Category Archives: Bitcoin

In recent months, we've seen the launch of a new (and questionable) bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund, a plethora of new cryptocurrencieshit the market, and bitcoin become legal tender in the country of El Salvador. So, what's next for cryptocurrency?

Well, one of the first questions we should ask is: Who is driving the push into cryptocurrency investment in the first place? Then, we can start to answer the question everyone seems to be wondering: Is cryptocurrency going to take over the world?

To answer these questions, we'll turn to research from Morningstar's Stan Treger. His research offers insights into what separates crypto investors from their peers.

The move into cryptocurrency investment is pretty broad and recent.

For instance,our researchfound that 28% of respondents reported owning cryptocurrencies--a tremendously large portion of the public investing in an asset that no one really knew about a decade ago. Indeed, a recent study by the crypto platform Geminifound that 68% of respondents said they had started investing in cryptocurrencies within the past two years.

It's worth noting, however, that the sample of Americans used in our survey is slightly skewed toward those with a lower income. So, the percentage of all U.S. investors owning cryptocurrencies may look a little different.

Second, ownership of crypto is highly uneven. It decreases with age and increases with ownership of other assets. This study was most unique in the way it focused on investor psychology. It found that those who invested in cryptocurrencies tended to have what's known as a focus on promotion--achieving gains or goals instead of preventing bad outcomes.

After controlling for other factors, the study also found that those with a shorter time horizon are more interested in crypto. In other words, the longer people tend to plan ahead, the lessinterested they are in cryptocurrency investment.

Would you care to guess what came out as one of the strongest predictors of interest in future cryptocurrency investment? Already owning it. There's a group of people who clearly have experience and interest in the cryptocurrency space, which leads to further exploration and investment.

This also leads us to our final point: Despite what you may have seen in headlines or on social media, cryptocurrency is not taking over the world.

As noted in Treger's previous research, cryptocurrency investing doesn't rank highly in people's prioritiesfor retirement investing, even among younger, generally pro-crypto audiences. In this research, we found that ownership of crypto is considerably lower than ownership of individual stocks (outside of mutual funds and retirement plans), and far lower than investing via a retirement account.

The role that cryptocurrency investing will play in the future is yet to be seen. But we'll continue to research the role it currently plays in investors' short- and long-term goals to gain a clearer understanding of what that future might look like.

Beyond cryptocurrency, Treger also leveraged a national sample of Americans to examine the psychology of investors to better understand why some people who have the means to become investors do so, while others don't. We examined that question further in a whitepaper.

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Who's Biting on Bitcoin and Why? - Morningstar.com

The realm of innovation and growth is extensive when it comes to how entrepreneurs can integrate cryptocurrency into their business models, said Don Stuart.

Don Stuart, Kansas City Bitcoin Meetup

Specific to Kansas City, weve seen more and more interest here in the past few months with different companies getting set up to accept Bitcoin for payments just because they want to tap into the growing network of young professionals and entrepreneurs who are using Bitcoin more day-to-day now, said Stuart, a Bitcoin consultant, investor and founder of the Kansas City Bitcoin Meetup group.

To connect those interested in cryptocurrency with professionals in the field, the KC Bitcoin Meetup group is hosting the first Bitcoin Day KC an all-day conference with speakers, giveaways and networking opportunities set for Saturday, Nov. 6 at Pinstripes at Prairie Fire in Overland Park.

Theres going to be a lot of different-focused discussions and presentations throughout the day, Stuart said. Well have everything from Bitcoin 101 which is the barebone basics of what it is, how to use it, what a [Bitcoin] wallet is to the more advanced topics like the Lightning Network, which is a payment system on top of Bitcoin. There will be something for every level of interest.

Click here to check out the schedule and speakers for Bitcoin Day KC.

