Bitcoin up as US interest rates stay low
The price of Bitcoin is holding at just above $49k this morning, up around 1.5 per cent over the last 24 hours. It’s now roughly breaking even compared to its value a week earlier.
The big news yesterday was the US Federal Reserve’s announcement that it would keep the benchmark US interest rate in the current range of between zero per cent and 0.25 per cent. The decision has been watched with eagle eyes across global financial markets, with many expecting an increase amid growing inflation fears.
A number of analysts have suggested that this is one of the reasons behind Bitcoin’s recent poor price performance, as high interest rates offer people somewhere else to get secure returns on their capital which could prompt a sell off. Will the decision to keep rates low give Bitcoin a base to recover its recent all-time highs moving forward?
The other much-anticipated announcement yesterday from the Federal Reserve also turned out to be slightly anticlimactic, with officials saying they would speed up steps to curtail the monetary stimulus propping up markets in the wake of COVID.
The monetary stimulus has been widely credited with the strong performance in both crypto and the stock market over the last year, but the lack of price movement after the announcement suggests that either investors may have been expecting a faster unravelling of the program.
Ethereum is performing even better, with the second-largest cryptocurrency up five per cent in the last 24 hours and above the $4,000 level again.
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Yesterday’s Crypto AM Daily in association with Luno
In the markets
The Bitcoin economy
*Definitions and insights can be found at https://bytetree.com/insights/
Total crypto market cap
The total capitalisation of the entire cryptocurrency market at time of writing is currently $2,254,364,650,064, up from $2,202,375,554,062 yesterday.
What Bitcoin did yesterday
We closed yesterday, December 15 2021, at a price of $48,896.72, down from $46,612.63 the day before. The daily high yesterday was $49,473.96 and the daily low was $46,671.97.
This time last year, the price of Bitcoin closed the day at $21,310.60. In 2019, it closed at $6,932.48.
Bitcoin market capitalisation
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation at time of writing is $923.07 billion. To put it into context, the market cap of gold is $11.345 trillion and Tesla is $980.14 billion.
Bitcoin volume
The total spot trading volume reported by all exchanges over the last 24 hours was
$36,312,534,194, up from $31,276,955,656 the day before. High volumes can indicate that a significant price movement has stronger support and is more likely to be sustained.
Volatility
The price volatility of Bitcoin over the last 30 days is 58.43%.
Fear and Greed Index
Market sentiment today is 29, in Fear.
Bitcoin’s market dominance
Bitcoin’s market dominance today is 41.11. Its lowest ever recorded dominance was 37.09 on January 8 2018.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
The daily RSI is currently 39.81. Values of 70 or above indicate that an asset is becoming overbought and may be primed for a trend reversal or experience a correction in price – an RSI reading of 30 or below indicates an oversold or undervalued condition.
Convince your Nan: Soundbite of the day
“Bitcoin, and the ideas behind it, will be a disrupter to the traditional notions of currency. In the end, currency will be better for it.”
Edmund Moy, 38th Director of the United States Mint
What they said yesterday
Bargain!
Now that’s what we call adoption…
Get serious…
Crypto AM: Editor’s picks
Exclusive: FTSE plots development of digital asset index in crypto push
Crypto could give London a unique post-Brexit advantage, says Hammond
Diamond claws: Crypto trading hamster dies after standout investing career
New cryptocurrency named ‘JRR Token’ blocked by lawyers for Lord of the Rings creator Tolkien
El Salvador to build Bitcoin city at base of volcano
Bitcoin’s long-awaited Taproot upgrade has arrived
NFTs set to fund new cryptocurrency movie
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Crypto AM: Founders Series https://www.cityam.com/using-blockchain-to-overcome-the-challenge-of-universal-connectivity/embed/
Crypto AM: Industry Voices https://www.cityam.com/the-unforeseen-reputational-risks-of-nfts-and-how-to-avoid-them/embed/
Crypto AM: Contributors
Crypto AM: In Conversation with James Bowaterhttps://www.cityam.com/creating-a-future-of-access-to-financial-tools-for-everyone-with-meld/embed/
Crypto AM: Tomorrow’s Money with Gavin S Brownhttps://www.cityam.com/will-tesla-change-direction-on-bitcoin-again/embed/
Crypto AM: Mixing in the Metaverse with Dr Chris Kacherhttps://www.cityam.com/the-metaverse-is-here-and-even-facebook-is-getting-on-board/embed/
Crypto AM: Visions of the Future, Past & Present with Alex Lightman https://www.cityam.com/e-naira-digitising-nigeria-improving-lives-and-advancing-national-infrastructure/embed/
Crypto AM: Tiptoe through the Crypto with Monty Munford https://www.cityam.com/ive-spotted-curious-similarities-between-bitcoin-and-the-taliban/embed/
Crypto AM: Taking a Byte out of Digital Assets with Jonny Fry
Crypto AM: Parliamentary Special
Part one of two – April 2021https://www.cityam.com/the-government-is-cautious-about-crypto-but-i-think-well-get-there/embed/
Part two of two – April 2021https://www.cityam.com/opening-our-eyes-to-financial-inclusion-for-the-good-of-the-economy/embed/
Five-part series – March 2021
Day one…https://www.cityam.com/financial-services-bill-time-to-act/embed/
Day two…https://www.cityam.com/financial-institutions-should-consider-appointing-ai-officers/embed/
Day three…https://www.cityam.com/dlt-may-not-be-the-silver-bullet-but-its-worth-a-shot/embed/
Day four…https://www.cityam.com/theres-a-real-prize-for-the-uk-to-lead-when-it-comes-to-distributed-digital-id/embed/
Day five…https://www.cityam.com/we-need-to-strap-a-rocket-to-the-governments-fintech-thinking/embed/
Crypto AM: Events
Cautionary Notes
It’s definitely tempting to get swept up in the excitement, but please heed these words of caution: Do your own research, only invest what you can afford, and make good decisions. The indicators contained in this article will hopefully help in this. Remember though, the content of this article is for information purposes only and is not investment advice or any form of recommendation or invitation. City AM, Crypto AM and Luno always advise you to obtain your own independent financial advice before investing or trading in cryptocurrency.
All information is correct as of 08:00 BST