2017 Bull run

Bitcoin Slides Over 13%, Veteran Trader Peter Brandt Suggests BTC Will Peak at $200k but Hints of Possible Deep Corrections

22/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

Veteran trader Peter Brandt has implied in a tweet that bitcoin will go through deep price corrections before it gets to the $200,000 mark. Brandt points to the 2015-17 bull run when bitcoin went through similar corrections about nine times as the precedent the crypto asset might follow.

More Corrections Expected

Consequently, Brandt is asking his Twitter followers to predict the number of similar 30% price corrections that they expect to see before BTC ultimately gets to the $200,000. Already, as Brandt explains in the tweet, the crypto asset has gone through one such correction since the March 2020 price crash.

Nevertheless, since then the crypto asset, whose price grew by more than 300% in 2020, has been on an upward trend. On February 21, the crypto asset set a new all-time high of $58,228, according to Messari data. As a consequence, some bitcoiners now predict that a price of $100,000 can be achieved in 2021.

In the meantime on Twitter, the reaction to Brandt’s BTC price prediction, as well as his expectation of large corrections, has been mixed. Some users appear to agree with Brandt’s suggestion that there will be many corrections before the $200,000 price is achieved. Still, others think BTC will even surpass $200,000 while many believe the number of corrections will be fewer this time around.

Bitcoiners Expect Fewer Corrections

For instance, in their reply to Brandt, one user named Tho said:

Couldn’t tell, because the end of this bull run is $298,000, not $200,000 and if you ask how many times, the answer is 6 times. it’s mean that 4 more times.

Another user, Mike Thomas says there will be one significant correction at around $100,000. Still, Thomas argues: “With the (increased) amount of coins coming offline, the increased demand, and barring another black swan event, I do think 30%+ corrections are a thing of the past.”

Meanwhile, another user known as Frank Squisher insists that “if the speed of this parabolic rise increases, the next correction could be the last one…If it slows down a bit, we may be able to handle one more big correction before the final run-up.”

Still, not all users are convinced that the crypto asset will make it to $200,000. One such user, London hold asks: “The question is do you think we’ll hit 200k?”

Meanwhile, on Feb. 22, bitcoin (BTC) prices dipped significantly to the $47,500 region after being above the $55k handle for a short period of time. BTC lost 13.63% in value quickly on Monday, but has since regained some of the losses.

Want to follow all the crypto market action in real-time? Check out markets.Bitcoin.com.

Do you agree that BTC will go through many corrections before it reaches the $200,000 mark? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Mark Cuban Tells Stock Traders That BTC Hodlers ‘Are a Great Example to Follow’

04/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

Billionaire and crypto-asset supporter, Mark Cuban has identified bitcoin hodlers’ endurance as a model that stock investors can follow. According to the billionaire, after acquiring the asset at high prices back in 2017, the hodlers “held on because they believed in the asset.”

Following in the Footsteps of BTC Hodlers

These long term hodlers were unmoved even when the crypto asset lost more than two-thirds of its value after the 2017/18 bull run ended. Cuban’s remarks about BTC hodlers were in response to a request for advice to stock traders that incurred losses in the past week. In his reply, the billionaire, who recently praised the efforts Wallstreetbets (WSB) traders, explains that regular stock traders should follow an approach that is similar to his and that of BTC hodlers.

The billionaire explains:

When I buy a stock I make sure I know why I’m buying it. Then I Hodl until I learn that something has changed. The price may go up or down, but if I still believe in the logic that made me buy the asset, I don’t sell. If something changed that I didn’t expect, then I look at selling.

WSB’s Shortcomings

Meanwhile, during the same ask me anything (AMA) session, Cuban also discusses the likely implications of WSB’s game-changing fight again Wall Street powerhouses. However, Cuban does identify one flaw that worked against the success of the rebellion. He explains:

There was only one thing that messed you all up, Robinhood and the other zero commission brokers that everyone used didn’t have enough capital to fund the fight. They let you down in a big way.

Cuban’s latest praise of the WSB movement is the second time he has done so in less than a week. Prior to the AMA, the billionaire wrote in his blog about how the “store of value generation” is challenging the status quo.

In the meantime, the billionaire also took time to explain his fondness for “game-changing technologies.” Responding to another Reddit user, Cuban says he has “no interest in selling any tokens that I buy or earn.” Instead, the billionaire tells the user that he is “in this because he thinks some of the next great applications can be built on top of the blockchain.”

What are your thoughts on Cuban’s remarks about bitcoin hodlers? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Analysts: Institutional Investor Interest Fueling BTC Rally, Liquidity Crunch Narrative Debunked

21/11/2020 by Idelto Editor

Crypto analysts are pushing back against the narrative that the current BTC rally is being fuelled by a liquidity crunch afflicting bitcoin mining pools in China. The liquidity crunch, which is caused by an ongoing regulatory crackdown in that country, has reportedly left miners unable to sell their BTC holdings.

Miners Are Selling

The analysts are instead backing a counter-narrative which points to institutional investor interest as the reason for the current BTC rally. Using data to support their assertions, the analysts suggest that the current bull run, which has different characteristics with the one in 2017, is likely to continue as institutional investor interest continues to grow.

