Osaka may or may not have been Satoshi’s home, Binance has moved in, the city hosted Devcon 5, and there’s finally a Bitcoin ATM again!
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Top Pepe mania profiteers have dumped their PEPE tokens en masse, suggesting declining holding interest among whales.
Bitcoin volatility has dropped as new liquidity is not flowing into the market, but on-chain data presents multiple reasons why BTC investors continue to hold.
Bitcoin fails to respond even to a market-moving fake news event about an explosion at the Pentagon.
BTC’s price could be on the verge of a bullish breakout, according to derivatives data, but ultimately the macroeconomic scenario will dictate the trend.
Bitcoin price could be gearing up for a decisive move, which could set the stage for XRP, LTC, RNDR and CFX.
Bitcoin is a volatile asset but BTC price can get stuck inside narrow trading ranges for week, if not months for multiple reasons.
Illuvium CEO Kieran Warwick has once again been in the thick of a controversy, this time taking aim at applicants seeking to join Illuvium DAO’s marketing sub-council.
Warwick, who is not coincidentally also the game studio’s chief marketing officer, took to Twitter on May 9 to say that the DAO faced a “significant challenge,” with the sub-DAO hopefuls vying for the gig as they “need to possess the requisite marketing experience.” This upset the hopefuls, given the backhander about their lack of experience.
Not one to let an opportunity go to waste, Warwick then issued a media release about the “controversy stirred by its CEO, Kieran Warwick.”
The marketing sub-council is one of four sub-councils within the Illuvium DAO focused on particular tasks related to developing Illuvium’s products and community. The others relate to community, game and strategy, with the idea being to draw on community expertise to develop the project.
Sub-council members are paid in Illuvium tokens.
Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week in a price range that frustrates traders and leaves little to the imagination — what next?
After precious little activity over the weekend, the largest cryptocurrency lacks direction, and even macroeconomic triggers have failed to shift the status quo.
At around 10% below the $30,000 mark, BTC/USD is treading water, and despite calls for a further correction, market participants are dealing with a tiny active trading range.
Liquidity is there to be taken above and below, but so far, only a tease of a liquidity sweep has materialized.
The coming days have some potential macro surprises in store, but analysts agree it will take a significant shift in the data to crack a stubborn Bitcoin.
A bearish market structure has been pressuring cryptocurrencies’ prices for the past six weeks, driving the total market capitalization to its lowest level in two months at $1.13 trillion. According to two derivative metrics, crypto bulls will have a hard time to break the downtrend, even though analyzing a shorter timeframe provides a neutral view with Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and BNB, on average, gaining 0.3% between May 12 and May 19.
Total crypto market cap in USD, 12-hour. Source: TradingViewNotice that the descending wedge formation initiated in mid-April could last until July, indicating that an eventual break to the upside would require an extra effort from the bulls.
Furthermore, there’s the impending U.S. debt ceiling standoff, as the U.S. Treasury is quickly running out of cash.
Even if the majority of investors believe that the Biden administration will be able to strike a deal before the effective default of its debt, no one can exclude the possibility of a government shutdown and subsequent default.
Gold or stablecoins as a safe haven?
Not even gold, which used to be considered the world’s safest asset class, has been immune to the recent correction, as the precious metal traded down from $2,050 on May 4 to the present $1,980 level.
Top Stories This Week
Hyperbitcoinization coming, says Bitcoin OG as ‘wholecoiners’ hit 1 million
Bitcoin has crossed a significant threshold this month — there are over 1 million addresses that hold at least 1 BTC. Data from Glassnode shows an escalating pattern with regard to the amount of so-called Bitcoin “wholecoiners.” If the trend continues, Bitcoin price escalation could soon make buying it not only a luxury but something potentially unattainable altogether, according to Adam Back, co-founder and CEO of Bitcoin firm Blockstream. This hyperbitcoinization refers to the moment when the benefits of Bitcoin for financial transactions will eventually lead to the replacement of established financial institutions by a public-driven system, with Bitcoin becoming the world’s default value system.
FTX pursues $244M clawback from ‘wildly inflated’ Embed acquisition deal
FTX’s leadership is looking to claw back more than $240 million from insiders and executives that benefited from FTX’s “wildly inflated” acquisition of stock-clearing platform Embed in September. According to court filings, Embed’s own chief technology officer, Laurence Beal, was stunned that FTX paid so much for the company after one short meeting with its then-CEO, Michael Giles. Beal described FTX’s due diligence process with a cowboy emoji. Lawyers accused FTX insiders of disproportionate payouts to Embed shareholders, including $55 million paid to its CEO.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be the first presidential candidate in United States history to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin, he announced during his first appearance as a presidential candidate at the Bitcoin 2023 conference. He praised the cryptocurrency as a “symbol of democracy and freedom” during the event. By having attended the Bitcoin event, RFK Jr. is not only targeting voters but also a potential source of millions of dollars in donations. The democratic candidate is incumbent President Joe Biden.
