Join Cointelegraph host and analyst Benton Yaun alongside resident market experts Jordan Finneseth and Marcel Pechman as they break down the latest news in the markets this week. Here’s what to expect in this week’s markets news breakdown: the price of Bitcoin (BTC) climbed to $49,000 after news that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates and curtail its bond-buying program. Why did this announcement have an impact on Bitcoin? Top executives from six major crypto companies faced the United States House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee during a special hearing on digital assets on Dec. 8. With the largely …

Gita Gopinath, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has called for a global policy to be put in place that will regulate cryptocurrency, instead of banning it. Pitching for a global policy, Gopinath, who will soon take charge as the deputy managing director of the IMF, argued that if countries were to ban crypto then they would not have any control over offshore exchanges that are not subject to their country's regulations, which could result in them being ignored completely. “There are challenges to banning it whether you can end up with truly banning crypto because many …

Tether, the issuer of the eponymous stablecoin, has praised the decision of Myanmar’s parallel government, The National Unity Government (NGU), to use USDT as an official currency. Myanmar’s NUG is a shadow government run by the supporters of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. As Cointelegraph reported on December 13, NUG announced Tether’s USDT as official currency for local use in an official Facebook post. The finance minister claimed that USDT would offer much needed trade and transaction efficiency. In an official blog post, Tether commended the decision taken by the NUG, a government that is recognized by …

Cryptocurrency prices and investor sentiment reversed course on Dec. 15 after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell confirmed the bank's plan to hike interest rates in 2022 and slow down the bond purchasing program that had been in play since the emergence of the coronavirus in March 2020. Following the announcement, Bitcoin (BTC) price tacked on a 1.65% gain, bringing the price above $49,000 and Ether trekked back above the $4,000 mark. Altcoins followed suit with their usual double-digit gains and for the moment, it appears as if bulls have taken back control of the market. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro …

Bitcoin (BTC) climbed by over $2,000 on Dec. 15 as markets quickly reacted to news that the United States Federal Reserve would raise interest rates and curtail its bond buying program starting in 2022. "Kind of what we were thinking" Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $49,310 on Bitstamp, its highest since Sunday when the price briefly popped above the $50,000 mar. The momentum came after the Fed hinted that it could raise its benchmark rate three times next year, surpassing investor expectations. It would also increase the pace of its asset purchasing taper, the central …

On Wednesday, the Interchain Foundation, a Swiss non-profit serving as a steward of the Cosmos (ATOM) ecosystem, announced the launch of Gravity Bridge as built by decentralized internet service provider Althea. Gravity Bridge enables the transfer of ERC-20 tokens between Ethereum (ETH) and Cosmos blockchains. During its initial stages, Gravity Bridge will operate as a standalone chain before migrating to Cosmos Hub early next year. Key technical features include interchangeable token issuance across both chains and the support of Ethereum to Cosmos oracles. Simpier issued the following statement regarding the launch: In this interoperable ecosystem, Gravity Bridge’s place is a …

Bitcoin (BTC) sought cues from the United States Federal Reserve on Dec. 14 as markets waited anxiously for news on policy. BTC higher lows remain safe Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD continuing in a range around $47,000 as Wall St. opened Wednesday. The pair had hit local highs of $48,785 on Bitstamp overnight but was down 3% at the time of writing ahead of a key Fed meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will begin discussions at 2 pm Eastern Time, with expectations focusing on interest rates, inflation and asset purchase tapering. A hawkish stance …

Tokyo-based financial services giant SBI Holdings announced a joint investment in Coinhako, Singapore’s first licensed crypto exchange approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The Coinhako investment was made via a fund jointly set up by SBI and Swiss-based Sygnum Bank, namely, the SBI-Sygnum-Azimut Digital Asset Opportunity (DAO) Fund, according to the notice. Speaking to Cointelegraph, a MAS spokesperson highlighted the importance of seeking licensing approvals for crypto businesses: “MAS' approach to regulation under the Payment Services Act seeks to facilitate innovation while ensuring that adequate controls are in place to address key risks such as money laundering and …

Media is foundational to the cryptocurrency industry and has been since the beginning. Even a single look at Bitcoin (BTC) indicates the power of the media in promoting the relatively new concept and, in turn, establishing a community of enthusiasts. The development of the cryptocurrency market and the growing price of Bitcoin have since been attributed to the mainstream media. First and foremost, the media tends to focus primarily on the financial implications of the cryptocurrency world, limiting its contents to the rise and fall of prices, when in reality, this is only a subset of the technology’s impact on …

There is always going to be risks involved with interacting with cryptocurrencies and recent proof of this can be seen over the past few weeks after savvy hackers managed to abscond with millions of dollars worth of tokens from Bitmart, AscendEX and BadgerDAO exchange. Nexus Mutual is a decentralized platform that allows investors to secure insurance coverage against smart contract exploits and today the altcoin rallied by 38% even as Bitcoin and the wider crypto market continue to correct. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $46.59 on Dec. 13, the price of …

Cardano (ADA) may rally by nearly 30% in the coming days as it hints at forming a classic bullish reversal pattern. Sharp ADA rebound underway Dubbed "triple bottom," the pattern typically occurs at the end of a downtrend and consists of three consecutive lows printed roughly atop the same level. Meaning, triple bottoms indicate sellers' inability to break below a specific support level on three back-to-back attempts, which ultimately paves the way for buyers to take over. In a perfect scenario, the return of buyers to the market allows the instrument to retrace sharply towards a higher level, called "neckline," …

Dogecoin (DOGE) saw a sudden price increase on Dec. 14 after Elon Musk announced that Tesla would begin accepting it for some purchases. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed DOGE/USD climbing over 25% to become the only major cryptocurrency to deliver gains on the day. The meme-based altcoin had followed Bitcoin (BTC) and other large cap tokens downwards over the course of the week, but the turnaround gave DOGE holders 10% weekly gains. The move came after Tesla CEO Musk announced that the auto maker would soon begin accepting DOGE for merchandise. "Tesla will make some merch buyable …