1. Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run
The price of bitcoin has changed little over the past 24 hours, despite the asset’s notorious volatility.
It’s boring bitcoin so far this week, with ether making gains for traders in a crypto market that overall is still signaling bullishness.
Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $55,502 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 1.9% over the previous 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $54,565-$57,043
BTC close to the 10-hour and 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin has changed little over the past 24 hours, despite the asset’s notorious volatility causing the spot market to undulate from $54,565 to $57,043 during the session, a $2,478 swing.
Nevertheless, BTC has mostly stayed above $55,000 for almost a month. According to historical data, the last time bitcoin closed below that level was back on March 26.
2. Bitcoin Liquidity ‘Likely to Remain Resilient’ After Volatility Shock, JPMorgan Says
JPMorgan expects bitcoin liquidity should recover, though it may take a few days as market conditions stabilize.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) 15% sell-off earlier this week occurred as leveraged long positions were quickly liquidated, but since then, the market appears to have stabilized, suggesting “the worst of liquidations are behind us,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts wrote on Wednesday.
“A recovery in the hashrate and signs of more efficient arbitrage trading suggests liquidity should continue to improve from here,” the analysts wrote in a report.
“Going forward, bitcoin liquidity should remain robust and resilient; depth on major exchanges has continued to drop less and recover faster than other asset classes.”
The report also mentioned the unique value of 24/7 access to consistent and stable liquidity pools in cryptocurrency markets, which could encourage overall stability.
The sell-off was “likely exacerbated by the prevalence of high-frequency market making, which we estimate makes up ~80% of on-screen liquidity on major cryptocurrency exchanges and is prone to runs when threatened by a spike in volatility.”
“Though it will take a few days to play out, history suggests liquidity should recover quickly.”
3. Maker Price Passes $4K for First Time, as MakerDAO Brings Real Estate to DeFi
“Real world” assets have entered DeFi, as the Maker protocol reportedly just minted $38,000 of dai stablecoins to finance a mortgage loan.
Maker made history in 2017 as the first blockchain-based protocol to launch a major automated cryptocurrency-lending platform, helping to initiate a boom in what’s known as decentralized finance, or DeFi.
Now Maker is paving the way for what might become another source of growth in the now-$60 billion DeFi industry: lending against trillions of dollars of “real-world” assets like residential properties, in competition with banks and other financiers. In this case, “real world” refers to collateral other than cryptocurrencies. Even the giant U.S. bank Citigroup is writing about Maker.
Holders of the project’s maker (MKR) tokens have been rewarded with a 55% price increase in the past week, the second-most among the 46 cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of at least $3 billion. The token has gained nearly six-fold this year to a market value of about $4 billion.
4. Binance’s Tesla Stock Token May Have Raised Regulatory Red Flags
Binance may need a license to market security tokens to the Hong Kong public.
Binance’s marketing campaign for its security token representing Tesla stocks to citizens in Hong Kong may be a violation of local securities regulations, according to a prominent local news outlet.
Inducing members of the Hong Kong public to purchase securities is a regulated activity that requires a license from the city’s top financial watchdog the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Gaven Cheong, a partner at law firm Simmons & Simmons told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday. Binance does not appear to have secured a license to market or trade security tokens in the region, according to the report.
Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges by volume, launched its first Binance Stock Token on April 12. This new service allows its users to buy fractions of companies’ shares with digital tokens. The zero-commission tokens qualifies holders for returns including dividends.
5. Ampleforth Is Giving Governance Tokens to Every Wallet That Ever Held AMPL
Project leads estimate over 75,000 users will be eligible to claim the new FORTH governance token.
Rebasing cryptocurrency protocol Ampleforth is launching a governance token that all past and present users of its price-elastic AMPL token are able to claim.
Project leads told CoinDesk any wallet that has ever “touched” AMPL — 75,743 wallets at press time — will be eligible to collect its portion of the new FORTH tokens through the next year. Active participants in the protocol should expect a higher share, they said.
The FORTH airdrop is set to be Ampleforth’s first step in decentralizing the decision-making process that keeps its uncollateralized token, which has a market cap of around $460 million, more or less orbiting $1. Coinbase Pro listed FORTH Wednesday, shortly after the token’s reveal.
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April 22, 2021
