1. Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $55K as Ether Hits New All-Time High
Bitcoin’s rise this week comes after a weekend where its price went as low as $47,272.
Bitcoin was up Tuesday despite lower-than-average spot volumes. Meanwhile, ether’s price hits record high and the cyrpto’s dominance is back at February levels.
Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $54,840 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 1.4% over the previous 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $52,722-$55,261
BTC near the 10-hour and well above the 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a bullish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin climbed as high as $55,261 around 17:00 GMT (12 PM ET) before settling to $54,840 as of press time.
It’s possible the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization could be headed higher.
2. Goldman Sachs Says Blockchain Stocks on Average Outperform S&P 500 (But Not Bitcoin)
Goldman Sachs identified 19 blockchain and cryptocurrency related stocks that have outperformed the S&P 500 this year.
U.S. stocks exposed to blockchain and cryptocurrencies have outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by about 34 percentage points for the year to date, according to Goldman Sachs. It is a reminder of how the fast-growing technologies’ appeal extends to investors in traditional markets.
The Wall Street firm identified 19 stocks with a market capitalization of at least $1 billion and high exposure to blockchain technology or cryptocurrencies.
On average, the stocks have climbed 46% year to date, versus 12% for the S&P 500, according to the Goldman report dated April 26. Notably, the average lagged behind a direct bet on bitcoin (BTC), which gained 89% over the period.
Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ: RIOT), and Microstrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) were included in Goldman’s blockchain exposed stock list. Also included were traditional financial companies like JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Visa (NYSE: V).
Goldman selected stocks included in blockchain indexes and ETFs, calculated the sensitivity of stock prices to bitcoin during the past 12 months and then scanned company filings to identify 19 stocks with blockchain exposure.
“An equal-weighted portfolio of the stocks has demonstrated roughly 60% correlations with bitcoin and the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index during the last several months, compared with 20% correlations for the S&P 500,” according to Goldman.11 of the 19 blockchain stocks are in the software and services industry and trade at twice the price-to-earnings valuation as the median U.S. stock.
The basket of blockchain stocks underperformed the S&P 500 by roughly 10% over the past two weeks as cryptocurrency prices dipped but outperformed by about 2% on Monday as bitcoin retraced nearly 30% of the prior sell-off.
3. US Bank Selects Cryptocurrency Custodian, Wins Admin Role for NYDIG’s Bitcoin ETF
Asked if NYDIG would be U.S. Bank’s crypto custodian, Senior Vice President Christine Waldron said she was not at liberty to comment.
Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank is taking a big step into the bitcoin business.
In addition to its recent strategic investment in crypto infrastructure firm Securrency, U.S. Bank, part of U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest bank in America, said Tuesday it will offer a new cryptocurrency custody product in partnership with an unnamed sub-custodian.
U.S. Bank also announced Tuesday it has been selected to administer NYDIG’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) (should it be approved by regulators) — building on the bank’s long-standing private-fund servicing relationship with NYDIG.
Big moves are happening in institutional crypto with news this week of mega-bank JPMorgan following the likes of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in offering a bitcoin fund to certain clients. While Wall Street’s first movers are getting most of the digital asset attention, U.S. Bank has been quietly and diligently working with blockchain tech since 2015.
4. Asian Video Game Publisher Nexon Buys $100M in Bitcoin
The purchase represent less than 2% of Nexon’s total cash and cash equivalents on hand, the firm says.
A South Korean–Japanese video game publisher said it made a $100 million purchase of bitcoin (BTC, +2.7%), adding itself to the ranks of companies such as Tesla and MicroStrategy who used corporate cash to load up on the leading cryptocurrency.
According to a press release on Wednesday local time, NEXON purchased 1,717 bitcoins at an average price of around $58,226, including fees and expenses.
The company’s move follows other publicly listed companies including MicroStrategy and Tesla who are buying into bitcoin as a way for their investors to hedge against inflation.
The purchase represent less than 2% of Nexon’s total cash and cash equivalents on hand, the firm says.
“Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash assets,” said Owen Mahoney, President and CEO of Nexon, per the release.
The CEO added that given the current economic environment his firm believes bitcoin offers “long-term stability and liquidity” while also maintaining the value of its cash for future investments.
Major game franchises from the company include MapleStory, KartRider and Dungeon&Fighter.
NEXON is a publicly listed company having joined the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2011, the JPX400 in 2015 and listed on the Nikkei Stock Index 300 in 2017. The company was also added to the Nikkei 225 in 2020.
5. Mark Cuban Touts Dogecoin on ‘Ellen’: ‘A Whole Lot Better Than a Lottery Ticket’
The crypto’s appearance on daytime TV could move it into the mainstream.
Billionaire investor, “Shark Tank” personality and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban explained the dogecoin phenomenon to millions of viewers of Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show on Tuesday, describing the much-hyped cryptocurrency as “a whole lot better” of an investment “than a lottery ticket.”
Besides “doja-coin,” Cuban and DeGeneres discussed non-fungible tokens on the episode, which Cuban described as “just a digital collectible that you can buy, hold, sell like any other collectible.” DeGeneres tweeted Monday that she is auctioning an NFT to benefit World Central Kitchen.
That Cuban was discussing dogecoin on “Ellen,” a daily talk show with an average of 1.5 million viewers, many of whom are women below the age of 54, could bring the Shiba Inu-themed crypto into the mainstream.
“Cryptocurrency is just an asset to invest in. Bitcoin is kind of like a digital version of gold. Ethereum is a digital version of a currency,” Cuban told DeGeneres. “And then you got dogecoin, which is just fun. But the weird part about it [is] it went from being a cryptocurrency joke to now becoming something that’s becoming a digital currency.”
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April 28, 2021
