BTC

Bitcoin ETF race gets 13th entrant, BlackRock revises ETF model

Pando’s ETF bid comes as several spot Bitcoin ETF applications draw closer to a final decision deadline.

Swiss asset manager Pando Asset has become an unexpected late entrant into the spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) race in the United States.

On the same day, investment giant BlackRock met with the country’s securities regulator to pitch an updated ETF model based on the agency’s feedback.

On Nov. 29, Pando submitted a Form S-1 to the U.S.

Like other ETF bids, the trust aims to track Bitcoin’s price with the custody arm of the crypto exchange Coinbase to hold Bitcoin on behalf of the trust.

Pando is the 13th applicant for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S.

In a Nov. 29 X (formerly Twitter) post, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said he has “more questions than answers” about Pando’s filing, questioning why it came so late.

Balchunas also raised concern about the implications should Pando’s ETF be among the Bitcoin ETF filings he predicts will be approved on Jan.

“What does that say about fair play and even society as we know it?” he added.

Read more

Bitcoin white paper is apparently hiding in Apple’s modern macOS

Apple’s Mac devices have apparently been hiding Bitcoin’s whitepaper for up to five years.

Satoshi Nakamoto’s original white paper laying out the Bitcoin (BTC) network is seemingly hiding within every modern version of the operating system for Apple’s Mac computers.

An April 5 blog post from technologist Andy Baio revealed that a PDF of the Bitcoin white paper has “apparently shipped with every copy of macOS since Mojave in 2018.”

Baio told Cointelegraph that he was “just trying to fix my printer” and scan a document with a wireless scanner when a device called “Virtual Scanner II” appeared that he’d “never seen before.”

By default, Virtual Scanner II showed a photo, but when Baio changed the media type from “Photo” to “Document,” Nakamoto’s white paper appeared.

A screenshot of the Bitcoin white paper appearing within the “Virtual Scanner II” device. Source: Waxy

“I wasn’t looking for the Bitcoin paper!” Baio exclaimed. “I was just trying to fix my printer!”

In his post, Baio said there is “virtually nothing about this online.” He shared a November 2020 Twitter thread from designer Joshua Dickens, who also found the whitepaper, which Baio used to find the file location.

Baio created a prompt to use in Terminal, a command line interface for macOS, so others could bring up the whitepaper easily.

“I started asking other Mac-using friends if they could co nfirm it, and all of them could,” he said.

Related: Bitcoin white paper makes its F1 racing debut on Kraken-sponsored car

The prompt successfully opened the Bitcoin white paper on three different Apple Mac devices tested by Cointelegraph.

In his blog post, Baio claimed the file is found on “every version of macOS from Mojave (10.14.0) to the current version (Ventura), but isn’t in High Sierra (10.13) or earlier.”

It’s unknown why Nakamoto’s white paper is shipped with modern versions of macOS. Baio speculated in his post that it was “just a convenient, lightweight multipage PDF for testing purposes, never meant to be seen by end users.”

Cointelegraph contacted Apple for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Magazine: Bitcoin in Senegal: Why is this African country using BTC?

ETH hits 7-month high ahead of Shanghai and Capella upgrades

Ether has broken the $1,900 resistance level for the first time in months and is currently sitting above $1,911.

Ether (ETH) has breached $1,900 for the first time in over seven months, a week before staking withdrawals are enabled in the next major update for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

CoinMarketCap data shows the last time Ether was over $1,900 was on Aug. 16, 2022, amid a broader crypto sell-off when the United States Federal Reserve was hiking the federal funds rate at a record pace to combat inflation.

The Ethereum Shanghai hard fork, set to occur on April 12, will implement Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-4895 — allowing validators and stakers to withdraw staked ETH from the Beacon Chain — in addition to other EIPs, aiming to help increase transaction speeds while reducing transaction costs.

The recent price increase could be driven by expectations that the Fed may ease up on its quantitative tightening efforts as rate increases cause cracks in the global banking industry or by increased demand for Ether, given that staking is slated to be more flexible.

While Bitcoin (BTC) has also recorded gains recently, ETH/BTC — a trading pair comparing the price of ETH to BTC — has increased by nearly 3% in the last week, according to TradingView, suggesting both factors may be contributing to Ether’s price jump.

Shanghai refers to the fork on the execution layer client side, and Capella is the upgrade name on the consensus layer client side that is set to be executed shortly after Shanghai on April 12.

The execution layer is where all the smart contracts and protocol rules are, while the consensus layer ensures that all network validators follow these rules.

Related: 3 reasons why Ethereum price can reach $3K in Q2

It is worth noting that the price of ETH dropped sharply following the execution of the Merge on Sept. 15, 2022, where it lost just under a quarter of its value in one week, according to CoinMarketCap.

