Bitcoin Finds a Foothold as Ethereum Continues to Steal the Spotlight

Bitcoin and Ethereum found a foothold early last week as Elon Musk discussed energy solutions with Bitcoin miners. As PayPal opened withdrawals of cryptocurrencies, Ark Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood and Bianco Research President Jim Bianco see more upside potential in Ethereum.

• Bitcoin finds strength from PayPal and renewable mining hopes
• PayPal approves cryptocurrency withdrawals
• Ethereum to flip Bitcoin?
• Strong jobs data boosts US and European markets
• President Biden unveils $6 trillion budget
• A deflationary not inflationary future for Ark Investment’s Cathie Wood
• Big-ticket reports to watch out for this week

Bitcoin settles down as decentralized platforms outperform

Although regulations in China and environmental worries concerning Bitcoin mining continued to weigh on investors, Bitcoin managed to find stability last week, maintaining a price level above the psychological $30,000 mark. After a boost from an announcement by PayPal, Bitcoin steadied itself between $35,000 and $40,000. 

Early in the week, the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, who influenced the latest sell-off, encouraged prices after speaking with Bitcoin miners in North America. After previously criticising the unsustainable way Bitcoin mining was powered, Musk spoke with Marathon Digital Holdings, a mining company, about renewable energy solutions. Following discussions a proposal was made regarding future steps.

 

On the same day Bitcoin bull, Tom Lee, spoke with CNBC and claimed that Bitcoin can still reach $100,000 by the end of this year. The Wall Street strategist said “Bitcoin volatility is sort of systematic to the network itself, so I think anybody who buys Bitcoin has to be aware it’s always going to be hyper-volatile. That’s the opportunity.”

Even though the market crash over the last few weeks was difficult to watch, it was ultimately a success for the blockchain technology. With a 50% selloff ensuing, centralized exchanges struggled with delays while decentralized exchanges (backed by blockchain technology) coped seamlessly with the increased daily trading volume. 

Yes, transaction fees spiked due to the congestion on the blockchain, but that is a known issue and is being addressed continually. The promising fact is that no trader was left waiting to execute an order. In the battle between traditional and decentralized finance, the last two weeks have shown that decentralized finance is leading the race.

PayPal approves crypto withdrawals

PayPal announced on Wednesday that it would be allowing the withdrawal of cryptocurrency funds from its platform. Users will be able to extract Bitcoin and place it within a third-party wallet, which includes the much secure option of a cold (offline) storage.

PayPal has been at the forefront of institutional cryptocurrency adoption and allowed the purchase of cryptocurrencies through the platform back in October 2020. However, up until now, cryptocurrencies have had to remain on the platform. This left many users wondering why they should use PayPal to buy cryptocurrencies in the first place? Part of crypto’s foundation and its biggest strength is that they should be easily transferable for trading, exchange or purchase. PayPal’s update is a huge success for wider cryptocurrency adoption and it would be surprising if the company ends up being the only payment provider willing to make the move. 

The announcement from PayPal boosted Bitcoin prices briefly on Wednesday.

Ethereum to flip Bitcoin?

Jim Bianco, the president of Bianco Research and market forecaster, was interviewed by CNBC last week and made it clear that if an investor can deal with the short sharp market drops, investing in cryptocurrency could pay dividends.

Bianco said “Some of these coins like Ethereum are going to be a lot higher way down the road. But you’re going to have to stomach through much more of what we saw last week coming in the next several months or year or so.”

Bianco continued “The problem is the other driver is kind of an out-of-control casino with people betting on these coins going up and down.”

Bianco explained that he resists frequently trading his cryptocurrency holdings, with purchases or sales only being made once or twice a year. Bianco owns Ethereum but not Bitcoin.

Elsewhere, Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin promoted Ethereum’s 2.0 upgrade as a way to greatly reduce its carbon footprint. Speaking at the StartmeupHK virtual event in Hong Kong, he said Ethereum’s change to a Proof-of-Stake protocol is even more necessary with the current arguments around the environmental impacts of cryptocurrencies. Proof-of-Stake requires far less resources to maintain and it is a change that he believes could be the shift required to knock Bitcoin from its number one position. 

Jobs figures boost US and European Indices

Strong job data released last Thursday boosted the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, advancing its position by more than 200 points. European markets were also bolstered by the news. Jobless claims fell to 406,000 which is a new pandemic low and demonstrates the current promotion of jobs within the labor market. Analysts were expecting the number to fall closer to 425,000.

Head of North American capital markets at Validus Risk Management, Ali Jaffari said, ‘the jobless claims print has been on a declining trend and this week’s figures mark a pandemic low. As the US economy progresses with its vaccination program and reopening measures, employment and labor force participation are expected to pick up in the coming months.”

After falling earlier in the week Treasury Yields increased on the back of positive jobs data. Jobs data is crucial to the decision made by the Fed to withdraw monetary policies, which makes them a volatile news item for investors in the bond markets.

Market movements transpired as investors watched the negotiations regarding the Biden Infrastructure package that was announced in March. Republicans in the US offered a $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion proposals.  

President Biden’s announces $6 trillion budget

After pumping trillions into the economy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic US President Joe Biden unvelied a further $6 trillion budget for next year.  

The proposal will greatly increase spending within the US and will be partially funded by raising the taxes faced by corporations. In a statement accompanying the proposal Biden said “The Budget invests directly in the American people and will strengthen our nation’s economy and improve our long-run fiscal health. It reforms our broken tax code to reward work instead of wealth, while also fully paying for the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan for over 15 years.”

Announcements of increased US government spending have in the past been met with rallies in the cryptocurrency markets but the news has so far not created such a response.

A deflationary future?

While the majority of market participants worry about inflation, Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Investment Management took a contrarian stance on the economy last week. On Thursday she spoke at the CoinDesk Consensus 2021 conference and openly stated her company was more worried and felt it was more likely for deflation to occur in the future 

She predicts commodity prices to fall, with businesses such as artificial intelligence and blockchain technology the reason for keeping prices down. She said on Thursday “as time goes on here, we are thinking that the much higher probability is deflation. I know most people think that’s crazy, given what’s going on. But we have seen a crack in some commodity prices already.”

She believes that if commodity prices start to fall, the currencies of the emerging market countries that rely on them will begin to diminish. This could lead to emerging market central banks turning to something like Bitcoin. 

Although Wood is a strong believer in Bitcoin, openly stating that the cryptocurrency has proved itself as a store of value, her company Ark is focused primarily on Ethereum.  

Big-ticket reports to watch out for this week:

Monday – China Non-Manufacturing PMI and Manufacturing PMI 

Tuesday – Australia Interest Rate Decision, Switzerland GDP, Euro Consumer Price Index, Canada GDP, US ISM Manufacturing PMI, Bank of England Govenors Speech

Wednesday – Australia GDP, Canada Building Permits

Thursday – Australia Retail Sales and Trade Balance, US Employment Change, US Initial Jobless Claims, US ISM Services PMI, Bank of Englands Governors Speech 

Friday – Euro Retail Sales, Canada Unemployment Rate, US Nonfarm Payrolls, Canada Ivey Purchasing Index

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