First Mover: Bitcoin Enters Wait-and-See Phase Ahead of Fed Statement

PLUS: Bitcoin's upside limited as it shakes overbought conditions

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets June 16, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) -0.4%  $39,774 Ether (ETH)  -3.5%   $2,488 (Price data as of June 16 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning. Here's what we're writing about: Market Moves: Bitcoin Enters Wait-and-See Phase Ahead of Fed Statement Technician's Take: Bitcoin Upside Fades; Lower Support at $34K Check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Lawrence Lewitinn and Emily Parker at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests: Hunter Horsley, Bitwise CEO Ian Rogers, Ledger Chief Experience Officer Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: The Graph (GRT): +7.5% Losers: Chainlink (LINK): -6.8% Uniswap (UNI): -5.3% Filecoin (FIL): -3.8%   The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges. Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Bitcoin Enters Wait-and-See Phase Ahead of Fed Statement Bitcoin (BTC) is holding in a tight range as the focus turns to Wednesday's Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement, which could offer clues on the central bank's course of action and inject volatility into financial markets.   The cryptocurrency has been trading in a narrow range of $39,400 to $41,300 since Monday's European trading hours, CoinDesk 20 data show.   "The market is completely neutral ahead of the Fed with only a little spot buying," Brian Tehako, CIO at Warwick Capital Management, said. "Traders are waiting for the Fed announcement."   Bitcoin hourly chart (Source: TradingView) The event is likely to have a binary market reaction, according to Singapore-based QCP Capital. Binary events are dramatic developments that trigger big moves in either direction.   "If the Fed remains dovish [retains pro-stimulus bias], cryptocurrencies would have the most upside potential until September at least, given the overselling we've seen relative to other macro markets since May's CPI print," QCP Capital noted in its Telegram channel.   Bitcoin tanked from $58,000 to nearly $30,000 in the eight days to May 19. The sell-off began after official data released on May 12 showed the U.S. consumer price index surged to the highest level in almost three years. That renewed fears of an early Fed taper – the gradual unwinding of the liquidity-boosting stimulus.   However, while bitcoin (BTC) dropped in the wake of Fed tightening fears, traditional markets remained resilient, with gold ending May with a 7.8% gain. Equities also remained bid.   That's left bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general looking relatively cheap heading into the Fed, and could benefit them most on the back of a dovish outcome.   On the flip side, a hawkish surprise could weigh on asset prices. "If they're hawkish on Wednesday, then all bets are off, and we would expect the [crypto] market to revisit recent lows," QCP Capital said.     Read the original story here: Bitcoin Enters Wait-and-See Phase Ahead of Fed Statement A message from Nexo Your digital assets deserve a savings account in their BEST INTEREST. Leading crypto lender Nexo treats you, your crypto and your fiat to industry-best Crypto & Fiat services, featuring:    * Up to 12% interest on digital assets, paid out daily! * Yields available on BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP, XLM, EOS, TRX, LINK, BNB, PAXG, USDT, USDC, TUSD, PAX, DAI, HUSD, GBP and EUR. * No minimum or maximum limits on funds deposited, offering infinite opportunities to earn. * #ZeroFees on all transactions. * Military-grade wallet security and top-tier insurance on all custodial assets with SOC 2 Type 2 certified crypto custodian BitGo. Get started at nexo.io Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes, CMT Bitcoin Upside Fades; Lower Support at $34K Bitcoin (BTC) has traded sideways over the past two days as buyers faced resistance at $40,000. Slowing momentum on intraday charts suggests an initial pullback towards $38,000, although stronger support is seen at $34,000.   Bitcoin was trading around $39,200 at press time and is up about 7% over the past seven days. Bitcoin hourly price chart shows short-term support and resistance levels with RSI (Source: TradingView) The relative strength index (RSI) on the hourly chart registered a series of lower highs over the past few days. This reflects slowing momentum behind the latest price jump. For now, the 100-period moving average on the hourly chart is sloping upwards, which indicates an improving short-term trend. Buyers will need to defend support above $34,000 in order to maintain a period of stabilization after May's sell-off. Further upside appears limited as intraday charts shake off overbought conditions. The daily chart is still in recovery mode with minor signs of downside exhaustion. Read the original story here: Bitcoin Upside Fades; Lower Support at $34K A message from Kaiko   Kaiko is the premier cryptocurrency market data provider for professional traders and enterprises.  