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☆ Bitcoin jumps 7%, retakes $70,000 to start the week
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

MicroStrategy , which trades as a proxy for the price of bitcoin, surged 20%, while Coinbase advanced 9%. The mining sector got a lift from bitcoin, too, with Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms up 4% and 9%, respectively. Bitcoin had been in correction mode for the past week, after it hit an all-time high of $73,797.68 on March 14. Sam Callahan, lead analyst at bitcoin services firm Swan Bitcoin, said it's likely tied to the messaging coming from the Federal Reserve last week. Despite its pullbacks, bitcoin is on pace to finish March on a winning note.

Persons: CleanSpark, cryptocurrency, cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Alex Thorn, Thorn, Genesis, Sam Callahan, Swan Bitcoin, it's Organizations: Marathon, Mining, Metrics, Galaxy Digital, Federal Reserve, Fed

☆ Bitcoin rockets to an all-time high above $69,000, surpassing 2021 record
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Bitcoin reclaiming its all-time high yet again shows it is never going away," said Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital. Catalysts driving the surge in the cryptocurrency include the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs that started trading earlier this year, along with the tightening bitcoin supply ahead of the late April "halving." "The odds have always been against bitcoin," Thorn said, citing naysayers who have referred to it as "a bubble" and compared it to the "tulip mania" in Holland during the 1600s. "Retail interest is oftentimes momentum driven, and all-time high levels are a pivotal momentum driver for even more investment," he told CNBC. Nevertheless, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have brought legitimacy to it and been hugely popular, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) passing $10 billion in assets under management last week.

Persons: Jaap Arriens, FTX, crypto's Lehman, Alex Thorn, bitcoin, Clara Medalie, Thorn, naysayers, Needham, John Todaro, Crypto, BlackRock's Organizations: NurPhoto, Getty, Metrics, Galaxy, CNBC, Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: U.S, Holland

Over 50 cryptocurrencies worth over $100 billion in total and making up about 10% of the overall market, are now viewed by the SEC watchdog as securities, according to CCData. Among major players, for example, solana , polygon and cardano have sunk between 23% and 32%. Bitcoin and ether weren't named in the SEC's lawsuit, nor were stablecoins such as tether and USC Coin. By contrast, bitcoin investors who have held their coins for more than five months appeared relatively calm and accounted for just 1.9% of deposit volume. Investment products tracking altcoins have seen positive - albeit small - net inflows this year, in contrast to bitcoin and ether, Coinshares data showed on Monday.

Persons: Vetle Lunde, Ryan Rasmussen, solana, Lucas Kiely, Alex Thorn, Noelle Acheson, James Butterfield, Lisa Mattackal, Medha Singh, Pravin Organizations: U.S, SEC, K33 Research, solana, Securities, Bitwise Asset Management, Reuters Global Markets, Cardano Foundation, Solana Foundation, Reuters, Polygon Labs, Reuters Graphics Reuters, USC, BTC, ETH, Firmwide Research, Galaxy Digital, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: cardano, altcoins, Bengaluru

☆ Bitcoin slides after network congestion leads Binance to briefly halt withdrawals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Monday's drop came after Binance tweeted Sunday that the Bitcoin network was "experiencing a congestion issue" and that it was temporarily closing bitcoin withdrawals as a result until the network stabilized. Some market participants have argued that the Bitcoin network is stable and Binance should have prepared for a high-fee environment on Bitcoin. Our team has also been working on enabling BTC Lightning Network withdrawals, which will help in such situations." "There is an increasing demand for BRC-20 tokens which include transferring digital collectibles on Bitcoin network," said Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau. On May 1, about 50% of bitcoin transactions were BRC-20 mints, Thorn highlighted in a note Friday.

☆ Bitcoin pulls back to start May as First Republic Bank saga comes to an end
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cryptocurrencies took a dip on Monday to start the week and new month as investors bet the takeover of First Republic Bank could put an end to the financial crisis, which has been the biggest driver of this year's bitcoin rally. Bitcoin fell about 4.2% to 28,137.76 to start the week and new month, according to Coin Metrics. Last week, the price of bitcoin rallied in the final week of April as troubles at the bank unfolded. "It's unclear whether the banking crisis narrative can continue to be a boon for bitcoin," said Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy. "Bitcoin and ether started 2023 inorganically cheap, allowing for plenty of room to move higher off a low-base effect," Thorn said.

☆ Bitcoin’s correlation with stocks is at its lowest since 2021 as investors grapple with the cryptocurrency's narrative shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The break became more noticeable in March, as investors rediscovered bitcoin's appeal as alternative banking system as the regional banking crisis unfolded. Bitcoin's correlation with the S & P 500 is now at its lowest since September 2021, after reaching its highest ever in 2022 , according to Coin Metrics. Meanwhile, bitcoin's correlation with gold, a traditionally "risk-off" asset, has risen. This break in correlation is perhaps a sign more investors are waking up to this fact." Bitcoin became more of an institutional asset at the start of 2021 as big investors, short term traders and macro funds jumped into the market.

☆ Bitcoin volatility fell to historic lows this week. Here’s why that might be bad news
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"An uptick in bitcoin volatility would, rather than trigger concern, be greeted as a positive sign and would most likely be closely followed by a similar move in spot and derivative trading volumes." Sigel also pointed to bitcoin miners who may be selling covered calls in order to monetize profits as much as they can. Bitcoin miners have had a difficult time with the bitcoin price stuck at such low levels. "Each time volatility has been this low, historically, bitcoin prices have bottomed," said Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital. Thorn said that while seeing lenders and exchanges collapse feels unstable, the crypto market will emerge from this period having significantly matured.

The Ethereum blockchain's mega-upgrade finally went live on Sept. 15, moving it to a less energy-intensive "proof of stake" (PoS) system with hardly a hiccup. Some crypto investors are now turning their attention to the next event that could shake up prices. It would allow validators, who have deposited ether tokens on the blockchain in exchange for a yield, to withdraw their staked coins, to hold or sell. Longer-term, though, the switch to PoS is expected to decrease the rate at which ether tokens are issued - potentially by up to 90% - which should drive up prices. Additionally, annual yields of 4.1% for staking ether tokens to validate transactions could prove tempting for investors.

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