Bitcoin, Ether Sell-Off During Asia Trading Hours

Cryptos flash red as global equities fall

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 July 8, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) -6.0%  $32,498 Ether (ETH)  -8.7%  $2,163 (Price data as of July 8 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning: Technician's Take: Bitcoin Sell-Off Could Stabilize Around $30K Support Bitcoin sold off during Asia hours and could find support around $30K.   Market Moves: Ether Bounces From Technical Resistance Ether is attempting to break above the 50-day moving average for the first time since March. And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Michael Casey, Emily Parker and me at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests: Michele Schneider, MarketGauge Managing Director George Kaloudis, CoinDesk Reserch Associate Hanjin Tan, Musician  – Lawrence Lewitinn Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: None of the CoinDesk 20 assets is up today.    Losers: Aave (AAVE): -11.2% Yearn Finance (YFI): -10.8% Uniswap (UNI): -10.6% Chainlink (LINK): -10.1% The Graph (GRT): -8.9%   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. Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes, CMT Bitcoin Sell-Off Could Stabilize Around $30K Support Bitcoin (BTC) sellers were active during Asia hours, pushing price below $34,000 support. The cryptocurrency was trading around $32,000 at press time and is down 6% over the past 24 hours. The next level of support is seen around $30,000 which could stabilize the current sell-off. Bitcoin four-hour price chart shows short-term support and resistance levels with RSI (Source: TradingView) The relative strength index (RSI) is oversold on the four-hour chart for the first time in two weeks. Previous oversold readings triggered 15%-20% relief rallies. However, sellers are in control after bitcoin broke below a series of higher price lows from the June 22 shakeout around $29,000. Buyers will likely wait to return near $30,000 support, which is the bottom of the month-long trading range. A relief bounce should be limited around $33,000 resistance as upside momentum slows. Read the original story here: Bitcoin Sell-Off Could Stabilize Around $30K Support A message from AAX Powered by London Stock Exchange Group Technology, AAX offers a wide range of crypto products and services, including spot and futures for over 60 trading pairs, P2P fiat trading, high yield savings, research, education, OTC and more institutional offerings.  110 USDT futures bonus upon registration Trade at $0 fees (limited-time offer) 10% APY on AAX Savings (limited-time offer) Lucrative price prediction campaigns Support for 20+ fiat currencies 24/7 customer service Arguably the finest crypto trading app in the space Make the most out of your crypto holdings. Grow with AAX. Sign up now. Market Moves by Damanick Dantes, CMT & Frances Yue Ether Bounces From Technical Resistance Global equities markets are down this morning and some of that red ink has spilled over to crypto.    Ether is off 10% after attempting to break above the 50-day moving average for the first time since March. A confirmed breakout would have yielded further upside towards $2,800 resistance. Similar to bitcoin, ether is consolidating after a volatile sell-off in May. Ether (ETH) daily price chart shows support and resistance levels (Source: TradingView) Nonetheless, the chart below shows ether's outperformance relative to bitcoin and gold this year.  Chart shows returns for bitcoin, ether, and gold this year (Source: CoinDesk Research, St. Louis Fed, Yahoo Finance)   Bitcoin stuck in a choppy range   "Bitcoin continues to trade choppy and though we have seen an upward bias in the last few days it will take some work for BTC to break above the $42,000 mark," wrote Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange, in an email to CoinDesk. "Any weakness in the broader markets or reduction in liquidity can cause sharp down moves in bitcoin, and we continue to see this reflected in options data as puts trade at a premium to calls for July and August expiry."    The chart below shows a rising 90-day correlation between bitcoin and ether this year. However, bitcoin and ether have become less correlated with the S&P 500, which could offer diversification benefits to traditional investors, albeit with higher volatility. Chart shows 90-day correlations between BTC, ETH and the S&P 500 (Source: Koyfin)   Ethereum gas price drop   The Ethereum gas price has recently dropped to the lowest level since March 2020, according to crypto analytics firm CoinMetrics.    Though the decline corresponds with ether's price drop, the downward trend in the gas price started in April, before ether's price crash when the Ethereum gas limit was raised to roughly 15 million on April 22 and the Ethereum scalability solutions took off, according to CoinMetrics. Meanwhile, Flashbots has been helping to move decentralized finance (DeFi) arbitrage bots, which contributed to the high gas prices, off the Ethereum blockchain.  