[Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) price action remains stable but is a value surge just around the corner?

The price of Bitcoin has been steadily declining since 8th November leaving many to speculate the bull run is finally over. With a retracement close to 40% it is easy to see why this is a popular narrative. However, there are many people who believe Bitcoin has one and possibly two more bull runs left in the tank. What are the factors behind this optimism and when could this occur?

## Price volatility at record low

The current price of Bitcoin stands at $41,876 representing a fall of 2% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin has been range bound between roughly $41,000 and $43,000 since 6th January which in the volatile land of unregulated cryptocurrency is something of a rarity. Clearly retail investors have been spooked and institutional investors are buying their time.

This price stability is reflected in the volatility, which according to the Bitcoin Volatility Index is at its lowest point since November 2021 at 2.63%. Low volatility might not be attractive to traders but from an institutional adoption angle it represents maturity and stability which in turn generates interest. Therefore the ‘boring’ price action of Bitcoin may be just what is needed to encourage more large-scale investors to the crypto table.

## Bitcoin fear and greed index

As mentioned above, the price of Bitcoin has seen a sharp pull back from record highs of November 2021. In turn, retail investment has practically disappeared as many people fear getting burnt or worse. This market sentiment is measured by the handy Fear and Greed Index which uses a handful of factors to assess how traders are likely to react given the current price. The current Fear & Greed Index score is 24% representing Extreme Fear which to the bold investor is the perfect time to buy.

## China Bitcoin ban

Many people believe the price decline of Bitcoin since November 2021 could be related to yet another Chinese Bitcoin mining and trading ban as investors in the far east sell off and take profits. This would explain the 40% drawback as a large proportion of Bitcoin mining occurred in China before the ban. The USA now accounts for the highest percentage of hashpower in the world.

Historically speaking, Bitcoin has a habit of launching a price surge just when everyone thinks the asset is dead and it is headed for zero. This could easily be the case here. The development of the Bitcoin network has come too far in the last 24 months for it to crash and burn and the adoption of nation states such as Venezuela, El Salvador and lately Tonga show just how much credibility Bitcoin still has in the tank.

## Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency

The real question is why isn't anyone buying Bitcoin, and other crypto for that matter, in large enough quantities to move the market which was evident at time throughout 2021. This could be due to many factors. As we have discussed before the market is in dire need of regulation and its absence deters many traditional investors looking to enter the space. 

Later this week US Congress is due to host a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee entitles “Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The energy impacts of blockchain” which is sure to make recommendations which will impact the development of the market. So, is circa $40,000 the new floor? Will it hold? And once we have regulatory clarity will investors return to the table in record numbers? Only time will tell.



Is the Bitcoin price stagnant or stable?

The largest city in Brazil is planning to invest 1% of the city’s financial reserves into [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) it was revealed yesterday.

In an attempt to rebrand the city as ‘Crypto Rio’ mayor of Rio de Janiero, Eduardo Paes, recently announced that “We are going to launch Crypto Rio and invest 1% of the treasury in cryptocurrency – the government has a role to play”.

## Property Tax Discount

The announcement came during Rio Innovation Week and was released through news agency O Globo. The revelation came as Mr Paes discussed Rio’s cryptocurrency future as he shared a stage with the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez. The discussion also included plans to consider a 10% discount on all property tax which is paid in Bitcoin. Rio de Janeiro city Finance Secretary Pedro Paulo commented “Let us study the legal framework to do this”.

In a move that closely follows neighbours El Salvador, the Brazillian government is clearly warming to the idea of integrating cryptocurrency payments. In November last year Federal Deputy Luizão Goulart proposed a bill to legalise crypto as a payment method for both public and private sector workers in the country.

The following month leading crypto payment firm in Brazil, MercadoPago, enabled all Brazilian residents access to buy, sell and hold all major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Clearly Brazil is waking up to the economic advantages of adopting a digital framework throughout their economy.

## Inflation hedge

With inflation around the world continuing to rise, cryptocurrencies represent some of the best ways to reduce costs and increase network security and efficiency. In addition many people see Bitcoin itself as an alternative to gold and the perfect hedge against the weakening of fiat currencies.

The price of Bitcoin remains in the low $40,000’s with the price at time of press standing at $42,359 a fall of 3.72% in the last 24 hours. The overall market cap sits at $2.02 trillion, a pull back of 3.16%. Bitcoin market dominance is 39.7% which shows it is still the worlds best known and largest cryptocurrency by market cap. How long this remains the case is anyone’s guess however with major cities like Rio de Janeiro announcing their intention to invest in Bitcoin, the message to undecided or cautious investors is clear. [Buy Bitcoin](/trade).


Rio de Janeiro to invest 1% of city wealth into Bitcoin

There was fresh hope for the cryptocurrency market today as the [Bitcoin](/crypto coin news/bitcoin news) price registered the first positive action in three days.

The cryptocurrency market has been taking a hit recently with prices tumbling since many all time highs were reached in early November 2021. However, the last 7 days have seen prices stabilise in what many experts believe is the bottom of the recent price dip.

