{"id":6610,"date":"2021-01-23T14:18:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T19:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=6610"},"modified":"2021-01-23T14:19:08","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T19:19:08","slug":"btc-danger-eth-record-biden-action-011723","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2021\/01\/23\/btc-danger-eth-record-biden-action-011723","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin in jeopardy, Ether briefly breaks records, Biden takes action: Hodler\u2019s Digest, Jan. 17\u201323"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming every Saturday, <\/i><\/b>Hodler\u2019s Digest<\/i><\/b><\/a> will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more \u2014 a week on Cointelegraph in one link.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Top Stories This Week<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Three reasons Bitcoin tumbled below $30,000 in a surprise overnight correction<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Intensifying sell pressure saw Bitcoin <\/span>briefly plummet<\/span><\/a> below <\/span>$29,000<\/b> for the first time since Jan. 5. <\/span>The fall from $37,000, which happened within 48 hours, resulted in the biggest daily candle ever.<\/b><\/p>\n

There have been some signs of institutional investors taking profit, as bulls attempt to cement <\/span>$32,000 <\/b>as a new support level. <\/span>Analysts at QCP Capital are seeing signs of \u201c<\/b>institutional exhaustion<\/b><\/a>,\u201d and they warned the rally could be in danger if appetite for BTC slows down.<\/b><\/p>\n

Of course, some institutions are indefatigable\u2026 with MicroStrategy \u201cbuying the dip\u201d and snapping up <\/span>314 BTC <\/b>at an average cost of <\/span>$31,808 <\/b>\u2014 a total spend of <\/span>$10 million<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bitcoin has lost <\/span>14% <\/b>of its value over the past seven days. <\/span>But over this period, many major altcoins haven\u2019t been suffering sell-offs to the same extent. <\/b>Ether is down just <\/span>2.6% <\/b>on the week, Polkadot is actually up <\/span>1.5%<\/b>, and XRP has fallen by <\/span>5.6%<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

BTC\/USD is in a corrective phase since the rally became overextended above <\/span>$40,000<\/b>. The question now is <\/span>when this will end<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>If the $30,000 area doesn\u2019t hold, a further drop to $24,000 becomes likely \u2014 resulting in a retrace of 40% since recent highs.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Guggenheim CIO expects Bitcoin to drop to $20,000<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Just a month ago, Guggenheim\u2019s Scott Minerd was anticipating that <\/span>$400,000 <\/b>was in sight for Bitcoin. <\/span>How times have changed.<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaking to CNBC, Guggenheim\u2019s chief investment officer argued that BTC is now poised to drop to <\/span>$20,000 <\/b>\u2014 and Bitcoin is unlikely to climb any higher than <\/span>$42,000 <\/b>until 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: <\/span>\u201cI think for the time being, we probably put in the top for Bitcoin for the next year or so.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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ETH finally beats its 2018 all-time high, surpassing $1,428<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

It\u2019s been a long time coming. <\/b>This week, ETH finally reached new all-time highs against the dollar \u2014 surpassing <\/span>$1,428 <\/b>on Bitstamp.<\/span> Unfortunately, the major altcoin didn\u2019t spend much time in uncharted territory \u2014 falling as low as $1,050 in the days that followed.<\/b><\/p>\n

Are Ether bulls now in trouble<\/span><\/a>? Well, the large drop after the ATH has been linked to how the Ether futures market was extremely overheated, with open interest on ETH hitting a record high of <\/span>$1.8 billion<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one point, Vitalik Buterin\u2019s main wallet saw the ETH in his wallet amount to over <\/span>$470 million. That\u2019s a stark contrast to Jan. 2020, when his ETH fortune stood at just $58 million.<\/b><\/p>\n

Strategists at Fundstrat Global Advisors believe that 2021 could be a year to remember for ETH. <\/b>According to its researchers, the second-largest cryptocurrency could <\/span>climb more than sevenfold<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>$10,500<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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President Biden freezes FinCEN\u2019s proposed crypto wallet regulations<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Joe Biden wasted little time in getting to work following his inauguration on Jan. 20. <\/span>One of the first actions the new president took on his first day in office was to freeze the federal regulatory process \u2014 and this is good news for the crypto community.<\/b><\/p>\n

The freeze means that the controversial regulations surrounding self-hosted crypto wallets, proposed by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, are now on ice for 60 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

Compound Finance\u2019s general counsel Jake Chervinsky lauded the move, declaring: <\/span>\u201cWe fought hard & earned the right to take a breath & reset. Janet Yellen isn\u2019t Steve Mnuchin. I\u2019m optimistic.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that Yellen <\/span>isn\u2019t wild about Bitcoin<\/span><\/a>, though. <\/span>During her confirmation hearing with the Senate Finance Committee, she stated that cryptocurrencies are being used \u201cmainly for illicit financing\u201d \u2014 and that she wanted to \u201ccurtail\u201d their use. <\/b>She later clarified that she only wanted to clamp down on cryptocurrencies being used illegally.<\/span><\/p>\n