Ethereum gas price (Source: CoinMetrics) Altcoin roundup Coinbase USDC rate: Coinbase, the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, rolled out the new deposit service last week for the dollar-linked stablecoin USDC at a rate of 4%, which is much lower than the 8% rate being offered by other crypto lending platforms. Coinbase's below-market interest rate might reveal confidence in its own strength – a bet that customers will view the cryptocurrency platform as a safe place to keep their money.  ETH locked in DeFi: The amount of ETH locked in DeFi applications dropped by 11.5% during the second quarter. However, the total dollar value of all crypto assets under management in DeFi apps remained steady over the same time period, which indicates a rise in other asset types such as stablecoins or governance tokens for DeFi collateral and liquidity.  Alchemy on Polygon: Developers building on Polygon now have Alchemy's toolkit at their disposal. Alchemy is an infrastructure provider that helps developers build decentralized apps (dapps) on Ethereum and other networks.   Read the original story here: Ether Outperforms Bitcoin as Crypto Sentiment Improves A message from Unique.One Unique.One, a non-profit, next-generation, purely decentralized NFT Art Marketplace, supports artists rather than profiting from them. In celebration of the successful launch of its new auction platform, Unique One is sponsoring artists to mint gas-free. Any artist can mint one NFT on the Unique One Etherum v2 platform to enter. Winners will receive ETH for gas to mint 5 additional NFTs sponsored by the Unique One Community. Visit Unique.One Gas Free July for more details. BOLO Be on the look out for some of these upcoming events: 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET): Jobless claims (July 3). Est: 350,000 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:   Fed Minutes, Binance Saga, BitMEX CEO on Its Future, Crypto Regulation and Markets "First Mover" with today's top stories, including Federal Reserve meeting minutes due today. Will they impact crypto markets? Also, Binance and Binance.US hire more former regulators as they face increasing regulatory pressures around the world and the future of BitMEX as its former top executives face trial. The company's current CEO, Alex Hoeptner, joins the show to discuss his new business strategy. Edward Moya of OANDA joins our markets discussion and "Dogecoin Millionaire" Gary Lachance on the launch of a new game. The Investor's Perspective on the Bitcoin Taproot Upgrade   Taproot is a bundle of three upgrades to Bitcoin aimed at improving network security, privacy and scalability. At the same time, it poses some potential drawbacks to Bitcoin including risks of low adoption, unintended privacy shortcomings and Bitcoin community disappointment and fracturing. CoinDesk Research's newest report dives into the economic impact and investment implications of the Taproot upgrade.   Download the full report. Latest Headlines IBM, Heifer International to Assist Honduras Farmers Access Global Markets Using Blockchain IBM's Food Trust will help coffee and cocoa farmers verify certifications, improve treatment processes, and assist producers. SEC Delays Decision on SkyBridge Capital's Proposed Bitcoin ETF to August If bitcoin ETFs are approved this year, they will likely compete on custody and insurance options above all else, analysts have said. Gemini Exchange to Expand Asia Pacific Operations in a Bid to Capture Growth Building on the success of its operations in Singapore, the exchange said it now looks to establish satellite offices throughout the region. Economic Union of 15 West African States Voices Concerns Over Crypto Volatility Several risks in the crypto markets were identified by the union's members including shallow liquidity and a lack of legal parameters. China's Central Bank 'Worried' Stablecoins Pose Risk to Financial System "Global stablecoins may bring risks and challenges to the international monetary system," said PBOC's Fan Yifei. Crypto Insurance Platform Coincover Raises $9.2M as Big Firms Seek Safety The Series A round led by Element Ventures included DRW Venture Capital and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. Crypto.com Receives EMI License in Malta The Hong Kong-based exchange said it is the first crypto platform to receive an EMI license from the Malta Financial Services Authority. One in Five UK Crypto Investors Don't Know What They're Doing: Research The study by behavioral finance firm Oxford Risk concludes that 21% of investors rate their knowledge of crypto assets as "poor or non-existent."   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. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.  ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. If you are in doubt about a link, type https://www.coindesk.com directly into your browser; do not copy and paste. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. First Mover   A newsletter from CoinDesk Copyright © 2021 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.    250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA You can manage your preferences here or unsubscribe from all CoinDesk email.