On-chain data shows the Bitcoin open interest has been slowly growing recently, something that could lead to more volatility in the price of the crypto.

As pointed out by an analyst in a CryptoQuant post, the BTC open interest has gained around $500 million over the last few days.

The open interest is an indicator that measures the total amount of BTCUSD positions currently open on all derivatives exchanges. The metric takes into account for both short and long positions.

When the value of this indicator goes up, it means investors are opening up more positions on exchanges right now. Since this usually leads to a higher amount of leverage in the market, this kind of trend can make the price of Bitcoin more volatile.

On the other hand, the decline in the metric implies positions are closing up or liquidating on exchanges at the moment. Lower leverage usually leads to a more stable value of the crypto, and so such a trend can result in lesser volatility for BTC.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin open interest over the last few days:

As you can see in the above graph, the Bitcoin open interest has observed an uplift during the past couple of days.

This increase amounted to around $500 million and took the indicators value from $8.15 billion to $8.66 billion.

The chart also includes data for the funding rates, a metric that tells us about the distribution of BTC positions between longs and shorts.

This indicator has most recently had a slightly negative value, which means the market is slightly leaning towards a short-dominant environment right now.

In times of high open interest (and hence high leverage), the market becomes more prone to seeing largescale liquidation events. Such liquidations are the reason behind the increased volatility of the market during such periods.

BTC has been mostly moving sideways during the last few days, but since the open interest has jumped up now, its possible the crypto could see fresh movement soon.

The funding rates can hint at which direction this new price volatility may favor, but since the metrics value is almost neutral currently, its hard to say anything.

At the time of writing, Bitcoins price floats around $19.7k, down 1% in the past week.

Excerpt from:
Bitcoin Open Interest Climbs Up, Price To Break Sideways Trend Soon? - NewsBTC

Just over 11% of United Arab Emirates (UAE) residents have invested in cryptocurrencies, a report issued by the countrys Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) has reportedly said. Globally, the United Arab Emirates is now ranked tenth in terms of cryptocurrency investment rate.

According to a study by the United Arab Emirates telecoms regulator, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), about 11.4% of the countrys residents own or have invested in cryptocurrencies. With this proportion of residents exposed to crypto, the UAE now ranks among the top ten countries with the most crypto-investing residents.

As per a report in the Khaleej Times, the findings of the TDRAs 2022 Digital Lifestyle study suggest that the UAE may be on course to fulfill its goal of becoming a global hub for digital assets. In addition, the revelations in the TDRAs Digital Lifestyle report to some appear to vindicate the UAEs decision to become one of the first countries to adopt and regulate cryptocurrencies.

One of the ways the UAE has been promoting or helping to boost the use of cryptocurrencies is via issuing of operating licenses to global cryptocurrency platforms. As has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, the UAE through regulatory bodies like the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has issued licenses to leading crypto exchange platforms like Binance, FTX, and OKX.

Furthermore, some of the crypto platforms have since set up operations in the country. Also, through the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the country has been focused on creating a regulatory and supervisory framework that meets global standards.

According to the Khaleej Times report, these may be some of the factors that propelled the UAE to its rank as the tenth leading country in terms of cryptocurrency investments.

What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Terence Zimwara is a Zimbabwe award-winning journalist, author and writer. He has written extensively about the economic troubles of some African countries as well as how digital currencies can provide Africans with an escape route.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Report: 11.4% of UAE Residents Have Invested in Cryptocurrencies Featured Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Lyn Alden is a macroeconomist and investment strategist. In this interview, we discuss her latest paper on the Lightning Network (LN). We focus on the importance of Bitcoins base layer, how LN compares to Visa and Mastercard, and how LN is connecting the world in new and revolutionary ways.

- - - -

To understand the Lightning Network, you need to go back and understand money: what attributes does it need to have, and what are the best means of facilitating these attributes?

Bitcoiners believe it to be the latest evolution in money. It has the best combination of features of any previous version of money: it is hard, auditable, portable, uncensorable, immutable, fungible, trustless and decentralised. Yet, Bitcoins Achilles heel, and the question that plagued its first decade, was how it could scale to become an effective medium of exchange.

The capacity of the Bitcoin network is purposefully limited to ensure that the network can remain as decentralised as possible. For Bitcoin to operate as a medium of exchange, a transactional layer needed to be built on top of the network.

This is the Lightning Network. It's designed to provide an instant and cheap payment system connecting the world.

