GB Market Commentary 11/06/2021

By Alex Clark

The threat of a BTC death cross continues to loom, with some traders pausing to see what happens. If bitcoin’s 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average, the price will head lower presenting significant buying opportunity.

Despite this, Bitcoin made a quick 5% gain early this morning after being formally recognised as an asset class by the Basel Committee. The Committee will introduce capital rules for cryptocurrency, including the need for banks to set aside enough capital to cover any losses in Bitcoin in full.

Crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank has abruptly cut ties with Binance, meaning the exchange no longer supports USD deposits and withdrawals. It is still unclear why Silvergate Bank ended the partnership with Binance but users who do send USD deposits will have their funds returned to them within 21 working days, minus banking fees.

The 1inch Network, which enables users to buy or sell crypto assets at a specific price, has switched from the ox protocol to the much more efficient 1inch Limit Order Protocol. This switch will allow users to benefit from dynamic prices and conditional execution, which will not only reduce transaction time, but the chances of seeing their orders executed will substantially increase. This protocol will be available on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Polygon.

The Bitcoin community may be planning to lend El Salvador $1 billion to free them from the hands of the IMF. This comes after the IMF voiced concerns about the country’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender, suggesting there are a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues.

El Salvador’s decision to accept bitcoin as legal tender has prompted Iran and India to change their tune on crypto. Indian authorities have scrapped their plans for a total ban and will instead move to classify cryptocurrencies as an alternative asset class and Iran is planning to introduce a legal framework for crypto.

Kraken’s CEO, Jesse Powell, is having second thoughts about unleashing Kraken directly on public markets after Coinbase’s tumultuous performance, and instead is looking closely at an IPO. Although the CEO reiterated that he still intends to make a public debut in the second half of 2022.

One River Digital are attempting to address the carbon footprint of Bitcoin for their investors by developing an index (BTC.X), based on the estimated carbon emitted per Bitcoin and the market price of the offset required to neutralize that emission. This will provide greater transparency to investors and enable them to offset the carbon emissions of crypto mining.

A small 401(k) provider called ForUsAll is now allowing participants to allocate up to 5% of their retirement funds into cryptocurrency. The offering includes 50 different crypto assets which will be custodied and managed by Coinbase Institutional. According to the Investment Company Institute, there are $6.7 trillion in 401(k) plans as of the end of 2020, representing roughly a fifth of the U.S. retirement market.