Bitcoin shows signs of maturing as world economies look likely to worsen further
The week in review
with Jason Deane
No time for a flowery introduction this week as the world insists on spewing out new developments faster than anyone can report them.
Russia’s advance into Ukraine continues to dominate the headlines and things continue to deteriorate for Putin and his country.
Russians themselves seem increasingly uneasy about the whole thing and this entirely unexpected and somehow perfectly impassioned plea from Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes, really) is doing the rounds – and for very good reason. Do like the man says, watch and RT.
Economically, Russia claims to have made its bond payment due this week of $117mn, but, strangely, no-one can confirm this categorically. It’s just the first of many payments and Russia’s credit rating remains firmly in the “default imminent” camp. Meanwhile, the MOEX has been closed for almost a month and the rouble has recovered slightly.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law the bill legalizing crypto in his country that had landed on his desk just as Russian boots landed in his territory. This will no doubt facilitate the management and use of the over $100mn that has been donated to the country via crypto to date and, as I have written about before, may take a step towards helping those caught in the crossfire protect their positions.
Of course, the whole mess continues to drive prices up across the world and, as Russia’s economy crumbles, it takes the rest of the world with it via supply line disruptions, the redirection of resources and, of course, delaying the tightening of monetary policy planned after COVID recovery.
Prices at the pump for diesel are within touching distance of £2 a litre in some stations in England, which works out to be £9.10 a gallon for you fellow old-schoolers.
The Bank of England, however, continued with its policy of trying to control inflation which, frankly, seems futile. The base rate increased to 0.75 per cent just as the huge impact of many other factors come into effect on April 1. This will be messy.
Bitcoin continues to trade in range and, in my view, is showing signs of a maturing asset. Two years ago, there’s no question it would have been sold off more aggressively as a true “risk on” asset – and in fact it was in the pre COVID panic of 2020. Many expected a price explosion in the current circumstances but I think it’s still a little too young to make that full transition.
Of course, I can’t complete this week’s roundup without mentioning P&O Ferries’ incredibly bizarre move of asking its ships to dock, firing all employees via pre-recorded video chat, informing them they will all be replaced by cheaper, foreign workers and then telling them to get off their ships. I don’t even know where to start with this, but I suspect it won’t end well for anyone, least of all the management team.
Have a great weekend!
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Yesterday’s Crypto AM Daily in association with Luno
In the markets
The Bitcoin economy
*Definitions and insights can be found at https://bytetree.com/insights/
Total crypto market cap
The total capitalisation of the entire cryptocurrency market at time of writing is currently $1.824 trillion, up from $1.823 trillion yesterday.
What Bitcoin did yesterday
We closed yesterday, March 17 2022, at a price of $40,951.38, down from $41,143.93 the day before. The daily high yesterday was $41,465.45 and the daily low was $39,022.35.
Bitcoin market capitalisation
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation at time of writing is $773.8 billion. To put it into context, the market cap of gold is $12.284 trillion and Tesla is $900.8 billion.
Bitcoin volume
The total spot trading volume reported by all exchanges over the last 24 hours was $27.022 billion down from $34.131 billion the day before. High volumes can indicate that a significant price movement has stronger support and is more likely to be sustained.
Volatility
The price volatility of Bitcoin over the last 30 days is 62.89%.
Fear and Greed Index
Market sentiment today is 25, in Extreme Fear.
Bitcoin’s market dominance
Bitcoin’s market dominance today is 43.33. Its lowest ever recorded dominance was 37.09 on January 8 2018.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
The daily RSI is currently 53.08. Values of 70 or above indicate that an asset is becoming overbought and may be primed for a trend reversal or experience a correction in price – an RSI reading of 30 or below indicates an oversold or undervalued condition.
Convince your Nan: Soundbite of the day
“We need Bitcoin to be legal tender in Mexico.”
Mexican senator, Indira Kempis de I.
What they said yesterday
Gotta start somewhere!
We hope you had a lucky day ☘️
Let the countdown begin 🎉
Crypto AM: Editor’s picks
Meet the hackers helping people recover lost crypto assets
The cryptocurrency fundraisers behind Ukraine’s military effort
Exclusive: Fireblocks valuation climbs to $8bn in $550m funding round
Crypto crazy couple name baby after favourite digital asset
Bitcoin hashrate touches new all time high
Peter McCormack: Transforming Bedford FC into a global Bitcoin brand
Exclusive: FTSE plots development of digital asset index in crypto push
Crypto could give London a unique post-Brexit advantage, says Hammond
Diamond claws: Crypto trading hamster dies after standout investing career
Crypto AM: Features
Crypto AM: Founders Series
Crypto AM: Industry Voices
Crypto AM: Contributors
Crypto AM: In Conversation with James Bowater
Crypto AM: Tomorrow’s Money with Gavin S Brown
Crypto AM: Mixing in the Metaverse with Dr Chris Kacher
Crypto AM: Visions of the Future, Past & Present with Alex Lightman
Crypto AM: Tiptoe through the Crypto with Monty Munford
Crypto AM: Taking a Byte out of Digital Assets with Jonny Fry
Crypto on the catwalk
Crypto AM: Events
For those of you who missed the Crypto AM DeFi & Digital Inclusion online summit 2021 – you can now watch the event in two parts via YouTube
Part One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvqNMNZTIDE
Part Two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXhX_-Tr5j0
Cautionary Notes
It’s definitely tempting to get swept up in the excitement, but please heed these words of caution: Do your own research, only invest what you can afford, and make good decisions. The indicators contained in this article will hopefully help in this. Remember though, the content of this article is for information purposes only and is not investment advice or any form of recommendation or invitation. City PM, Crypto AM and Luno always advise you to obtain your own independent financial advice before investing or trading in cryptocurrency.
All information is correct as of 08:00 BST