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Why Bitcoin is the Best Monetary Network with Lyn Alden - What Bitcoin Did

This is a transcribed excerpt of the Bitcoin Magazine Podcast, hosted by P and Q. In this episode, the hosts are joined by Margo Paez, a climate change physicist and fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute who advocates for Bitcoin from a progressive mindset.

Watch This Episode On YouTubeorRumble

Listen To The Episode Here:

Q: I just want to give you the opportunity to speak directly to Elizabeth Warren Say exactly what you hope to say to her to change her mind [on Bitcoin].

Margot Paez: Elizabeth Warren really doesn't understand Bitcoin, that's for sure. I find it really ironic that Elizabeth Warren used to be a champion of the people against the banking system, against Wells Fargo, against Chase, against HSBC, against all of these companies that took advantage of people during the financial crisis.

And she used to be an advocate. And in fact, I've heard her even over the pandemic, she was really critical of the amount of banking fees that were being put on people during the pandemic. And she was right...Why are you charging people all these fees just to hold their money in your bank account when they, again, have no choice but to put it in your bank account, right?

Again, it's another one of those oligopoly situations where you don't have the freedom of choice in terms of banking.

So, I would challenge her to think like, what really is the solution that you want? How do you really wanna solve this problem? Because there is an existing solution, it's called Bitcoin, and it's one where people can actually exit the existing banking system, take custody of their own money and not worry about fees, not worry about banks taking advantage of them because its their money and theyre managing it themselves or theyre managing it in their community

You want community banks? You can have a community bank with Bitcoin These are the solutions that I thought Elizabeth Warren wanted [but] it seems that she doesnt really want to help people

Ultimately Bitcoin is a lifeboat. And whats wrong with people having a lifeboat?

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The Irony Of Elizabeth Warrens War On Bitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

El Zonte, a beach in El Salvador rebaptized as Bitcoin Beach due to its adoption of the cryptocurrency, will receive infrastructure investments as part of a strategic plan of the government of El Salvador. Surf City, another beach location in the La Libertad region, will also receive road improvements and other upgrades.

Bitcoin Beach, a beach in El Zonte, El Salvador, is getting a set of infrastructure upgrades from the countrys government. The beach is iconic due to its adoption of bitcoin to build a circular economy in the area. These investments will be directed toward building a new set of facilities for tourists to better enjoy the location.

Regarding the execution of these investments, President Nayib Bukele stated:

El Zonte for many is known as Bitcoin Beach; we are going to fix an area of 15,000 square meters, where there will be a shopping center, parking, beach club, treatment plant, to revitalize the area.

Surf City, a beach also known as El Tunco, will also benefit from these investments that will extend alongside the La Libertad region. This is part of the second phase of the Surf City project, which aims to bring strategic developments to the area to help tourism thrive.

The La Libertad region will also receive a new set of roads to give tourists better access to the sites. Bukele explained:

This year we will expand 21 kilometers of the coastal highway to four lanes. And we will also do it with hydraulic concrete, which is more expensive than asphalt, but lasts much longer.

In total, the government of El Salvador will spend more than $203 million on infrastructure, including a new drainage system, bridges, and bicycle roads, among other facilities.

This set of investments is in line with what the government has declared previously about the influence that surf and bitcoin have had on the growth of national tourism. A recent report issued confirmed that El Salvador was on the list of countries that had already recovered their tourism-derived incomes to pre-pandemic levels.

Bukele attributed this to three elements: the fight against gangs in the country, surf, and bitcoin. Other officers of the government of El Salvador have also praised bitcoin as a catalyst for the growth of tourism this year. In April, Morena Valdez, minister of tourism in El Salvador, stated that the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender had helped the sector grow by 30%.

What do you think about the investments of the Salvadoran government in Bitcoin Beach? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Bitcoin Beach to Receive More Than $203 Million in Infrastructure Investments in El Salvador Emerging Markets Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

A crypto winter is here but it's going to be a "warm winter," according to one crypto bull.

Bitcoin may have fallen by more than half from record levels, but "there's so much more than that," said Edith Yeung, a general partner at Race Capital.

"In some sense, the 'warm winter' is basically going to push out everybody who really [wants to be] there for short-term gain," she told CNBC's Street Signs Asia last week, highlighting that cryptocurrency is a long-term play.

The term crypto winter refers to a prolonged period of depressed digital coin prices in the market.

Cryptocurrencies have lost around $1.9 trillion in value since the height of a massive rally in 2021.