Benjamin Maenner, Alpha Bitcoin, Bitcoin Day Omaha

Bitcoin Day KC is modeled after Bitcoin Day Omaha, which has brought tens of thousands of people to Omaha since 2014, shared Benjamin Maenner, a Bitcoin maximalist at Alpha Bitcoin and the host of Bitcoin Day Omaha.

The goal is that were trying to reach everyone, Maenner said. Weve brought in local, regional and national Bitcoin speakers, and the attendees are actually able to have conversations with these Bitcoiners.

The local event will have a Bitcoin in Kansas City panel session for attendees who want to learn about the history of economics in Kansas City that led up to Bitcoin.

Back in the early 1900s, Kansas City was very supportive of the ideals of libertarianism and Austrian economics which kind of formed the basis for Bitcoins economic policy, Stuart explained. Were going to talk about why Kansas City is primed to adapt to Bitcoin.

Some Kansas City-based businesses have already adopted cryptocurrency into their everyday transactions, Stuart added, noting that the KC Bitcoin Meetup group will go out of its way to support restaurants that accept Bitcoin as payment.

Thats another reason why founders and startups should consider having a Bitcoin strategy, Stuart said. Were currently helping J. Rieger & Co. get up and running on Bitcoin payments here pretty soon.

Click here to read more about the cryptocurrency community in Kansas City.

Through the Lightning Network, Bitcoin can be transferred to any account around the world in a matter of seconds, Stuart said. With credit cards charging business owners fees to accept credit card payments, Bitcoin has no fees, he continued.

This is an automatic way for any company to save 3 percent on their revenue, he noted.

Individuals do not need any background in cryptocurrency to attend Bitcoin Day KC. Even those without a Bitcoin wallet will receive $10 in Bitcoin, the duo said.

We really want to get the audience involved, Stuart shared. Were hoping to have some people there who run a business or are looking to start one; we can discuss with them how they see Bitcoin fitting into that venture and answer any questions they may have.

Bitcoin stuff can get very philosophical like why are we here? What are we doing? And it really comes back to community, Maenner added. Were all building on the same thing and thats what moves us forward. Good things happen when Bitcoiners get together, so thats an important part were continuing to push.

Tickets for Bitcoin Day KC are on sale for $150. Startland News readers can get $50 off with the code Startland. Click here for tickets.

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Bitcoin Day coming to KC: Experts share how startups can benefit from cryptocurrency - Startland News

Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros delivers a speech on the sideline of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, on January 24, 2019 in Davos, eastern Switzerland.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

Soros Fund Management, the asset management company founded by billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, has revealed that it owns the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

The family office owns "some coins but not a lot," Dawn Fitzpatrick, CEO and chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, said in an interview at a Bloomberg event this week.

Soros Fund Management, which is renowned for making large profits on traditional currency investments, did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment when asked how many bitcoins it owns and when it bought them.

"I'm not sure bitcoin is only viewed as an inflation hedge here," Fitzpatrick said. "I think it's crossed the chasm to mainstream."

Fitzpatrick went on to explain how cryptocurrencies now have a market value of more than $2 trillion, with over 200 million users.

The price of bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, has jumped 10% from around $50,000 on Tuesday to over $55,000 on Wednesday. It was trading at $54,726 at roughly 4 a.m. ET on Thursday.

A week ago the price of bitcoin was around $43,000, while at the start of the year one bitcoin could be bought for around $29,000.

The latest bitcoin rally comes despite the continued threat of regulatory crackdowns from governments around the world and concerns about its enormous environmental footprint.

U.S. regulatory fears have eased this week after both Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and SEC Chair Gary Gensler said they have no plans to impose restrictions on cryptocurrency trading.

"This recent rally contrasts the stock market with assets like stocks, bonds and gold having a period of angst over high inflation and slowing economic growth," said Freddie Evans, a sales trader at the U.K.-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, in a statement Wednesday.

"This recent bitcoin advance could be the repeat of history following the Chinese ban on crypto activities," he added.

Bitcoin isn't the only cryptocurrency surging this year. Elsewhere, ether's price has more than tripled from around $1,000 a coin at the start of the year, to more than $3,000 a coin on Thursday.

