun, here to take you through the latest in crypto markets, news and insights. (Lyllah Ledesma is on assignment.) Price Point: Bitcoin slid on Friday after gaining 5.1% on Thursday, but overall, the cryptocurrency has been resilient under tough market conditions. Market Moves: Ethereum miners have $319 million in ether that they theoretically could start dumping, which would weigh on the price. Chart of the Day: The discount between the price of liquid-staking protocol Lido's staked ether (stETH) and the price of ether (ETH) has pretty much evaporated, according to data source Dune Analytics. |
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Bitcoin (BTC) was sliding after a surprisingly strong performance on Thursday – a 5.1% gain that was the largest cryptocurrency’s best single-day return in two weeks. “Bitcoin continues to display strong resilience in the face of a broader risk-averse mood in financial markets,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at the foreign-exchange brokerage Oanda, wrote in an investor update. “Given it is the ultimate risk asset, this is quite surprising and perhaps even encouraging.” Traditional markets were reeling Friday from signs that there’s no easy fix for the global economic challenges, with activity slowing or possibly even contracting, inflation still persistent and central bankers ratcheting monetary conditions tighter. The U.K. pound tumbled as the government announced a plan to stimulate the economy through tax cuts – prompting fresh inflation warnings from economists and leading traders to bet on faster interest-rate hikes by the Bank of England. The dollar surged to a new record valuation in foreign-exchange markets, which is likely seen as a negative for bitcoin, because the cryptocurrency often trades in an inverse relationship to the greenback. As of press time, bitcoin was changing hands around $18,900. The CoinDesk Market Index was roughly flat over the past 24 hours. Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, wrote in his latest blog post that he thinks ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, will outperform bitcoin following last week’s successful completion of the Ethereum blockchain’s Merge: “The price of ETH continues to get smoked due to deteriorating USD liquidity, but give the changes in the supply and demand dynamics time to percolate. Check back in a few months, and I suspect you’ll see that the dramatic reduction in supply has created a strong and rising floor on the price.” |
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Ethereum Miners’ $319M Crypto Hoard Hangs Over Market After Merge |
In the years and months leading up to the Ethereum blockchain’s historic shift last week to a more energy-efficient system, data miners working for rewards on the network had accumulated nearly $341 million worth of the cryptocurrency ether (ETH). Now, a week after the Merge, crypto analysts are warning that miners’ sales of their hoards could become a source of near-term, downward pressure on the cryptocurrency's price, with the market already sinking by 19% in the past month. “Miners dumping their ETH is an overhang that we’ll have to get through over the coming months in order to resume up-only mode, but it will happen,” Lucas Campbell, editor of the Bankless newsletter, wrote Monday. Ethereum miners dumped over 16,000 ETH from Sept. 12 to Sept. 19. (The Merge took effect on Sept. 15.) The decline reduced the miners’ combined balance to about 245,000 ETH, or about $319 million worth. Read the full story here. |
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| Lido's stETH Trades Almost at Par With Ether |
The chart shows Lido's stETH catching up ether's price (Source: Dune) |
| The discount between the price of liquid-staking protocol Lido's staked ether (stETH) and the price of ether (ETH) has pretty much evaporated, according to data source Dune Analytics.Investors have piled into stETH since the Ethereum blockchain switched to proof-of-stake technology on Sept. 15. According to Nansen, the so-called "smart money" has poured $33 million into the stETH token in seven days. The token came under pressure early this month as some investors switched to ether to collect a potential Ethereum fork token ETHPoW. |
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The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk Market Index over the past 24 hours: |
Biggest Gainers Biggest Losers |
Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk Market Index is a broad-market index of digital assets, weighted by market capitalization. A full description of the methodology is here. |
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Check out the CoinDesk TV show “First Mover,” hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer, CoinbaseMark Connors, head of research, 3IQ |
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Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments. |
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