By Kitco News / October 18, 2021 / www.kitco.com /
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Strengths
Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was GreenMoon (GRM), rising 460,763,129.80%.
ETF giant Invesco partners with crypto billionaire Michael Novagratz's Galaxy Digital holdings to bring two ETFs to market. Tickers SATO and BLKC began trading last Thursday on Cboe Global Markets. Both ETFs are among nearly a dozen of crypto-themed ETFs that issuers are seeking regulatory approval for, published Bloomberg in an article this week.
The world's largest digital currency, Bitcoin, rose about 3% this Friday - taking the rally to over 35% since this summer after Bloomberg reported that the SEC looks to allow the country's first futures-base cryptocurrency ETF.
Weaknesses
Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performing for the week was StrikeCoin (STRIKE), down 99.45%.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of the largest bank in the U.S. by market cap, JPMorgan Chase, calls Bitcoin futile. "I personally think that Bitcoin is worthless," says Dimon, during an Institute of International Finance (IIF) event reported by Bloomberg.
Coinbase Global (Ticker: COIN) was rated underperformed with a $160 price target at Autonomous Research. An article by CoinDesk states that the reason for the underperformance rating is due to the lack of crypto innovation. Coinbase is losing market share to other exchanges wrote a research analyst at Autonomous Research.
Opportunities
The U.S claims Bitcoin mining crown following China's crackdown. According to Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, the U.S accounts for 35.4% of the global hashrate. The Chinese crackdown has driven firms to see the need to spread their operations around rather than having a centralized location, writes an article by CoinDesk.
Bitcoin $60k resistance hits at ‘buy the dip' opportunity before all-time highs. Order book data are repeating behaviors from August; in other words, more sellers are demanding higher prices for BTC, reports CoinTelegraph.
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A MakerDAO delegate is leading the charge to educate lawmakers about Decentralized Finance (or DeFi for short). Paper Imperium, the most powerful member of the DAO, controls 3% of the voting rights for the protocol and has been building a network of bankers, politicians and policymakers to educate and encourage adoption.
Threats
Traders pilling into overvalued crypto funds risk a painful exit, writes Bloomberg Businessweek. It's possible for a crypto trust to issue new shares, but it has no ability to redeem them - a key reason the trust's prices stray away from the value of Bitcoin. "A pretty significant premium can quickly reverse and become a sizable discount when people begin selling" says Ben Johnson, Morningstar Inc's global director of ETF research.
Tether is crypto's biggest danger, not China or the SEC. Tether's biggest claim is that all USDT is back to a 1:1 ratio by the U.S dollar, however, Bloomberg Businessweek has shed some light in the charades Tether has been playing for years. Bitfinex has been taking hundreds of millions of Tether's USD reserves for money it lost in shady deals. Tether has been investing their reserves in short-term Chinese loans, which experts describe as very dangerous. There's also $1 billion lent to Celsius Network, a cryptocurrency lending company, that is being booted out of the U.S by regulators. The billions in profits go to Tether executives. But if there was ever to be a catastrophic loss resulting from such investments, it's the USDT holders and the broader market that would feel the aftershock.
Mexico rules out accepting crypto as legal tender. An article published by CoinTelegraph states that The Bank of Mexico and the National Banking and Securities commission warned financial institutions not to deal with digital assets. The President said the country is unlikely to follow in El Salvador's footsteps by adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.
By Frank E. HolmesContributing tokitco.com
fholmes@usfunds.comwww.goldnewsletter.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of
Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.