First to present data that debunks the Chinese liquidity crunch narrative is Lucas Nuzzi of Coinmetrics. In remarks made via a Twitter thread, Nuzzi argues that mining pools not selling their BTC stocks at this point is just “part of a long-term trend.” Indeed, the Coinmetrics data does show that mining pools, a majority of which are mainly domiciled in China, are not selling as their stock levels have remained within the same range over the past 24 months.

On the other hand, the data shows it is the inventories of individual miners that have been dropping for the past month. This according to Nuzzi suggests that miners are in fact able to sell. Next, Nuzzi uses another metric to bolster his argument against the liquidity crunch narrative. Nuzzi says:

Now, let’s look at miner outflows, which directly measures outgoing payments from both Pools (red) and Individual miners (green). Again, the data invalidates that narrative. The recent spikes in funds sent shows that miners are moving assets, which signals the ability to sell.

Furthermore, the analyst says “the 30-day Miner Rolling Inventory also suggests that nothing out of ordinary is taking place in mining pools or their individual constituents.”

With the data apparently discrediting the liquidity crunch narrative, Nuzzi believes instead that “other factors, such as increased institutional participation and macroeconomic concerns, are more likely the culprit.”

Institutional Investors Behind BTC Rally

Meanwhile, the blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis is similarly concluding in its own thread that large corporations and billionaires are behind the current bitcoin rally. In its analysis, the firm asserts that “demand is high at a time (when) relatively few bitcoins are available to buy.” The firm adds that “77% of mined BTC that hasn’t been lost is currently held in illiquid wallets that historically send less than 25% of Bitcoin they receive.”

This leaves a pool of just 3.4M BTC for buyers at a time when the digital asset is getting an endorsement from mainstream organisations.

In addition, Chainalysis makes the comparison between current data and that from 2017. The data shows that the amount of BTC held at the tail-end of 2017 is almost similar to current levels. Using this data the thread concludes:

The amount of Bitcoin available to buy is similar to during the 2017 bull run. But in 2017, not nearly as much was held in those illiquid wallets we mentioned, which we believe mostly belong to investors holding for the long term.

In the rest of the thread, Chainalysis points to the growing evidence of institutional investors buying BTC for purposes of holding as the reason for the price rally.

Do you agree that the liquidity crunch in China is not the cause of the BTC rally? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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Defi Boom: Bubble Fears Grow as ‘Toxic’ Community Disagrees on Way Forward

14/09/2020 by Idelto Editor

The decentralized finance (defi) space is headed for an implosion unless the divided community leaders step forward with solutions. This is discernible from September 13 Sunday morning tweets by some influential players in the defi space wherein they attack each other. Waves blockchain creator Sasha Ivanov kicked things after depicting current defi ecosystem as Ponzi 2.0 and not the much talked about finance 2.0.

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the current leader of Sushiswap, expresses fears that yield farming food tokens are in fact propagating the decentralized finance (defi) bubble, while the Yearn Finance creator, Andre Cronje believes liquidity fragmentation to be one of the contributing factors to challenges facing defi.

The sentiments reflect the general acknowledgement and concern about the growth as well as the fate of defi. Still, the defi community— which Cronje once labelled toxic— seems to be dominated by individuals fixated with personal agendas This was on display on when Ivanov attacked the idea of the automated market maker (AMM), which some argue to be a great solution.

In his tweets, Ivanov, who insists that Finance 2.0 “will still come anyway”, also suggests AMM is not the solution. The Waves creator explains:

“AMM is not so groundbreaking as working pool mechanics. Pools are awesome. AMM IMO not so much. No matter how high the volume is now.” AMMs are entities tasked with creating price action on an exchange that would otherwise be illiquid without trading activity.

Before the apparent critique on AMMs, an “optimistic” Ivanov tweeted favourably of “Aave, Curve, and a couple of other projects” which he termed “really groundbreaking.” Ivanov’s remarks, which omitted YFI, did not go unnoticed.

Perhaps in an indirect response to Invanov’s comments, Cronje, who is credited with helping to build the defi space into a billion industry, tweeted a few hours later stating why AMM is needed. In his tweet, Cronje argues:

“Liquidity is becoming incredibly fragmented. LPs have to choose between pairing assets. The more fragmented, the more expensive (slippage+gas). What we need now is an AMM that can scale 1..n with pooled liquidity, single asset exposure, and cheap swaps.”

Still, despite the differences, both Ivanov and Cronje still share a common view that the defi space is being overrun by bad actors. In an earlier tweet, Cronje complained that the Sushiswap controversy had made “defi a joke again.” This was after Chef Nomi, the anonymous creator of Sushiswap said he had returned funds that he seized in the previous week.

The tweet by Cronje may have prompted Bankman-Fried, the current leader of Sushiswap, to post his own thread in which he criticizes yield farming food coins. In his thread, Bankman-Fried starts by posing questions; “Is yield farming sustainable? Is it stupid? Is it revolutionary?”