## Bitcoin price movement

At time of press, Bitcoin is currently trading at $42,029 with a 24 hour high of $42,663. Could this be the reversal that many people are hoping for? Bitcoin fell below $40,000 for the first time in 3 months yesterday (January 10th) when the price touched $39,816 across exchanges. The price bounced sharply showing strong buying support around and under $40,000. However, with global macro economic uncertainty Bitcoin is still considered by many as a speculative investment and high risk assets are often first to be sold in times of uncertainty.

## Wise decisions needed

The question cryptocurrency investors need to ask themselves at this point is what is considered high or medium risk? The future of cryptocurrency has never been so bright as many of the well established networks begin to come online and offer tangible cost and efficiency benefits to their loyal customers. However in a market saturated with meme coins, ponzi projects and rug pulls the savvy investor must choose wisely.

## Hedge against financial catastrophe

Legendary investor, Bill Miller, recently announced he has allocated 50% of his net worth into Bitcoin as an “insurance policy against financial catastrophe”. Does he know something the rest of us don’t? With over 40 years in the investment business it would be naïve to think Mt Miller is taking a speculative gamble on Bitcoin especially since he purchased his first Bitcoin in 2014. Mr Miller went on to say “the average investors should ask themselves what do they have in their portfolio which has Bitcoins track record – 1, is very, very under penetrated, 2, can provide as a hedge against financial catastrophe, 3, can increase in value 10 – 50x – the answer is nothing”.

## Market shake down

Clearly Mr Miller is very bullish on the future of Bitcoin which is a great help to counteract the negative feeling currently surrounding Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. Distributed networks and blockchain technology have the power to radically change the way we do business and make for a fairer and more balanced global community. 

However, there may be many more rough seas to cross before we reach the calm economic waters we all crave. I think the key is to invest wisely and stick to medium to large cap crypto with a working product, strong customer base and a clear road map for the future. The entire cryptocurrency market is long overdue a radical shake out which will leave behind only the strongest contenders. Choose wisely and make sure you are on the right side of history.



Is Bitcoin Price Back on the Up?

[Bitcoin](/coins/btc) traders and investors continued to hold their breath today as the price of the world’s number one digital asset continued to fall.

At time of press, Bitcoin is trading at $42,406 representing a drop of 1.11% in the last 24 hours. The total market cap for the entire crypto industry stands at just over $2 trillion, a fall of just 0.85% over the previous day. Is this anything to worry about? What has caused this drawback? Lets take a closer look.

**November Bitcoin Highs**
--------------------------

To many, the cryptocurrency market has never been healthier. Many large scale companies such as Tesla have Bitcoin investments on their balances sheets while 2021 finally saw the emergence of a Bitcoin futures ETF. Rumour has it that there are many institutions poised to make significant crypto investment through 2022 yet the prices of the major cryptocurrencies have been falling since the highs of November 2021.

As the charts and figures clearly show the price of Bitcoin peaked on November 10th with a price of $68,385. Since then the price has been in free fall however many commentators believed that there was significant buying support around $50,000. Therefore the shock when Bitcoin fell firstly to $45,000 and then more recently this week to $42,000 was audible. However, on a macro scale there doesn’t appear to be anything to worry about.

**Strong Fundamentals**
-----------------------

The understanding and concept of digital assets and distributed ledger networks has never been clearer or stronger than it is going into 2022. With other digital currencies such as Ethereum, Hedera Hashgraph and Link all scheduling upgrades and developments in the first part of the year the industry has never been stronger. However, there is a large percentage of the digital asset market  cap which is made up from speculative investors more familiar with the stock market.

These kind of investors still view cryptocurrencies and digital assets as risk on investments compared to other more stable parts of their portfolio. Therefore, when there are concerning macro economic winds whipping across the financial landscape cryptocurrencies are one of the first assets to be sacrificed. The news of the Federal Reserve plans to tighten monetary policy this week provided the catalysts for much profit taking across both crypto and stocks. 

**Local Bottom for Bitcoin Price?**
-----------------------------------

The question many people are asking is where is the local bottom for Bitcoin? There are some market experts saying that Bitcoin could fall as low as $30,000 although the general consensus is that $40,000 looks like a safe bet.  As we mentioned above the fundamentals for both Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general have never been stronger so a fall into the $30,000 region seems unlikely. However as we all know anything is possible in this unregulated and burgeoning market place.



Bitcoin Price Feels the Wind of Change

A new year often means a fresh start but is this the case in the cryptocurrency industry? Lets take a closer look.

At the time of press, the cryptocurrency industry is currently worth $2.23 trillion and shows a 0.79% decrease over the last 24 hour period. In contrast the total amount of crypto traded (volume) in the last 24 hours has risen by 42.06% to $108.48 billion indicating sellers have marginal control over the market.

For extra detail DeFi makes up 21.38% of the total crypto market volume at $23.20 billion whilst stable coins represent 61.47% of the last 24 hour trading volume at $66.69 billion. This data shows the cryptocurrency market is relatively stable going in to 2022 and could be viewed as a ‘bottom’ with prices anticipated to rise in the near term.

## Bitcoin price stability
---------------------------

At the time of press the price of [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) is $46,607, a [decrease of 1.00% in the last 24 hours](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/), whilst market dominance continues to fall and currently stands at 39.60%, a drop of 0.08% over the last day.  On Monday, January 3rd Bitcoin celebrated its 13th birthday and shows no signs of slowing down or letting other coins take the number one spot.