Most professional investors think bitcoin is just a bubble, according to a Bank of America Fund Manager Survey that was published in April.

Some 74% of those who responded to the closely watched market gauge said they see the leading cryptocurrency as a bubble. Just 16% said no to the question, indicating the highly speculative ground they see bitcoin on.

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George Soros' fund owns bitcoin, CEO confirms - CNBC

Bitcoin jumped to a nearly five-month high above $55,000 on Wednesday, extending its rally from the previous day as institutions jumped in to try to catch the wave.

The cryptocurrency traded 7.6% higher at $54,873.02, according to Coin Metrics. Ether also rose 2.8% to $3,575.73.

Bitcoin rose as high as $55,499 earlier in the session. It's up 13% this week alone and 87% for the year.

The rally comes amid a series of small developments in Washington, D.C. that have provided some comfort to institutional investors keen to jump into cryptocurrencies.

"Regulatory uncertainty is what's still keeping investors out of the market and every time we get a step closer to regulatory clarity, you see this kind of reaction," Bitwise Asset Management chief investment officer Matt Hougan said. "It's the primary driver of next great bull market in crypto."

According to financial advisors surveyed by Bitwise, the number one thing preventing them from making allocations to crypto is regulatory uncertainty. Hougan said the majority result has been the same three years in a row.

On Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said in a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee that he has no plans to ban cryptocurrency, and that a ban would be up to Congress.

Gensler's comments mirror those made by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who also said Friday he has no plans to ban cryptocurrencies.

"You had every major regulatory agency in the U.S. this summer declaring that they needed to create a new regulatory regime around crypto," Hougan added. "That created a great deal of uncertainty in investors minds, they were hesitant to allocate not knowing what the range of possibilities would be. The reason we're rallying this week is that most extreme left tail of following the path of China was wiped from the market by both Jerome Powell and Gary Gensler."

Genesis head of market insights Noelle Acheson said Wednesday's price action is different from previous ones this year and that all signs point to it being institutionally driven.

"Institutional investors move as a herd, they are momentum chasers," she said. "When they see this kind of momentum, they start to think, what am I going to miss? Is my performance going to be weaker than those of my competitors? Maybe I should pile into that."

She noted that Bitcoin has maintained its rank in the top five performing digital assets over the past 24 hours. That's something Acheson had never ever seen before, as top performers are usually smaller altcoins and DeFi assets. Bitcoin is the institutional onramp to crypto, and when it's one of the top performers, it's a sign the institutions are coming, Acheson said.

She added that with a sharp price jump, there tend to be several short positions that get liquidated, but that wasn't the case Wednesday.

"At one stage that price jumped 3.5% in a five-minute window, and without the liquidations, that says that that is big spot buying," Acheson said.

Another big signal came from the CME.

On Wednesday, it had the highest basis spread the difference between bitcoin futures prices and the spot price of any of the exchanges, Acheson said. She called it "unusual" because the CME basis normally trails that of the other exchanges. She added that CME is the exchange that offers the lowest leverage, so while it may not be the one used by traders or hedge funds that want leverage, it's the one traditional institutions often choose to use because it's currently the only crypto derivatives exchange with federal oversight.

At the same time, stocks were falling as concerns about rising rates, higher inflation, the state of the reopening and the debt limit dented investor sentiment. Bitcoin hasn't proven itself to be a safe-haven asset its price has tanked with the stock market several times before but many still see it that way and it was holding up amid Wednesday's equity market turmoil.

"The Janet Yellen discussion yesterday was a major reason to buy bitcoin," CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday morning on "Squawk on the Street." "If you parse what she's saying and it becomes true, the dollar doesn't seem to be as valuable as crypto."

Yellen warned on Tuesday that inflationary pressures hitting the U.S. economy could last for several months and that the U.S. should fully expect a recession if the debt limit isn't lifted within two weeks.

