Blockchain
Bitcoin Logs Revenge Recovery as Lagarde Calls for Global Regulation

Bitcoin prices drifted higher on Wednesday, breaking away from bearish calls as Christine Lagarde raised the need to regulate it at the global level.
In an interview with Reuters, the European Central Bank President said that Bitcoin is a highly speculative asset that has facilitated “some reprehensible activity,” such as money laundering, adding that “there has to be regulation” to control its misuse on an international scale.
“This has to be applied and agreed upon […] at a global level because if there is an escape that escape will be used,” she added.
ECB President Christine Lagarde called for global regulation of #Bitcoin, saying the digital currency had been used for money laundering activities in some instances and that any loopholes needed to be closed. Follow #ReutersNext updates here: https://t.co/4MgFy4jnw5 pic.twitter.com/qlBtoDuZLW
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 13, 2021
The statements appeared in the wake of Bitcoin’s sharp decline from its record high this week. The flagship cryptocurrency got sold-off at near $42,000 during the weekend over profit-taking sentiment and crashed by almost 29 percent in afterward sessions. Before that, it had rallied by almost 100 percent in just three weeks of trading.
Bitcoin’s high volatility jittered Ms. Lagarde, who reiterated that the cryptocurrency might never become a currency. She called it “a highly speculative asset” notorious for conducting “some funny business” throughout its 11-year lifetime.
A Recovery, Nonetheless
Nevertheless, Ms. Lagarde’s critical take on Bitcoin was not enough to shake its intraday upside sentiment. The cryptocurrency surged by more than 3 percent to $35,954 less than an hour after the ECB chief’s comments entered the wire, breaking away from its choppy trend that clouded the European and Asian session Wednesday.

Bitcoin breaks above its 20-day exponential moving average resistance wave. Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
The BTC/USD exchange rate broke above its 20-day exponential moving average wave (green), signaling its desire to log a rebound towards its 50-day simple moving average (blue), followed by a breakout towards its all-time high above $42,000.
Old fractals showed that Bitcoin maintaining 20-DMA as support is a bullish sign.
Tyler Winklevoss, the co-founder/CEO of US-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, hinted that investors bought Bitcoin not to speculate but to break free from the “funny business” performed by centralized exchanges in the name of endless money printing.
“Bitcoin is a movement that is here to stay; it is never going away,” he added, reiterating the cryptocurrency as one the top defensive assets against inflation and fiat depreciation.
Bitcoin Long-Term Trend
More investors are looking at the prospects of additional government spendings in the US, as promised by President-elect Joe Biden to aid the US economy. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s commitment to purchase government and corporate debts while keeping interest rates near zero until 2023 is further diverging investors away from cash-based safe-havens to riskier alternatives like Bitcoin.
“There are many institutional investors who bought $BTC at the 30-32k level,” noted Ki-Young Ju, the CEO of CyptoQuant. “Speculative guess, but if these guys are behind this bull-run, they’ll protect the 30k level. Even if we have a dip, it won’t go down below $28k.”
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
Blockchain
Bitcoin price hits $50K after bullish outlook from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs

On March 1 cryptocurrency investors woke up to the sight of Bitcoin (BTC) rising from it weekend correction to $44,000 as the market found its bullish momentum and altcoins rebounded from their swing lows.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of Bitcoin increased 16.6% from its low of $43,504 on Feb. 28 to the $50,000 level which bulls are attempting to flip back to support.

Earlier in the day, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor tweeted that the firm had purchased another $15 million worth of Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 90,859 BTC and further demonstrating that institutional demand for the top cryptocurrency continues to grow as firms buy each dip’
Analysis of key BTC price indicators also shows that bulls were eager to buy the $43,000 retest which occurred over the weekend.
Not every analyst is bullish
Bitcoin’s surge above $49,000 has some calling for new all-time highs in the near future, but according to veteran analyst Peter Brandt, nothing is certain when it comes to the cryptocurrency market.
Today Goldman Sachs announced that it would restart its crypto trading desk and Brandt was quick to tweet the following chart and point out that its launch didn’t work out so well for the cryptocurrency market in December 2017.

According to David Lifchitz, Chief Investment Officer of ExoAlpha, it’s still “too early to tell” if the pullback in Bitcoin is over but $44,500 appears to have provided strong support.
In terms of whether the top cryptocurrency could breakout to new highs in March, Lifchitz said he’s uncertain on exactly what might happen as March is historically a bearish trading month for BTC.
According to Lifchitz, tax season in the U.S. could put bearish pressures on the market as investors may need to “sell some of their holdings to pay for earlier realized capital gains.”
From a bullish perspective, the 20% correction during the second half of February may have signaled an “early start” to the usual March weakness, with the worst of the downturn already transpiring.
Lifchitz said:
“Despite the 20% pullback, we’re still in an upward sloping trend since the October $10K breakout. The big unknown is what the miners will do as they are net sellers. They are the real short-term risk.”
Analysis of Glassnode’s Net Unrealized Profit and Loss (NUPL) metric shows that while both 20% corrections experienced during this cycle have created the “signature sideways and choppy” price action typically seen during bull markets, buyers have been stepping in sooner than they had in previous bull cycles and fewer long-term holders are willing to sell their BTC.

