The announcement couldn't have happened any weirder, as the Bitcoin ETF's that were approved today were first announced by the SEC on X (Twitter) two days ago... but then they claimed their account was hacked, and stated that no ETFs had been approved.

Now that we know the supposed 'hack' simply posted accurate information before it was official, some are questioning if it was an error all along.

But how we found out doesn't really matter anymore, because it's now confirmed and re-confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission officially approved 11 applications for Bitcoin ETFs, the largest firms among them include BlackRock, Ark Investments/21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco, and VanEck.

Trading Begins...Now!

Because the SEC must respond to applications  ETF applicants were anticipating an answer from the SEC at any moment, they were ready to go before officially receiving approval - because of this, they went live the next day.

In their first day, the newly approved Bitcoin ETFs saw a combined $5 billion in volume, top performers so far are BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust which is trading under "IBIT.O", Grayscale Bitcoin Trust "GBTC.P", and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF with symbol "ARKB.Z".

They Say It's a "Game Changer" - But To Who?

Traders from both the stock and crypto world have repeated the words "game-changer" when describing the impact this could have on cryptocurrencies, citing the new investors who now have exposure to the world's largest cryptocurrency. So who are these investors? If they're interested in Bitcoin, what were they waiting for?

The newly launched ETFs all fighting over what they believe is a large segment of both individuals and companies that are interested in investing in Bitcoin, but hesitated to pull the trigger and buy some. Many potential investors cite their main concern is simply how to securely hold worth of a digital assets, which can be intimidating on a technical level.

For a company, acquiring crypto comes with all new cyber-security concerns, where every employee is a potential security hole. Stocks can't really be 'hacked' and stolen, gold and silver can be stored in any bank vault - while storing crypto safely and securely is easy to do, people who aren't experienced with tech are often too intimidated by the risks.

Now, individuals, companies, and even smaller investment firms can pass the responsibility of storing Bitcoin securely on to the industry giants, who have the budget necessary for hiring cybersecurity experts and the tech needed to implement multi-level security systems.

A Tsunami of Money Headed Towards Crypto?

Many believe the floodgates are now open for massive amounts of institutional investment funds to enter the market, and their reasoning actually makes a lot of sense.

The companies that were just approved to offer Bitcoin ETFs represent $20+ trillion in assets under management - meaning if just 2% of that goes toward crypto we'll see $400,000,000,000 (400 billion) injected into the market. 

The crazy thing is, that estimate may be way too small, as we've talked with multiple financial advisors at multiple firms over the past few years when covering various stories about crypto being implemented into their business - one thing we repeatedly heard was that they recommend their client's portfolio to contain anywhere from 5% to 10% crypto.

A recent survey of financial advisors conducted by VettaFi and Bitwise found that 88% said they support investing client's funds in bitcoin, but were waiting for spot bitcoin ETF to be approved.

Then Why Did Bitcoin DROP Following ETF Approval?

With the overwhelming opinion being that the ETFs would be approved, along with the deadline of Jan 10th being public, by the time the ETFs were officially approved every investor who bought more bitcoin with this in mind bought days or weeks ahead. 

Which is why the quote "buy the rumor, sell the news" is something most in the crypto world are used to seeing.  Most buying relating to a news story happens as speculation grows, once that speculation becomes fact, people sell.

Massive Bull Run About to Begin... VERY Soon?

In closing, the only thing we've officially gained this week are new possibilities, a 'reasonable expectation' for Bitcoin's future price just went up.  But if there's one thing I've learned in my 6 years in the crypto world; prepare for what COULD come next, and never believe you know what that will.

With that said, prices have returned to where they were before ETF hype took over the headlines - so if the 'sell the news' process is complete, the market is probably about to turn positive. If it does, I believe it'll have some strength behind it - many people recently took some profits, and in the Bitcoin world a lot of selling is followed by lot of buyers looking to buy more at a lower price. 