Although Bitcoin may never be used to buy a simple cup of coffee, many people are beginning to see Bitcoin as alternative rival to gold as a store of wealth and a solid hedge against rising inflation. Indeed, Grayscale Investment Management recorded returns of 62.2% for its Bitcoin Trust in the last 12 months easily eclipsing the 2% offered by Gold.

## $55 billion Grayscale AUM
-----------------------------

Grayscale are firm believers in the transformational power of cryptocurrencies and describe themselves as ‘the leading partner to investors who wish to navigate and deploy capital into this new asset class’. At time of press, Grayscale is the worlds largest digital currency asset manager with $55 billion worth of assets under management. However, all that being said Grayscale have actually reduced their cryptocurrency exposure in the last couple of months as prices have failed to ignite.

In early November Grayscale AUM were sitting at a comfortably $61 billion but the lack of price action since then has seen the company sell off 30% and 22% of their Bitcoin and [Ethereum](/news/category/ethereum-news-today) trusts respectively. However, recent data shows that since December 31st 2021 Grayscale have purchased $11.4 billion worth of cryptocurrency demonstrating once more their confidence in the cryptocurrency and digital asset market moving in to the new year. Long may this continue.


2022- new beginnings for the cryptocurrency market?

After months of development, [Ethereum](/coins/eth) finally announced their Proof of Stake test net Kintsugi went live on December 20th.

Until Monday, Kintsugi had been only available to developers looking to experiment and build ahead of the much anticipated launch of Ethereum 2.0 next year. The successful launch of Kintsugi was announced by lead developer Tim Beiko on Monday in a series of tweets. 

Beiko stated “Although client development and UX continue to be refined, we encourage the community to start using Kintsugi to familiarize themselves with Ethereum in a post-merge context. For application developers, as previously explained, not much will change. Tooling which only interacts with either the consensus or execution layer is also largely unaffected.”

Testnets often launch prior to main net to enable developers to test applications in a controlled setting.

## Bad for the environment

The launch of Ethereum2.0 will finally see the complete transition to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. Proof of Work blockchains are seen as slow, costly and harmful to the environment and therefore adopting the Proof of Stake model is the logical approach.

The move has taken longer than many people expected however the launch of Kintsugi is a clear indication that the time of reckoning is moving closer. Many industry experts believe Ethereum 2.0 will be ready for public use sometime in Spring next year.

## Smart contract development

The calls for Ethereum 2.0 grow louder by the day. With Ethereum transactions taking anywhere between 5 minutes and four hours depending on network congestion, a Proof of Work model will bring much needed speed to the network. Current transaction costs also make the network unattractive to developers. The general feeling is that when Ethereum 2.0 is launched we will see a massive rise in network use and smart contract application development which will benefit all areas of the industry.

## Stability

Kintsugi will run until the network reaches stability along with other pre launched testnets. Beiko explained that “existing long lived testnets will run through ‘The Merge’. Once these have upgraded and are stable, next up is Ethereum mainnet transition to Proof of Stake.”



Ethereum POS Testnet Kintsugi Release 

As 2021 draws to a close, the crypto market is stronger than ever before. Bitcoin sits at around $47,000 exactly double what it was worth this time last year. As we all know, there have been many record gains alongside some serious drawbacks. In this article we will look at the current state of the market and what we can likely expect in 2022.

As mentioned above, the current price of Bitcoin is just over $47,000 representing just over a 100% gain if you had bought Bitcoin this time last year. The digital currency market as a whole is currently worth $2.1 trillion with highs of $3 trillion touched upon as little as 6 weeks ago. Bitcoin still remains the dominant crypto with just over 40% of market share with Ethereum close behind at 21%.

Without stating the obvious, 2021 has been a bumpy ride underlining the most successful cryptocurrency trading strategy is the long term buy and hold. No matter how smart people claim to be, no one can out play the market, especially an unregulated one so open to manipulation.

So, going forward what can we expect from crypto in 2022?

## Regulation needed as soon as possible

As we have discussed many times before the market desperately needs some form a comprehensive regulation that will both protect consumers, deter bad actors and encourage further investment from those less averse to high risk management.

It is my belief that this regulatory approval is closely tied to the ongoing court case between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year or are extremely new to crypto you will understand that Ripple is currently being sued by the SEC for the apparent offering of its native token asset XRP as a security in the early days of the company’s formation. Ripple argue that the XRP is a utility token with a distinct purpose which does not constitute an investment and therefore is not a security which is regulated under SEC authority.

This case is key to the whole cryptocurrency market. If, as many people are beginning to believe, the court rules in Ripples favour the closure of the case will provide clarity on just what cryptocurrencies truly are. Indeed, the case will surely determine a completely new asset class which is somewhere between investment vehicle and utility token.

## Looking forward, looking back

The case against Ripple is close to a year old now with progress and information from both sides seemingly stagnant. However, there is optimism that there may be resolution sometime in the new year. In terms of market development cryptocurrency and blockchain are still relatively new in the product lifecycle and as the world adjusts to a post COVID reality the continued emergence of a complete digital immersion is more than inevitable. If 2021 was the year people woke up to the use case of crypto then perhaps 2022 is the year when the adoption is cleared for take off. Only time will tell.