The former chair of the Federal Reserve is now <\/span>one step closer<\/span><\/a> to earning the nomination after the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously in her favor, paving the way for a full Senate vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ripple pins hopes on Biden administration as co-founder sells 28.6 million XRP<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

As it readies itself to face a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed under Donald Trump\u2019s administration, Ripple is hoping that Biden\u2019s time in office will bring favorable changes in regulations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Executives at the embattled company have predicted that Biden\u2019s team will most likely \u201cbring a renewed focus on regulation and enforcement in the crypto space.\u201d <\/b>The post said that fintech and blockchain players have been left \u201cin a state of limbo\u201d by the lack of a clear framework \u2014 and warned countries like the U.K. and Japan are \u201cmiles ahead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ripple\u2019s general counsel Stu Alderoty wrote: <\/span>\u201cIntelligent, well thought-out regulations communicated effectively and uniformly applied can help level the playing field and unleash innovation and further mainstream adoption here in the U.S.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

When Gary Gensler\u2019s appointment as SEC chair was announced, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted: <\/span>\u201cCongrats to Gary Gensler! We\u2019re ready to work with SEC leadership and the broader Biden administration to chart a path forward for blockchain and crypto innovation in the US.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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Is $1 billion a day in volume the \u201cnew normal\u201d for Uniswap?<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Uniswap is nearing an average of <\/span>$1 billion <\/b>a day in trading volumes during January.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s already surpassed the previous monthly trade volume record of $15.3 billion set in September during the DeFi boom.<\/b><\/p>\n

Uniswap traders are spoiled for choice with <\/span>1,558 <\/b>coins traded in more than <\/span>2,400<\/b> pairs, however, the majority tend to favor less risky trades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On one day this week, ETH pairings with stablecoins USD Coin, Tether and Dai made up 45% of the $1.1 billion traded.<\/b><\/p>\n

Uniswap strategy lead Matteo Leibowitz has already declared that <\/span>$1 billion <\/b>volume a day is the new normal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Winners and Losers<\/b><\/h2>\n

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At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at <\/span>$32,300.43<\/b>, Ether at <\/span>$1,250.90 <\/b>and XRP at <\/span>$0.27<\/b>. The total market cap is at <\/span>$944,648,313,957<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are <\/span>Enjin Coin<\/b>, <\/span>Curve DAO Token <\/b>and <\/span>Decentraland<\/b>. The top three altcoin losers of the week are <\/span>IOST<\/b>, <\/span>Zcash <\/b>and <\/span>Dash<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read <\/span>Cointelegraph\u2019s market analysis<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Most Memorable Quotations<\/b><\/h2>\n

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\u201cI think for the time being, we probably put in the top for Bitcoin for the next year or so. And we\u2019re likely to see a full retracement back toward the 20,000 level.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Scott Minerd<\/b><\/a>, Guggenheim CIO<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cOnly by widening the playing field and facilitating more participation will crypto reach and maintain a market cap of $2 trillion and beyond.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aite Group<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cEthereum will continue to see demand outstrip supply as global adoption continues.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Danny Ryan<\/b><\/a>, Ethereum Foundation researcher<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe fought hard & earned the right to take a breath & reset. Janet Yellen isn\u2019t Steve Mnuchin. I\u2019m optimistic.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jake Chervinsky<\/b><\/a>, Compound Finance general counsel<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve obviously seen the price of Bitcoin rise quite a bit; we\u2019ve seen a lot of activity in the DeFi space, and I think all of these things will provide a nice framework against which a new chairman can take a fresh look at questions across the board in the crypto space.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cCrypto Mom\u201d Hester Peirce<\/b><\/a>, SEC commissioner<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m honestly loving how well $ETH is holding up in this climate.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Neko<\/b><\/a>, cryptocurrency trader<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is an increasing amount of trader doubt that #Bitcoin will revisit $40,000. But according to address activity and trade volume, the long-term trend still looks plenty healthy. Keep a close eye on whether $BTC\u2019s usage rate stays propped up.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Santiment<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cCongrats to Gary Gensler! We\u2019re ready to work with SEC leadership and the broader Biden administration to chart a path forward for blockchain and crypto innovation in the U.S.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Brad Garlinghouse<\/b><\/a>, Ripple CEO<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cBitcoin is the best cryptocurrency suited for store of value. In terms of what the Bitcoin blockchain can currently handle from a latency and throughput point of view, Bitcoin is very strong.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Konstantin Richter<\/b><\/a>, Blockdaemon founder and CEO<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cGrayscale were buying $251 million of #Bitcoin on avg per week in Q4 2020. Last week they did $700 million in one day… And today $590 million… Pay attention.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Danny Scott<\/b><\/a>, CoinCorner CEO<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe flow into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust would likely need to sustain its US$100 million per day pace over the coming days and weeks for such a breakout to occur.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

