Bitcoin's Hashrate Hits Record High, Will Price Follow?

Exchanges See Bitcoin Inflows

The latest moves in crypto markets, in context Edited by Omkar Godbole January 3, 2021 Sponsored by     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: Market Moves: Centralized Exchanges See Bitcoin Inflows, Hashrate Hits Record High And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today's show will feature guests: Sebastian Borget, co-founder and COO, The Sandbox Greg Magadini, CEO, Genesis Volatility Market Moves Crypto markets were mixed early Monday, with bitcoin and ether lacking a clear directional bias while layer 1 coins like LUNA, DOT were gaining 3%. DeFi names like UNI, AAVE and YFI rose 8%.    Bitcoin's hashrate or computational power dedicated to mining the cryptocurrency rose to 209 exahashes per second over the weekend, surpassing the April 2021 peak of 189 exahashes per second, according to Glassnode data.   Some investors believe the cryptocurrency's price follows hashrate, although that's not necessarily the case, as discussed in detail here. Nevertheless, the current battered market longing for a price bounce may take the rising hashrate as a bullish cue.    Options market is biased bullish with one-, three- and six-month put-call skews returning negative values, a sign of calls or bullish bets drawing higher prices than puts.    According to Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at the UK based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, institutions might reallocate funds to bitcoin in the first quarter and the renewed participation could be tracked via flow of coins in and out of the Nasdaq-listed Coinbase exchange.     That said, centralized exchanges are currently seeing renewed inflows, a sign of investor intention to sell. Glassnode data shows the 90-day moving average of net exchange flows has turned positive, meaning more coins are entering exchanges than leaving. Sustained inflows, if any, might mean a deeper price decline.    Observers remains optimistic as ever. According to Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at Arca Funds, thematic investing is expected to drive most gains in 2022. "From an investment standpoint, Arca remains thematically focused on DeFi, sports and entertainment as it pertains to fan engagement, gaming and NFTs, and Web 3," Dorman said in a blog post published on Dec. 22.   "As institutional capital enters the market in an exponential fashion, the marginal buyer will far outpace the marginal seller," Dorman added.   Singapore-based QCP Capital recently recommended diversification out of bitcoin and into a basket of layer 1 coins as one of the trades for 2022. Bitcoin's 90-day moving average of exchange flows (Source: Glassnode) Also read:  Salvadoran President Bukele Expects Bitcoin to Reach $100K This Year A Message from Grayscale Ready to explore the metaverse?   Analysts predict that the metaverse could be a trillion-dollar revenue opportunity across advertising, social commerce, digital events, hardware, and developer/creator monetization.* This creates a unique investment opportunity in the new digital economy.   Grayscale gives investors a way to access the early opportunity of the Metaverse through Grayscale®' Decentraland Trust by investing in MANA, Decentraland's native token. Decentraland is one of the leading metaverses built on the Ethereum blockchain.    Invest in the metaverse with Grayscale** Learn more here     *The Metaverse Report 2021 **Private placement available to accredited investors only Crypto Prices Bitcoin (BTC) See the latest price here Ether (ETH)  See the latest price here The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours: Biggest Gainers: Asset Ticker Returns Sector Cosmos ATOM +7.8% Smart Contract Platform Chainlink LINK +6.4% Computing Polkadot DOT +4.5% Smart Contract Platform Biggest Losers:  Asset Ticker Returns Sector Polygon MATIC −0.8% Smart Contract Platform Solana SOL −0.5% Smart Contract Platform Filecoin FIL −0.2% Computing Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.  Technician's Take by Omkar Godbole Bitcoin's Quarterly Candle Paints a Bearish Picture Bitcoin's log-scaled quarterly chart (Source: TradingView) The long upper wick attached to the previous quarterly candle indicates that buyers tried to establish dominance but failed, with sellers eventually gaining the upper hand.  Such candlesticks often portend significant price drops. A Message from Horizen Happy Holidays from the Horizen Team! Join our holiday giveaway to win some $Zen   Horizen is the zero-knowlege network of blockchains powered by the largest and most decentralized node system. Its blockchain deployment protocol, Zendoo, is live on mainnet as of Dec 1st 2021!   Zendoo enables developers and businesses to deplot provate and public blockchains with unmet scalability, flexibility, and throughput to support any real-world needs.  Latest Headlines Bitcoin Hashrate Mints New All-Time Highs Samsung Announces 3 TVs for 2022 With NFT Trading Capability Salvadoran President Bukele Expects Bitcoin to Reach $100K This Year Half a Dozen of India's Crypto Exchanges Searched After Alleged Rupee 700M Tax Evasion Detected: Sources Eminem Purchases Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for $462K Introducing CoinDesk's new Digital Asset Classification Standard, which was created in response to the significant growth of the number and types of digital assets offered in the market and the realization that traditional classification standards used for equities and other asset classes could not be adapted accurately to classify digital assets. Read more about DACS. ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   SEC Commissioner Peirce on 2022 Outlook for Stablecoins, NFTs, Bitcoin ETFs, New Legislation and More   Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce joins "First Mover" to discuss a wide range of topics affecting the crypto industry and markets in 2022. That includes the future of stablecoins, the prospects for a U.S. bitcoin ETF, regulatory concerns around NFTs, and the status of Peirce's Safe Harbor proposal. Also, a look back at top NFT stories that helped drive mainstream crypto adoption in 2021.   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.  First Mover A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Copyright © 2021 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA Manage your newsletter subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe from all CoinDesk email