Which Crypto: 2021-2022 Roundup

The cryptocurrency market looked shaky again today as crypto traders saw another 24 hours of drawback.

The cryptocurrency market experienced another drawback today as confidence among traders and investors seemed like a distant memory.

At time of press, the value of the entire cryptocurrency market is $2.6 trillion with a drawn down of 1.62% in the last 24 hours. The market has made a slight recovery through the day after bottoming out at $2.09 trillion at 19:40 UTC last night (December 13th). [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) dominance is at 41.4% which is a slight rise since Thursday localised low of 39.8%. The price of Bitcoin is currently $47,230 representing a loss of 1.61% over the last 24 hours and a loss of 8.30% and 26.6% for the last week and month respectively.

While a drawback of 1.61% is of no real concern to traders the fact that Bitcoin has recently lost support at $48k and $47k with a localised dip down to $45.7k is more worrying. Who is selling and why?

**Different strokes for different folks**
-----------------------------------------

With conflicting narratives across the world, it is difficult to determine just what is happening in the market. On one hand we have seen recent large scale investment from the likes of Michael Saylor of Microstrategy whilst on the other hand there is news coming out of Russia that the Central Bank of Russia is banning mutual funds in the country from making investments into Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, the German Savings Banks Association have announced details regarding a pilot project aimed at providing and exchange and private wallets to their 50 million customers allowing each and everyone to purchase cryptocurrencies directly.

Clearly each country has its own approach.

There is cause for optimism on the immediate horizon however as recent data from crypto exchange Bitfinex show there is increasingly strong buying support for Bitcoin from $44,500 to $46,000.

**FOMC report imminent**
------------------------

Many investors believe this is in response to anticipated findings resulting from the FOMC meeting scheduled for Wednesday 15th December. The FOMC or Federal Open Market Committee is a group of 12 members which decide on monetary policy for the US Federal Reserve and the results of tomorrows key meeting are eagerly awaited by the cryptocurrency community. If, like many people are expecting, the FOMC meeting announces continuing rates of inflation then many investors will continue to see Bitcoin as a solid hedge. The previous FOMC meeting at the beginning of November announced the largest rise in inflation in 40 years leading to a surge in the price of Bitcoin from $60,500 to $68,700. The data from Bitfinex appear to confirm confident traders looking to buy at the bottom of this pull back before making the most from a 10% surge in price.

**Buy the dip?**
----------------

As Omnicron continues to develop across all corners many financial markets look like they are on shaky ground and Bitcoin is no exception. Cryptocurrencies are seen by many as a speculative investment and although the market is more mature than it was 5 years ago there is still a large portion of investors who do not share the confidence of others.

For many, investing in crypto has always been a long term project with objectives set 5 and 10 years into the future. Once the underlying technology and the context in which it can help society is understood many more people will be drawn to making their first cryptocurrency investment. Until then the wise investor will be making the most of this short term dip.



Bitcoin Price Falls Further While Buyers Remain Patient

The price of Bitcoin was struggling for momentum today as the price hovered just below $49,000 on major indices across the market representing a fall of just 0.31%

The price of [Bitcoin](/coins) has remained range bound between $48-$51,000 since last weekends price fall from $58,000 down to $46,000. It seems as if this weak price action is keeping buyers at bay who are likely waiting for the surge in price. That being said, Bitcoin still represents just over 40% of the total cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin also has an individual market capitalisation of $1.03 trillion – the largest cryptocurrency in the market.

## More buys from Michael Saylor

This malaise seems to be affecting the broader crypto market with no clear break out gainers or losers across the last 24 hours. As we mentioned previously, without regulation the market is wide open to manipulation. This puts many investors and traders off making an entry and building a position – except Michael Saylor that is. The founder and CEO of [Microstrategy](https://www.microstrategy.com/en), the US based business software and business intelligence organisation, announced the purchase of an extra 1,434 Bitcoin on Twitter yesterday at an average price of $54,477 bringing the companies total holdings to 122,478 Bitcoin. Clearly Mr Saylor has more confidence in the future price of Bitcoin that the rest of the market. Microstrategy’s Bitcoin stack is now worth a coll $3.66 billion with an average buy in price of $29,861 meaning Saylor is still clearly in profit.

## Inflation hedge


Saylor, along with many others, see Bitcoin as the perfect hedge for inflation and a stagnating gold price. In fact, Michael Saylor believes that Bitcoin has the potential to replace gold as the number one store of value. In a recent tweet, Saylor made the bold claim that the cryptocurrency revolution will be lead through inflation, technology and adoption with Bitcoin leading the way.

The caution from investors may be due to the US Consumer Price Index report, due to be released this Friday at 13:30 hours UTC. This report is set to show that the cost of living in the world’s largest economy has risen by 6.8% in November with 7% just around the corner. If this predicted data proves to be correct then an injection of volatility into the crypto market is to be expected. With inflation reaching a 30 year high many believe this is helping to create the perfect storm for the rapid advancement and adoption of digital currencies to help relieve the pressure.

