Market update
Crypto markets fell this week alongside traditional markets over mounting concerns Beijing will allow Chinese property giant Evergrande to default on its massive AU$400 billion (US$300 billion) debts. Bitcoin finishes the week down 10% to AU$57,600 (US$ 41.9K) while Ethereum lost 14% and is trading around AU$4,000 (US$ 2,950). Everything else lost ground: Cardano (-18%), Ripple (-18%), Polkadot (-23%), Dogecoin (-17%), Chainlink (-19%). In more positive news crypto assets held by institutional managers rose for a fifth straight week and El Salvador bought the dip, adding another 150 BTC to its stash.
Bitcoin has had a rocky week, with US$400 billion (AU$544B) wiped off markets on the day the Bitcoin Law went into effect in El Salvador. It finishes the week down 13.6% to trade around US$45.1K or AU$61,150. That’s also 4.5% down on a month ago. TVL locked in DeFi protocols has dropped from US$98.26B (AU$133.3B) to US$85.85B (AU$116.5B). Polkadot was a rare green shot, increasing by 3.4% but everything else lost ground including Ether (-17.2%), Cardano (-14.7%), Ripple (-17.9%), Chainlink (-23.2%). The Fear and Greed Index has pulled back to 44 (fear) which is down from 79 (extreme greed) last week. In more promising news, MicroStrategy has just bought 5,050 Bitcoin for an average price of US$48,099 (AU$65.3K) bringing its total to 114,042 BTC.
Bitcoin put in a strong showing this week and is up 8.3% to trade around A$70,400 (US$52.5K). According to Glassnode, the total amount of Bitcoin held on exchanges has hit a 2021 low. Ethereum did twice as well and is up 17.7% to trade just below A$5,300 (US$4K). It’s now within 10% of its all time high price of approximately A$5,645 (US$4.4K) set on May 12. To flip Bitcoin in market cap the price would need to double from here. Everything else was up: Cardano (0.7%), Ripple (20.6%), Dogecoin (9.3%), Polkadot (26%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 79, or extreme greed.
It was a week of consolidation for Bitcoin as it held on to most of the gains made over the month and traded in a range from A$64K (US$46.6K) to A$69K (US$50.3K). It’s currently down 5.1% from seven days ago to trade around A$64,600 (US$47.5K). Elsewhere prices eased across the board: Ethereum lost 3%, Cardano (-6.1%), Ripple (-11.3%), Dogecoin (-14.6%), Polkadot (-6.2%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 73, or greed.
Bitcoin topped US$50K (A$69.3K) in the past 24 hours, its highest level since early May. Bitcoin peaked at almost US$65K (A$87K) in April then lost more than half its value between mid-May and late June. Bitcoin is up 4% for the week and 44.6% for the month and it’s currently trading around A$69K. Ethereum increased 2.2% for the week and is trading at A$4,620. Cardano is up 35.4% for the week as anticipation for the “Alonzo” upgrade grows. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 79 or extreme greed.
Although markets have taken a breather in the past 24 hours, the bull run appears to be back on in earnest, with most of the top coins up 50%-100% on a month ago. Crypto markets are once again near a US$2T market cap (A$2.69T) and 19.2% of Bitcoin hodlers have returned to profit since the low of $29.7K (A$40K) set in July. The total Bitcoin supply is holding unrealised profits equivalent to 50% of the market cap which Glassnode says indicates we’re experiencing a ‘bull market disbelief rally’. Influencer Lark Davis says the hash ribbons indicator is flashing a strong buy signal, which correlated with a 250% gain last time. Bitcoin peaked at A$65.5K but finished the week around A$62,850 up 1%. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 72 (greed), while last month it was around 15 (extreme fear).
After bottoming out just above A$40K (US$29K) on July 21, Bitcoin rose for ten days in a row, its longest winning streak in eight years. It peaked above A$57,000 (US$42K) yesterday but the price pulled back overnight to around A$53,500 (US$39K). It’s up 5% for the week. Ethereum posted 12 straight days of green for the first time ever and is currently up 17.2% for the week to trade just under A$3600 (US$2.6K). Dogecoin was flat but everything else was up: Cardano (3.9%), Ripple (18.6%), Polkadot (29.9%), Uniswap (20%), Chainlink (30.3%), Bitcoin Cash (13.1%), Litecoin (7.6%), Stellar (5.5%), Aave (5.5%) and Synthetix (1.2%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index briefly returned to ‘greed’ yesterday for the first time in three months, and is currently at 48, or ‘neutral’.
After briefly dipping below A$40K (US$29.3K) a week ago, Bitcoin suddenly pumped 15% yesterday and topped $54K (US$40K) in the early hours of this morning – the highest level since mid-June. It’s currently settled back to $50,100 but is still up a whopping 21.6% on seven days ago. Ethereum gained 23.4%, Cardano (12.4%), Ripple (11.5%), Dogecoin (17.8%), Polkadot (21.9%), Bitcoin Cash (16.4%), Litecoin (16%), Chainlink (24.8%), Stellar (23.3%), Aave (28%), Synthetix (14.8%), MATIC (38%).
Bitcoin has just seen its lowest weekly close in eight months, in the aftermath of Grayscale’s unlocking of 25,000 BTC in recent days. Will it hold above US$30K (A$40.9K)? Bitcoin is down 6.7% for the week and is trading just above A$42,000. Bitcoin dragged the rest of the market down: Ethereum fell 10.4%, Cardano lost 14.2%, Ripple (-10.9%), Polkadot (-22.5%), Uniswap (-19.4%), Bitcoin Cash (-13.2%), Litecoin (-14.7%), Chainlink (-16.8%), Stellar (-10.5%), Aave (-19.4%) and Synthetix (-32.3%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is sitting at 24, or Extreme Fear.
Bitcoin remains 50% off its all-time high in April, but has been essentially going sideways since mid-May and refuses to drop below US$30K (A$40K). It’s currently 3.4% down on seven days ago to trade around A$44,300 (US$33,100). While Synthetix gained 13.5% on the news layer 2 scaling with Optimism would finally launch this month, most other coins were down. Ethereum lost 8.6%, Cardano (-7.3%), Ripple (-4.7%) Polkadot (-3.4%), Uniswap (-3.9%), Bitcoin Cash (-5.6%), Litecoin (-4.3%), Chainlink (-5.4%), Stellar (-6.9%) and Aave (-5%).
Bitcoin traded between approximately A$44K (US$33K) and A$48K (US$36K) this week, finishing pretty much flat on seven days ago at A$45,200 (US$34K) at the time of writing. With the London hard fork just around the corner and Eth2 deposit contract filling up, Ethereum is looking very solid and gained 7.8% to trade around A$2,970 (US$2,250). Overall, there was more green than red, with DeFi coins surging: Uniswap was up 16.4%, Aave (39.3%), Compound (62.2%) and Synthetix (60.2%). Ripple increased 3.5%, Cardano (7.9%), Bitcoin Cash (2.6%), Litecoin (2.2%). Chainlink was flat, Polkadot lost 1.7% and Stellar was down 2.2%. The Bitcoin hashrate bottomed out at 59 EH/S during the week, but the average rate was 87.9 EH/s which is about where we are right now. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 29 (fear).