The U.S. stock market approaches a crucial turning point as uncertainty over inflation rises after hotter-than-expected economic data released in February. Despite mounting investor worries, the economy is showing signs of resilience that could protect against a significant downside move. The escalating risk-off sentiment in the market is also creating volatility for Bitcoin (BTC). The leading crypto asset, which has had a strong correlation with the U.S. stock market, moved oppositely to the stock market in February. The correction between BTC and Nasdaq turned negative for the first time in two years. However, with the crypto bulls pausing at the …

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $25,000 on Feb. 21, accruing a 53% year-to-date gain at the time, it made sense to expect the rally to continue after U.S. retail sales data from the previous week vastly surpassed the market consensus. This fuelled investors' hope for a soft landing and the possible aversion of a recession in the U.S. economy. The apex of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s strategy success would be increasing interest rates and scaling back its $9 trillion balance sheet reduction without significatively damaging the economy. If that miracle happens, the outcome would benefit risk assets, including stocks, commodities …

It’s possible that many people have already forgotten that Bitcoin’s (BTC) price closed 2022 at $16,529 and the recent rebound and rejection at the $25,000 level could raise concern among certain investors. Bears are pushing back at the $25,000 level and there has been multiple failed attempts at the level between Feb. 16 and Feb. 21. Currently, it looks like the $23,500 resistance is continuing to gain strength with every retest. Pinpointing the rationale behind Bitcoin’s 45.5% year-to-date gain is not apparent, but part of it comes from the United States Federal Reserve’s inability to curb inflation while raising interest …

It might seem like forever and a day ago when the Bitcoin (BTC) price was trading below $18,000, but in reality, it was 40 days ago. Generally, cryptocurrency traders tend to have a short-term memory and, more importantly, they attribute less importance to negative news during bull runs. A great example of this behavior is BTC’s 15% gain since Feb. 13, despite a steady flow of bad news in the crypto market. For instance, on Feb. 13, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) ordered Paxos to "cease minting" the Paxos-issued Binance USD (BUSD) dollar-pegged stablecoin. Similarly, Reuters …

Bitcoin (BTC) price and the wider crypto market corrected at the start of this week, giving back a small portion of the gains accrued in January, but it’s safe to say that the more experienced traders expected some sort of technical correction. What was unexpected was the SEC’s Feb. 9 enforcement against Kraken exchange and the regulator’s announcement that staking-as-service programs are unregulated securities. The crypto market sold-off on the news and given Kraken’s decision to close up 100% of its staking services, traders are concerned that Coinbase will eventually be forced to do the same. The real question is, …

The collapse of FTX and related developments did more to pull up or push down the price of Bitcoin (BTC) throughout Q4, compared to macroeconomic events such as rate hikes, according to research. In a “State of Bitcoin Q4 2022” report published on Feb. 10, Messari research analysts Sami Kassab and Chris Collar found that the collapse of the exchange resulted in a 25% decrease in the price of Bitcoin. How did #Bitcoin fare in Q4 22' in the wake of unfavorable macro and crypto environments? +FTX collapse caused a 25% swing, affecting centralized entities/exchange balance +Annual performance down 64% …

The total crypto market cap jumped nearly 4% following a speech from United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in which he suggested the economy’s disinflationary process has started. “We can now say, I think for the first time, that the disinflationary process has started […] we see it really in goods prices,” said Powell during a Feb. 1 Federal Open Market Committee press briefing shortly after announcing a federal interest rate hike of 0.25%. The interest rate hike and remarks appeared to have gone down well in the crypto markets, which had been trading sideways in the lead-up to …

The holding company for the crypto-friendly bank, BankProv, has revealed it’s no longer providing loans secured by cryptocurrency mining rigs after writing off $47.9 million in loans primarily secured by them throughout 2022. According to a Jan. 31 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), BankProv has already nearly halved the proportion of its digital asset portfolio consisting of rig-collateralized debt since the quarter ending Sep. 30, 2022. The bank held $41.2 million in digital asset-related loans as of Dec. 30 last year consisting of $26.7 million worth of loans collateralized by crypto mining rigs which “will …

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $22,500 on Jan. 20 and has since been able to defend that level — accumulating 40.5% gains in the month of January. The move accompanied improvements in the stock market, which also rallied after China dropped COVID-19 restrictions after three years of strict pandemic controls. E-commerce and entertainment companies lead as the year-to-date market performers. Warner Bros (WBD) added 54%, Shopify (SHOP) 42%, MercadoLibre (MELI) 41%, Carnival Corp (CCL) 35% and Paramount Global (PARA) managed a gain 35% so far. Corporate earnings continue to attract investors' inflow and attention after oil-producer Chevron posted the second-largest …

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 …