Market update
Bitcoin officially broke through the A$100K barrier yesterday, and it’s at all-time highs against 14 of the world’s top 20 fiat currencies, including the euro, yen and pound. The ATH in USD is just above US$69K (A$106K), and the inflation-adjusted high is around US$78.5K (A$120.6K). At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up 24% on the same time last week and 57% for the month, to trade around A$103,850 (US$67,882). Ethereum gained 13.3% this week (55.9% for the month) to trade around A$5,506 (US$3,603). Everything else was up, including Solana (20%), XRP (18%) and Cardano (25%). Memecoins are flying with Dogecoin doubling, Shiba Inu gaining 241%, and the best-performing categories of the past seven weeks are “cat-themed memecoins” (up 199%), “fractionalised NFTs” (161%), “dog-themed coins” (164%) and “Elon Musk inspired coins” (108%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 90, or Extreme Greed. Traditionally, money has flowed from Bitcoin to Ethereum and then Altcoins; however, the Bitcoin ETFs may change that equation.
It’s been a big week for crypto with Bitcoin surging past US$54K ($83.7K) – a level not seen since November 2021, the same month that BTC hit its all-time high. Microstrategy continues to buy, snapping up another 3,000 Bitcoin this month. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading around A$83,743 (US$54,770), up 6% on a week ago, and Ethereum was also climbing back toward historic highs at A$4,870 (US$3,185), up 8%. Not every coin joined the party, with Solana and XRP falling 2% each, Cardano and Dogecoin were flat. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 75, or Greed.
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation is back over the US$1 trillion mark (A$1.53T), and assets under management in global institutionally focused crypto funds are back at December 2021 levels – around US$67 billion (A$103B), according to Coinshares. The crypto turnaround has been pretty sudden with Coinbase’s fourth quarter report showing it has finally returned to profit for the first time since 2021 after a US$2B (A$3.1B) loss the previous quarter. It forced JPMorgan’s analysts to grudgingly upgrade the stock all the way to “neutral.” Bitcoin is currently up 4% on seven days ago and trading at A$79,840 (US$51.9K) while Ethereum gained 2.7% to trade at A$4,562 (US$2,970). Everything else was up except Avalanche (down 2.1%), including Solana (1.3% gain), XRP (6.4%), Cardano (13.1%) and Dogecoin (4.5%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 75 or Greed.
Bitcoin broke through the US$50K (A$76.4K) mark today for the first time since December 2021. Back then, we were in the grip of a retail frenzy, with Terra-Luna and FTX pumping prices, and a bunch of hype from Super Bowl crypto ads. This time around, retail interest on Google is low, and there were no Super Bowl ads – apart from President Biden’s unrelated “laser eyes” meme. “Interest rates falling, spot ETFs driving billions in new flows, halving two months away. Face-ripping rally incoming IMO,” Skybridge capital founder Anthony Scaramucci said. Bitcoin is now the 10th largest asset in the world, just ahead of Berkshire Hathaway and just behind Meta. BTC finished the week up 18% to trade around A$76,423 (US$50K) at the time of writing, while Ethereum gained 16.2% to trade around US$4,063 (US$2,662). Everything else was up, including Solana (17.1%), XRP (5%), Cardano (14.4%), Chainlink (9.3%) and Dogecoin (5.8%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 70 or Greed.
Bitcoin didn’t make any major moves this week and finishes down 1.8% on seven days ago at A$65,230 (US$42,390). Ethereum eased down by 1.3% to trade at A$3,519 (US$2,287). Solana lost 7%, Ripple fell 6.4%, and the rest – Cardano (-7.1%), Avalanche (-5.5%) and Dogecoin (-5.3%). Traditional markets are doing well, with the ASX hitting a record high, and interest rates expected to stay on hold at the RBA’s meeting today even though inflation has eased to 4.1%. There are undercurrents of danger however, with US Fed Chair Jerome Powell warning about “unsustainable” debt — the US now pays more on interest than defence — and the Chinese stock markets are in trouble. China’s CSI 1000 index fell 8% yesterday and a third of stocks halted trading. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 60, with markets growing more comfortable with the performance of the Bitcoin ETFs.
