Not much to celebrate for Bitcoin in the fog of war, but have you seen China’s hash rate?
The Week In Review
with Jason Deane
Being the eternal optimist, I always try to open the Friday update with something uplifting and positive. The truth, however, is that there still isn’t much to celebrate.
The UK hit an inflation rate of nine per cent this week as predicted by myself and many others and we’re now at the highest level for 40 years. For many this will be the first time they have experienced something like this.
The UK’s highest ever rate was recorded in the dark days of the mid 1970s where it peaked at 24.21% and, while I don’t think we need to start panicking about those sorts of numbers as yet, it’s likely we’ll be going higher from here.
But we’re not alone. Any cursory glance at the global picture reveals that only nine countries are currently experiencing “normal” inflation of between zero and two per cent with every other nation on the planet seeing their values reducing at ever increasing rates. It raises an interesting question – if all money devalues at the same time, does that negate the effect of that devaluation?
Whatever your view, there’s no doubt our fiat system is under extreme pressure. Without the possibility of Bitcoin acting as a universal hard money system, the picture would be far bleeker.
Just how bad the current markets are was also neatly highlighted in this statistic that my colleague Mati Greenspan tweeted out earlier this week. $2.3 trillion was wiped off the Nasdaq value in the global financial crisis of 2008, $4.4tn lost in the COVID-19 sell off of 2020 and, so far, $7.6 trillion has been wiped off due to current market conditions. Make no mistake, what we’re going though now is BIG.
Russia continues to destroy its own economy (and everyone else’s) in a war it can’t win and looks to suffer another economic blow as many of the western companies that suspended operations in the country have now officially abandoned hope of ever re-entering it. This means they will cease paying their employees and start dumping their assets over the next few months.
So, is it a coincidence that Russian authorities have been talking about the likelihood of legalising Bitcoin and other currencies in the country? We will see.
Meanwhile, representatives of 44 central banks spent several days in El Salvador this week apparently looking at Bitcoin and learning about how it might work for them. At least that’s how it was reported but, as it turns out, there was a wider scope of discussion than first implied. Still there’s no doubt it was part of the agenda and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
One other thing that stood out this week for me was that, while compiling a research piece on Bitcoin mining, I was surprised to note that China’s hash rate has been creeping up recently.
This, of course, is the country that banned Bitcoin mining outright. We physically saw the machines being shipped abroad and the hash rate decline, yet my analysis shows that China is now producing as much hash power as it did in June 2021, the very month of the ban.
We don’t know what’s going on yet and, to be honest, hadn’t been keeping an eye on it having assumed the country was out of game. But whatever is happening, there’s a fascinating story here somewhere.
Have a great weekend!
Want to learn more about what’s going on in our global financial system and how Bitcoin fits in to it? Come to my next free webinar on Wednesday May 25 at 6pm to find out, ask any questions, and grab some free Bitcoin*. Click here to register.
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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/research
Total crypto market cap
The total capitalisation of the entire cryptocurrency market at time of writing is currently $1.286 trillion.
What Bitcoin did yesterday
We closed yesterday, May 19 2022, at a price of $30,314.33. The daily high yesterday was $30,430.75 and the daily low was $28,708.96.
Bitcoin market capitalisation
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation at time of writing is $576.72 billion. To put it into context, the market cap of gold is $11.708 trillion and Tesla is $734.96 billion.
Bitcoin volume
The total spot trading volume reported by all exchanges over the last 24 hours was $34.901 billion. 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 53.95%.
Fear and Greed Index
Market sentiment today is 13, in Extreme Fear.
Bitcoin’s market dominance
Bitcoin’s market dominance today is 45.22. Its lowest ever recorded dominance was 37.09 on January 1 2018.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
The daily RSI is currently 37.47. 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
“[Bitcoin’s] mere existence is an insurance policy that will remind governments that the last object establishment could control, namely, the currency, is no longer their monopoly. This gives us, the crowd, an insurance policy against an Orwellian future.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Essayist & Author
What they said yesterday
Educating through Bitcoin…
Changing the world one step at a time…
Words to live by…
Crypto AM: Editor’s picks
‘Let people invest’: Matt Hancock makes case for liberal crypto rules
Explained: Why the Treasury is so sold on stablecoins
Fears crypto is used to avoid sanctions ‘misplaced,’ says Matt Hancock
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
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