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Bitcoin might just soar to a whopping $120k by 2024's finale. That's what the big brains at Standard Chartered Bank are saying. Those outside of the UK may not understand exactly who that is - this bank is massive here, with 85,000+ employees and locations across the country.

They reckon Bitcoin's price rises, miners will be stashing away more than they're selling. Throw in all the new instructional investment coming in - and you end up with a lot of buyers fighting over a very small, and shrinking supply of BTC being sold. 

Back in April, the same bank forecasted Bitcoin could hit $100k by 2024, thinking we were out of the dreary 'crypto winter'. But now, the bank's head of crypto research, Geoff Kendrick, says there's a chance it could go beyond that.

Why's that? Well, Kendrick explains, with every Bitcoin they mine being more valuable, miners can sell fewer of them and still keep the cash flowing in. This means less Bitcoin in the market, pushing the price even higher. Simple supply and demand.

Bitcoin's had a strong year, rocketing up 80%...

But at the current price of $30k and change, we're till a far cry from the record $69k it hit last November.

2022 was rough, with heaps of dollars wiped off the sector as central banks got tough with interest rates and big crypto names like FTX exchange crashed and burned. But surprisingly, this year's failure of some old-school banks has actually helped crypto bounce back.

The More Bitcoin is Worth, the Less Miners Sell to Cover Costs...

The bank thinks the predicted price hike is because Bitcoin miners, who create about 900 new Bitcoins a day globally, might soon need to sell less of their stash to cover their costs - mostly the electricity needed to power their monster network of mining rigs..

According to Kendrick, miners are currently selling most of their newly minted coins. But if the price reaches $50k, they'd probably only need to sell 20-30%. So instead 900 new bitcoins hitting the market daily, only 180 to 270 would.

"Over a year, that's like reducing the number of coins miners sell from 328,500 to somewhere between 65,700 and 98,550 - meaning about 250k less Bitcoins flooding the market each year," Kendrick explains.

250,000 Less Bitcoins For Sale Means Buyers Will Have Convince Others to Sell - That Means Offering More Money...

And in another twist, come next spring, the total number of Bitcoins that can be mined each day is set to halve. It's part of Bitcoin's in-built design to limit the supply and keep its appeal.

But let's not forget that Bitcoin has a history of wild price guesses. Back in November 2020, a Citi analyst said Bitcoin could climb as high as $318k by the end of 2022. It ended up closing that year down about 65% at $16,500. So take all these predictions with a pinch of salt.
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The amount of 'saved Bitcoin' (coins being kept at a single wallet address for at least two years) has reached a new all-time high.

According to data compiled by the analytics firm Glassnode, these coins total over 49% percent of the total Bitcoin supply, which comes to 9.45 million BTC. Nearly half of all Bitcoin's are in the hands of long term investors.

Soon the majority of all BTC will have not moved in over 2 years - an extremely bullish indicator...

The previous record amount of saved Bitcoin was set between the end of 2020 and the start of 2021. This coincides with the start of the bull market that year - with the rising price being driven by a lack of people willing to sell their BTC.

So far, we're seeing a similar path ahead now, as Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market appear to be beginning a price recovery cycle.

Since the beginning of this year, bitcoin has increased by almost 40%. and is hanging around $23,000 -reclaiming a price not seen since August 2022.

Last week it became official that the majority of Bitcoin holders have made a profit at current prices. 

Predictions for the year...

So far, are bullish, according to a majority of analysts.

However, you may not be feeling it yet - the first few months of 2023 are anticipated to be slow,  followed by a large increase in the price of BTC in the second half of the year.

Will Bitcoin repeat its traditional cycle of crashes, followed by setting a new all time high?  That would mean Bitcoin breaking the $70,000 ceiling. 
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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

For those of us who have been around awhile, it takes more than another bear market to change our long term expectations for cryptocurrencies. 

