The latest moves in crypto markets, in context By Jamie Crawley, CoinDesk News Reporter Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. |
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It's Tuesday! Here’s what you need to know today in crypto. |
- Bitcoin is trading above $57,000.
- Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $300 million of inflows on Monday.
- Bitcoin's mining difficulty slumped to levels last seen in March on June 5.
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CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,960 +0.1% Bitcoin (BTC): $57,357 +0.8% Ether (ETC): $3,079 +1.5% S&P 500: 5,572.85 +0.1% Gold: $2,370 +0.6% Nikkei 225: $2,370 +0.6% |
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This week CoinDesk is publishing a "theme week" devoted to the emerging field of GameFi - or the fusion of Web3 gaming with decentralized finance. Here, to start off, is an interview with Catizen's Tim Wong about the runaway success of that game on TON and a second article about gaming on TON. (Note: Catizen is also the sponsor of the week). We'll have continuing coverage throughout the week. Catizen’s Tim Wong: 'We Are Here to Build a Business Ecosystem' The Chairman of the Catizen Foundation explains how the team behind the Web3 game attracted 23 million players, and how it hopes to build a lasting franchise. |
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Bitcoin found some stability above $57,000 following Monday's slide to $55,000 as a German government entity received over $200 million worth of the asset back from various exchanges late in the U.S. day, helping revive sentiment. BTC was trading around $57,400 during the European morning, an increase of 1% in the last 24 hours, having fallen to $55,000 on Monday after a wallet address belonging to the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) sent over $900 million to various other addresses, spooking traders. In the past 12 hours, the entity received refunds from Kraken, Coinbase and Bitstamp, Arkham data shows, indicating that while the assets were sent to these exchanges, they ultimately did not hit the market. |
Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded nearly $300 million in net inflows on Monday, the most since early June, when the cryptocurrency traded over $70,000. BlackRock’s IBIT led buying activity with nearly $180 million in net inflows, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC. Grayscale’s GBTC – infamous for its outflows – recorded over $25 million in purchases. Some investors may be viewing the drop in the bitcoin price as a buying opportunity, investment firm CoinShares said in a report on Monday. Traders largely expect July to be a generally bullish month for the crypto market as it has seen a medium return of 9% historically, with the trend expected to continue. Data tracked by Coinwarz shows Bitcoin’s mining difficulty slumped from 83.6 TH/s to 79.50 TH/s on June 5, a level last seen in March, a month before the halving. That’s one of the largest difficulty drops since crypto exchange FTX's collapse, which sent bitcoin prices spiraling down more than 10% in a week, CryptoQuant noted. Downward adjustments mean a proportional decrease in the network’s hashing power. A drop can favor smaller miners and spell profits for farms that were closed due to being unable to keep up with costs. Miners were a major source of bitcoin selling pressure in June with over $1 billion worth of BTC sold over two weeks as prices ranged between $65,000 and $70,000. |
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Bullish Bitcoin Drivers Remains in Play Despite Depressed Market |
It may seem like turbulent times in the crypto market amid Germany's bitcoin sales and concern that Mt. Gox's creditor payments will spark further divestments. However, looking past these factors reveals a promising outlook, buoyed by supportive macroeconomic factors. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' June CPI report, due Thursday, is expected to show that the cost of living rose 3.1% over the year, slowing from May's 3.3% annual increase, according to a survey of economists by the Wall Street Journal. The expected slowdown would imply continued progress toward the Fed's 2% target, strengthening the case for an interest-rate cut this year. Wall Street remains entrenched in a wave of tech optimism, as evidenced by the record highs in the ratio between the tech-heavy Nasdaq index and the broader S&P 500. Since early 2017, bitcoin has moved in lockstep with the NDX-to-SPX ratio, staging sharp rallies during periods of relative outperformance of technology stocks. Gold has also held steady of late, a sign the macro picture is supportive of assets with alternative investment appeal like bitcoin. |
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- The chart shows the daily net inflow of BTC into wallets tied to centralized exchanges.
- On Friday, exchanges witnessed a net outflow of over 68,000 BTC, the highest since late 2022.
- Outflows are taken to represent investor bias for long-term holding strategy.
- Source: CryptoQuant
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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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