BTC Retakes $63K as COVID Cases Surge

The latest moves in crypto markets, in context

Edited by Omkar Godbole

October 25, 2021

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Bitcoin (BTC)

+2.7% $62,500

Ether (ETH)

+0.4% $4,100

(Price data as of October 25 @ 11:30 UTC)

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Good morning, Here's what's happening this morning:

Market Moves: Bitcoin Tracks Inflation Expectations Higher

Technician's Take: Dogecoin Stuck at 200-day MA

And 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. Today's show will feature guests:

– Omkar Godbole

Biggest Movers

These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:

Top Gainers:

Top Losers:

EOS (EOS): -4.6%

The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges.

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Market Moves

by Omkar Godbole

Bitcoin kicked off the final week of October on a positive note, trading 3.6% higher near $63,000 on Monday. The move came after a successful defense of the psychological support of $60,000 over the weekend and put a bid under alternative cryptocurrencies.

Programmable blockchain Solana's SOL token topped $200, extending last week's 26% rally, while shiba inu, the self-proclaimed dogecoin killer, took a breather, having set new record highs over the weekend.

In traditional markets, the futures tied to the S&P 500 traded flat, as a spike in coronavirus cases in Asia-Pacific and Europe revived concerns of supply chain bottlenecks, labor shortages, and inflationary pressures.

"Covid is flaring up in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Among other things, it underscores the risk that supply chain disruptions persist, which means elevated prices," Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, noted in a blog post.

So, market-based measures of inflation expectations could continue to rise, bringing more buyers to the bitcoin market. The U.S. 10-year breakeven rate, which represents how the market foresees long-term inflation, rose to a decade high of 2.64% on Friday, data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows.

According to JPMorgan, bitcoin's appeal as a store of value asset has played a bigger role than the recent launch of futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in powering bitcoin higher this month.

Bitcoin Valuations Don't Appear Overstretched

Bitcoin's MVRV Z-score (Source: Glassnode)

Bitcoin's MVRV Z-score that measures the deviation of market value from realized value and is used to assess undervalued and overvalued conditions has doubled to 3.91 this month, according to data source Glassnode

However, the value is nowhere close to the red zone above 5.00 that has historically marked the final leg of a bull market. In other words, the bitcoin market valuations may not be cheap, but they do not appear overstretched either, and the cryptocurrency has room for further rally.

Also read:

As the CME’s Volume Gets Pumped, the Bitcoin ETF’s Quirky Structure Could Explain Some of It

Technician's Take

by Omkar Godbole

Dogecoin Stuck at 200-day MA

While shiba inu has rallied over 450% this month, dogecoin, the meme cryptocurrency, has gained less than 30% and is again struggling to take out the 200-day moving average (MA) resistance.

Bitcoin's daily chart with the Mayer Multiple (Source: TradingView)

A UTC close above the 200-day MA would bring the August high of $0.35 in focus.

The daily chart relative strength index (RSI) is biased bullish.

The Oct. 12 low of $0.21 is the level to defend for the bulls.

Also read:

Shiba Inu Hits Record High

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BOLO

Be on the lookout for the following events today:

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:

Valkyrie Funds Launches Second US Bitcoin Futures ETF ‘BTF’ Today, CME Takes Over As Largest Bitcoin Futures Exchange As ‘BITO’ Pushes Limits

"First Mover" team discusses Valkyrie Funds launching the second bitcoin futures ETF in the U.S., under the ticker "BTF" on the Nasdaq this morning. CEO of Valkyrie Leah Wald shares insights into this launch. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has replaced Binance as the world’s biggest bitcoin futures platform, thanks to the strong investor appetite for the recently launched ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF. Amar Gautam, CEO of Hyperlinq, provides analysis on the news and crypto markets. Plus, Lyn Ulbricht, mother and advocate for the founder of the now-defunct Silk Road website Ross Ulbricht, joins as CoinDesk's Crypto Policy Week guest.

A Message from CoinDesk

What will 2022 bring? Crypto 2022 is CoinDesk’s ambitious effort to scope out what’s next. This week it's Policy Week, a week devoted to exploring the complex ways governments are interacting with the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and how policy decisions or lack thereof will affect the year ahead. Read more here.

Latest Headlines

The unit will now operate as FTX US Derivatives.

Valkyrie’s ETF Debut Soured by Falling Bitcoin Market

A new exchange-traded fund is joining the race to attract stock market investors looking for bitcoin exposure. But out of the gate on Friday, the ETF’s share price was tracking bitcoin lower.

The retail giant is offering bitcoin through 200 of its Coinstar kiosks in a tie-up with crypto ATM firm Coinme. We made sure it’s real.

Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to experiment with a CBDC.

The 3.1 million addresses are trading on “hacking forums,” haveibeenpwned reported. CoinMarketCap acknowledges “correlation” with its subscriber base but maintains its servers weren’t breached.

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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