Voyager bankruptcy plan approved, customers may recover 35.7% of claims initially
Voyager’s bankruptcy plan was approved on May 17 and its customers could now expect to receive 35.72% of their claims initially, either in crypto via the Voyager app or in cash, after 30 days. According to Voyager, it had $1.33 billion of assets for recovery as of May 8, of which $629.8 million was available for initial recovery, on claims of $1.8 billion. If FTX/Alameda Research’s claim for preferential recovery is unsuccessful, creditors’ initial recovery could increase. For that claim, Voyager is holding back $445 million. Voyager may also be able to recover funds from bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
Cryptocurrency trading platform Coin Cafe has been ordered to repay $4.3 million to its users after allegedly charging “exorbitant and undisclosed fees” for storing Bitcoin on the platform — leading to some accounts being drained entirely of their funds. One New York investor incurred fees exceeding $10,000 in a single month, while another investor was hit with fees amounting to $51,000 over a span of 13 months, said the office of the New York State Attorney General.
Bitcoin (BTC) remained stuck inside a narrow range into May 20 as cryptocurrency markets shook off United States macro triggers.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart on Bitstamp. Source: TradingViewPowell leaves market with "tons of uncertainty"
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD trading just below $27,000.
The pair had seen brief volatility after Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve, gave new commentary on policy and the outlook for inflation.
While leaving the door open for change should it be required, Powell’s language did not offer risk assets clear signals. Responding, financial commentary resource, The Kobeissi Letter, warned that “tons of uncertainty” lay ahead.
Bitcoin nonetheless soon forgot the event, returning to a range already familiar from the weekend prior.
Bitcoin (BTC) nudged $27,000 after the May 19 Wall Street open as the Chair of the United States Federal Reserve delivered comments on policy.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart on Bitstamp. Source: TradingViewBTC price volatility returns as Powell speaks
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it attempted to reclaim the focal level in its short-term trading range.
All eyes were on Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the day, who was speaking at the Thomas Laubach Research Conference in Washington, D.C.
Market nerves had returned the day prior as other Fed officials, along with jobless data, had heightened expectations of interest rate hikes continuing.
“While the financial stability tools helped to calm conditions in the banking sector, developments there, on the other hand, are contributing to tighter credit conditions and are likely to weigh on economic growth, hiring and inflation,” he said.
Bitcoin (BTC) stares at potential losses heading into the third-quarter of 2023 after U.S. lawmakers will likely reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling.
A $1 trillion liquidity hole ahead
Raising the debt ceiling means the U.S. Treasury could issue new bonds to raise cash to meet its previous obligations.
As a result, the cash pile at the Treasury General Account could increase from $95 billion in May to $550 billion by June and to $600 billion in the three months afterward, according to the department's recent estimates.
U.S. debt limit increases over the years. Source: BloombergAri Bergmann, the founder of risk management firm Penso Advisors, estimates that the Treasury will cross $1 trillion by the end of Q3, 2023.
“My bigger concern is that when the debt-limit gets resolved — and I think it will — you are going to have a very, very deep and sudden drain of liquidity,” said Bergmann, adding:
Bitcoin (BTC) traded back below $27,000 on May 19 as analysis flagged large-volume trades pressuring price.
BTC/USD 1-day candle chart on Bitstamp. Source: TradingViewInflation specter haunts crypto markets
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $26,380 on Bitstamp.
A modest recovery then took the pair to a range familiar from several days prior, this still in focus prior to the week’s final Wall Street open.
Downside overnight came courtesy of increasing market expectations of an interest rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve in June.
These came thanks to low jobless claims data for the week, with Fed officials adding a hawkish tone.
Hong Kong partners with 16 companies to build CBDCs
On May 18, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the launch of the cyber Hong Kong dollar pilot project. According to officials, 16 selected companies from the financial payment and technology sectors will conduct the first round of trials this year on the feasibility of a Hong Kong dollar central bank digital currency (e-HKD). Companies included in the pilot include Alibaba Group’s Alipay Financial, Mastercard Asia, Ripple Labs, Visa, and HSBC.
The digital Hong Kong dollar will start off with six potential uses cases; comprehensive payments, programmable payments, offline payments, tokenized deposits, Web 3.0 transaction settlements, and tokenized asset settlements. The CBDC is scheduled for a three-stage approach, with the novel pilot program being an important aspect of the second stage.