ETH price action since August 2022. Source: CoinMarketCap

Despite some analysts and traders suggesting that unlocking staked Ether will create sell pressure, what will occur following the Shanghai and Capella updates is speculation.

Hodler’s Digest: FTX EU opens withdrawal, Elon Musk calls for AI halt, and Binance news

Solana overcomes FTX fiasco — SOL price gains 100% in Q1

The cryptocurrency market may have overreacted to Solana’s FTX links and its tainted boss, Sam Bankman-Fried.

The price of Solana (SOL) fell nearly 95% in 2022, partly due to its association with tainted crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried and his collapsed ventures, FTX and Alameda Research. But so far in 2023, things have improved for SOL’s price.

Solana’s price doubles in Q1/2023

Solana’s price has risen 104% to around $20.60 per SOL in the first quarter of 2023, the highest gains compared to any cryptocurrency in the top 25, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

Solana beats top-ranking assets’ Q1/2023 returns. Source: Messari

In fact, January was Solana’s best month since August 2021 in terms of price performance.

SOL’s price rallied by about 140% in it without any major fundamentals that could have driven the rates up. Nonetheless, the SOL/USD pair became excessively oversold in December 2022, which may have influenced traders to buy the dip. 

The rally also coincided with Messari’s analysis of the Solana ecosystem after the FTX collapse, showing its staking and decentralization were stable and actually improved its position after the FTX fiasco.

“Solana will continue to release a multitude of initiatives, including network upgrades, ecosystem developments, and community efforts, to name a few,” wrote James Stautman, a researcher at Messari, adding:

“After a tumultuous year fraught with one challenge after another, light appears to be at the end of the tunnel heading into 2023.”

In other words, the market may have overreacted to Solana’s ties with Bankman-Fried in Q4 of last year, resulting in a sharp rebound.

What’s next for SOL’s price?

Solana underperformed the broader crypto market in February and March after SOL’s January spike left it technically overbought.

Related: Solana plans to improve its blockchain: Here’s how

Solana’s price lost about 40% from the January peak. Its market dominance (SOL.D) also dropped from 0.98% in January to 0.69% in March, suggesting that traders rotated capital elsewhere. 

SOL.D monthly price chart. Source: TradingView

Nevertheless, as of March 31, Solana is trading above two technical support levels: a horizontal trendline that has capped SOL’s downside attempts mostly throughout Q1/2023 and an ascending trendline that served as backup support in early March when the horizontal one failed.

These two support levels have converged. Therefore, SOL/USD now eyes a short-term bounce from there toward a multi-month support/resistance flip level of around $26.50, as shown below. 

SOL/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

That leaves Solana with a 30% upside prospect in April. Conversely, a drop below the two support levels could have SOL’s price retest its March low of $16 as the next downside target.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Bitcoin price briefly hits $29K despite recent Binance crackdown

Despite ongoing crypto crackdowns, the price of BTC briefly tipped over $29,000on March 30, clocking a new high for 2023.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) briefly tipped over $29,000 on March 30, recording a new high for the year, despite recent United States regulatory crackdowns on crypto firms and related uncertainty. 

According to Cointelegraph Markets Pro, the price of Bitcoin reached $29,132.82 on March 30, reaching levels seen just before the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in early November 2022.

Bitcoin’s price over 24 hours. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

The increase comes despite a range of regulatory crackdowns in recent days, such as the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission lawsuit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on March 27.

Bitcoin’s price bounce-back in the wake of such a bombshell development drew surprise from many industry commentators. Some believe this is due to speculation the lawsuit will only result in minor fines for the leading crypto exchange by transaction volume.

Related: Bitcoin price jumps above $28K after 1.5K BTC shorts ‘blown out’

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index — which aims to numerically present the current “emotions and sentiments” toward Bitcoin and other large cryptocurrencies — has been steadily increasing over the last month, despite wobbles in the global banking sector.

The crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me

Some traders have argued that the recent price rebounds may have been due to large-volume traders buying back in, which was more related to their buying strategies rather than fundamentals.

XRP price tags 10-month high — Can a 35% pullback be avoided?

A U.S. regulator called Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin commodities in its court filing against Binance; it did not mention XRP anywhere.

XRP (XRP) outperformed its top-ranking crypto rivals over the past 24 hours while reaching its highest price in 10 months. 

XRP price tags 10-month high

On March 29, XRP’s price surged by nearly 15% to $0.58, its highest level in 10 months, outperforming Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in the past 24 hours, which rose around 4.5% and 2.75%, respectively.

XRP/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission referred to Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin (LTC) as “commodities” in its court filing against Binance. While the United States regulatory body didn’t name XRP, many assumed the token would be categorized as a commodity.

