Aurelia Butler

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Analysis-What’s behind bitcoin’s latest surge?

    LONDON (Reuters) – At the turn of the year, bitcoin was in the grip of a bleak midwinter, down and out after a 2022 defined by tumbling crypto prices, bankruptcies and corporate scandals. Less than three months later, bitcoin’s got its mojo back. With gains of more than 70% so far this year, it has outpaced other major assets, and was on Wednesday trading near its highest in nine months. The original and biggest cryptocurrency has been here before, its 15-year history peppered with dramatic price increases and equally vertiginous drops. Fuelling the gains: interest rates. Markets expect that central bank hikes to the cost of credit are nearing their peak, and such a scenario is set to buoy risk-on assets such as bitcoin, six investors and analysts from crypto and traditional finance told Reuters.”The macro narrative is the number one,” said Noelle Acheson, an economist who has tracked the crypto sector for seven years. “Bitcoin is not just a risk asset, it is arguably the most sensitive to monetary liquidity out of all of the risk assets.” Other factors are at play, too, from turmoil in the banking sector to enduring hopes – still unfulfilled – that bitcoin can achieve wide usage as a form of payment. Bitcoin closed its best week in four years on Sunday, and has gained 45% in just 12 days. As the collapse of U.S. lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) helped to triggered the takeover on Sunday of 167-year-old Credit Suisse by rival UBS, claims that bitcoin is an asset immune to risks in traditional finance have gained traction.”It’s rather narrow-minded to say that bitcoin is going to succeed because a bank failed,” said Usman Ahmad, CEO of Zodia Markets, the crypto exchange of the venture arm of Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF) and Hong Kong crypto firm BC Technology Group.”But confidence is almost a critical factor – confidence in the banking system has been damaged.” Driving bitcoin’s gains have been its core user base of retail investors, analysts said. Institutional investors such as pension funds, until now wary of the unstable and mostly unregulated bitcoin, are likely to remain sceptical of a long-lasting renaissance for the cryptocurrency, the interviews showed. “Bitcoin’s recent bull run looks to be mainly supported by individual investors – ranging from retail to whales – as we have seen evidence of institutions exiting during this rally,” said Zhong Yang Chan, head of research at crypto data firm CoinGecko.Indeed, bitcoin investment products, favoured by larger investors, saw outflows of $113 million last week, according to digital asset manager CoinShares, which ascribed the moves to a scramble for liquidity during chaos in the banking sector. DEJA VU? In the past, too, dramatic price swings for bitcoin have been closely tied to shifts in monetary policy globally. As stimulus measures flooded the global financial system during the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home investors fuelled a six-fold rally for bitcoin between September 2020 and April 2021. Those moves, allied with emerging interest in crypto from larger investors and companies, led crypto backers to vow that its chances of a bruising crash historically seen after bitcoin rallies were lower.Yet as signs of runaway inflation late in 2021 forced central banks and governments to curb stimulus packages, bitcoin slumped by more than half from its record high of $69,000 in just 75 days as rates began to rise. In 2022, bitcoin plummeted over 65% as higher rates triggered the fall of a major crypto token, precipitating the closure of major hedge funds and crypto lenders. It was further bruised by regulatory headaches and the dramatic fall of the FTX exchange. The disastrous year was another reminder of bitcoin’s vulnerability to external shocks, despite backers’ claims it is a safe haven asset in times of political and economic stress. To be sure, some investors say developments to bitcoin’s intrinsic characteristics are now capable of supporting its price. Richard Galvin of crypto fund Digital Asset Capital Management, for instance, cited software upgrades that have enabled a new breed of non-fungible tokens on bitcoin. Still, for investors in traditional assets, doubts remain. “I don’t know if old-school currency people are reassessing it,” said Stephen Gallo, European head of FX strategy at BMO Capital Markets. “We are still struggling with bitcoin on the definition of a currency.” More