## XRP shows strength amid uncertainty

Cross border remittance coin XRP saw strong growth this week leaving many to speculate that somebody somewhere has inside knowledge that the case with the SEC could be coming to a close and the adoption of Ripple Net could be close at hand. Fans of XRP and Ripple have experienced a long and arduous three years after many false dawns and broken promises. It seems as if the court case was the final nail in the coffin for the much maligned XRP. However, with the current economic climate continuing to experience choppy water the time is perfect for a multinational organisation such as the World Economic Fund or the International Monetary Fund to approve the use of a new approach to international finance. Could this involve XRP and Ripple? Only time will tell.

BTC price Struggles to Make Headway

It was all eyes on the price of [Ethereum](/coins/eth) at the end of the week as many industry experts predicted a sharp breakout is on the immediate horizon.

Twitter and the internet were yesterday alight with rumours that Ethereum was about to break out to the upside in a strong move reminiscent of late 2017.

The price of Ethereum against Bitcoin at the time of writing sat at 0.08btc with many technical experts expecting a surge to at least 0.2btc which, given the present price of Bitcoin hovering around the $56,500 mark, would bring Ethereum into the $11,000 territory.

With the long-awaited launch of Ethereum 2.0 due to be finally revealed sometime during Q1 of 2022, an increase in Ethereum’s price would seem like a sure-fire bet.

## The Future of Finance

However, in typical Murphy’s Law fashion, as Ethereum came within 2% of its all-time high of $4,845, the United States Lower House announced details of a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 8th to discuss Digital Assets and the Future of Finance, leading to uncertainty and a cooling of the optimistic price action.

That being said, if the current price trajectory through 2021 continues, 2022 looks like it could be a very promising year for Ethereum.

In late 2017 the price of Ethereum against Bitcoin hit an all-time high of 0.15btc before cooling considerably through 2018 and 2019. In May this year, as the crypto market pumped in unison, we saw Ethereum reach 0.085btc leading to a price of $4,300. Since then, the price of Ethereum/Bitcoin has been consolidating just below 0.08btc although a significant break out above the trend line this week has created many new calls for optimism.

## More turkey or time for something new?

While a 550% increase in the price of Ethereum through 2021 may sound like a cause for celebration, when compared against the 14,800% gains made by rival smart contract platform Solana it is clear Ethereum has a lot of catching up to do.

The major hindrance for Ethereum so far has been the low speeds and high transaction fees to conduct business across the network.

While it is still the number one place to go to for smart contract and decentralised applications (dApps) development, the high costs and slow speeds have made many of Ethereum’s competitors a much more attractive proposition. However, the general feeling is that the launch of Ethereum 2.0 will solve these issues and then significant building on the platform can begin in earnest.

Ethereum is thought of as the ‘home’ of DeFi with many of the industry’s latest finance protocols using Ethereum as their basis for their application. The same goes for the world of NFTs with many projects using the ERC-20 token to mint and launch their latest creations.

Both factors show the use of the Ethereum network is already strong and grew at an exponential rate throughout 2022.

The real question around the dinner table this Christmas is what impact will lower fees and faster speeds have on an already massively popular and trusted network? And what impact will this have on the Ethereum price.

Will it be turkey curry for days or can we afford something a little more extravagant in 2022? Only time will tell.


Ethereum Latest News: Showing Strength

David Marcus will leave [Meta](https://about.facebook.com/meta/) (formerly Facebook) at the end of the year, with the company’s stablecoin project – Diem, formerly Libra, still not fully launched.

He confirmed he was stepping down as Meta’s crypto lead on Twitter.

The former president of PayPal joined Facebook as the vice president of the company’s Messenger division and took over the firm’s blockchain work in 2018.

Libra has faced regulatory scrutiny since its announcement in 2019, with Marcus becoming the face of the project in front of the US authorities.

## New Head for Novi

The project appeared to undergo cutbacks, with key staff leaving, before it was rebranded Diem. Recently, the Meta-owned cryptocurrency wallet subsidiary Novi launched a pilot that used the Paxos-administered USDP stablecoin instead of Diem.

Stephane Kasriel, also ex-PayPal, will be the new head of Novi

Confirming his departure on Twitter, Marcus said: ‘Personal news: after a fulfilling seven years at Meta, I’ve made the difficult decision to step down and leave the company at the end of this year.

‘While there’s still so much to do right on the heels of launching Novi — and I remain as passionate as ever about the need for change in our payments and financial systems — my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it.

‘The one thing I’m the proudest of during my time here is the amazing kickass team we’ve assembled over the last three years. This is the most resilient, passionate, determined and talented group of humans I’ve ever worked with.

## Greatness Ahead 

‘I find comfort and confidence in knowing that they will continue to execute our important mission well under @skasriel’s leadership, and I can’t wait to witness this from the outside. I know there’s greatness ahead.

‘I’ll keep a special place in my heart for some of the most fun and stimulating years of my life building Messenger with so many talented people. In turn, the Novi years were the most mission-driven and intellectually stimulating ones.

‘I’m incredibly grateful to Mark for the opportunity and privilege to share a bit of the journey over the years. I’ll keep lifelong memories and friendships from my time at the company, and I wish it well in the years to come.

‘I now look forward to having more free time in the months to come before I start building something new and exciting again. Onward!’