JPMorgan<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

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Prediction of the Week<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Hedge fund predicts $115,000 Bitcoin price and the fall of \u201cspeculative\u201d altcoins<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

New data from Pantera Capital this week suggested that Bitcoin\u2019s current price action is closely following the stock-to-flow model\u2019s trajectory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s analysts believe BTC will have reached $115,212 by Aug. 1<\/b> and that its price will gain an average of more than <\/span>$10,000 <\/b>a month, hitting six figures in the early summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pantera believes that a significant difference between this rally and 2017 is linked to the overall market composition and where value is located \u2014 with altcoins losing out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andy Yee, a public policy director for Visa in China, tweeted:<\/span> \u201cThis rally is different. Massive shift from high-speculative, non-functioning tokens in 2017 to #Bitcoin and #Ethereum today.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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FUD of the Week\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

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More institutions will warm up to crypto once market cap hits $2 trillion, eToro says<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Barriers are still hindering institutional adoption of crypto, a new report commissioned by eToro suggests.<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers at Aite Group said the crypto market could reach a $2-trillion market cap if more institutional players were to get on board amid more favorable conditions. <\/b>These firms would be more likely to adopt crypto if there was less regulatory uncertainty, a developed market infrastructure, and less risk surrounding security.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tomer Niv, head of business development at eToro, said: <\/span>\u201cOnly by widening the playing field and facilitating more participation will crypto reach and maintain a market cap of $2 trillion and beyond.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

The report also warned that \u201ctechnical complexity\u201d is an issue that needs to be addressed, with Niv adding: <\/span>\u201cMore needs to be done from a market infrastructure point of view to make this group of investors feel comfortable joining the crypto ecosystem.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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83% of cryptocurrencies that peaked in 2018 are still down by 90%<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

More than <\/span>80% <\/b>of crypto assets that hit all-time highs in January 2018 are still down by at least <\/span>90%<\/b>, according to data from Messari.<\/span><\/p>\n

The data set included <\/span>410<\/b> assets that posted record prices during 2017 or later, with 2018\u2019s <\/span>157<\/b> star coins performing the worst with an average of <\/span>-90.71%<\/b> since the previous ATH.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2017\u2019s top cryptos have since crashed by <\/span>82%<\/b> on average, while 2019\u2019s crop is down <\/span>72%<\/b>, and 2020\u2019s standouts have shed <\/span>53%<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

CMT Digital analyst Matt Casto, who spotted the data, tweeted: <\/span>\u201cHolding assets that hit high marks +3 years ago is proving to be a massive lost opportunity cost for deploying capital.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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Armed robbers steal $450,000 from Hong Kong crypto trader<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

A manhunt is underway after robbers posing as crypto buyers stole <\/span>$450,000 <\/b>from a woman in Hong Kong.<\/span><\/p>\n

One member of the gang completed multiple transactions with the victim to win their trust, and an investigation has uncovered there were three previous deals ranging between <\/span>$77,000 <\/b>and <\/span>$90,000<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the day of the robbery, the other members of the gang rushed to the scene as soon as their colleague received the Tether tokens in exchange for the $450,000 payment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Armed with knives, they proceeded to lock the woman in the office where the deal took place but not before snatching her iPhone and the cash.<\/b><\/p>\n

According to The South China Morning Post<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>the woman was able to use her second phone to inform her husband, who contacted the police. Detectives said that the woman\u2019s uncle, who chaperoned her to the meeting place, reportedly saw four men fleeing the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, the woman was unhurt in the attack, unlike other victims who have suffered physical injuries and even death at the hands of bandits looking to steal cryptocurrencies.<\/b><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Best Cointelegraph Features<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Believing, not seeing: Institutions still predict $100,000 Bitcoin price<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Even though Bitcoin has struggled to reclaim its recent high of $42,000, Shiraz Jagati says projections of BTC reaching $100,000 still seem achievable to some.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Access denied: Banks seem prone to cryptophobia despite growing adoption<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Banks in many countries continue to either outrightly deny or limit their services to crypto exchanges.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bitcoin as a last resort? Murmurs of crypto as a reserve currency abound<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Could Bitcoin fulfill the key functions of a reserve currency? Andrew Singer talks to experts as he aims to find out whether BTC can find a new and unexpected role for itself.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more \u2014 one week on Cointelegraph in one link!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":6614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[35,2413],"tags":[2772,2722,2727,2751,2736,2763,2773],"yst_prominent_words":[225,222,2236],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6616,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6610\/revisions\/6616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6610"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=6610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}