First Mover Asia: Bitcoin Inches Upward in Sunday Trading
But the largest cryptocurrency by market cap was way way off last week's levels amid light weekend trading and escalating tensions about a possible war with Russia; ether and most other major cryptos dropped.
Feb 13, 2022 at 11:50 p.m. UTC:format(webp)/downloads.coindesk.com/arc/failsafe/placeholders/16x9.png)
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:
Market moves: Bitcoin rose slightly on Sunday but was still way off its price of a week ago; most major altcoins dipped over the weekend.
Technician's take: BTC was confined to a tight range over the weekend. Indicators are neutral, although oversold conditions could keep short-term buyers active.
Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis.
"First Mover" hosts spoke with CoinDesk columnist David Morris for his views on crypto firms such as FTX and Crypto.com becoming major advertising players at this year's U.S. football championship game, the Super Bowl. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal shared details behind the firm's latest raise that allow it to build Web 3 applications and invest in zero-knowledge technology. Plus, Kareem Sadek of KPMG Canada spoke about the firm's decision to add crypto to its balance sheet.
Prices
Bitcoin (BTC): $42,176 +0.1%
Ether (ETH): $2,879 -0.7%
Top Gainers
Top Losers
| Asset | Ticker | Returns | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stellar | XLM | −2.6% | Smart Contract Platform |
| Solana | SOL | −2.4% | Smart Contract Platform |
| Cosmos | ATOM | −2.0% | Smart Contract Platform |
Markets
S&P 500: 4,418 -1.9%
DJIA: 34,738 -1.4%
Nasdaq: 13,791 -2.7%
Gold: $1,858 +1.7%
Market moves
Bitcoin inched upward on Sunday but remained well off where it started the week amid investors' concerns about ongoing inflationary pressure and a possible war with Russia.
At the time of publication, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was trading at about $42,200, up slightly over the past 24 hours. Ether and other major altcoins fell. Ether was trading at about $2,880, off slightly.
"Overall, crypto is down this week, including a slide in prices Friday that some believe is correlated to reports of Russian military exercises indicating that an invasion and possible resulting war is imminent," said Joe DiPasquale, the CEO of fund manager BitBull Capital.
Trading volume for the past week was about half its level of a year ago, leading to the high price volatility. "This week has seen the prices of major cryptos both rise and fall sharply," DiPasquale said.
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Crypto's choppy performance has largely emulated major stock indexes, which fell sharply on Friday. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 2% on Friday and the tech-focused Nasdaq plummeted 2.7%.
To be sure, bitcoin and ether are up in February after a lackluster first month of the year, although solana and other altcoins are down "due to jitters over insecurities in the Wormhole protocol," DiPasquale noted.
He added that "anything can happen" if bitcoin approaches $40,000 because of the lower trading volumes. "If the support. line holds, we could see a large bounce, but it does not we could see a significant drop," he said.
Technician's take
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Bitcoin (BTC) sellers were active after buyers failed to sustain a break above $45,000 this week. The cryptocurrency was roughly flat over the past 24 hours and was confined to a tight range over the weekend. Initial support at $40,000 could stabilize pullbacks.
The relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart approached oversold territory on Wednesday, which preceded the recent downturn in price. On the weekly chart, however, the RSI is rising from oversold levels similar to what occurred in March 2020, which could keep buyers active over the short term.
Momentum indicators improved on the weekly chart after BTC rose 4% over the past seven days. That suggests a neutral outlook so long as support holds above $35,000-$40,000 over the weekend.
Still, the monthly chart appears bearish similar to July 2018, which was the middle of a crypto bear market.
Important events
New Zealand REINZ house price index (Jan. MoM)
Australia housing new home sales (Jan. MoM)
4:30 p.m. HKT/SGT (8:30 a.m. UTC): U.S. 3/6-month bill auction
11:50 p.m. HKT/SGT (3:50 p.m. UTC): Japan gross domestic product (Q4/QoQ preliminary)
CoinDesk TV
In case you missed it, here is the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:
"First Mover" hosts spoke with CoinDesk columnist David Morris for his views on crypto firms such FTX and Crypto.com becoming advertisers at this year's Super Bowl. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal shared details behind the firm's latest raise that allow it to build Web 3 applications and invest in zero-knowledge technology. Plus, Kareem Sadek of KPMG Canada spoke about the firm's decision to add crypto to its balance sheet.
Headlines
The Digital Euro: What We Know So Far: The European Commission is planning to introduce a digital euro bill in 2023, but little is known about the EU’s plans for a central bank-issued digital currency.
FTX US to Launch Stock Trading Soon: The crypto exchange has begun signing up users for a waitlist to use its upcoming stock platform.
OpenSea Expands Into the Venture Capital Business: OpenSea Ventures will be led by OpenSea co-founder Alex Atallah.
Intel Launches Crypto Mining Initiative; Argo, Block to Get First Chips This Year: The chip-making giant is ramping up its crypto mining offerings with a lineup of energy-efficient accelerators.
US Officials Seize $3.6B in Bitcoin From 2016 Bitfinex Hack: Nearly 120,000 BTC was stolen in the hack.
Longer reads
Crypto’s Challenge: Right-to-Privacy vs. Right-to-Know: Two recent stories highlight the tension between an individual's right to anonymity and journalism's public mission.
Today's crypto explainer: Crypto Trading 101: Pivot Points and Why They’re Useful
Said and heard
"Without programmability or access to a public blockchain, existing stablecoin users are unlikely to be won over or to see the value proposition at all. But CBDCs could still be attractive, if they manage to solve interoperability issues between countries’ financial systems." (EY Global Blockchain Leader Paul Brody for CoinDesk) ... “It’s topsy-turvy. It’s a very uncertain moment of time in the markets as we face a lot of crosscurrents that, frankly, a lot of investors of the current generation have never seen before.” (Jackie Cavanaugh, portfolio manager of the Putnam Focused Equity Fund at Putnam Investments, in The Wall Street Journal) ... "The recent tumult in stock markets has brought the fairground metaphors flooding back. Should equity investors brace for a sickening lurch downwards? And as they plummet, will the groaning girders beneath them – the infrastructure underpinning markets – hold firm? The structure of finance has changed dramatically since the financial crisis of 2007-09." (The Economist) ... “It [inflation] kind of cascades from initially a small set of goods to a much larger set of goods.” (Former SEC chief economist, and now Carnegie Mellon professor, Chester Spatt in The Wall Street Journal)
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James Rubin was CoinDesk's U.S. news editor based on the West Coast.
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Damanick was a crypto market analyst at CoinDesk where he wrote the daily Market Wrap and provided technical analysis. He is a Chartered Market Technician designation holder and member of the CMT Association. Damanick is also a portfolio strategist and does not invest in digital assets.