Bitcoin, the world's biggest digital coin, is about 68% off its all-time high of nearly $69,000 in November.

Yeung said she remains bullish long-term on digital tokens because its appeal lies in the fact that "crypto is really about Web3."

Web3 has become a buzzword among those in the crypto industry. Proponents say it's the next generation of the internet, one that is "decentralized" and not owned by a few big technology giants.

Advocates suggest that crypto and blockchain technology could be a big part of that. For example, a Web3 service may run on a particular blockchain such as ethereum or solana. Users may be required to hold tokens associated with those blockchains in order to use a particular service or even have ownership in that app or company.

"I think there's a whole generation of internet [users who] really believe that 'you cannot monetize my data anymore ... the internet should be owned by us,'" Yeung told CNBC.

"That's why there's such a push with crypto because the ownership of ethereum or solana is really the user owning that piece of token, which is only a piece of that internet."

Even though Yeung suggested it would be a "warm winter" for the crypto market, the troubles for the industry have so far been unprecedented.

The nearly $2 trillion plunge in the value of cryptocurrencies was sparked by the sudden collapse of an algorithmic stablecoin called terraUSD which saw its sister token luna become worthless. Several crypto firms, including the now-bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, had a large exposure to terraUSD.

Meanwhile, lending firms like Celsius, which took on risky trading bets, faced liquidity issues and also filed for bankruptcy.

These issues have led to contagion across the cryptocurrency industry.

James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, is one skeptic of the term "warm winter." The crypto winter has been "brutal," he said, citing the fall of Three Arrows and the drastic drop in bitcoin prices.

"Bitcoin prices have fallen by 74% peak to trough at one point this closely matches the 83% decline seen in 2018 and must be taken in the context that the market is significantly bigger and has a much broader investor base now than it had back in 2018," Butterfill told CNBC in an email on Monday.

The biggest challenge right now for crypto lies in the uncertainty surrounding the Fed's monetary policy and if the central bank will slow the pace of interest rate hikes, said Yuya Hasegawa, crypto market analyst at Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank.

Markets are anticipating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech on the Fed's next policy move at the Jackson Hole summit on Friday. Any slowdown in the pace of rate hikes could be positive for crypto markets, Hasegawa said.

"I think the Fed will gradually have to face and address some signs of economic slowdown soon, so my mid-term outlook is somewhat optimistic," Hasegawa said.

Meanwhile, Butterfill pointed out that predicting the Fed is challenging as the economic picture remains mixed.

"A move to become less hawkish could be very supportive of Bitcoin prices. As hawkish Fed policy initiated this bear market in December/January, so could a dovish stance prompt it to break out of its $20,000$25,000 trading range," he said.

Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, is thetokennative to theethereum blockchain. Sol is the native cryptocurrency of solana, a public blockchain that supports decentralized finance apps that aim torecreate traditional financial systems, like banks and exchanges.

Asked if ethereum has stronger underlying fundamentals than bitcoin, Yeung from Race Capital said the two cryptocurrencies are "very different."

"Bitcoin is a digital gold," she pointed out, saying that ethereum and solana are similar to "decentralized cloud services" where applications are built on the blockchain network but run by "many, many people."

Ethereum and solana are blockchains that position themselves as a platform developers can build apps on top of. Bitcoin meanwhile was set up to be a payments service and so is different to Ethereum and Solana.

Ether has so far massively outperformed bitcoin since both digital coins bottomed in June due to a highly-anticipated ethereum network upgrade.

CNBC's Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.

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Bitcoin has crashed 68% from its peak but one bull says the latest crypto winter is a 'warm winter' - CNBC

Bitcoin could be poised for outsized gains if recent technical signals are to be believed.

Investors have been searching for a bottom to bitcoin since the cryptocurrency lost more than 60% of its value from the all-time high of nearly $69,000 it hit in November. Nearly $2 trillion has been wiped off the entire crypto market in recent months.

A measure of activity of bitcoin miners could give investors a clue as to where the digital currency is headed next.

Miners validate transactions on the bitcoin network using highly-specialized and power-intensive computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles. They are rewarded in bitcoin for their efforts. As more bitcoin is mined, solving these puzzles becomes more difficult.

During market slumps, a depressed bitcoin price can make it unprofitable for many miners to continue operations. They then sell some bitcoin to keep afloat. But they also turn off their mining rigs to save money.

