by APEX News | 2024-07-05
By Channel News Asia
KEY POINTS
# Bitcoin’s Decline: Bitcoin has fallen to a two-month low, continuing a month-long decline. It dropped over 2% to $57,843, the lowest since May 2, and has lost more than 6% this week.
# Political Uncertainty: The uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential elections, particularly after the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, has put additional pressure on Bitcoin. There are concerns about Biden potentially being replaced by a less crypto-friendly candidate.
# Impact of Mt. Gox Repayments: Reports that the defunct Tokyo-based crypto exchange Mt. Gox is repaying its creditors might be contributing to Bitcoin’s decline. Analysts suggest that creditors selling their received Bitcoin tokens could be dragging the price down.
Picture generated by AI
Bitcoin slid to a two-month low on Thursday, extending a month-long fall, as uncertainty over U.S. presidential elections and reports of bitcoin supply from a defunct Tokyo-based crypto exchange weighed.
Bitcoin fell more than 2 per cent to $57,843, its lowest since May 2, and has lost more than 6 per cent so far this week.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency has been under pressure in recent months, its slide accelerating this week after the first debate between U.S. presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump raised the spectre of Biden being replaced as a candidate.
“If he (Biden) is to be replaced, and there’s a lot of conversation going on around that, that person may not be pro-crypto,” Josh Gilbert, a market analyst at digital brokerage eToro, said.
Bitcoin had a strong start to the year after the launch of exchange-traded funds in the U.S., propelling it to a record $73,803.25 in mid-March as investors poured in. However the rally has fizzled, with bitcoin losing more than 21 per cent since then.
A politically charged backdrop, with ongoing elections in France and Britain, is resulting in some risk reduction, analysts said, alongside the changing odds in the U.S. election campaign.
Analysts also pointed to reports that Mt. Gox, the world’s leading exchange for cryptocurrencies before it went defunct in 2014, is repaying its creditors, which could be dragging bitcoin lower if those creditors offload their tokens.
“There is an anticipation that some of those original buyers of bitcoin will start to sell on the market, which is a fairly big chunk,” Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, said.
Sycamore added however that while this was a period of consolidation for the cryptocurrency after strong gains earlier this year, it could retest the March highs and probably push up towards $80,000.
Ether, another major cryptocurrency, was trading more than 1 per cent lower at $3,213.0, and is down more than 22 per cent from its mid-March highs.
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by APEX News | 2024-04-17
CNBC, by Arjun Kharpal
Image generated by APEX using AI
KEY POINTS
# The bitcoin halving is imminent. This technical event, written in bitcoin’s code, happens every four years. In simple terms, it is when the rewards for bitcoin miners are cut in half.
# The aim is to reduce the pace at which new bitcoin enter the market. Since there will ever only be 21 million bitcoin, the halving serves to create more bitcoin scarcity.
# In the past, halving has preceded massive rises in bitcoin prices to new all-time highs. But this time, things are different.
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The Bitcoin “halving” is almost upon us.
This technical event, written in bitcoin’s code, happens every four years. In simple terms, it is when the rewards for bitcoin miners are cut in half. This reduces the pace at which new bitcoins enter the market.
Since there will ever only be 21 million bitcoins, the halving serves to create more scarcity.
In the past, halving has preceded massive rises in bitcoin prices to new all-time highs. But this time, things are different.
Bitcoin has already hit a new record high, before the halving has taken place. That’s because the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-trade funds has excited the market and brought in lots of demand for the cryptocurrency.
In the latest episode of CNBC Tech’s “Beyond the Valley” podcast — which you can listen to above — Tom Chitty and I discuss what exactly the halving is and how this latest bitcoin cycle is different from the past.
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by APEX News | 2024-04-05
Decrypt, By Andrew Hayward
Bitcoin is bouncing back from a lull to start April, climbing back up above $69,000 on Thursday as the network’s anticipated halving event is set to take place in a couple weeks.
The price of Bitcoin has jumped by 5% over the last 24 hours to a current price of $69,139, reversing a three-day trend that saw the leading cryptocurrency (by market cap) drop beneath the $70,000 level and nearly touch $65,000 on Tuesday before rising on Thursday.
The Bitcoin halving is the quadrennial network event that cuts the amount of BTC that miners receive as a reward for successfully producing a new block. It’s meant to slow the growth of the circulating supply and curb inflation, and is typically tied to a rising price for the asset.
In anticipation of the next halving, which is currently expected to take place on April 20, the price of Bitcoin spiked in March to a new all-time high price of $73,737, jumping several times during the month as it gradually pushed higher and higher. Bitcoin’s long-standing previous all-time high was set in November 2021 around the $69,000 mark.
The estimated date for the halving has bounced around in recent weeks, as the event is pegged to a certain network block, and Bitcoin activity and demand helps determine how quickly the network gets to that point. Currently, it’s expected on April 20 or 4/20, a notable meme number that aligns well with the current price—itself featuring another major meme number.
Bitcoin’s latest rise has unsurprisingly sparked similar action across the market, which is broadly up 4% on the day per data from CoinGecko.
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