August 29, 2023

Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen back below $26,000, losing 0.73% on the day, reflecting generally bearish sentiment among crypto traders and a lack of bullish catalysts to rally markets. BTC fell as low as $25,886 on Monday after rallying briefly last week to $26,200, but has since dropped back close to where it started last week. Institutional crypto exchange LMAX Digital said in a note that bitcoin is getting closer to a breakout from the current range due to how tight the contraction has gotten in recent sessions. “Whenever ranges get too tight, it’s often a warning sign for a surge in volatility,” the exchange said in a note. Etoro analyst Simon Peters said softness in the market is also being seen in other asset classes, such as equities. He said in a morning note that this comes as investors “pay close attention to the discussions at Jackson Hole …The indication from Wyoming is that central bankers are intent on keeping rates at higher levels to prevent a resurgence in inflation – which is not being taken well by risk assets across the board.” 

Digital Currency Group (DCG) has reached an in-principle deal with Genesis creditors to resolve the claims brought up in Genesis' bankruptcy, according to a court filing on Tuesday. The plan could result in the recoveries of 70%-90% in USD equivalent for unsecured creditors and 65%-90% recovery on an in-kind basis depending on the denomination of the digital asset. All the estimated recoveries are subject to market pricing and definitive documentation. DCG is also the parent company of CoinDesk.

All of FTX founder’s Sam Bankman-Fried’s proposed witnesses should be disqualified from testifying because their disclosure filings are insufficient, their experience may be misleading or their planned testimony may not be relevant, prosecutors said in a late Monday filing. Bankman-Fried’s team, for its part, wants to exclude a financial analysis expert proposed by the Department of Justice because his proposed testimony may not be allowed under the rules. The filings, part of the so-called Daubert motions due Monday, laid out the two teams’ views on why their opponents should not be able to call certain witnesses to the stand when Bankman-Fried goes on trial for fraud and conspiracy charges in a little over a month. The DOJ moved to discount all seven of the expert witnesses proposed by Bankman-Fried’s team, saying that some of the disclosures they filed did not detail their opinions, while others “are inappropriate subjects for expert testimony” or possibly confusing for a potential jury.

Crypto services provider Matrixport, which has more than $3 billion in assets under management, has turned cautiously bullish on bitcoin (BTC) after the largest cryptocurrency by market value's August slide, preferring to buy the recent price dip with a tight stop loss.

Bitcoin fell over 10% on Aug. 15, testing the former resistance-turned-support level at $25,000. 

Since then, prices have been around $26,000, with many traders anticipating continued losses in the coming weeks.

Matrixport's head of research and strategy, Markus Thielen, suggests otherwise.

- Omkar Godbole