Can the new UK Finance Minister provide relief for crypto and stocks?

GB Market Commentary 17/10/2022

by Marcus Sotiriou

Bitcoin closed last week above $19,000, as it has held up relatively well amongst economic turmoil. Cautiously bullish sentiment has returned to global markets today ahead of a planned statement from the new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, who will be laying out budget plans of the October 31st medium-term plan.

Hunt gave a series of interviews over the weekend and is expected to eliminate most of other tax cuts laid out in the budget proposed by Kwasi Kwarteng. As a result of this, UK 10y bond yields dropped by 24 basis points to 4.1%, which will further reassure global markets of stability. S&P 500 futures are up over 1% at time of writing, and if Hunt’s statement goes as expected, I think crypto and equities will continue to bounce.

Bitcoin miners continue to struggle in this macroeconomic environment, involving rising energy prices and decreasing crypto prices. One Bitcoin miner in particular, Digihost, is trading below $1 on the public market, resulting in the Nasdaq threatening to delist the firm.

Digihost said on Friday, "the Company’s business operations are not affected by the receipt of the Notification Letter and the Company fully intends to resolve the deficiency and regain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules."

If Digihost trades for $1 or more for a period of at least 10 consecutive days in the next 6 months, then it will regain compliance with the Nasdaq.

Substandard conditions for miners this year has resulted in two other public miners — Mawson Infrastructure Group and BIT Mining — struggling to retain their listings on the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

These miners could be in luck though, as Binance has launched a $500 million fund to provide loans to Bitcoin miners, with interest rates between 5% and 10%. With Bitcoin miners’ monthly revenue dropping sharply since the start of the year, it is no surprise that well-capitalised firms are stepping in to support them.