I've been through three crashes - the first one really had me questioning things, the second time I was more willing to ride it out, 'hopeful but not certain' was my outlook on crypto's future. In both cases the crashes were followed by hitting new all time highs, and this pattern wasn't new, it's what Bitcoin historically had always done, and more recently, the top altcoins were included as well. 

So, this time around I feel like I'm just waiting... for our largest bull run yet. Not wondering if it's coming - waiting for it to get here.

Some of the Biggest Names in Investing and Wall Street are Quietly Preparing for a Crypto Boom...

Thankfully, it looks like I'm not the only one making this prediction. In fact, the biggest firms from the world of investing and Wall Street seem to be anticipating this too.

Keep in mind, the firms I'm about to mention don't throw millions at something because one or two executives believe it will pay off - before they invest, teams of analysts with specialists covering multiple aspects, and algorithms pumping out multiple models of possible outcomes, are involved.

Let's look at some of what is happening quietly behind the scenes right now - and ask yourself: does it seem like they see something coming?

Major Investment Firms:

Between just these 2 firms you're looking at over $2 TRILLION in assets under management, twice the size of the entire crypto market currently. 

● The world's largest global investment banking and investment management firm, Goldman Sachs, is quietly talking to multiple crypto startups that were hit hard by the bear market and investing to become part-owners of, or buying them out completely.

● The second largest global investment banking and investment management firm, Morgan Stanley, is currently creating their "digital-asset infrastructure," giving their 2 million+ clients access to the crypto market. While development started before the bear market hit, they say it never slowed down as they remain "focused on building."

When these firms enter a sector, countless smaller ones follow. 

Payment Processors:

The big 3 are all in.

● Visa is "propelling innovation to deliver even more access and value to the crypto ecosystem" and recently filed a series of trademark applications for crypto wallets, NFTs, and metaverse-related products.

● Mastercard is launching a program to enable mainstream banks to offer crypto trading to their customers.

● Even American Express, which in 2021 said they were "watching the space evolve" but had "no plans to announce" involvement in cryptocurrencies, began preparing for something, specifics still unknown, but real enough to have them file eight trademark applications for tech processing crypto and NFT transactions.

In addition to this, both Visa and Mastercard will expand their current role of providing cards that allow people to spend crypto anywhere that accepts their credit cards.  This has become a standard offering from most major exchanges now, and accounts for over $1 billion in transactions for Visa alone. 

Start-Ups:

When it comes to startups, those that truly serve a purpose are not struggling to find funding. Here are some of the projects that held investment rounds over just the last month - all hit their targets:

● Aztec Network, an Ethereum security layer geared towards privacy, successful raised $100 million in a  round led by prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from A Capital, King River, and Variant, and others.

● Singapore-based crypto firm Amber Group closed a $300 million Series C led by Fenbushi Capital US. Nillion, a decentralized file storage network, raised $20 million in its latest funding round led by Distributed Global.



● Fleek, a developer platform for crypto companies, secured $25 million led by Polychain Capital, along with Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and Protocol Labs.

● Tax and accounting software for digital assets, Bitwave, closed a $15 million Series A co-led by Hack VC and Blockchain Capital.

● Blocknative, a company building web3 infrastructure, also secured $15 million in its Series A led by Blockchain Capital and a few other investors.

There's only one reason any firm would be investing in new companies that could still be years away from seeing profits - again, the long term outlook.

The Path from Here, to There...

The road from bear to bull market is surprisingly short and straight - plus, following the collapse of FTX, a come-back for crypto also means washing off  some of the mud currently splattered on crypto's public image.  But all of this is doable, here's how it will go;

Crypto regulations are coming, discussing if you're for or against this is officially a waste of time - we're getting them.

However, the industry has gotten smarter over the last few years and regulations no longer mean a 'crack down' on crypto. 

