Market Wrap: Bitcoin Heads for Best Week in 3 Months

Price Action

Bitcoin (BTC) rose Friday after a U.S. government report showed the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose slower than expected last month. The reason that matters is because it shows progress in the Fed’s campaign to tamp down the pace of price increases, in turn signaling that it might be able to let up sooner rather than later in tightening monetary policy – seen as a negative for prices of risky assets, from stocks to bitcoin.

The oldest cryptocurrency’s push past $20,000 has turned the market mood more bullish. Bitcoin’s 5.6% gain since Sunday represents the biggest weekly gain in three months. But the crucial test will come next week when the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meets. Most traders expect the U.S. central bank to raise the main interest rate by 75 basis points (0.75 percentage point), but the drama is likely to come from whatever Fed Chair Jerome Powell signals about the committee’s plans for its December meeting.

The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), a broad-based market index that measures the performance of a basket of cryptocurrencies, recently rose 1.8% over the past 24 hours.

In traditional markets, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose, with tech stocks boosted by an encouraging earnings report from Apple.

Among crypto stocks on Friday, shares of bitcoin miner Core Scientific (CORZ) tanked after the company warned it may have to explore bankruptcy.

Latest Prices

● CoinDesk Market Index (CMI): 1,018.27 +0.4%

● Bitcoin (BTC): $20,646 +0.8%

● Ether (ETH): $1,562 +2.0%

● S&P 500 daily close: 3,901.06 +2.5%

● Gold: $1,648 per troy ounce −0.8%

● Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 4.01% +0.1

Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Technical Take

Bitcoin, Ether Press Higher as Momentum Increases

By Glenn Williams Jr

"Whale" movement of BTC to exchanges (Glassnode)

Investors should also weigh on-chain analytics to ensure they are adopting a measured approach. Over the past week, large BTC holders have been moving coins to exchanges.

For investors with a bullish outlook, this isn't the best sign because coins are often moved to exchanges to ready them for rapid sale.

However, this trend may just be a preventative measure ahead of Nov. 10 consumer price index data. Still, the move to exchanges appears to have stabilized as of Oct. 25.

Read the full technical take by CoinDesk analyst Glenn Williams Jr.

Altcoin Roundup

Stablecoin Issuer Frax Finance Unveils Ether Staking Service With a Dual Token Model: The model will simplify decentralized finance integrations and supposedly allow users to earn above-average ether staking yields. Read more here.
NFTs Are Going Big in Latin America Amid a Crypto Boom: With an increasing number of financial and political crises in recent years, Latin American citizens have found in crypto a powerful tool to cope with the instability. Now, non-fungible tokens (NFT) are booming in the region, with the goal of solving real problems and not speculation. Read more here.

CoinDesk Market Index

Biggest Gainers

Asset	Ticker	Returns	DACS Sector
Quant	QNT	+6.15%	Currency
Optimism	OP	+6.11%	Smart Contract Platform
NEAR Protocol	NEAR	+5.35%	Smart Contract Platform

Biggest Losers

Asset	Ticker	Returns	DACS Sector
Mask Network	MASK	-15.72%	Computing
Dogecoin	DOGE	-9.61%	Currency
Ocean Protocol	OCEAN	-8.84%	Computing

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) is a broad-based index designed to measure the market capitalization weighted performance of the digital asset market subject to minimum trading and exchange eligibility requirements.

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CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is the managing editor of CoinDesk's Tech & Protocols team. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.

Follow @Liqquidity on Twitter

Glenn Williams

Glenn C Williams Jr, CMT is a Crypto Markets Analyst with an initial background in traditional finance. His experience includes research and analysis of individual cryptocurrencies, defi protocols, and crypto-based funds. He owns BTC, ETH, UNI, DOT, MATIC, and AVAX

Follow @GwilliamsJr_CMT on Twitter