Related: Here’s why CFTC suing Binance is a bigger deal than an SEC enforcement

The SEC v. Ripple lawsuit will have likely concluded by the end of March, with legal experts believing Ripple can win. XRP’s price has rallied 45% month-to-date on similar hopes, including the March 29 price rally, supplemented further by investors’ optimistic interpretation of the CFTC court filing.

35% XRP price correction ahead?

XRP’s price rally brought it closer to the breakout target of $0.60. However, the possibility of a big correction after the SEC v. Ripple ruling as a “sell the news” event remains.

Related: Why is XRP price up today?

Technical indicators also show the XRP/USD pair facing the upper trendline of its prevailing rising channel. Thus, a correction toward the lower trendline is now in play, with the downside price target around $0.38 in April, down 35% from current price levels. 

XRP/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

On a broader timeframe, the rising channel appears like a bear flag, a bearish continuation technical indicator.

XRP/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

The completion of the flag pattern could see XRP’s price falling to $0.189 by June, down over 65% from current price levels

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Greenpeace war on Bitcoin unintentionally spawns ‘badass’ new mascot

Greenpeace’s “Skull of Satoshi” artwork highlights their gripes with Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism, but Bitcoin supporters adopted it as a new mascot.

Environmental group Greenpeace’s latest salvo against Bitcoin (BTC) is commissioning artwork to highlight its climate impact. Instead, the art piece has been widely praised by Bitcoiners, who want to adopt it as its mascot.

On March 23, the climate activism group partnered with art activist Benjamin Von Wong for its ongoing “change the code, not the climate” campaign to convert Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model.

Greenpeace revealed its art piece dubbed the “Skull of Satoshi” — an 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall skull featuring the Bitcoin logo and red laser eyes — a popular meme adopted by Bitcoin supporters.

“Smoking stacks” sit atop the skull, which is made of recycled electronic waste, supposedly to represent the “fossil fuel and coal pollution” caused by Bitcoin mining and the “millions of computers” used to validate network transactions.

Greenpeace’s marketing efforts took an unexpected turn when Bitcoin supporters expressed admiration for the art piece, with some already adopting it as a quasi-mascot.

Will Foxley, the media strategy director at crypto miner Compass Mining, called the art piece “badass” and changed his Twitter profile picture to an image of the Skull of Satoshi.

Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter tweeted on March 24 that the art is the “most metal Bitcoin artwork to date.”

Related: Eager to work: Bitcoin switch to proof-of-stake remains unlikely

Meanwhile, others picked apart the imagery Greenpeace chose, with one Twitter user saying the smokestacks on the skulls head resembled nuclear cooling towers emitting steam.

Greenpeace’s campaign was launched around a year ago alongside other climate groups and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.

It aims to pressure Bitcoin developers, miners and the government, and claims 30 “key” entities could move Bitcoin from proof-of-work if they agreed to the change.

Magazine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — Plus crypto tax tips

Ethereum faces 6-month lows versus Bitcoin — Will ETH price rebound?

Ethereum price has turned oversold against Bitcoin, raising the possibility of a rebound in the coming weeks.

Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), continues its multimonth downtrend against Bitcoin (BTC) in March, rising 5.5% versus the latter’s 19.5% gains on a month-to-date timeframe.

Bitcoin overshadows Ethereum amid banking crisis

As of March 23, the ETH/BTC pair was down about 9% month-to-date to 0.0633 while staying on course to record its worst month since September 2022, when it fell 11.75%.

ETH/BTC monthly price chart. Source: TradingView

From a fundamental perspective, traders preferred Bitcoin over Ether, hoping it would protect them from the ongoing banking turmoil in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The narrative gained momentum in recent weeks as Wall Street investors like Cathie Wood see Bitcoin as a potential “flight to safety” asset.

As a result of the growing speculation, Bitcoin outperformed traditional assets after March 8, when signs of trouble appeared at Silicon Valley Bank. In doing so, BTC also fared better than the altcoin market combined, including Ethereum.

Bitcoin, S&P 500, gold and altcoin market performances in March. Source: TradingView 

ETH paints bullish fractal vs. BTC

However, from a technical perspective, Ethereum is positioned for a comeback versus Bitcoin.

At least two technical indicators pose the possibility that ETH/BTC will rebound sharply in the coming weeks.

Related: Ethereum price at $1.4K was a bargain, and a rally toward $2K looks like the next step

First, the pair’s three-day relative strength index has dropped below 30, which technical analysts consider an “oversold” area.

Second, Ether’s drop versus Bitcoin has landed its price near its ascending support level (buy zone in the chart below).