Facebook Stablecoin Project Manager Quits

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) stalled at a key level today as the recovery from the Thanksgiving sell off continued.

At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin stood at $56,613 with a slight drop of 0.67% in the last 24 hours. The price of Bitcoin saw a significant drop over the weekend falling from a high of $59,400 on Thursday, November 25th, to $53,757 by Sunday, November 28th, demonstrating that the price of Bitcoin is far from stable.

With the end of November just hours away the general synopsis of the Plan B stock to flow model appears to be in serious doubt. In recent months the well-known scarcity and demand curve has shown to be eerily accurate by correctly predicting both August and September monthly close and just 3% out in October.

However, the model shows November with a predicted closing price of $98,000 which would require a massive daily close in the next 24 hours. Watch this space.

Regardless of the weak price action of Bitcoin in the last few days, professional traders remain bullish on the long-term price. Yesterday, infamous investment group MicroStrategy announced they had recently purchased 7,002 Bitcoins at an average price of $59,187 clearly demonstrating their confidence in the long-term price stability of Bitcoin. The $414 million purchase was achieved through the sale of company shares through October and November.

**Average Transaction Fee Continues to Fall**

Away from price action and technical analysis, the Bitcoin network continues to grow and appears to be in great shape. Recent reports and data show that for every $95,000 processed by the network the average fee comes to just $1. The calculation was achieved by dividing the mean transaction volume by the fees over a selected period of time (in this case seven days) and was provided by on-chain analyst Dylan LeClair using data provided by Glasnode.

Bitcoin fees have continued to fall since the successful adoption of the layer 2 payment protocol ‘Lightning Network’ in 2020 whose sole aim is to increase speed and reduce cost. Indeed, the decision by the government of El Salvador to make Bitcoin legal tender was based on the integration of a Lightning Network protocol into its official wallet.

Bitcoin Price Stalls but Recovery Continues

Bitcoin holders woke up with a severe case of digital cold turkey less than 24 hours after Thanksgiving. The price of the number one digital asset slipped by 2.85% to $55,493 at time of writing.

While this pull-back is nothing compared to recent drawdowns it has left many Bitcoin holders frustrated with the lack of positive price action in recent weeks. Many altcoins have witnessed astronomical gains while Bitcoin has stuck range bound between $56k and $58k for what seems like an eternity.

Yesterday’s push to $59,500 led many to believe that it was Bitcoin’s time to take centre stage once again with $58,000 looking like it offered solid support. However, as in previous years immediately following Thanksgiving, Bitcoin holders woke up this morning to the grim reality of yet more negative price action.

## Inflation concerns

All this being said, the broader stage continues to be set for Bitcoin to bloom. As more and more international governments begin to realise the value of digital currencies and the benefits they bring, legislation for the integration of cryptocurrency into everyday society is beginning to take shape.

Furthermore, with rising inflation across the globe the need for a stable hedge has never been greater. With gold prices stagnating in recent years the lure of a digital alternative makes Bitcoin a very attractive proposition indeed.

## Bitcoin eclipses [Paypal](https://www.paypal.com/us/home) with sights set on Visa

In yet another cause for crypto celebration the value transferred over the Bitcoin network has exceeded that of Paypal by more than 60%. Recent figures from Blockdata show that the Bitcoin network processed over $489 billion per quarter in 2021 compared with Paypal’s $302 billion. And now many crypto speculators are starting to believe that the next milestones to fall will be those of Mastercard and Visa.

To date, Bitcoin is processing just under 27% of Mastercard’s $1.8 trillion and around 15% of Visa’s mighty £3.2 trillion each quarter. If Bitcoin were to continue along its current trajectory of growth it could outpace the total capital transferred by Mastercard as early as 2026.

## Clinton calls for clarity

Former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped into the crypto debate this week with calls for stronger regulation in order to prevent market manipulation by Russia, China and ‘others’.

As part of a larger debate on social media manipulation Clinton warned of ‘technology of all kinds’ which has the potential to destabilise countries and the world reserve currency status of the dollar.

Clinton said: ‘There is one thing on the horizon which people are beginning to pay attention to and that is the need to regulate the cryptocurrency market. Imagine the combination of social media amassing even larger sums of money through the control of certain cryptocurrency chains.’

Her comments come as many countries begin to understand the notion of using digital currencies to circumnavigate financial sanctions put in place by the leading nations and [SWIFT](https://www.swift.com/) (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) - the world’s current leading system of transferring capital worldwide.

Bitcoin Holders Frustration as Price Down

M,Cryptocurrency exchange platform [Gemini](https://www.gemini.com/) has raised $400 million in outside funding with the intention of developing increased access to ‘the metaverse’ for its of users.

The announcement highlights Gemini’s continued commitment to providing access to a variety of metaverses directly via its platform. The significant capital outlay has been raised from a variety of sources, including Morgan Creek Digital, Parafi Capital, 10T, Newflow Partners and Marcy Ventures.

Additionally, in a first of its kind, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has also made a significant investment.

## Who are Gemini?

Gemini was formed in June 2013 by American twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and quickly became the first licensed Ethereum exchange in the USA.

