The crypto markets are currently held tight in the grasp of the bears. At the moment, there does not seem to be any specific news or event that has triggered the strong decline but one possibility is that some short-term investors who had been holding on to their positions in hopes of a rally are dumping at the current prices. The announcement of the first phase of a trade deal between China and the United States and the likelihood of the US Fed will not raise rates in 2020 appears to have boosted sentiment in the US stock market which …

Digital currency management company BitGo has told users to move or convert funds they hold in altcoin Bitcoin SV (BSV) due to a compatibility problem. In a blog post on Dec. 18, BitGo said BSV’s upcoming hard fork, known as Genesis, contained a protocol change which would mean its wallets will be unable to receive transactions. BitGo warns of BSV “deprecation” The hard fork is set to occur in February 2020. After that time, BitGo users will only be able to spend remaining BSV tokens, not accept incoming transactions. Describing the event as “deprecation,” the company advised users to move …

Bitcoin’s market dominance has been holding above 65% mark since late July of this year. This shows that Bitcoin continues to garner the maximum interest from the market participants. There were periods in the past few months when it looked like an “altseason” was around the corner but it never materialized. Most major cryptocurrencies — led by Bitcoin — topped out in June of this year and have been gradually moving lower since. At the end of the year, in the absence of any major trigger, fresh money is unlikely to enter the space. Most institutional players prefer to park …

Data from CoinMetrics shows that crypto whales now hold 42.1% of Bitcoin’s current supply. This is a slight increase compared to 37.9% two years back and analysts have interpreted the increase as a positive sign, as it shows large investors have been accumulating Bitcoin during its bear phase. There is, however, no major change in the top 1,000 addresses, as their holdings only inched up from 34.4% at the end of 2017 to 34.8%, according to Flipside. While retail traders have been worried about picking a bottom, large investors are looking at the possible upside to be attained over the …

Paris-based asset management firm Napoleon AM has announced the launch of a specialized professional fund under French law, the Napoleon Bitcoin Fund. The fund would replicate the price of the cash-settled Bitcoin futures listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. According to the company, this is one of the first regulated products giving exposure to Bitcoin, with which institutional investors can diversify their portfolio. While the firms are launching crypto products for professional investors, not every investor is confident about the future of Bitcoin. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban believes that BTC could never become a reliable currency because “it's too difficult …

China could start its pilot for the central bank digital currency (CBDC) before the end of this year, according to local news outlet Caijing. The article states that the anticipated pilot project “will go out of the central bank system and enter real service scenarios such as transportation, education, and medical treatment,” which will reach the end users. The project will be overseen by the Chinese central bank and will include four major banks and large corporations such as China Telecom. This is a significant step as it will give China a major head start over other developed economies. Daily …

In its “Imagine 2030” report, Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid forecast that by 2030, digital currencies could replace cash. Reid said that in order for mainstream integration to occur, digital currencies will have to convince regulators that they are safe for investors and find solutions for issues such as cyber attacks, electricity consumption and digital war. Cryptocurrency adoption by a large traditional financial institution could also signal that digital assets could one day replace fiat currencies in the future. To counter the possibility of fiat currencies being undermined by cryptocurrencies, several governments are planning to issue their own central bank …

On Dec. 2, open interest on Bakkt’s Bitcoin futures reached a new all-time high. This came just a few days after the daily Bitcoin futures trading volume had hit a lifetime high. These back to back trading volume records show an increasing interest from institutional investors but the majority of the crypto community is still wondering why Bitcon’s spot price is not steadily increasing. Bakkt’s launch of Bitcoin options contracts on Dec. 9 is likely to attract more players to trade the digital asset. As the derivatives market size increases, it could have a greater effect on Bitcoin’s spot price. …

Bitcoin price continues to trade with an advantage to bears but this does not mean investors or miners have capitulated. About 64% of the total Bitcoin mined to date has been dormant in wallets since 2018. This shows that Bitcoin hodlers do not believe in trading for short-term gains, as they anticipate much higher prices in the future. While this might be a feasible strategy for the whales, retail traders can rake up profits if they buy during periods of deep distress and sell their positions during times of euphoria. One of the events that many hopeful investors are anticipating …

The futures market provides good insight into the sentiment of larger players. If the futures volume continues to rise in a falling market, this indicates that a decline is likely to extend further. However, if the volume increases with a rise in price, this shows that the market participants are accumulating positions. On Nov. 27, Bitcoin closed in the green and Bitcoin futures on Bakkt hit a new all-time high volume record which was 60% higher than the previous record. This shows that institutional players have increased their activity during the most recent relief rally. This points to possible accumulation …

The theft of 342,000 Ether (ETH) from South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit could have halted the current relief rally taking place in the crypto market. However, Lee Seok-woo, the CEO of Upbit’s operator, Dunamu said that the company will cover for the losses. This erased some of the initial concerns of the market participants and improved sentiment. When sentiment is negative, the markets fall quickly but take a lot longer to rise. This week a bullish bit of news came from Bitcoin ATM firm Bitstop. The company intends to install Bitcoin ATMs at several Simon Malls locations in the United …

The total crypto market capitalization has bounced from the $180 billion mark. We anticipate a strong support in the $168 billion to $183 billion range because the market cap had consolidated in this range in April of this year, before moving higher. So, on the way down, we expect this range to act as a strong support. Although Bitcoin (BTC) has started this leg of the down move, it is interesting to note that it has not given up its crypto market dominance, which remains above 66%. This shows that the altcoins are unlikely to go against Bitcoin’s main trend. …