As politicians began considering passing finance laws specific to crypto assets, the crypto industry became major Washington DC influencers, and almost overnight began supporting pro-crypto politicians campaigns at such large amounts that crypto is outspending the industries that have typically spent the most for decades, the defense industry and pharmaceutical companies.

Until recently we were truly were at risk of tech-illiterate politicians passing poorly-written regulations that could bring everything to a halt, that no longer longer seems possible. This level of involvement has given the industry a place at the table with lawmakers.

If you're outside of the US thinking this doesn't involve you, I wouldn't count on that.  Some regulations will address the situation FTX is in, requiring exchanges to prove the assets they hold and auditing their total value regularly.  It wouldn't surprise me if US companies and investors could only do business with foreign firms that follow similar guidelines - setting a standard that will quickly become global.

Over the span of just a few days:  Crypto's current public image gets fixed as politicians pat themselves on the back for 'fixing crypto' with 'new investor protections'.  The largest investment firms have citied the lack of these regulations as the only reason they haven't yet gotten involved - so now the floodgates open. 

I believe the next bull market doesn't just set new all-time highs for the top cryptocurrencies, but does it at record speed as well - Bitcoin gaining $10,000 per week for 5 weeks would get us past it's previous high, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's how it went.

Remember - there's never been so many people and companies aware of what a Bitcoin bull run can do, and it will be a lot harder to justify sitting it out.

In Closing...

There's nothing fun about a bear market, except looking forward to it ending. Based on current indicators, it seems we may have a lot to look forward to!

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

There are more than 900,000 wallets with at east 1 full Bitcoin in them, according to data from the blockchain explorer Glassnode. 

In addition to this, wallets holding at least 0.1 BTC are also at an all-time high.

This is considered major long-term bullish indicator...

This reflects that investors are taking advantage of the current bear-market low prices, as they continue to accumulate Bitcoin with a plan to hold it for months, or even years.

Bitcoin's price is 72% below its historical maximum reached 10 months ago in November 2021, at almost USD 69,000.

If you believe Bitcoin will return to previous highs (as it always has), then you understand why someone would want to take advantage of the current price. 

Here's where things get weird...

In 2021, while Bitcoin's price was on the rise with heavy demand fueling price gains, the number of wallets holding 1 Bitcoin actually declined.

But as you can see from the chart, the amount of 1 or more Bitcoin has been steadily increasing throughout 2022... as the price dropped. 

Wallets Holding 1BTC or more on the rise (yellow) while price declines (black)

What does this mean?

These are the smart traders. Those with experience learn to buy at the bottom, and sell at the top. 

 As Wall Street traders continue to cross over into crypto, it's no surprise that we're seeing more experienced investors in the crypto market.  Where many see a 'crash' they see an 'entry point'.

Remember Warren Buffet's famous piece of advice - “Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful” - in other words, buy when everyone else is selling. 

But even with a record number of savvy traders, there isn't enough of them to move Bitcoin's price upwards, but they do probably deserve some credit for Bitcoin staying stable in its current $18k - $21k range.  So far, when Bitcoin has gone below $20k, it soon finds people ready to buy.  

A return to a bull market will be fueled by tens of thousands of people buying hundreds of dollars' worth of Bitcoin, not hundreds of people buying thousands worth. 

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

Both the stock and cryptocurrency markets are reacting to today's news that US Federal Reserve will increase interest rates by 0.75%.  The measure is aimed at controlling inflation, which remains at its highest levels since the early 1980s, and is seen as evidence that the maintains flexibility and hasn't felt the need to implement more drastic measures, at least yet.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pointed out that there are recent indicators that both consumption and production have decreased, but added that the unemployment rate has remained low and that job growth in the first half indicates that we are not in a recession. 

Bitcoin and Stocks on The Rise, But Bitcoin is Outpacing Both Major Indexes...

Following the news Nasdaq gained about 4%, the S&P 500 gained around 2.5%, and Bitcoin surpassed both easily with gains of over 8% at the time of publishing.