"Thus far we've seen cryptos behave as a hybrid somewhere between a commodity and a currency," Morgan Stanley Wealth Management chief investment officer Lisa Shalett told "Squawk on the Street." So the "volatility has been 4x that of stocks."

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Bitcoin jumps to nearly 5-month high, topping $55,000 on Wednesday - CNBC

Bitcoin just made a major comeback.

The cryptocurrency rallied on Wednesday, topping $55,000 and hitting its highest level since mid-May. Regulatory fears have eased this week after both Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and SEC chair Gary Gensler said they have no plans to impose restrictions on cryptocurrency trading.

Bill Baruch, president of Blue Line Capital, had a plan over the summer to beef up his position in bitcoin as its price plummeted re-entering at $32,000 and adding to it if it fell to as low as $20,000.

"It didn't get there. I didn't get my full position on but what that ultimately did is it got me doing more research and trying to find where else could I invest this money that I want to be in crypto," Baruch told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Wednesday.

Baruch highlights two cryptocurrencies he is getting behind as an alternative to bitcoin Solana and Algorand.

"Solana is actually my highest holding right now, got in that at a good time and that has risen pretty sharply. I think that has legs to go as well from here... and Algorand to me feels like Solana two to three years ago," he said.

Algorand looks constructive on the charts, he continues. Baruch says it looks to be a buy so long as it holds above $1.50. It traded at $1.82 on Wednesday.

Delano Saporu, founder of New Street Advisors, says greater adoption for bitcoin should support a continued rebound.

"You're looking at more institutions getting involved. We saw US Bank is going to offer institutional custody services. We're also seeing Bank of America implementing research on Bitcoin as well so I think there is still more room to run," he said during the same segment.

More constructive headlines in the cryptocurrency world will have a domino effect of drawing more funds into the space, he says.

"That's going to drive a little bit of momentum and a spike forward if we get some more volume in the buying. I think that could push us a little bit higher here so I'm still buying. I think it's an opportunity for investors to really do some more due diligence and see if it makes sense for them as well," Saporu said.

Disclosure: Blue Line Capital holds SOL and ALGO. New Street Advisors holds BTC.

Disclaimer

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Bitcoin bounces back above $55,000, but trader has his eye on two other cryptocurrencies - CNBC

Bitcoin (BTC) is breaking out as US stocks seesaw, much to the delight of cryptocurrency enthusiasts and the disdain of skeptics.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency is up 26% in October, has risen 36% since bottoming on September 21, and has logged a 61% gain in the last three months. By contrast, the S&P 500 is up a solid 2.8% this month, but less than 2% in both the past two-and-a-half weeks and the last three months. The index slid nearly 5% in September after seven straight months of gains.

Crypto bulls, like entrepreneur David Gokhshtein, believe bitcoin's run may just be beginning. In July, the founder of Gokhshtein Media and PAC Global correctly predicted that calls for bitcoin to fall to $20,000 were "wishful thinking" by bears and argued that the token, which he owns, wouldn't slide past $25,000. It bottomed at about $29,800, according to CoinMarketCap.

Gokhshtein also aptly noted in August that the $50,000 mark was technical resistance for the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin tested that level and failed earlier this year, sending it back down to the low $40,000's. But it's since rebounded to $54,000, and appears poised to test its all-time high of $64,863.

Like all market prognosticators, Gokhshtein's prediction track record is far from perfect. He called for bitcoin to advance into the $70,000s in late July, and later said the coin could soar to $85,000 not to mention his bold $120,000 proclamation in June.

But Gokhshtein is holding firm to his bitcoin call. "I'm still going to stand on what I said last time," Gokhshtein told Insider in a recent interview. "I'll go a little step forward here. I believe bitcoin does cross $100,000. There's no doubt about it."

That milestone will come before the end of the year, Gokhshtein insists. The reason it hasn't come sooner is because of the lack of regulatory clarity from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gokhshtein said. Fears that government regulation will kill the burgeoning cryptocurrency space are keeping both large and small investors away, he added.