The Winklevoss twins are perhaps best known for bringing a lawsuit against Facebook ‘founder’ Mark Zuckerberg for stealing intellectual property related to the social media concept. The case was settled by Zuckerberg in an out of court settlement for $65 million in 2011.

### Gemini $7.1 Billion Valuation

The $400 million ‘growth equity funding’ investment brings the value of the Gemini group to roughly $7.1 billion and is the first time the platform has sought outside investment.

The Winklevoss twins are set to retain 75% ownership of the company with Morgan Creek Digital partner Sachin Jailty joining the board of directors as part of the $75 million investment from the firm.

## Crypto Market Sentiment

The cryptocurrency market reflected the increased confidence in metaverse development this week with massive price gains for Sandbox, Decentraland and Enjin among others. Indeed, Gemini released details earlier this week of a significant purchase of Sandbox which may have led to the 60% price rally witnessed in the last seven days.

## Decentralisation is a Spectrum

Cameron Winklevoss was keen to emphasise Gemini’s decentralised approach to the metaverse in stark contrast to centralised ownership from firms ‘like Facebook or Fortnite’.

Winklevoss went on to say: ‘There is another path, which is the decentralised metaverse and that is the metaverse where we believe there’s greater choice, independence and opportunity, and there is technology that protects the rights and dignity of the individuals. Decentralisation is a spectrum. We want to continue to move down the spectrum towards empowerment.’ 

  More [Metaverse news](/news/category/metaverse-news).


Gemini Crypto Exchange Looks to Metaverse

The crypto markets continue to experience a strong correction today as overall market cap slid by 9.7% to $2.58 trillion at the time of writing.

Negative gains were experienced across the board, although some more than others. The Graph (GRT) suffered the most with a massive 18.86% pull back.

However, the question on everyone’s lips at the moment seems to be ‘will Bitcoin hold the $60,000 level?’.

## Bitcoin Fighting to Hold $60,000

After another week of tumultuous crypto markets activity, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell again Tuesday morning to just over $59,000, recording a drawback of 9.97% in the previous 24 hours.

As the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency, the price action of Bitcoin leads the way and is often used as an indicator of general market sentiment.

While this pull back may worry some, and certainly doesn’t look good on paper to many, it is just another day in the crypto wild west. Indeed, an anonymous crypto wallet made a massive purchase of 207 Bitcoin at an average price of $62,000, which clearly demonstrates buyer confidence in some areas of the market.

## Over-Leveraged Positions

What is the cause for this market pull back? Crypto sentiment has never been so high leaving many puzzled by this latest move.

After a month of all-time highs and many commentators calling for $100k by even the end of November, this shake down may be seen as inevitable. 

Crypto derivative products like Options and Perpetual Futures are hugely popular on leading exchanges, and when crypto prices stack too heavily against the exchange, corrections on this scale often happen. Indeed, what many saw as a massive leverage correction only happened less than two weeks ago.

## Market May be Heating Up

So, is this an indication that the market is heating up and getting close to a top as more and more people jump on the crypto train? Possibly.

Personally speaking, I think we have another three to six months before we experience a significant market retracement which may last a considerable amount of time.

As mentioned previously, the Plan B model seems to be playing out perfectly with a $100k Bitcoin expected by Christmas and a possible $135,000 Bitcoin price before the end of this bull run cycle.

Overall, today’s market pull back only really affects traders and those who are using considerable risk by opening leveraged positions. To long term investors this kind of price action is just another ‘normal’ day in crypto paradise.

A Normal Day in Crypto Markets Paradise

The crypto market took another tumble today as prices fell just hours after reaching all time highs.

Bitcoin, along with many other top tier cryptos, experienced a price shock Wednesday afternoon when prices plummeted just hours after achieving all time highs.

Bitcoin hit a price high of $68,744 ([Coinmarketcap.com](https://coinmarketcap.com/)) before falling sharply to $64,050 in less than four hours. The price shock was felt across the board with other major crypto experiencing similar pain. Ethereum fell from $4,858 to $4,538 whilst current market darling Solana dropped from $247.80 to $222.33.

Many commentators were quick to blame Chinese property developer Evergrande Group and its frantic attempts to avoiding defaulting on their bond payments but on closer inspection this does not appear to be the culprit. While the domino effect that a massive debt default may cause the worldwide financial markets is certainly cause for concern, for those who are well versed to the unregulated crypto wild west Wednesday’s average 8% pull back was nothing new.

## Crypto Market Recovery Position

The real question investors are asking themselves is how well have prices recovered?

Some coins have been hit harder than others. In classic investor / trader fashion Polkadot’s much anticipated Parachain Auction launch was hit with a massive 23% fall as investors ‘sold the news’ on the day of launch. Less than 48 hours after hitting an all time high of $53.81 DOT slid to just above $41.50 on some exchanges. Prices have recovered since with DOT’s current price at around $45.

Even more worrying was OmiseGo’s (OMG) 35% fall from an all time high of $19.60 to a low of  $12.62 in little more than 15 hours. This spectacular fall from grace occurred immediately after a ‘wallet snapshot’ was conducted in order to grant OMG holders with free supplies of BOBA token. Although this kind of activity has been witnessed many times before (the XRP - Flare token air drop comes to mind) the speed and level of co-ordination in the OMG / BOBA situation is something to behold.