CoinBase among stocks to outperform market average...

The company needed a good day following a 21% loss yesterday, today they gained half of that back. 

It's been hell-week for Coinbase - first came news that SEC is closely monitoring Coinbase's operations to determine if the exchange has allowed its users to trade tokens that could be considered unregistered securities. Coinbase denied that it lists securities for trading and stated on its blog that it reviews "every digital asset before it is made available on our exchange, a process that the SEC itself has reviewed."

Then ARK Investments, managed by Cathie Wood, dumped $658 million worth of Coinbase shares, removing it entirely from their portfolio.

They end the day at $58.49 - still, the overall picture isn't great when taking in to account that they launched April 2021 at $400. 

But remember - a return of the crypto bull market and setting a new Bitcoin all time high could send Coinbase back to the $300-$400 range shockingly fast, as their holdings triple in value and increased trading activity would once again have them making millions in exchange fees.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

Bitcoin currently has the attention of analysts around the world, as they question if this rally has momentum, and where it could take prices.

The price of Bitcoin jumped over 7% over the past 24 hours, breaking $24,000 to peak at $24,264.  It has been floating around the upper $23k-$24k range since - this comes after lingering in the $19k-$21k range for weeks

At time of publishing BTC is down from  outperforming most other tokens and advancing to the highest levels since the largest crypto plummeted to as low as $18,000 from $30,000 in a severe selloff in mid-June.

Technical Analysis of the Data says this Rally Could Bring Bitcoin Near $30,000 - But It's also Bitcoin's Worst Month Since 2011...

A bad month means many traders simply aren't in the mood for a rally, "There's no indicator/signal/expert on the planet that will end with me dumping more money into Bitcoin.  Talk to me in like... November, maybe" said one user in a crypto traders telegram community. 

Nonetheless, top analysts at crypto intelligence firm Glassnode are confirming “Numerous signals indicate that genuine bottom formation could be underway” adding that “Bitcoin prices have now traded below the Realized Price for over a month, with many signals that a deep and complete capitulation has occurred.”

What They're Looking For Next...

Bitcoin must break out above the $25,000 resistance level, and see a moving average convergence divergence (MACD)—which is a technical indicator—above zero each day in addition to a positive weekly signal.

This together with which momentum indicator like stochastics showing a number above 20% would make the odds of a run to $29k-$30k range possible.  

If we see both of these today, 

In Closing...

I'm viewing the situation like this:

The data indicates a potential BTC rally - no argument from me there.  We just finished one where Bitcoin gained about $3000, and I see repeating something of similar size much more likely than following it up with one nearly twice as large. 

That's feels like too much too soon 

Anything over $27,000 and I'll be pleasantly surprised. 

------- 
Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

While the return of the bull market may not be 'close' - there's some signs that it is indeed coming. 

We're not alone, many analysts see a positive future ahead, such as senior analyst of Bloomberg's Commodities Division, Mike McGlone, who says "bitcoin could initiate one of the largest bull markets in history."  

Other Positive Indicators:

Bitcoin being transferred from exchanges to privately owned wallets is considered a bullish sign, it indicates the owner of that Bitcoin is not looking to sell anytime soon. These investors are considered to be HODLing, and waiting for the bull market to return. 

via CryptoQuant: Amount of Bitcoin available on exchanges.

In fact, the supply of BTC being traded on exchanges hasn't been this low in 3 years.

Traders too fearful to notice - the crypto market already stabilized!

Traders are still on-edge from recent market chaos, the 'Fear & Greed Index' currently rates the Bitcoin market as one with 'Extreme fear' meaning indicators taken into account such as volume, momentum, and social media sentiment show traders hesitant to buy. 

Bitcoin has been trading between $19k and $22k for nearly an entire month!

'Hesitant to buy' and 'selling off' are two very different things - and it's gone somewhat unnoticed that the selloff ended weeks ago.

