Oct. 17 2024

CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,039.00  -1.08%
Bitcoin (BTC): $67,083.27  -0.76%
Ether (ETH): $2,609.37  -0.27% 
S&P 500: 5,842.47  +0.47%
Gold: $2,688.52  +0.54%
Nikkei 225: 38,911.19  -0.69%

Bitcoin pulled back to $67,000 throughout the Asian and European mornings, showing signs of a consolidation following Wednesday's jump above $68,000. BTC was about 0.7% lower in the last 24 hours as of the late European morning, trading just above $67,000. Other major tokens showed similar minor retracements, with the broader digital asset market dipping 1%, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index. For the time being, bitcoin appears to have avoided an outright rejection following its move above $68,000 on Wednesday and is instead taking a breather, as traders await signals for its next move.

Donald Trump's lead over Kamala Harris in the prediction markets has spread beyond Polymarket to Kalshi, which is now also showing strong momentum for the Republican candidate. Trump is currently leading against Harris 56-44 on Kalshi, with a surge occurring in early October. The rise in Trump's odds on Kalshi isn't an entirely unexpected event, Jack Such, a market research analyst at Kalshi, wrote in a note Wednesday. "Harris is falling in key demographics and has lost ground in every “Blue Wall” state over the past three weeks," Such wrote. Trump's lead on Polymarket has spread to 20 points, with traders seeing a 60% chance of him returning to the White House in 2025.

A growing number of Asia-based private wealth managers are entering the crypto market, with some forecasting bitcoin will hit $100,000 by year's end, according to a report by digital asset technology platform Aspen Digital. Digital assets have emerged as an alternative investment class for private wealth in Asia, with 76% of family offices and high-net-worth individuals investing in cryptocurrencies and 16% planning to do so in the future. That's a notable improvement from the previous study in 2022, when 58% had exposure to digital assets and 34% planned to invest. Most respondents cited higher returns as a primary driver, with an increasing number of respondents citing diversification and inflation hedge appeal as key motivations to invest in digital assets, the report shared with CoinDesk said.

Bitcoin's demand is returning after being mostly muted since May, with apparent demand spiking to a monthly growth of 177,000 BTC last week in a move that preceded a 5% rally.

BTC is up 11% on-week, according to CoinDesk Indices data, beating the CoinDesk 20 (CD20), which has risen 9.6% during the same time period.

That’s the largest reading since late April and has helped push BTC to a ten-week high price level of over $67,800, analysts at CryptoQuant led by Julio Moreno said in a weekly report.

“An expansion of apparent demand is necessary for bitcoin prices to rally sustainably to a new all-time high. In these cases, apparent demand peaked at 490,000-550,000 BTC,” Moreno said, indicating more room for prices to grow.

Polymarket bettors are giving a 64% chance that BTC will hit $70,000 in October, odds that are up 45 percentage points in the last week. They are also giving a 75% chance BTC will hit a new all-time high in 2024, up 23 percentage points during the same time period.

- Omkar Godbole