Market in Recovery as Bitcoin Stagnates

GB Market Commentary 10/09/2021

by Jonas Luethy

Bitcoin is currently trading just above $46000 and is in a consolidation phase following the market correction earlier this week. Analysts suggest that the key support level is at $44000, while a breakthrough of $47000 would be needed for the next leg upwards. Most altcoins have followed bitcoins relatively uninteresting price action as volume stays low. ETH has been changing hands at just over $3300, a substantial decrease from the weekly open of $3950. Ethereum rival Solana has been relatively unaffected by the recent market correction, still trading at $184. The total crypto market cap is 2.13 trillion and bitcoin dominance in the market at 40.8.

Early this morning a number of XRP trading pairs showed up on the Coinbase exchange, despite Coinbase having removed XRP since January this year. This triggered a nearly 10% increase in the price in just a few hours. Coinbase was quick to respond however, citing a technical error. With no apparent plans for Coinbase to re-list XRP, the token has now fallen back to original levels of just over $1. Some members of the XRP community and of the crypto community more broadly have criticised Coinbase for not taking a tougher stance against the SEC, stating that the crypto community should stand united against heavy handed regulation. Billionaire Mark Cuban has advised Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to go on the offensive against the SEC, in light of recent announcements that Coinbase would be investigated for its new lending product.

Mastercard has announced that it has acquired blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace for an undisclosed amount. CipherTrace creates tools that help companies or governments find illegal transactions on the blockchain. Mastercard stated that acquiring CipherTrace will help deal with concerns of anonymity as well as ensuring compliance with regulators. Mastercard has said that this acquisition was an important part of their strategy to give customers more choices in how they use digital assets. This is excellent news for the crypto community as larger institutional adoption provides more stability and more credibility to those on the fence.

A recent YouGov poll has found that 27% of US residents support recognising bitcoin as legal tender. Democrats are more likely to support bitcoin than republicans, while baby boomers most strongly oppose the idea, with only 11% of those polled supporting the proposition. As expected, younger generations are more likely to be supportive of bitcoin as legal tender, with respondents aged between 25-34 being 44% in favour of bitcoin adoption.

Finally, the Sotheby’s auction of 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT’s estimated to fetch between 12-18 million has been sold for 24.3 million. Sotheby’s accepted crypto payments for this transaction.