Bitcoin May Ignore Payrolls Data

The latest moves in crypto markets, in context

Edited by Omkar Godbole

October 8, 2021

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Bitcoin (BTC)

+2.7% $55,600

Ether (ETH)

+1.7% $3,640

(Price data as of October 8 @ 11:00 UTC)

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Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning:

Market Moves: Bitcoin Peeps Above $56K Ahead of U.S. Jobs Data

And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today's show will feature guests:

Timothy Massad, Harvard Kennedy School senior fellow and former CFTC chair

Rob Frasca, co-founder and managing partner, Cosimo Ventures

– Omkar Godbole

Biggest Movers

These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:

Gainers:

Algorand (ALGO): +6%

Losers:

Bitcoin Cash (BCH): -1.9%

The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges.

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Market Moves

by Omkar Godbole

Bitcoin rose to a five-month high above $56,000 early Friday, ignoring the dollar strength in currency markets.

Polygon's MATIC token also picked up a strong bid, while the SHIB token faced selling pressure, having rallied nearly 400% in the preceding seven days. As warned in Thursday's edition of the newsletter, a pullback was overdue given the extremely high active deposits on exchanges.

In traditional markets, the S&P 500 futures struggled for direction as investors turned cautious ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls release. The data due at 12:30 GMT is expected to show the world’s largest economy added 500,000 jobs in September, more than double August’s 235,000 additions. The jobless rate is expected to have dropped to 5.1% from 5.2%, according to FXStreet.

Nonfarm payrolls, a non-event?

Analysts told CoinDesk that the strong-footed bitcoin could turn a blind eye toward Friday's U.S. monthly jobs report, even if the data beats expectations and cements the case for Federal Reserve's tapering – scaling back of crisis-era stimulus.

This month, the cryptocurrency has rallied over 25%, decoupling from stocks on speculation that U.S. regulators will soon approve a futures-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), opening doors for more mainstream money.

“Bitcoin is looking too strong here,” said Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange. “The cryptocurrency has digested all the negative news that has come out of China in the past few weeks, which is a very positive sign.”

“There has been fresh spot buying activity in BTC, and looking at the price action, we expect to see a fresh all-time high in the coming weeks,” he said, referring to an all-time high. The current record is $64,801, reached in April.

However, futures market appears to be overheating and the market may see a pullback. The funding rate or the cost of holding long positions in the futures perpetual market has risen to early September highs above 0.02%. "Open interest is reaching levels that tend to precede market sell-offs," QCP Capital said in its Telegram channel on Thursday.

Chart showing a spike in bitcoin's funding rate (Source: Laevitas)

Read the original story here:

Bitcoin Peeps Above $56K, May Ignore US Jobs Report

Technician's Take

by Omkar Godbole

Bitcoin Remains in Bull Territory

Bitcoin has regained upside momentum following Thursday’s 2.5% drop, which saw the market nearly re-test the former resistance-turned-support near $53,000.

Bitcoin's daily chart and 4-hour charts (Source: TradingView)

The higher lows and highs pattern seen in the chart above suggests that the path of least resistance is to the higher side.

Upward momentum looks strong with the daily chart MACD histogram charting higher bars above the zero line.

A UTC close under $53,000 would weaken the immediate bullish case.

Read the original story here:

Bitcoin Remains in Bull Territory While Polygon’s MATIC Awaits Breakout

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BOLO

Be on the lookout for the following events today:

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:

MoneyGram Partners With Stellar, USDC for Blockchain-Based Payments

"First Mover" hosts dig into the latest crypto and traditional finance partnership as MoneyGram announces it's teaming up with Stellar and Circle's USDC stablecoin for blockchain-based payments. MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes and Stellar Development Foundation CEO and Executive Director Denelle Dixon share insights into the announcement. Small Exchange CEO Donald Roberts provides his take on the bitcoin rally as it holds above the $52K support level. Plus, a Bloomberg Businessweek report reveals Tether Holdings' reserves include billions of dollars of short-term loans to large Chinese companies. CoinDesk Managing Editor for Global Policy & Regulation Nikhilesh De provides his take on the story.

A Message from CoinDesk

While the pandemic has stunted some industries, fintech development and adoption have accelerated. Join executives from across the financial and technology sectors at Accelerate Finance: Money in a Mobile World on Oct. 13 to understand what's next in tech and how consumer expectations are driving change. Register now.

Latest Headlines

No, Elon Musk’s Shiba Inu Tweet Isn’t Pumping SHIB’s Price

“When markets go risk-on, the meme coins tend to benefit,” said one expert.

Regulatory Uncertainty a Recurring Theme at London’s Token2049

The crypto community needs to do a better job of lobbying and educating politicians, said Galaxy Digital chief Mike Novogratz.

Tether Has Loaned $1B to Celsius Network: Report

The stablecoin issuer has loaned billions of dollars to crypto companies, according to a Bloomberg investigation.

US FDIC Said to Be Studying Deposit Insurance for Stablecoins

So-called pass-through coverage would insure the holders of these tokens against losses up to $250,000 if the bank holding the collateral were to fail.

Coinbase Likely to Top Q3 Trading, Revenue Estimates on Bitcoin Volatility: Oppenheimer

There is an 18% potential upside to trading volume and an 11% upside to total revenue estimates, an analyst wrote Tuesday night.

2020′s Bull Redux? CME Improves Its Ranking in Biggest Bitcoin Futures Exchanges List

CME's latest jump from last month’s fourth spot is reminiscent of the exchange’s rise to the top seen during bitcoin’s four-fold institutional-driven rally to nearly $40,000 in the final three months of 2020.

Bitcoin Futures Premium on CME Surges, Hinting At Institutional Demand

A futures-based ETF, if approved, could bring more buying pressure for the CME futures.

Crypto Miners Hoarding Bitcoins as Price Surges Above $55K

Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital and Hut 8 have all been “hodling” the bitcoin they’ve mined in September.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.

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