First Mover: Bitcoin, Ether Stabilize After Record Volume Day

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond

By the CoinDesk Markets Team

Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets

May 20, 2021

Sponsored by

Bitcoin (BTC)

+2.2% $40,405

Ether (ETH)

-4.9% $2,712

(Price data as of May 20 @11:00 UTC)

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Good morning. Here's what we're writing about:

Check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Lawrence Lewitinn and Emily Parker, at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests:

Biggest Movers

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

Gainers:

Bitcoin (BTC): +2.2%

Filecoin (FIL): +2.0%

Cardano (ADA): +1.2%

Losers:

Polkadat (DOT): -26.9%

Aave (AAVE): -23.2%

EOS (EOS): -18.7%

Litecoin (LTC): -18.7%

Tezos (XTZ): -16.7%

Chainlink (LINK): -16.6%

XRP (AAVE): -15.3%

Yearn Finance (YFI): -15.0%

The Graph (GRT): -13.8%

Bitcoin Cash (BCH): -12.9%

Algorand (ALGO): -10.9%

NuCypher (NU): -10.0%

Ether (ETH): -4.9%

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.

Market Moves

by Lawrence Lewitinn

Bitcoin, Ether Stabilize After Record Volume Day

Bitcoin (BTC) owners were licking their wounds Thursday morning after record trading volume brought the world's oldest cryptocurrency perilously close to piercing support at $30,000. Prices stayed in the $30,000s for much of the past 24 hours, dipping below $36,000 at around 01:00 UTC Thursday (9:00 p.m. ET Wednesday). They subsequently drifted higher, breaking above $40,000 briefly this morning at around 07:00 UTC (3:00 a.m. ET).

Bitcoin prices, May 19 - May 20, 2021 (Source: CoinDesk)

Wednesday's spot market volume was one for the record books, according to CoinMarketCap. Some $131.1 billion in bitcoin changed hands, nearly $5 billion more than Tuesday's figure and nearly double the dollar volume of March 12, 2020, the so-called "Black Thursday" of crypto. However, it should be noted that bitcoin was trading at one-fifth its current price. Thus, when measured on a bitcoin volume basis, March 2020’s selloff was far worse.

Bitcoin's market dominance, a measure of its market cap relative to the total for all other cryptocurrencies, briefly fell below 40% for the first time since June 2018.

Ether prices, May 19 - May 20, 2021 (Source: CoinDesk)

Ether’s (ETH) fate was no better; it broke below $2,000 Wednesday and bounced in a range between $2,600 and $2,800 for much of Thursday morning during Asia's trading hours. It, too, saw record volume in trading, with close to $93.5 billion in ether finding new owners Wednesday.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market is also feeling the heat. The total amount of assets locked in DeFi is just below $65 billion, down from an all-time high of $88 billion on May 11, according to data site DeFiPulse.com.

Other cryptocurrencies weren't spared the sell-off, of course. Only three of the free-floating cryptocurrencies in the CoinDesk 20 were up over the past 24 hours, with bitcoin being the biggest gain at just 2.2%. Most were down double-digit percentage points, with polkadot (DOT) suffering the most, losing about a quarter of its value in a day.

Despite the rough day, it should be noted that cryptocurrencies are still easily trouncing any other asset class this year. Bitcoin is up around 34% year-to-date while ether has gained over 260% so far in 2021. When the year started, the combined value of all cryptocurrencies was $776 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. As of today, it is $1.7 trillion, an increase of 123.8%. An asset that has more than doubled in value and has kept ahead of inflation as well as other investments is generally considered a success.

Read Market Wrap here:

Market Wrap: Capitulation City as Bitcoin Dumps to $31K, ETH to $2K Before Reversal

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Technician's Take

by Damanick Dantes

Bitcoin Remains Under Pressure; Faces Resistance At $45K

After yesterday’s 14% plunge, bitcoin (BTC) clawed back to around $40,000 during Asian hours but remained under pressure.

Sharp price swings have become the norm this week as the broader uptrend weakens similar to 2018, which was the start of a bear market.

Four-hour bitcoin chart shows support and resistance with oversold RSI (Source: TradingView)

Original story found here:

Bitcoin Remains Under Pressure; Faces Resistance At $45K

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BOLO

Be on the look out for these upcoming events:

A message from CoinDesk

Countdown to #Consensus2021

Will bitcoin pump? Is a pullback around the corner? Is ether a better way to position?

Next week at Consensus by CoinDesk, our virtual big-tent conference, we help investors hone their skill sets with trading and yield generation strategies. investment theses and market intelligence and get up to speed on crypto market developments.

Join our Explorations track "Trade Secrets" with Philip Gradwell of Chainalysis, Matthew Roszak of Bloq, Darius Sit of QCP Capital and more at Consensus by CoinDesk, May 24-27. Register today.

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here's the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:

Eyes on Fed Report as Cryptocurrencies Continue Slide; Beeple on NFT Art Market Impact

Big bitcoin, ether selloff continues while investors anticipate the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes. "First Mover" discusses BTC price correction, inflation fear and more with former New York Fed Director Benson Durham and CoinZoom CEO Todd Crosland. Plus, Mike Winkelmann, better known as "Beeple," joins to discuss the NFT art market and a new platform he supports.

Latest Headlines

Senate Banking Chairman ‘Concerned’ by OCC’s Crypto Charters

Sherrod Brown specifically pointed to the OCC trust charters granted to Paxos, Protego and Anchorage.

US Agency Issues Alert Warning Consumers of Fraudulent Emails Seeking Bitcoin Wallet Keys

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said that it did not send the messages or hold any funds for individual benefit.

Manchester City to Release NFT Collection Marking Premier League Title

The collection will be available on NFT marketplace MakersPlace the day after the soccer team receives the Premier League trophy.

Australian Minister Says Government Has ‘No Issue’ With Crypto Investment

Senator Jane Hume also said cryptocurrencies are "an asset class that will grow in importance."

Flash Loan Attack Causes Defi Token Bunny to Crash Over 95%

A hacker used PancakeSwap to manipulate the Bunny market and crashed its price to nearly zero.

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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