Highly-granular historical and live data: Tick-level trades, order book snapshots, aggregates, reference rates and more.  Extensive coverage: 100+ spot and derivatives exchanges Flexible data delivery: Downloadable CSV files and robust REST and WebSocket APIs designed for enterprise-use. On-call support: Private slack channels, SLA's and integration assistance.  Request a trial, browse our data dictionary, and subscribe to our weekly research newsletter today!    Learn More BOLO Be on the look out for some of these upcoming events:   18:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. ET):  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speech after FOMC meeting. What to look for: When taper?  The cryptocurrency movement has never been so sprawling, reaching every corner of the planet. Crypto State by CoinDesk aims to connect with local communities to explore this movement of financial disruption and how it trickles down to every corner of the globe, from DeFi investment opportunities to alternative ways to transact and store wealth. We're making virtual stops with audiences in Nigeria, the Middle East and Southeast Asia this year. Register for the Crypto State virtual tour. ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Federal Reserve Meeting, Another Congressional Hearing on CBDCs, the Bitcoin Bachelor and More "First Mover" takes a look at the crypto markets and what to expect from the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting starting Tuesday. Professor Darrell Duffie of Stanford's Graduate School of Business, who testified at the recent Senate Banking Committee hearing on CBDCs, shares his views on digital assets as the House Financial Services Committee prepares to take up the sometimes contentious topic. Mannik Dhillon of Victory Capital has markets analysis, and "The Bachelor" star Matt James discusses crypto and financial inclusion. Unlocked Encore! Now What Do I Do With $DESK?   During Consensus 2021, CoinDesk experimented with launching its own Ethereum-based rewards token $DESK, and the excitement to snag airdrops and acquire NFTs with it was unreal.   Running on the Rinkeby testnet, the token offers a way for people to play with the technology without the fear of losing their life savings or the inconvenience of high gas fees.   On Friday, June 18, Join Colin Platt, CEO of Unifty, the NFT infrastructure provider that built $DESK, and Bailey Reutzel, $DESK Piranha Mama herself, for this Unlocked interactive hour exploring all the things you can do with $DESK and your NFTs now that the conference is over.   Register free for Unlocked Encore! Now What Do I Do With $DESK? and stay tuned on $DESK's Telegram group for updates. Latest Headlines Andreessen Horowitz Has Its Own Media: So Far That's a Good Thing So far, Future.com looks less like a news website than a dry, specialists-only academic journal. That's a net-plus for the tech industry.   Stripe Co-Founder Is 'Enthusiastic' About Bitcoin, 3 Years After Ending Its Support John Collison said in an interview Tuesday that all approaches to cross-border transactions, including crypto, need to be pursued in "parallel." 15 Banks Form New Company to Process Letters of Credit in India Using Blockchain Tech IBBIC's new system will verify data for invoices on goods and services tax, eliminate paperwork and significantly reduce transaction times. South Korean Exchanges Halt Trading on Certain Cryptos as Regulatory Pressure Mounts Upbit, Huobi and Coinbit are among the cryptocurrency exchanges outlined in the report that have halted trading on certain coins. Digital Euro Could Deplete Bank Deposits by 8%, Morgan Stanley Says: Report Smaller countries such as Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia would be hit the hardest. Adopting Bitcoin as Legal Tender Could Collapse El Salvador's Economy, Steve Hanke Says Bitcoin holders elsewhere could suck up all the dollars in El Salvador "like a vacuum cleaner." We've launched on Snapchat. On our debut show, "CoinDesk Breaks It Down," we distill the noise around dogecoin, the energy debate and more. Follow for original content, twice weekly. Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. 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