## The Call for Regulation

So where are we now? As I mentioned above, the overall cryptocurrency market cap only fell by 8% which in crypto terms is just a blip on the horizon. However, at time of press many tokens are continuing to fall in price and the overall market cap stands at $2.77 trillion, a drop of over $100 billion in the previous 24 hours.

While this is nothing to be afraid of, it does demonstrate how open to manipulation the cryptocurrency market is without laws to protect investors. Although the market has matured significantly in the last 12 months, if crypto truly desires promotion to the premier league of investment class it really needs to address this blatant market manipulation and the only way crypto can achieve this is through policy and regulation. Watch this space.

Crypto Market Blip – Why Is It Down Today?

Champagne corks were flying early Tuesday morning as another Bitcoin all time high was recorded.

According to average market data from Coinmarketcap.com, the price of Bitcoin topped out at $68,530 at 4:00am Tuesday morning (GMT), making November a month of serious gains for Bitcoin holders and investors so far.

Such a strong and continued surge in the recent price, resulting in the latest Bitcoin all time high, has renewed confidence in the $100,000 target before the end of the year. Indeed, many market pundits believe this magical milestone could even be achieved by the end of November.

**Halving**
-----------

The strong price action of Bitcoin is closely following historical trends that have been set post Bitcoin halving events in 2012 and 2016.

A Bitcoin halving occurs every 210,000 blocks (roughly every four years) when the block reward for mining Bitcoin is cut in half. As a consequence, demand for Bitcoin increases as supply is cut in half, leading to scarcity and a surge in price.

Previous Bitcoin halvings in November 2012 and July 2016 saw huge price rallies lasting up to 18 months before the price corrected and significant pull backs occur. However, many market experts are expecting the current price to continue to trend upward through Christmas and into 2022.

When the price will correct is up for debate, although the majority of market commentators believe $100,000 per Bitcoin is more than achievable this cycle.

**Stock to Flow Model**
-----------------------

This cause for optimism can be largely attributed to what is known as the ‘Stock to Flow’ model created in 2019 by the pseudonymous Plan B. The Stock to Flow, or S2F, model looks at the supply dynamics of Bitcoin in relation to previous halving cycles.

In particular, the model divides the remaining Bitcoin left to mine by the rate of annual production.

Price targets formulated by the model following the May 2020 halving have so far proven to be extremely accurate. The August 2021 target of the $47,000 was pretty much spot on as was the following September target of $43,000. Although last month’s target of $63,000 was out by just 3% many believe the November target of $98,000 is more than achievable. Interestingly, the model predicts that 2021 will end with a Bitcoin price close to $135,000.

You may be thinking this all seems too good to be true and you may be right.

Plan B anticipates the current rally will end sometime towards the end of Q1 2022 before the market experiences a significant price correction. While many people tend to agree with his analysis there are those who are taking into account the different socio-economic times we are living in now compared to 2016 and 2012.

As the world adjusts to a post-Covid reality, decentralised networks, the metaverse, NFTs and shared working spaces are becoming increasingly mainstream. This in turn could mean the price of Bitcoin and other leading digital assets remain high as more investors realise the serious potential that this new asset class brings to the investing table.

Bitcoin Records Latest All Time High

Claims by Craig Wright that he is the true creator of Bitcoin could be settled in court, in what commentators are calling the ‘trial of the century’.

The identity of Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto remains the crypto industry’s biggest secret, there is one person who claims he is the founder of the world’s first digital decentralised currency.

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has stood by the claim since 2016 and a court in Miami is set to determine, once and for all, if Wright did indeed have some part in the development of Bitcoin.

Of course, access to 1.1 million Bitcoin in a locked wallet has nothing to do with the settling of the case, but is a strong reason to determine the facts.

The case centres around whether Craig Wright acted alone or with a now deceased partner in setting up and developing the Bitcoin source code. A jury of 10 have three weeks to listen to evidence and determine the facts of the case.

Craig Wright’s claim for sole ownership and development of the Bitcoin source code centres around his autism and the lack of a written agreement between himself and the other party, the now deceased David Kleiman.

One of the easiest ways to determine the author of the original source code and resulting locked Bitcoin wallet is to find out who can access the original funds. However, to date no one has been able to conclusively prove they own or can access the keys to open up the wallet.

## The $69 Billion Question

With the current price of Bitcoin floating around $63,500 determining the custody of 1.1 million, Bitcoin has serious ramifications. Should the case settle in anyone’s favour, the locked Bitcoin may become released and immediately placed for sale on the open market.

The impact of $69 billion worth of Bitcoin entering the market would send huge shock waves through the industry and have a serious effect on the price and stability of the world’s number one digital currency. The case continues.

## Bitcoin Price Explosion

A huge price surge saw Bitcoin explode more than $1,500 in a matter of minutes on Tuesday morning surpassing the highest price within a week.

Bitcoin Price Explosion came after days of sideways action and little volatility however many industry experts were expecting the price move.

This positive move adds to the bullish feel that has accompanied Bitcoin throughout October and most of 2021 with many investors seeking to jump on board the cryptocurrency express. Another bullish indicator saw the Relative Strength Index (RSI) move into 70 which typically indicates an asset is in high demand. 

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