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    in Economy

    At what cost? UK PM Sunak to win post-Brexit trade vote in parliament

    LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to win parliamentary approval on Wednesday for a key element of a post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland, a victory tainted by a lack of support from the province’s biggest unionist party and some of his lawmakers.Sunak has sought to end years of wrangling over Brexit by revisiting one of the trickiest parts of the negotiations – to ensure smooth trade to Northern Ireland without creating a so-called hard border with Britain or the European Union.He agreed with the EU to introduce the “Stormont brake”, aimed at offering Northern Ireland more control over whether to accept any new EU laws, as part of the so-called Windsor Framework of measures to soothe post-Brexit tensions.But in Wednesday’s vote in the lower house of parliament, those he most wanted to win over – Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Conservative eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) and his two predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss – are set to rebel.Despite the opposition, Sunak is expected to win the vote – the rebellion could be contained to still give the Conservatives a majority and if not, the opposition Labour Party says it will back the government.Sunak has urged lawmakers to support the brake.”(It) fundamentally restores or deals with the democratic deficit that existed,” his spokesperson said.The brake enables Britain to prevent new EU laws applying to goods in Northern Ireland if asked to do so by a third of lawmakers in the province’s devolved legislature.The ERG has described the measure as “practically useless” and the DUP complains that it does not apply to existing EU law. The group’s chairman Mark Francois told reporters the ERG was recommending to its members to vote against the government to show their discontent over what he called an “oversold” agreement that was a “brake with no brake pads”.Sunak hailed securing the deal last month as a “decisive breakthrough”. But the DUP has said the new deal does little to ease its concerns over the post-Brexit trading arrangements, saying the “brake does not deal with the fundamental issue which is the imposition of EU law”. The Northern Irish party, at odds with opinion polls suggesting 45% of voters in the province support the framework versus 17% opposed, has said it will keep talking to the government to try to assuage its concerns.The DUP has for a year boycotted Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government and has said it will not return to it until the post-Brexit trade arrangements are overhauled.After the ERG published a legal document rubbishing most of the measures contained in the Windsor Framework, former prime minister Johnson, the face of the campaign to leave the EU, and his successor, Truss, said they would vote against the brake.Johnson doubled down on his view that Sunak should stick to his policy of standing by legislation which would tear apart the current deal with the EU.”The proposed arrangements would mean either that Northern Ireland remained captured by the EU legal order … or they would mean that the whole of the UK was unable properly to diverge and take advantage of Brexit,” he said.His stance was criticised by long-time Brexit campaigner and minister in the Northern Ireland office, Steve Baker, who as a member of the ERG often stymied the attempts of earlier governments to strike deals with the EU.”He’s got a choice. He can be remembered for the great acts of statecraft that he achieved, or he can risk looking like a pound shop (Brexit campaigner) Nigel Farage,” he said. More

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    in Economy

    German ‘wise ones’ see inflation uptick if banking woes halt rate rises

    “The recent increase in financial market risks has made it more difficult for central banks to fight inflation,” the five “wise ones” who advise Berlin on economic policy said in their biannual report. “If the monetary policy response is too weak due to these trade-offs, inflation could remain high for longer than expected or even pick up again,” they added.Commenting on recent turmoil in the banking sector at a press conference on Wednesday, council member Monika Schnitzer said banks had to be monitored with frequent stress tests. She added that regulators should examine whether government bonds held by banks should be backed by equity capital.Turmoil in the banking sector culminated in the Swiss regulator-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS at the weekend. That followed the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which sank under the weight of bond-related losses due to a surge in interest rates.Council member Ulrike Malmendier said that, unlike during the 2008 financial crisis, financial stability was not in danger, but banks “should be taken by the hand more” in the face of rapidly changing conditions.In its report, the council revised its prediction that the German economy would face a mild recession this year, saying on Wednesday that gross domestic product (GDP) would grow by 0.2% in 2023 and 1.3% in 2024. This is in line with the government’s forecast.Inflation will come in at 6.6% in 2023 and 3.0% in 2024, the council predicted. More

  • 138 Shares179 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Traders Believe BTC Will Continue to Rise in the Coming Days

    Renowned crypto analyst and trader Michael van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) tweeted this morning that the crypto market leader, Bitcoin (BTC), is slowly grinding upwards. In the tweet, van de Poppe stated that his eyes remain fixed on the $28,700 mark.The trader added that he is expecting BTC’s price to sweep into the high around the time the next FOMC meeting outcome is released. Thereafter, BTC’s price will consolidate according to van de Poppe.Meanwhile, KALEO (@CryptoKaleo) also posted an optimistic tweet related to BTC this morning. In his tweet, the Twitter user stated that BTC will move from $30K to $40K a lot quicker than most people expect.The analyst concluded his tweet by saying that people waiting for another dip before buying into BTC will be left “watching from the sidelines.” His optimistic tweet was met with some criticism and questions as to what basis his assumption was made on. Dylan K (@MightDylanK) is one such user who questioned KALEO’s forecast for BTC’s price.Another Twitter user, Jason ness, downplayed KALEO’s forecast by replying to the tweet with “imagine things are that easy in crypto.”At press time, CoinMarketCap shows that BTC is trading at $28,203.27 following a 2.05% price increase in the last 24 hours. This 24-hour increase has added to the leading crypto’s already-positive weekly performance, pushing BTC’s total weekly gain to +13.21%.The price of BTC is currently closer to its 24-hour high of $28,439.56, with BTC’s 24-hour low standing at $27,685.22. BTC has, however, been outperformed by the largest altcoin by market cap, Ethereum (ETH). Currently, BTC is down 1.17% to the altcoin leader.Disclaimer: The views and opinions, as well as all the information shared in this price analysis, are published in good faith. Readers must do their own research and due diligence. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Coin Edition and its affiliates will not be held liable for any direct or indirect damage or loss.The post Traders Believe BTC Will Continue to Rise in the Coming Days appeared first on Coin Edition.See original on CoinEdition More

