Despite discouraging economic indicators, bitcoin was holding above $20,000. Fresh concerns over the regulatory environment although kept sentiments in check.
Barring BNB and Unus Sed Leo, which gained up to 6 per cent, all other major crypto tokens were trading in the red on Friday. Bitcoin and Ethereum gave up to 3 per cent each. Polkadot, XRP and Dogecoin plunged up to 4 per cent each.
The global cryptocurrency market cap was trading at the $868.83 billion mark, dropping more than 2 per cent in the last 24 hours. However, the total cryptocurrency trading volume zoomed more than 22 per cent to $75.11 billion.
What’s cooking in India
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday described cryptocurrencies as “clear danger” and said that anything that derives value based on make believe, without any underlying, is just speculation under a sophisticated name.
The government is in the process of finalising a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies after gathering inputs from various stakeholders and institutions.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been flagging concerns about cryptocurrencies, which are seen as a highly speculative asset.
Expert take
Although price action suggests a consolidation, market participants still seemed to be gripped by bearish momentum, said Edul Patel Co-Founder CEO of Mudrex.
“It will be an interesting coming few days. The number of ETH available across exchanges has seen a steady rise in recent times. It comes the bearish sentiment across the participants,” he added.
Global updates
- Grayscale Investments’ application to convert its $13.5 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund was denied by the Securities and Exchange Commission despite the company’s extensive efforts to win approval.
- Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, reprimanded embattled crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital for misleading it with allegedly false information.
- Cryptocurrency market maker and lending firm Genesis Trading is facing potential losses into the “hundreds of millions,” according to three people familiar with the matter, reported CoinDesk.
- Crypto exchange Coinbase’s analytics program, Coinbase Tracer, will provide the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency with data about crypto users, including ‘historical geo tracking data’ and transaction history, according to a contract obtained by watchdog group Tech Inquiry.
Tech view from BuyUcoin cryptocurrency exchange
Bitcoin lost the $20k support level once again. The world’s oldest cryptocurrency slipped below the crucial $20,000 mark as the markets continue to remain volatile.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected Grayscale’s application to convert Bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF), and this has significantly impacted investor sentiment. The SEC rejected the application due to a lack of regulatory control over crypto-assets and protecting the interest of investors.
Bitcoin is below the $19000 mark and is expected to hover around this level in the coming weeks. The upward trend in the Bitcoin prices will be possible with some improvement in macroeconomic conditions surrounding the financial markets.
(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts’ own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the asset/s mentioned.)