That has happened in the latest market slump and can be demonstrated by "hash rate," a measure of computational power used to mine bitcoin. Since mid-May, when the market really started to sell-off, the 30-day average hash rate (a monthly average value) fell more than 7% and at one point saw a 10% dip. That signaled that miners were turning off their machines.

Hash rate, studied in various ways, is used by crypto investors to try to figure out when the market might bottom, because capitulation and a shakeout of the miners is often associated with the late stage of a bitcoin cycle.

"Historically speaking, capitulationin the mining market has tended to correspond strongly with overall market bottoms," Matthew Kimmell, digital asset analyst at CoinShares, told CNBC via email.

Following on from this, Charles Edwards, founder of quantitative crypto fund Capriole Investments, came up with the idea of "hash ribbons" in 2019 to identify buying opportunities for bitcoin.

When the 30-day moving average for hash rate dips below the 60-day moving average, this is called a bearish cross, and signals that miners are shutting down machines. Usually selling is associated with these events. As more miners are taken out of the market, the difficulty of mining bitcoin reduces because there is less competition.

Because of the reduced competition, more miners may re-enter the market and a recovery may occur.

"These 'capitulations' are painful events for miners within the ecosystem," Edwards told CNBC.

But using Edwards' method, when the 30-day moving average for hash rate crosses back above the 60-day moving average, the worst of the miner capitulation tends to be over.

When this happens along with the 10-day moving average price of bitcoin going above the 20-day moving average price, then this is when a "buy signal" flashes, according to Edwards.

He said those crosses occurred on Saturday.

In the past, buying bitcoin at these points would have yielded strong returns depending on how long you held the cryptocurrency for, according to Edwards.

For example, purchasing bitcoin at the buy signal of August 2016 would have given an investor a more than 3,000% return if held to the peak of December 2018, which was at the time when bitcoin hit a new record high.

More recently, buying during the recent buy signal in August 2021, would have yielded a more than 50% return if bitcoin was sold at the November 2021 record high.

"I created Hash Ribbons in 2019 as a way to identify when major Bitcoin mining capitulation had occurred, as once recovery resumes from these events, they typically markmajor Bitcoin price bottoms," Edwards said. "Historically, these have been great times to allocate into Bitcoin, with incredible returns."

Kimmell from CoinShares said that the logic behind the buy signal is that if the bitcoin price "tends to steadily outpace hashrate before a period of high price growth, then a trending rebound in hashrate," marked by the 30 day moving average for hash rate crossing above the 60 day moving average, it "may mean the rebound in bitcoin price has already begun."

"I find this metric should not be solely relied upon to make an investment decision, but can certainly be helpful if coupled with a suite of other metrics and qualitative evidence," he added.

CoinShares has put together a graph to show the correlation between hash rate and the bitcoin price. And it is split into areas where there is "gold rush" as bitcoin's price rises, and a subsequent inventory flush and miners' shakeout as the price declines.

In a chart provided to CNBC, CoinShares suggests that the market is currently in the shakeout period which typically precedes rebalancing and a rally in prices. Right now, according to the chart, the bitcoin price line is below the hash rate.

The graph shows the movement of bitcoin hash rate versus bitcoin price at different stages in the cycle.

CoinShares

But this could signal a bottom is near, according to Kimmell.

"It is impossible to say if we have reached full capitulation, however there is evidence we are in the phase of the mining cycle where capitulation most often occurs. Secondarily, if previous cycles carry predictive power, then yes, bitcoin price steadily outpacing hashrate would likely precede a period of high price growth," Kimmell said.

Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, holds a similar view.

"I think we have seen broad signs of capitulation given the events in the previous months. Hence it is likely we could have the beginnings of a bottom being formed. Usually bitcoin consolidates in a range for a whole which indicates accumulation, which is what we may be seeing," Ayyar told CNBC via text message.

Bitcoin has been trading in a tight range of around $18,000 to $25,000 since mid-June.

However, there are risks that these indicators do not prove as positive as they have been in the past because of the broader macroeconomic environment.

The current global economy is in a very different state versus previous cryptocurrency cycles. There is rampant inflation and rising interest rates globally, aspects which have not been present before.

Risk assets such as U.S. stocks, and in particular the Nasdaq, to which bitcoin is closely correlated, have seen a big sell-off this year.

"Of course all this is still based on historical similarity, and we are in a different macro environment," Ayyar said.

"The major risk remains the economy and inflation, but even then we are closer to an inflation peak than not, and hence this also shows that on risk assets we are closer to a bottom than not."