ETH/BTC three-day price chart. Source: TradingView

A similar scenario in the June–July 2022 session preceded an approximately 60% rally toward ETH/BTC’s descending trendline resistance (sell zone in the chart above). If the fractal plays out, the pair could rally toward the same resistance level by June 2023.

In other words, Ether has a decent chance of rebounding by more than 15% to around 0.075 BTC. Conversely, a break below the ascending trendline support will invalidate the bullish fractal.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Crypto Fear and Greed Index hits highest level since Bitcoin’s all-time high

Sentiment toward the crypto market is the most positive its been since around the time Bitcoin hit its all-time high almost 16 months ago.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has hit its highest index score this year, reaching levels not seen since Bitcoin (BTC) posted its all-time high in November 2021.

A March 20 update of the Index showed a score of 68, placing it firmly within the “Greed” territory.

The Index’s score of 66 as shown on March 20. Source: alternative.me

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index aims to numerically present the current “emotions and sentiments” towards Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market, with the highest score being 100.

The last time the index recorded a score above 66 was on Nov. 16, 2021, just days after Bitcoin’s all-time high of over $69,000 was recorded on Nov. 10, 2021, according to Coingecko.

All time chart of the Index, Nov. 16, 2021, was the last time it recorded a score above 60. Source: alternative.me

Sentiment around BTC and crypto has been bullish since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the resulting fallout in the traditional financial system. 

Over the past seven days, Bitcoin has recorded gains of around 27.8% as per Coingecko data, and hit $28,000 for the first time since June 2022.

Crypto financial services Matrixport’s head of research Markus Thielen suggested in a March 20 analysis that there is more upside on the cards for BTC, as the “liquidity story continues to be in Bitcoin’s favor.” 

The analyst has adjusted his near-term price target to $36,000 by June 2023, while he has tipped a year-end target of $45,000. 

Matrixport head of research Markus Thielen has predicted Bitcoin could be on the way to $36,000 in the next few months. Source: Matrixport

Meanwhile, Charles Edwards, founder and CEO of investment firm Capriole, predicted an even more ambitious price target of $100,000 for BTC. 

In a March 14 tweet, Edwards, called BTC price action in 2023 a “Textbook perfect Bitcoin ‘Bump & Run Reversal”, and based on his interpretation of the data, he thinks “The target is over $100,000.”

However, he did note that, “chart patterns do fail, don’t use this as a trading / investment plan. Manage your risks!”

Ryan Selkis, founder and CEO of crypto analytics firm Messari shared a similar “rough” prediction in a March 16 post, explaining why he thought over the next twelve months it was possible for BTC to hit $100,000. 

According to Selkis, a combination of bank failures and changes to federal monetary polices will see more outside investment into crypto.

 “But the key is threading the needle so institutions can buy it and defend it alongside of us. Best case scenario right now,” Selkis said. 

“This is an optimistic bet on the future, as BTC is treated as a life raft and peaceful exit option,” he added.

Related: Bitcoin stays out of fear for 11 straight days as price tips near 24K

Bitcoin has been ranked by investment firm Goldman Sachs as the top performing asset this year, gaining 51% in year-to-date absolute returns.

Goldman Sachs has revealed Bitcoin has outpaced many traditional investment assets. Source: Goldman Sachs

In a March 17 note, the asset manager revealed Bitcoin’s total returns YTD has outpaced the likes of information technology, gold, the NASDAQ 100 and the S&P 500, among others. 

US credit crunch means it’s time to buy gold and Bitcoin: Novogratz

The Galaxy Digital CEO predicts tough times ahead for the United States economy but continues to be bullish on crypto.

The United States is headed for a credit crunch and now is the right time to buy gold, silver and Bitcoin (BTC), says Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz.

“We are going to have a credit crunch in the U.S. and globally,” Novogratz said in an interview on CNBC. “You want to be long gold and silver […] and you want to be long Bitcoin,” he said.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on March 15, Novogratz noted that banks typically rebuild capital by lending less, meaning that a credit crunch is imminent, noting that indicators like the commodities market are already pointing to a recession.

The U.S. banking industry fell into turmoil this month, with Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank all collapsing in the same week. Moody’s downgraded the U.S. banking system outlook to “negative.”

Related: Blame traditional finance for the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

Novogratz told CNBC that a reversal in interest rate policy was in the cards, saying that while the Federal Reserve would “like to do a dovish hike, just for credibility’s sake,” doing so would be a “huge policy error.”

Alongside his prediction of tough times for the U.S. economy, Novogratz expressed a bullish sentiment for crypto, saying:

“If there was ever a time to be in Bitcoin and crypto, this is why it was created, in that governments print too much money whenever the pain gets too great, and we’re seeing that.”

The price of Bitcoin dipped after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week but managed to reach new 2023 highs of $26,514.72 on March 14, according to CoinMarketCap.