Another potential headwind for bitcoin was the SEC's recent delay in making a decision on whether it will accept applications for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). That could easily flip to a tailwind if a bitcoin ETF is approved. But Gokhshtein made it clear that the bitcoin space doesn't depend on an ETF, even if it could help draw in a new crowd of investors.

"This space doesn't depend on an ETF it would be nice, don't get me wrong," Gokhshtein said. "Ultimately, we know where bitcoin's headed. When it gets there, nobody knows."

Bitcoin's building momentum may prove to be a wake-up call for long-time crypto cynics who doubt digital assets' utility and staying power, like JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon. According to CNBC, the CEO recently said that the so-called digital gold is more like "fool's gold."

Though its leader has said he has "no interest" in bitcoin at a Wall Street Journal summit in May, JP Morgan and its Wall Street peers are starting to take digital assets seriously. They are being forced to "get on board, or be left behind" as crypto gains popularity, said JP Lee, the ETF product manager at VanEck, in a previous interview with Insider.

"Anybody who five years ago was like, 'We're not gonna touch this,' now they're like 'OK, well, we have to play ball, or else this whole generation of ideas, action, investments, is going to be operating in a different sphere than we are,'" Lee told Insider. "They have to play ball, or else they run the risk of letting this thing get so far away from them that they're no longer part of the conversation."

Bank of America is the latest big bank to join the fray, calling digital tokens "an entirely new asset class" and "too big to ignore" in an October 4 note. This broadening acceptance may draw even more clients to the nascent space.

News also broke this week that renowned hedge fund investor George Soros' investment firm owns bitcoin, sending the digital asset spiking. For every Soros that reveals their position, there are many other well-respected investors whose bitcoin affinity is a secret, Gokhshtein said.

"Not everybody's going to come out publicly and tell you that they're buying bitcoin, but they are," Gokhshtein said. "There's too much money in the market. Way too much money. Institutions did not come in here to play for five minutes."

While bitcoin is still the world's most famous cryptocurrency, it's hard to mention it without also invoking ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency network.

Ethereum boasts a strong ecosystem of developers that are building decentralized finance (DeFi) projects while also creating and trading digital art called non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While so-called "ethereum killers" promise to dethrone the cryptocurrency, the incumbent's network effect should keep it entrenched for a while, Gokhshtein said.

Gokhshtein said there's "no doubt" the network's native token, ether which he owns will rise to $10,000 by year's end from current levels of around $3,500. From there, the entrepreneur said it could climb to $15,000 or even $18,000 in an astronomical run that mirrors that of bitcoin in 2017.

Four years ago, a feverish bitcoin rally brought the token from $1,000 to nearly $20,000 and into the mainstream consciousness. In the next three months, its value halved.

History won't repeat itself, Gokhshtein said, because the prevalence of big-money investors like corporations, banks, and even countries will prevent another crypto meltdown.

"You have countries buying the dip," Gokhshtein said. "This is different. This is not 2017. 2021 is very different. Whales can sell on the news now, but people are buying it up."

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Bitcoin to $100,000, Ethereum to $10,000 Before End of 2021 - Business Insider

Bitcoin prices surpassed $55,000 today, reaching a multi-month high. Photo by: STRF/STAR MAX/IPx ... [+] 2021 9/7/21 Bitcoin drops below $43,000 as crypto markets tank.

Bitcoin prices rallied today, breaking through $55,000 and climbing to their highest level in close to five months.

The digital currency reached $55,322.12 around 9 a.m. EDT, CoinDesk data shows.

At this point, the cryptocurrency was trading at its loftiest value since May 12, additional CoinDesk figures reveal.

The price of bitcoin fell back slightly after reaching this level, dropping below $54,000.

However, the worlds most valuable digital currency by market capitalization managed to retain the vast majority of its recent gains.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

Following these latest price movements, several experts weighed in on what drove the cryptocurrencys recent upside.

