"I'm getting calls from real big investors whom we've never seen before"
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April 3, 2020

     TODAY: 
  • Prices: Bitcoin (BTC) $7,025 (+2.3%) | Ether (ETH) $146 (+2.5%) 
  • $20K bitcoin back on the cards?
  • News and analysis: Tough times for bitcoin miners and why Binance bought CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin (BTC) has returned above $7,000 for the first time in two weeks. 

Joe DiPasquale – CEO of BitBull Capital, a San Francisco-based hedge fund specializing in cryptocurrencies – said he saw no clear driver of the move. Market signals show growing conviction among traders that prices won't fall below $6,000 in the short term, but rallies above $7,000 appear to be drawing sellers, he said. 

"You have so many people trying to swing trade on crypto," DiPasquale told me in a phone call.  

Traditional financial markets got a jolt on Thursday as Wall Street investors speculated that major oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia might agree on production cuts to help to stabilize prices. Oil jumped 22 percent to $24.78 a barrel, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.3 percent. 

The S&P 500 is still down 22 percent year-to-date, while bitcoin has now trimmed its 2020 losses to just 5.5 percent. 

DiPasquale said many bitcoin traders are looking ahead to May's expected inflation-busting "halving," when the supply of new units of the cryptocurrency issued by the blockchain network will drop by 50 percent. 

See also: Bitcoin Halving, Explained.

The halving comes as the Federal Reserve is poised to inject an estimated $4 trillion of new liquidity into the global financial system to help stabilize markets, roughly equivalent to the total amount of money created on the central bank's balance sheet since its founding in 1913.

Investors including Mike Novogratz, CEO of the crypto-focused investment firm Galaxy Digital, say that such moves could "debase" the value of the dollar. 

"That literally is a printing press," Novogratz told CNBC on Thursday. "I'm getting calls from real big investors whom we've never seen before, saying, 'Tell me about this bitcoin.'"

Novogratz said he expects bitcoin's price to double within the next six months and potentially climb above its previous record near $20,000 by the end of the year.

– Bradley Keoun, Senior Markets Reporter (brad@coindesk.com)



Manufacturers Mark Down Bitcoin Miners as Price Drop, Halving Change Calculus

Bitcoin mining machines are on sale. Last month’s crash in prices has prompted manufacturers to sell inventories at a discount, in some cases as steep as 20 percent, over the past few weeks. Complicating the matter is the imminent bitcoin halving in May that will reduce the network's mining reward by half, further reducing profitability.

‘They Have the Users’: Binance CEO Explains Why He Bought CoinMarketCap

Binance has acquired popular crypto data site CoinMarketCap (CMC) for an undisclosed price. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao told CoinDesk: “It’s a really good website and I think we can help grow it further,” Zhao. CMC will remain independent from Binance under a holding company, perhaps staving off concerns over potential conflicts of interest.

Chinese Financial Watchdog Warns of Manipulative Crypto Exchanges

The National Internet Finance Association of China (NIFA), a Chinese financial watchdog, warned investors of rising risks in crypto investments. NIFA said Thursday that foreign-based crypto exchanges have faked trading volume, according to its own data analysis. 

LISTEN: 5 Reasons for Cautious Optimism in Crypto
 

 
Hosts Adam B. Levine and John Biggs talk about the crypto community’s volatility resilience, a significant uptick in stablecoin issuance and Binance’s acquisition of CoinMarketCap.

Tweet of the day
 

  
BTC: Price: $7,025 ( BPI) | High: $7,212 | Low: $6,626
 
Trend: Bitcoin is hovering around $7,000,reinforcing a pennant breakout confirmed on Thursday.

On-chain metrics with a strong history of signaling market bottoms and tops are currently indicating a bullish reversal, according to blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode.

So, the cryptocurrency looks set to re-test Thursday's high near $7,200. A violation there would open the doors to $8,000, a level last seen March 12.

If buyers again fail to keep prices above $7,000, a bigger pullback to $6,200 could be seen. It's worth noting that bitcoin has already failed twice in the last two weeks to establish a foothold above $7,000.



– Omkar Godbole, Markets Analyst


Correlations Between Cryptocurrency Daily Returns in 1Q 2020 (Binance) Bitcoin was more closely correlated with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index during the first three months of 2020 than gold, silver, crude oil or U.S. Treasury bonds.

Oaktree's Howard Marks Explains How Markets Could Get a Lot Worse (Oaktree Capital) "I’m more of a worrier than a dreamer. Maybe that’s what made me a better credit analyst than equity analyst."

U.S. Jobless Claims Soar to Once-Unthinkable Record 6.65 Million (Bloomberg) The figures could add pressure on the federal government to ensure that aid payments and loans under the $2 trillion stimulus package flow quickly to people and businesses.


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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