The Federal Reserve Board has rejected Custodia Bank’s application to become a member of the Federal Reserve System. In its announcement, the Fed stated that the application was “inconsistent with the required factors under the law.” It also claimed Custodia had an “insufficient” management framework and cited an earlier joint declaration by the Fed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that found crypto assets to be at odds with sound banking practices. STATEMENT FROM CUSTODIA BANK about today's Federal Reserve action on its membership application. Its master account application remains pending: pic.twitter.com/QkMjcT508J …

Bitcoin (BTC) price had a mixed reaction on Jan. 25 after the United States reported a 2.9% gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter, slightly better than expected. Still, the sum of all goods and services commercialized between October and December grew less than 3.2% from the previous quarter. Albeit somewhat optimistic, another data set limiting investors' confidence was news that the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) would revert its contractive measures anytime soon as U.S. durable goods orders jumped 5.6% in December. The indicator came in much higher than anticipated, so it could potentially mean that interest rates could …

For much of 2022, the crypto market focused on the U.S. Federal Reserve's actions. The central bank created a bearish environment for risk-on assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies by increasing the interest rates on borrowing. Toward the end of 2022, positive economic data, healthy employment numbers and a decreasing inflation rate provided hope that a much-awaited slowdown in the rate of interest rate hikes would occur. Currently, the market expects the rate hikes to reduce from 50 basis points (bps) to 25 bps before the complete end of the hike regime by mid-2023. From the perspective of the Fed's goal …

Bitcoin (BTC) has been consolidating near $23,000 for the past few days. The next big question troubling investors is whether the rally is over or if Bitcoin resume its recovery. The strong year-to-date rally in Bitcoin has turned several analysts bullish in the short term. They anticipate Bitcoin to extend its up-move and reach $25,000 and even $30,000. However, for the slightly longer term, analysts seem to be divided. In comments to Cointelegraph, economist Lyn Alden said Bitcoin could face “considerable danger” in the second half of 2023 as liquidity risks rise. On the other hand, ARK Invest CEO and …

Bitcoin investors' sentiment improved after signals pointing to lower inflationary pressure suggested that the U.S. Federal Reserve could soon move away from its interest rate increase and quantitative tightening. Commonly known as a pivot, the trend change would benefit risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. On Jan. 22, the China-based peer-to-peer trades of USD Coin (USDC) reached a 3.5% premium versus the United States dollar, indicating moderate FOMO by retail traders. This level is the highest in more than 6 months, suggesting excessive cryptocurrency buying demand has pressured the indicator above fair value. The all-time high on the 7-day Bitcoin hash …

Bitcoin (BTC) still risks “considerable danger” in 2023 as macroeconomic conditions dictate price action. That is according to economist Lyn Alden, who in private comments to Cointelegraph cautioned on Bitcoin staying bullish after its January gains. Alden: BTC price bottom is a "process" Optimism is increasing throughout crypto as BTC/USD broadly retains levels, which are 40% higher than at the start of the year. What the rest of 2023 may hold, however, is still a topic of debate, and Alden suggests that it is naive to assume that the good times will continue unchecked. The reason, she says, lies with …

The chief executive from crypto and tech investment firm Ark Invest believes crypto assets will see a huge turnaround this year as inflation falls and the Fed pivots. In a company video blog on Jan. 23, Ark Invest CEO and CIO, Cathie Wood, started with a glance at the macroeconomic outlook. She said there was all kind of signals pointing to lower inflation which “suggests that the Fed should pivot soon.” This would be beneficial for risk-on assets such as crypto as the macroeconomic outlook improves and financial belts are loosened. She added that the firm believes inflation will come …

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied 11% between Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, reaching the $23,000 level and shattering bears' expectations for a pullback to $20,000. Even more notable is the move brought demand from Asia-based retail investors according to data from a key stablecoin premium indicator. Traders should note that the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index also gained 5.1% between Jan. 20 and Jan. 23, fueled by investors' hope in China reopening for business after temporary shutdowns caused by the CCP’s virus contagion measures and weaker than expected economic data in the U.S. and the Eurozone. Another bit of bullish information came on Jan. …

Bitcoin (BTC) starts the last week of January in fine form after sealing its highest weekly close in five months. Despite opposition, the largest cryptocurrency is holding on to its newfound strength and continues to surprise market participants. This is no mean feat — market sentiment has plenty to spook it and initiate a rethink among investors. Macro conditions remain uncertain, while within Bitcoin, research has highlighted whales on exchanges potentially moving prices artificially with huge amounts of liquidity. Nonetheless, Bitcoin has seen its most impressive gains percentage-wise in over a year, and hopes remain that the good times will …

Bitcoin (BTC) price has held above $20,700 for 4 days, fueling bulls' hope for another leg up to $23,000 or even $25,000. Behind the optimistic move was a decline in inflationary pressure, confirmed by the December 2022 wholesale prices for goods on Jan. 18. The United States producer price index, which measures final demand prices across hundreds of categories also declined 0.5% versus the previous month. Eurozone inflation also came in at 9.2% year-on-year in December 2022, marking the second consecutive decline from October's 10.7% record high. A milder-than-expected winter reduced the risk of a gas shortages and softened energy …

In his latest blog post released on Jan. 19, Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of BitMEX exchange predicted a “global financial meltdown” thanks to future United States economic woes. Hayes: Crypto will "get smoked" in Fed pivot Bitcoin’s current rally should likely not be taken as the start of a new bull run. That is the opinion of Arthur Hayes, who in a fresh treatise on U.S. macroeconomic policy this week warned that current Federal Reserve behavior would flip from restrictive to liberal, but cause cryptoassets to “get smoked.” With U.S. inflation easing, the Fed is the focus of practically …

Bitcoin (BTC) price jumped to $17,500 on Jan. 11, driving it to its highest level in three weeks. The price move gave bulls control of the $275 million BTC weekly options expiry on Jan. 13 because bears had placed bets at $16,500 and lower. The recent move has perma-bulls and dip buyers calling a market bottom and potential end to the bear market but what does the data actually show? Is the Bitcoin bear market over? It might seem too pessimistic to say right now, but Bitcoin did trade below the $16,500 level on Dec. 30 and those bearish bets …