I think Bitcoins climb this morning is a continuation of yesterdays rally, said Anthony Denier, CEO of trading platform Webull Financial.

Yesterday, there were some significant developments to solidify the standing of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, he noted.

The first is more banks are jumping onto the crypto bandwagon because of investor demand. U.S. Bancorp launched a cryptocurrency custody service for institutional investment managers and Bank of America started research coverage of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

Further, Denier spoke to recent comments made by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, where he stated that the government agency does not currently plan to ban cryptocurrencies.

A potential ban has been a major overhang for the asset, he stated.

In addition to these recent, positive developments, some analysts emphasized how much investor sentiment has changed lately.

Marc Bernegger, a board member of Crypto Finance Group, commented on these developments.

After several pieces of bad news in the last few weeks the momentum changed in the recent days and it seems that the general outlook and macro economic situation moved to the very bullish side of things.

He noted that recently, the outlook surrounding bitcoin has changed drastically, and as a result, quite a few market participants are expecting new all time highs.

Rik Willard, founder and managing director at Agentic Group, also offered his two cents on the situation.

I believe that BTC is enjoying an upswing after initial doubts about how the China ban will affect global mining and subsequent adoption, he stated.

Given that some Chinese miners have moved to more favorable jurisdictions, and that the US seems determined to increase mining capacity in places like Texas and wherever energy is cheapest, were seeing the bulls return, Willard continued.

Ben Armstrong, founder of BitBoy Crypto, also mentioned several recent developments, and how, in his view, they would motivate investors to put their money into digital assets.

"In the face of the Evergrande debacle, Facebook going dark and talk of a trillion dollar coin...why would you put your money in traditional finance?

Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether and EOS.

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What Caused Bitcoin Prices To Reach Their Highest Since May? - Forbes

After a fallow period, bitcoins price is on the rise, surging to around the highest level since May on Wednesday and raising the hopes of crypto bulls for further gains in digital assets and companies and funds associated with the nascent sector.

See: Bitcoin rallies above $55,000 for first time in five months

At last check, bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.73% was at $54,380, up 9% and had touched a intrasession high above $55,000, which would mark its loftiest level since around May.

Ether ETHUSD, +1.33% on the Ethereum blockchain, meanwhile, was changing hands at $3,600.37, up 4.6% on the session and around its highest since last month.

The gains for the No. 1 and 2 largest crypto by market value were helping to deliver a jolt to other aspects of the investing world, including companies related to crypto and those funds that offer exposure to the sector.

The largest fund offering bitcoin exposure, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC, -2.85%, is up 5.5% on Wednesday and up nearly 15% on the week thus far, FactSet data show.

The U.S.s largest crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, +0.48% was up nearly 6%, and up 7.5% on the session.

Meanwhile, bitcoin miners also were on the ascent. Riot Blockchain Inc. RIOT, -1.84% were up 2.4% and 3.5% thus far in the week. Miner Marathon Digital Holdings MARA, -1.39% rose over 4% and nearly 17% through Wednesday. Ebang International Holdings EBON, -4.57% was up 1.8%, with a weekly gain of more than 4.4%. However, Hut 8 Mining Corp. HUT, -2.87% was down 0.3% on the day but almost 11% on the week.

Other funds that track crypto were also rising. Those include the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF BITQ, -0.31%, up 1% on the day and nearly 6% on the week. Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF was rising 0.5% on Wednesday and headed for a weekly gain of 3.2% so far.

It was a mixed bag for crypto-adjacent companies, which either invest in crypto or offer digital-asset services. Retailer Overstock.com Inc. OSTK, +2.80% was down 0.9% for the day and 6.4% for the week. Michael Saylors MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR, +2.82% was up 2.7% on Wednesday and 9.2% week to date.