Steadying yields help to stabilize traditional markets
The traditional financial markets also rallied on Monday as Treasury yields stabilized and optimism related to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout boosted investor sentiment about the future of the global economy.
The S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ all closed the day in the black, finishing up 2.38%, 1.95% and 3.01% respectively. The strong performance from each index occurred as global central banks world continue to reaffirm commitments to accommodative policies that will support the global economic recovery.
Altcoins also recovered their recent losses as Bitcoin price broke out to $50,000.

Binance Coin (BNB) was the best performer in the top 10, increasing 21% to $248, while Ethereum (ETH) saw its price rise 9.46% to $1,525. PancakeSwap (CAKE) and Fantom (FTM) both rallied price 36% and currently trade for $12.30 and $0.558 respectively.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.52 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 61%.
Blockchain
Goldman Sachs Plans to Relaunch Its Cryptocurrency Trading Desk


Reports on Reuters today revealed that American multinational investment bank, Goldman Sachs, will offer bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards on behalf of its clients starting next week.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the move is part of the bank’s effort to take advantage of the fast-growing crypto space, which is gradually becoming an investment of choice for institutional players.
Notably, the bank is also considering developing a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) soon as part of its commitment to fully venture into the industry.
Based on this regard, the unnamed source noted that Goldman Sachs had already “issued a request for information to explore digital asset custody.”
Goldman’s First Shot At Crypto
In late 2017, Goldman Sachs became the first Wall Street biggest firm to ever consider offering crypto-related products, as the bank was planning to open a cryptocurrency desk.
At the time, the Wall Street financial institution was working on how to address security challenges associated with the business, as well as how it would custody the assets.
Plans were on the way for the launch slated for late 2018 when reports emerged in September that same year that the bank has chosen not to offer crypto-related investments.
Sources said that the bank dropped its crypto plans due to the regulatory concerns associated with the industry, with regulators breathing down the neck of most projects.
The issue of regulatory uncertainty has been the major stumbling block that hindered several institutional players from getting involved with cryptocurrencies.
Interestingly, there have been clearer regulations in recent times luring institutional investors like Microstrategy and Tesla.
The entrance of these large corporations has given other institutional investors the greenlight that crypto is safe compared to how it was viewed in 2018.
Thus it could be the reason Goldman Sach is making plans to restart its cryptocurrency trading desk in earnest.
A Change Of Heart?
However, Goldman Sachs’ second shot at launching a cryptocurrency trading desk comes less than a year after the bank told its clients during a conference call that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are not an asset class.
Reports at the time suggested that part of the reason for the call was to discourage its customers from including bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in their portfolio.
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Source: https://cryptopotato.com/goldman-sachs-plans-to-relaunch-its-cryptocurrency-trading-desk/
Blockchain
Bitcoin Still Has an Uncertain Future: Citibank Analysts


In a 100-page deep-dive report dubbed “Bitcoin, at the Tipping Point,” Citibank’s global perspectives and solutions team noted that the cryptocurrency could potentially “become the currency of choice for international trade.”
The analysts acknowledged that the massive interest shown by several large institutional investors like Tesla, Microstrategy, and PayPal is one of the major propellants for the digital asset gaining mainstream adoption.
The team further noted that several other factors, including a wide range of digital payment options like stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), could also increase the chances of bitcoin adoption for cross-border settlements.
An Uncertain Future
The report also pointed out that a side-by-side comparison of the risks associated with bitcoin and the opportunities it presents makes it very easy to conclude that the digital asset is at a tipping point.
They wrote:
“There are a host of risks and obstacles that stand in the way of Bitcoin progress… Weighing the potential hurdles against the opportunities leads to the conclusion that Bitcoin is at a tipping point… Bitcoin’s future is thus still uncertain, but developments in the near term are likely to prove decisive as the currency balances at the tipping point of mainstream acceptance or a speculative implosion.”
Bitcoin Going Mainstream Already
The concluding part of the report quoted the famous philosopher, Schopenhauer, who said,
“All Truths pass through three stages, first it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
The team states that the positive change in stance on issues about bitcoin by several financial institutions very well prove these words of Schopenhauer, which he said more than 150 years before the bitcoin idea was born.
Several banks had actively shunned bitcoin in the past, arguing that it has no intrinsic value as it is allegedly backed by mere speculations from its proponents.
However, bitcoin’s immense growth has forced its former critics to re-evaluate their stance and join the bitcoin adoption trend. Some of the biggest banks in the world have started offering bitcoin services to their clients.
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Source: https://cryptopotato.com/bitcoin-still-has-an-uncertain-future-citibank-analysts/
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