  • 100 Shares159 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Collar Finance Announces the Launch of Collar DEX

    Collar, the first Shibarium-based all-in-one launchpad for tokens like $SHIB, $BONE, $LEASH, $PAW, $CLAW, and $COLLAR announced the launch of the COLLAR DEX, a decentralized exchange.The organization stated that at present only the Collar token chart is visible. However, it promised that during the course of a few days, the full version of the platform would provide a dashboard that will enable the user to track and swap any tokens.According to the information shared with Coin Edition, Collar helps crypto enthusiasts create their own tokens and token sales in just a few seconds. Tokens created on Collar will be verified and published on Shibarium’s explorer website.Speaking about the Collar DEX, a representative from the Collar team stated:Clarifying this point, the company stated that projects that need features like Buy/Sell Limit order Stop loss, Buy/Sell Swap, Watchlist, Trending, and Promote will be charged an extra fee.In related news, Collar also announced earlier today that it established a key partnership with CryptoAI, a project at the forefront of artificial intelligence.Meanwhile, the token Collar was recently listed on P2P, Azbit, Consbit, and BKEX. It will be interesting to see how the launch of this decentralized exchange and the other upcoming project for the launchpad will be reciprocated on the Collar token’s prices.As of press time, the live Collar price is $0.001679 with a 24-hour trading volume of $416,513. The token is down 9.28% in the last 24 hours. The coin has been rallying above its opening market price of $0.00081 during the past week. During its rally, Collar reached a maximum price of $0.002529 yesterday.The post Collar Finance Announces the Launch of Collar DEX appeared first on Coin Edition.See original on CoinEdition More

  • 125 Shares189 Views

    in Economy

    China to boost support for high-end manufacturing – Premier Li

    The world’s second-biggest economy is under increasing pressure from the United States, which has cited national security in restricting access to Chinese semiconductors and artificial intelligence technology. “As the situation at home and abroad undergoes complex and profound changes, the development of China’s manufacturing industry is facing an important juncture and the efforts to strengthen the industry must be increased,” Li said.China will create a market-oriented, legal and international business environment and strengthen the policy guidance to support advanced manufacturing, said Li.The country’s science and technology policies should aim to build its strength and self-reliance, according to a government report during an annual meeting of parliament this month.Li visited the southern province of Hunan from March 21-22 and hosted a forum on the development of advanced manufacturing, according to state radio.He also visited companies such as CRRC, BYD and Lens Technology. More

  • 138 Shares99 Views

    in Economy

    ECB to look for signs of stress but banking crisis unlikely

    Investors are pondering whether the ECB will be able to continue raising rates to fight inflation given turmoil in the banking sector that has seen two U.S. lenders go under and Swiss giant Credit Suisse need a last-minute rescue.The ECB’s chief economist Philip Lane said market jitters may turn out to be “a non-event” for monetary policy, or could affect it at the margins, but the odds on a crisis that completely rewrites the outlook remained long.”We always run scenarios about… what happens when we get accelerator effects or things amplify each other. But that’s pretty much a tail scenario at this point in time,” Lane told a conference on Wednesday.Speaking before Lane, ECB President Christine Lagarde said the ECB’s interest rate hikes may be magnified if banks become more risk averse and start demanding higher rates when lending – likely implying the central bank would need to do less.”If, for example, banks start to apply a larger ‘intermediation wedge’ – meaning that at any level of the base rate they demand a higher compensation for the perceived risk they are taking on when lending – then pass-through will become stronger,” Lagarde said.She reaffirmed the ECB’s determination to bring inflation in the euro zone to 2%, from 8.5% last month, and noted past hikes were only just starting to be passed onto the economy.”For inflationary pressures to ease, it is important that our monetary policy works robustly in the restrictive direction,” she said. “And that process is only starting to take effect now.”The ECB has increased the rate it pays on bank deposits by a record-breaking 350 basis points to 3% since July and financial markets expect a further increase to 3.5% later this year.The central bank for the 20 countries that share the euro raised rates last week but removed from its policy message an expectation that it would increase rates again at upcoming meetings in light of the recent financial jitters.Euro zone inflation has already started falling after hitting a peak at 10.6% last October but prices excluding energy are still growing a steady pace.Lane said he expected core prices to ease over time as lower fuel costs filter through to other sectors.”There are reasons to believe, by looking at the indirect effect of energy on core, by looking at the pipeline (pressures), that there are data points to suggest that underlying inflation measures will ease over time,” Lane said.He cautioned, however, that this expectation was predicated on growth in wages peaking this year. More