1. Bitcoin Struggles to Recover After Biggest Weekly Price Loss Since September
Bitcoin is up only slightly on Monday after seeing its biggest weekly decline in over four months.
At press time, the cryptocurrency is trading 0.2% higher on the day near $35,838, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Prices fell by 6% in the seven days leading up to Jan. 17, a weekly fall not seen since the first week of September.
Bitcoin took a beating a week ago, falling from $40,000 to $30,305 in a matter of few hours, mainly due to heavy selling in the spot market. The cryptocurrency spent the rest of the week trimming losses and tested $40,000 at one point before ending the week (Sunday, UTC) just under $36,000.
2. Ethereum price inches closer to a new all-time high as Bitcoin consolidates
Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade in a tightening range within a pennant pattern and while the price has moved above the 20-day moving average, it’s clear that the bulls and bears are fighting over the direction the digital asset will take.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView show that BTC traded in a range between $34,955 and $37,850 over the weekend but traders buying each dip appear to be doing so with less bullish conviction.
JPMorgan research analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou recently stressed the importance of Bitcoin breaking out above the $40,000 level soon in order to avoid being hurt by an exodus of “trend-following” investors who could worsen last week’s correction.
According to Yves Renno, Head of Trading at Wirex, Bitcoin is in a “consolidation above the $35,500 level” but Renno still sees an overall positive trend in the market.
Renno also said that the most recent correction was actually viewed as an opportunity to buy for large, institutional-size investors, as evidenced by an increase in the number of BTC whales and a “low to average” miner supply.
Renno said that investors should expect to see a “continued period of high volatility with a positive medium-trend,” in the upcoming weeks and months based on action in the derivatives market.
3. Former Canadian Prime Minister Lists Bitcoin as Possible Future Reserve Currency
Stephen Harper, an economist and the former prime minister of Canada, said bitcoin could potentially see use as a reserve currency, but it isn’t going to supplant the U.S. dollar’s international role.
In an interview with Cambridge House’s Jay Martin on Sunday, Harper acknowledged that the dollar had been on a downtrend, but said there were few viable international alternatives, even when looking at the euro and the yuan.
“Unless the U.S. becomes a catastrophe, it’s hard to see what the alternative is to the U.S. dollar as the world’s major reserve currency. Other than you know gold, bitcoin, … a whole basket of things, right?” said Harper. “I think you’ll see that the number of things that people use as reserves will expand, but the U.S. dollar will still be the bulk of it.”
4. Blockchain Bites: Goldman Sachs Investigates Crypto Custody, Solving the Blockchain ‘Trilemma’
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to our U.S. readers! A former Canadian prime minister said bitcoin could become a global reserve currency, Goldman Sachs is reportedly looking to get into the crypto custody business and MetLife is bullish on CBDCs.
5. Huobi Global Connects to European Banking System via UK’s BCB Group
Regulated crypto payment services firm BCB Group has partnered with Huobi Global to help the Seychelles-based exchange giant connect its trading desks to the banking system in the U.K. and Europe.
Announced Tuesday, customers of Huobi’s over-the-counter (OTC) platform will be able to settle transactions instantly in euros and pounds (GBP) via BCB’s BLINC network.
Cryptocurrency exchanges have struggled in recent years to secure banking relationships and establish an interface with the fiat currency world, with some large exchanges having massive daily volume in closed systems of crypto-to-crypto trading. Prior to partnering with BCB, Huobi did not have a European fiat gateway, said Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, founder and CEO of BCB Group.
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January 19, 2021