Read more:
A closely-watched bitcoin metric is flashing a buy signal that has historically led to huge gains - CNBC

Bitcoins drop isnt much of a surprise. Interest rates have risen in the past few weeks as markets worry that the Federal Reserve would keep lifting rates to combat high inflation. Risk assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies had rallied in the summer precisely because Wall Street had hoped that the Fed would slow down its rate hikes as inflation cooled. But with rates now not far below their multiyear highs, Bitcoin is facing pressure. When risk-free assets like government bonds offer a higher rate of return, it makes buying riskier assets less appealing.

Bitcoin, unlike the stock market, is near a danger zone. At just over $21,000, its hovering just above key support around $19,000, where buyers have previously stepped in to send the price higher. A move below that price could open the door to more losses ahead with buyers absent. Bitcoin is dangerously close to resuming the long-term downtrend, wrote John Kolovos, chief technical strategist at Macro Risk Advisors.

Original post:
Bitcoin Has Stumbled. Thats Not a Good Sign for Stocks. - Barron's

Bitcoin, the metaverse and NFTs are the talk of the town these days, but how much do you think it would help our children if they knew about this?

A recent survey including more than 800 parents and 200 college graduates in the United States was conducted to gain a greater perspective and understanding of the value of a crypto education.

According to a poll conducted by the educational portal Study.com, more than 60 percent of American parents want their children to take bitcoin and other cryptoprograms in high school.

The survey revealed that 64 percent of 884 American parents and 67 percent of 210 American college graduates feel that cryptocurrency should be compulsory in schools.

All interviewees were examined to make sure they possessed at least a fundamental comprehension of cryptocurrencies, the blockchain, andthe metaverse.

The American education system is continuously adapting to new innovations and adjusting to meet the demands of an evolving economy.

As this progresses, it is important to look into which courses students should take to increase their prospects of a higher standard of living after graduation.

Sixty-seven percent of college students who participated in the study reported having crypto assets and contributing an average of $1,086 to their education using digital currency profits.

Based onthe conclusions of an Investopedia survey, students increased interest in cryptocurrencies is consistent with this trend. It was discovered that one out of every five college students used their student loan funds to invest in cryptocurrency rather than for daily allowance and other essentials.

According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 16% of Americans have invested in or traded cryptocurrencies, while over 88% of U.S. residents have heard of crypto.

Meanwhile, some community leaders, such as the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, are already spearheading initiatives inincorporating cryptocurrencies into the classroom.

The mayor believes that educational institutions should teach children about cryptocurrencies and blockchains since they represent a new approach to thinking and a cutting-edge payment method.

Union Catholic High School began teaching its students about cryptocurrency as early as 2018. The focus of the class was on the history of cryptography and blockchain technology.

Conversely, several of the United States premier institutes have already included blockchain and cryptocurrency into their curricula. They include prestigious universities such as Harvard University, Oxford University, and MIT.

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Bitcoin Classes: Over 60% Of Parents Want Their Kids To Learn Crypto In School | Bitcoinist.com - Bitcoinist

Binance, the worlds biggest cryptocurrency exchange, recently attended a Philippine Senate hearing where industry leaders and regulators discussed policies and guidelines for the country regarding digital assets, per a report from local news outlet Inquirer.

Three government institutions attended the Senate hearing: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the central bank Bangko Sentral Pilipinas (BSP), and the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA). These institutions were also in attendance with the Senate banking committee, as well as leading crypto currency exchange Binance and Fintech Alliance Philippines, a digital asset advocacy group in the region.

We strongly believe that the crypto industry can greatly benefit the Filipino people through addressing the necessity of financial inclusion through digitalization, said Kenneth Stern, Binances general manager for the Philippines, per the report.

Per the discussion, Binance has already partnered with Philippine universities and other professional groups to offer free courses in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin. During the hearing, it was reportedly found that providing access to financial literacy would be foundational to the establishment of a functional framework.

78% of Filipinos remain unbanked, but crypto can help decrease that number as crypto asset holders will soon surpass the number of credit card holders in the country, Stern continued.

Proper consumer protections were also a central point of the discussion as the BSPs deputy governor explained the central bank didnt want to stifle or hinder growth in the ecosystem, but it also wanted to earn consumer confidence.

Thus, while a large focus will remain on financial literacy, it was agreed that a proper regulatory mechanism would be necessary to ensure innovation, growth and security within the digital economy.

The rest is here:
Philippine Universities Team Up With Binance To Offer Bitcoin, Crypto Courses - Bitcoin Magazine