However, the HKMA has not yet decided whether to officially launch the CBDC. It expects to share the results of the trials at Hong Kong Fintech Week 2023 in Q4. Yue Wai-man, chief executive of the HKMA, commented:
“Although the HKMA has not decided whether or when the CBDC will be launched, we are pleased to launch the Cyber Hong Kong Dollar Pilot Scheme. This is a good opportunity for the HKMA to join hands with the industry to explore innovative use cases and prepare for the possible launch of the CBDC in the future”
Back in Oct. 2021, Mastercard said that it would be preparing its payment infrastructure for integration with CBDCs. Likewise, Visa believes that stablecoins and CBDCs will play meaningful roles in payments and has an ongoing blockchain interoperability project related to the matter.
Bitcoin has been trying to break above the $27,500 resistance for the past week but to no avail. One of the reasons limiting Bitcoin’s (BTC) upside is the risk of an eventual United States default as the government struggles to get the debt limit increase approved in Congress.
Still, some analysts and investors argue that the U.S. debt ceiling standoff is merely a “show” because, ultimately, additional money will hit the markets.
Notice how MacroJack correlates Bitcoin’s digital scarcity to the next logical step: additional inflationary pressure. The stimulus measures, meaning increasing the government debt limit, might initially sound positive because they avoid default and favor more economic activity. However, the unintended consequences are future budget constraints as the debt interest payment increases.
Bitcoin price increases while gold breaks a 45-day low
Bitcoin’s gains above $27,000 happened while gold traded down 2.5% from May 15 to May 18, reaching its lowest level in 45 days at $1,970. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of foreign exchanges, reached its highest level in two months on May 18, meaning the U.S. currency gained strength relative to its global peers.
This data should not be interpreted as a vote of confidence in the government’s ability to avoid a shutdown, as the global economy would be negatively impacted in the event of a U.S. debt default. For instance, eurozone members hold $1.54 trillion in U.S. Treasurys, followed by Japan’s $1.1 trillion, China’s $860 billion and the United Kingdom’s $668 billion.
Bitcoin (BTC) has crossed a significant threshold this month — and while it does not involve price, it does involve “millions.”
Data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode confirms that as of May 18, there are over 1 million addresses that hold at least 1 BTC.
Back: Adoption trend lays path to “hyperbitcoinization”
It was a long time coming and received much attention on social media, and the time is finally here — there are 1 million entities that own a whole Bitcoin.
These “wholecoiners” have been steadily accruing since mid-2021, Glassnode shows, and the upward trend in 1-BTC wallets has seen almost no reversal since.
In 2022, however, the trend accelerated, having started the year with 814,000 wholesalers and finishing it with 978,000 — an increase of 20%.
Most technological revolutions come with an unforeseen darker side.
When Austrian-born physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch first split the atom in the late 1930s, they probably didn’t anticipate their discovery would lead a few years later to the atomic bomb. The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is arguably no different.
AI algorithms have been around for decades. The first artificial neural network, the perceptron, was invented in 1958. But the recent pace of development has been breathtaking, and with voice recognition devices like Alexa and chatbots like ChatGPT, AI appears to have gained a new public awareness.
On the positive side, AI could dramatically raise the planet’s general education level and help to find cures for devastating diseases like Alzheimer’s. But it could also displace jobs and bolster authoritarian states that can use it to surveil their populations. Moreover, if machines ever achieve “general” intelligence, they might even be trained to overturn elections and prosecute wars, AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton recently warned.
“Enormous potential and enormous danger” is how United States President Joe Biden recently described AI. This followed an open letter in March from more than 1,000 tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, calling for a moratorium on AI developments like ChatGPT. The technology, they said, presents “profound risks to society and humanity.”
With a total artwork value of $24 million Trevor Jones is one of the Top 10 most successful crypto artists worldwide.
Trevor Jones’ journey to crypto art stardom started the same way as many crypto noobs: His portfolio went way up, he failed to take profits, and the price came crashing down wiping out the paper gains.
A traditional painter, Jones always wanted to explore the intersection of art and technology, and he experimented with QR code oil paintings in 2012 and dived into AR art in 2013.
But it was his 2017 investment in Bitcoin that sparked deep curiosity in what this new world of crypto and blockchain was about. After getting rekt in 2018’s crypto winter, Jones turned his attention from crypto trader to crypto painter. He says:
“I caught that bull run and made a lot of money and then lost a lot of money in 2018. It all went up and all came crashing down.
