Market
picture
Bitcoin
remains near $19.3K, unchanged over the past 24 hours, remaining painfully
immovable by cryptocurrency standards. Ethereum is adding 0.3% to $1347, while
the entire crypto market is making minimal moves. Total crypto market
capitalisation rose 0.15% overnight to $931bn, according to CoinMarketCap
estimates.
Although US
stock indices overcame the initial decline on Monday, Bitcoin continued to sell
off from its 50-day average. This passivity of cryptocurrency buyers is causing
some wariness. This apathy towards the positive news backdrop could manifest as
an internal caution about risk demand.
According to
CoinShares, investments in crypto funds declined slightly last week. Outflows
amounted to $5m compared to inflows of $12m a week earlier. Bitcoin investments
increased by $5 million, Ethereum investments decreased by $3 million and
investments in funds that provide shorts on bitcoin decreased by $7 million.
The leader in inflows of funds in altcoins was XRP ($1 million).
News
background
Most
cryptocurrency investors surveyed by Bloomberg MLIV Pulse expect bitcoin to
trade in the $17,600-25,000 range by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, 56% of
respondents are willing to invest in crypto assets.
Billionaire
Frank Giustra, who built his fortune on investments in the mining industry,
tried to convince crypto investors that it is better to invest in gold.
According to him, the US authorities will sooner or later destroy bitcoin as a
competitor to the digital dollar.
Another
recalculation saw the first cryptocurrency’s mining difficulty rise by 3.44% to
a new high of 36.84T. The average hash rate consolidated above the 260 EH/s
level.
Over the
year, the share of public miners in bitcoin’s hash rate has quadrupled to 25%,
the Hash rate Index noted. During last year’s bull market, many companies in
the industry went public, gaining access to capital to expand operations.
According to
the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), the US (37.8% of VTC hash
rate) tops the world in mining. China (21.1%) and Kazakhstan (13.2%) follow.
This article was written by FxPro’s Senior Market Analyst Alex
Kuptsikevich.
