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 was trading flat in line with stocks as investors await the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday.
- Market Moves: Bitcoin investors will be focused on what Fed officials have to say about the economy on Wednesday, more than on the interest rate decision itself.
- Chart of the Day: Ether has broken out of a three-month bullish trendline.
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Bitcoin (BTC) was holding steady at just above $19,000, as traders awaited an expected interest-rate hike later Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. (Scroll down to Market Moves for Omkar Godbole’s preview of the meeting. The largest cryptocurrency appeared to be moving in line with traditional markets, where investors were mostly staying on sidelines ahead of the meeting. The Fed decision is expected at 2 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC), followed by a press conference with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Ether (ETH) was also stabilizing at just over $1,300 – ostensibly bringing relief to traders still reeling from last week’s 24% plunge, as the Ethereum blockchain successfully underwent its much-hyped Merge to a more energy-efficient system. CoinDesk’s Shaurya Malwa reported that “funding rates” – similar to interest rates, but what traders pay for leveraged bets on crypto exchanges – reverted to normal levels; which could be a sign that the ether market is turning less bearish In the news, the stablecoin issuer Tether was ordered by a U.S. judge in New York to produce financial records relating to the backing of USDT. (CoinDesk’s Krisztian Sandor reported Tuesday on a new dollar-pegged stablecoin, CUSD, from the decentralized-finance platform Coin98.) |
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Fed Preview: Bitcoin Investors to Look Past Jumbo Rate Hike and Focus on Economic Assessment and Borrowing Cost Estimates |
With risky assets, including bitcoin, under pressure ahead of Wednesday's pivotal Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, pundits think markets have already incorporated a super-sized rate hike. So the focus will be on what the Fed says concerning the persistent core inflation, (core inflation strips out the energy and food components), and the labor market and demand conditions that have remained stronger than policymakers judged in July. "The theme for tomorrow to me is not about 75 [basis point hike] or 100, even though I am in the 75 camp. The theme for tomorrow is that the Fed thought the economic weakness we saw in Q2 was going to assist them in getting inflation back to target and they no longer have confidence," Jon Turek, author of the Cheap Convexity blog, wrote in a note to subscribers Tuesday. While the Fed saw evidence of a slowing economy at its July meeting, the data released since then suggests otherwise. Notably, the jobs market has remained firm, keeping wages higher. The August consumer price index (CPI) figure released last week revealed that sticky inputs like rents and services are preventing inflation from cooling. Read the full story here. |
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Ether Dives Out of 3-Month Bullish Trendline |
Ether's daily chart shows renewed bearish developments. (Source: TradingView) |
- Ether has breached the trendline, characterizing the corrective rally from lows reached in June.
- The breakdown comes days after the cryptocurrency fell below a Japanese charting tool called the Ichimoku cloud.
- "Ether broke below the daily cloud last week, increasing the likelihood that we see a retest of the psychological support of $1,000, aligned with the June low," Katie Stockton, founder of Fairlead Strategies, wrote to clients on Monday.
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Biggest Gainers Biggest Losers |
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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 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. - Michele Schneider, managing director, Marketgauge Group
- Ben Emons, managing director, global micro strategies, Medley Global Advisers
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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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