For Bitcoin especially - this is an extremely stable price range to be holding for weeks now.

Lingering fears...

Until last week, the big question mark hanging over the crypto market was lending platform Celsius and concerns it would be next to collapse.  They leveraged their funds through multiple DeFi platforms, concerns that they could be liquidated still owing millions were valid as it would have caused a ripple effect and likely another round of coin prices crashing down.   

However - they've spent the last week paying off large portions of those debts and now is no longer at high risk of liquidation 

So for now, it appears we won't be seeing any additional over-leveraged crypto platforms collapse. 

Unfortunately, the remaining cloud of fear hanging over the crypto market is a massive one that reaches far beyond crypto.  These fears are shared with the world and come from an economy struggling to grow, out of control inflation, rising gas costs, and global conflict. 

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Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

JPMorgan is telling clients that getting in to Bitcoin at current prices could have major upside for them down the line. The bank believes bitcoin is undervalued by 28% and has set a price target of $38,000 for the coin, which is currently fluctuating at about $29,000.

"We thus replace real estate with digital assets as our preferred alternative asset class along with hedge funds" they wrote.

Last summer, JPMorgan began offering six crypto funds to its wealth management clients, allowing them to diversify their portfolios with bitcoin exposure.

Bitcoin sank below $26,000 for the first time since December 2020 earlier this month.

"We see upside for Bitcoin and crypto markets in general going forward" says strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.

But the pain isn't limited to crypto, as seen last week when the NASDAQ 's market lost more than Bitcoin. In both cases, inflation fears are being blamed.

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

Get $40 Bitcoin for $20 NOW: Click here!

The market's anxieties about the impact of inflation on the economy were heightened this week by the quarterly results of major retail chains, which showed smaller earnings than expected. This uncertainty was mirrored not only in the department store industry, but also in other sectors of the economy, putting downward pressure on stock prices.

This week's publication of Target's quarterly financial results started the rough week for many NADAQ listed.  The disappointing numbers reaffirmed the trend of consumers focused on spending on essentials like food, and holding off on things like televisions and bicycles. Target's sales and profitability fell short of expectations, and their stock plunged 25% on Wednesday as a result of the earnings decrease, which was even more severe than Walmart's.

The first warning came with Walmart's quarterly financial statements on Tuesday, which revealed a large dip in profits, triggering a stock price slump that began on Tuesday and has yet to stop.

Walmart began the week at $150/share and is ending it at $118.  Target began the week at $220 and is ending it at $152.

The end result (as time of writing) is Bitcoin losing -1.62% this week, and NASDAQ down -3.79%

Bitcoin gets a bounce...

The "realized price" is a well known metric among Bitcoin price analysists, and is calculated by dividing the sum of the values ​​of all coins at the time they were last moved, by the circulating supply. Analysis company Glassnote points out as the 'realized price' approaches, traders buy without hesistation because they believe they can be confident that Bitcoin is undervalused at the moment.  

The current realized price is $24,000, but traders haven't allowed it to get that low - $26,513 is the lowest BTC has gone during the current downtrend. "This may be due in part to the general market awareness of its (realized price) existence" said Glassnode.

"BITCOIN CRASHING. Great news" Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki tweeted last week, adding "Once I know bottom is in I back up the truck. Crashes are the best times to get rich."

But don't get excited yet...

We do have enough information where I can say with confidence - this is just another standard dip. One of the larger ones, but the kind we've had before. By that I mean, the kind where we go on to set new all time highs when it's all over. 

So play it smart from here, because the right moves made now will pay off large than those done in a bull market.  You want to ride the trade you make from the bear market, into the bull market.

On that note, if you're newer to crypto and want a simple, low risk way to get those big future payouts. you want to be dollar cost averaging. It's an insanely simple method, and makes it where you don't need to be right about every move you make. Read about it here, or watch a video on it here.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News