Shares of financial services company Square SQ, +4.31% were rising 1.1% but down 0.3% on the week, and PayPal Holdings PYPL, -0.20% was up 0.5% on the day but trading 1.3% lower on the week thus far.

Elon Musks Tesla Inc. TSLA, +1.39% was trading virtually unchanged on Wednesday but was looking at week-to-date gain of 0.8%. Musk has been a big supporter of crypto and a backer of meme asset dogecoin DOGEUSD, -2.40%, which was changing hands at 25.89 cents, down 2% on the Kraken exchange.

Robinhood Markets Inc. HOOD, -0.52%, which has said that it is showing an increase in the amount of revenue derived from crypto trading was down 0.1% on Wednesday and nursing a 0.2% weekly advance.

The rise in bitcoin and in a number of crypto-adjacent assets comes even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.98%, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.83% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.05% were trading lower.

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As bitcoin surges to highest price since May, here are how crypto-related funds and companies trade - MarketWatch

Bitcoin (BTC) faced fresh doubts over the strength of its bull run on Oct. 7 as analysts eyed a potential reversal of Wednesdays short squeeze.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingViewtracked BTC/USD as it hovered near $54,000 after failing to establish support at the $55,000 mark.

The previous day had seen an abrupt surge to highs of $55,700 for Bitcoin, which was accompanied by major buying pressure.

As funding rates flip positive across exchanges, however, concerns on Thursday focused on what could end up being an opposing move lower.

Funding rates turning overly positive suggest that the market is expecting further upside and that significant value is long BTC. Under such circumstances, a mass unwinding of positions could hasten and intensify a downward move, should it begin.

The mood among investors was echoed by sentiment data, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index hitting 76/100 on the day, representing extreme greed.

Investors are extremely greedy towards BTC right now, trader and analyst Rekt Capital warned.

While under $10,000 from all-time highs at one point, Bitcoin additionally faces significant resistance levels at $58,000, $60,000, and more on the way to returning to price discovery.

Related:Price spike: Are whales front-running the approval of a Bitcoin futures ETF?

As Cointelegraph reported, October is slated to close just below the highs, while November could see a return to lower levels before a December finale obliterates current records.

Nonetheless, longtime market participants are already advising an exit strategy this week, among them John Bollinger, creator of the popular Bollinger Bands trading indicator.

Bollinger bands track upward and downward volatility of an asset and are currently hinting that calmer conditions should prevail. When the bands narrow, however, volatility follows.

Altcoins, meanwhile, are not expected to deliver definitive cycle gains until next year.

Link:
3 warning signs suggest the Bitcoin price rally is overextended - Cointelegraph

Check out what's clicking on FoxBusiness.com.

Bitcoin was trading 7.87% higher on Thursday morning.

The price was around $54,552 per coin, while rivals Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading around $3,590 (+6.58%) and 24.9 cents (+2.03%) per coin, respectively, according to Coindesk.

Bitcoin is the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency. It is up 98.9% from the year's low of $27,734 on Jan. 4, a Reuters report said.

BARSTOOL'S PORTNOY ON JPMORGAN'S DIMON'S SKEPTICISM OF BITCOIN: 'IT'S NOT GOING ANYWHERE'

Coindesk reported the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), a key U.S. banking regulator, is analyzing whether certain stablecoins might be eligible for its coverage, five people familiar with the agencys thinking said.

Bitcoin was trading 7.87% higher on Thursday morning.

The discussions are only in the preliminary stage and its not clear what the timetable would be for making any policy decisions or how such changes would be communicated.

The FDIC is trying to analyze what so-called pass-through FDIC insurance might look like for the reserves stablecoin issuers hold at banks, the sources said. Such coverage would insure holders of the tokens against losses up to $250,000 if the bank holding the collateral were to fail, Coindesk reported.

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The FDIC is also looking at what regular, direct deposit insurance might look like for banks that want to issue stablecoins, people familiar with the discussions said.

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Bitcoin trading above $54,500 Thursday, up 7.87% - Fox Business