Bankman-Fried tries to make a case for certain coins that he claims to “have obvious utility.” And just like Ivanov, the Sushiswap co-founder gives his list of “important products that people use even ignoring (yield) farming.” These include Compound Finance, Aave and Balancer.

Bankman-Fried also touts Sushiswap alongside Creamdot Finance as “forks on useful products.”

Predictably, the Sushiswap cofounder tears into YFI’s value, which is he says is “a weird case.” He argues that “right now (YFI) mostly just about farming, but it’s also the king of farming, the meta-farming coin, and so it kinda makes sense that it should get a decent piece of that pie.” At the time of writing, YFI was trading at $39,500.

Meanwhile, as influential players engaged in this battle, Twitter users have weighed into the controversial debate. Responding to Bankman-Fried’s thread, user LTTG said.

Any unregulated markets will attract bad actors that try to game the system through perceived legitimacy. Only time will tell which separates the projects that provide real value or the fake ones that only exist to scam money from the public.

Ryan Selkis, a founder at Messari, also added his voice to those worried about defi by drawing parallels with events during the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) bubble. In a tweet he said:

“ICOs boomed for a while because everyone (laughably) thought there would be a coordinating utility token for every industry. Defi is just one big pool of capital sloshing around a small group of insiders and mercenaries who will soon run out of victims to fleece.”

What are your thoughts about the challenges facing Defi? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The post Defi Boom: Bubble Fears Grow as ‘Toxic’ Community Disagrees on Way Forward appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin’s 10% Drop Shrugged Off – Traders Expect More Big Dips On the Way Up

04/08/2020 by Idelto Editor

Bitcoin investors are shrugging off the recent drop in value that saw a loss of over 10.9% on Sunday. A number of speculators believe the price is still very bullish but expect some more big dips along the way. Meanwhile, optimism has been cushioned as onchain statistics show that exchange withdrawals also surpassed deposits on Sunday.

This past Sunday, bitcoin (BTC) took a price hit and the entire crypto market followed it’s downward slump from a high of $12,000 to below $10,700 losing 10.9% in value. The sharp drop was quick and even though a decent amount of value was lost, investors believe that BTC will recoup the losses and continue to gain.

During the bull run that started at the end of 2016 and all the way until December 17, 2017, there were at least six large drops in value on the way up. The third most copied trader on Etoro, @Anders, told his 2,800 Twitter followers that the recent dip was all part of the game.

“This is nothing,” Anders said after the 10.9% drop. “Get ready for 30+% corrections. If you can’t handle those, you won’t make it to blow-off top. The first 30% correction in the last bull run saw weak hands leave BTC at $800. They then watched it go to $20,000. I believe there were six 30% corrections 2016-2017.”

There were in fact six 30% dips between those periods although some of them were in the 29% range. After the last two big drops between June 23, to July 16, and September 3, to September 14, 2017, the dips contracted lower on the way up to the all-time high (ATH).

In 2017, on June 23, bitcoin’s price hit a high of $2,720 but subsequently dropped 29.4% to $1,920 on July 16. Then the following September 3, BTC hit a high of $4,918 but dropped a whopping 34% down to $3,242 ten days later.

As mentioned above BTC’s price drops were much smaller from here on out and shrank up until the $19,600 ATH. The next drop was 10% smaller as the price ran up to $7,415 on November 8, 2017. But four days later the price dropped 20.5% as BTC touched a low of $5,892.

From this point, there were a few smaller dips as the price jogged its way up to $16,039 on December 8, and two days later it slid by 6% to $15,061. There was one more drop in value over 4% as the price of bitcoin slid from $17,120 to $16,395 between December 12 and 14. Three days later the price touched its all-time price high and the BTC/USD ATH on the exchange Bitstamp was $19,600 per coin.

The recent drop in value was decent, but many bitcoiners expect some more 30% slides even if the bulls break the ATH. BTC is still down 43% below the ATH and that was more than three years ago from today.

Data from Glassnode’s “Exchange Net Flow” statistics indicate that even though there was a 10.9% drop, crypto exchange withdrawals outpaced deposits. The data suggests that traders are long and not willing to sell their coins as a stronger net flow of deposits may mean traders are preparing to sell on exchanges.

Moreover, Glassnode researchers say that “less than 10% of the BTC supply was last moved at prices above $11,000.”

No one is sure why BTC’s price slid over 10% on Sunday, but the Dutch serial entrepreneur Marc van der Chijs claimed it could be a large BTC whale. “When the whale took profit it immediately caused a (small) price drop,” Marc van der Chijs tweeted.

“However, because speculators were long some of them had to put up additional margins to keep their positions open. Being leveraged they could not do that, so they had to close their position (=sell BTC).” The Dutch entrepreneur added:

Because the liquidity was so low on a Saturday night/Sunday morning hat caused more traders to be liquidated (=forced to sell), causing the price to fall even further. This chain reaction basically led to a $1,500 fall in the BTC price within 10 minutes.

What do you think about the 10% drop this past Sunday? Let us know in the comments section below.

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