Aside from being a famous chef, the world has heard Gordon Ramsay Bitcoin views in recent years.
There have also been numerous ads claiming he has made vast sums of money from investing in Bitcoin.

Crypto enthusiasts and investors are curious about Gordon Ramsay and questions like; does he own a Bitcoin, has he invested in Bitcoin, and is he a crypto trader?

## Who is Gordon Ramsay?

Gordon Ramsay is a well-known celebrity chef. However, he might have a keen interest in Bitcoin or crypto.
Through his work as a chef, he has a popular restaurant group, founded in 1997. His fame as a chef began in 1999, and today he's known as one of the most influential chefs in the world.

Aside from being a chef, he's a well-known, established businessman who has made many intelligent investments over the years. In addition, he has acted as a brand ambassador for a variety of businesses.

## Does Gordon Ramsay Use Bitcoin?

For him, being one of the few celebrities who discuss crypto publicly, people have asked questions about his involvement in Bitcoin. One is; does Gordon Ramsay use Bitcoin?

Over time, as that particular question gets asked, there has been speculation that he does own Bitcoin. Although this might be entirely true, he hasn't said publicly that he does.

Some publications have even reported that claims that Ramsay is making millions of dollars through Bitcoin are fake. Gordon himself has said that he has never traded Bitcoin or made money from Bitcoin trade or investments.

## Did He Invest In Bitcoin?

Although the celebrated chef has been linked to numerous crypto trading systems, he has never endorsed them. Moreover, there isn't any proof that the businessman has made any crypto investments. 

There have been instances of crypto trading companies using his name and photo to promote their businesses. They even go as far as using his pictures and fake testimonials of him to promote their business. They claimed that the chef had recommended the trading system to investors, enthusiasts, and potential customers.

## Is He Part of the Bitcoin Revolution Platform

It was claimed that he had invested in the Bitcoin Revolution Platform, a platform for trading cryptocurrency. It performs data-driven trades for customers; it's an automated trading platform.

However, the chef and businessman has denied any involvement with the platform. Even after an investigation by various media outlets, there wasn't any proof that he was involved in the investment.

Although Gordon Ramsay has a variety of investments and is a well-known businessperson, there is no evidence he has ever invested in Bitcoin. Although he may be knowledgeable about cryptocurrency, he hasn't made an official statement about his involvement in cryptocurrency, even though he might talk about it from time to time.


The Gordon Ramsay Bitcoin Question

Time to look at a [Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) news prediction. Bitcoin's (BTC) price action hasn't been favourable for investors lately as the king coin tumbled below $40k for the first time since January. Although BTC has since recovered to just above $46k, some analysts still believe that the crypto-asset is unlikely to fall further.

Bitcoin hit a high of $42,000 on January 8, but has since struggled to sustain momentum. It has dropped by more than 40% from its all-time high of $58,300.

According to Bitcoin news prediction data from [CoinMarketCap](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/), BTC currently trades around $46,200, up by 1.51% in the past 24 hours. BTC is up by 2.8% in the last seven days and down by 11.9% in the past month.

After surging early in the day, bitcoin was largely steady on Sunday evening, while the crypto share price increased 0.9% to $2.2 trillion.
Bitcoin trading volume in the last 24-hour is $27,374,680,521. The market is still trending down with good volume as investors sell off their cryptos in anticipation of further losses.

The Google search trend for the keyword "bitcoin" is lower than yesterday. Perhaps this indicates that fewer people are searching Google for information about bitcoin than they were 24 hours ago.

The social media buzz on forums such as Reddit and Twitter has increased since yesterday. Still, the sentiment remains steady, with some positive and negative posts by different users.

Overall, I think that today's outlook for bitcoin is neutral to slightly bullish. I believe there will be more upside potential as we approach August 1 when the BIP148 user-activated soft fork happens on the Bitcoin network.

## Bitcoin News Prediction and Forecast

Predicting Bitcoin price has always been a hot topic in the cryptocurrency industry. Many people are interested in predicting future bitcoin prices, especially if they consider investing in bitcoin.

Cryptocurrencies will grow and become more valuable, that is not in doubt. However, no one can be sure where Bitcoin will be in the next few years.

Generally, if an asset increases significantly (e.g., by more than $10k), there will be a correction period where it will fall back to its original level. This is not always the case with Bitcoin, as we have seen. Some analysts believe that this correction period may never come for Bitcoin, or at least not for some time.

## Bitcoin on a Roll. What's Next?

In terms of technicals, BTC is currently trading at a critical support level of $46,000. A sell trend confirmation below this level will take the price to even lower levels.

The next 72 hours will be very telling for bitcoin bulls. If there is no reversal from current levels, we may see a retest of the $40,000 level.
However, while the overall outlook for Bitcoin remains bearish, technical indicators show that BTC/USD is unlikely to fall further in the short term. The RSI has been trending above 30 since March 20, which indicates that sellers are no longer in control. This suggests that Bitcoin will most likely consolidate around current levels over the next few days before making another attempt to break resistance at $50k or even $55k.

## Our Verdict

Bitcoin has been swinging in a wide range since January this year. The BTC/USD pair was seen falling from the highs of $64,000 and then $52,000 to the lows of $43,000 and $46,000. It seems that the coin is finding support at the current price level and is unlikely to fall further. The next leg of the journey will be decided by how Bitcoin manages to stay above the current price level.

As per our Bitcoin news prediction, we believe that there is a significant amount of support for BTC at its current levels. Investors are likely to buy Bitcoin during this period because they see it as an excellent buying opportunity.



Bitcoin news prediction: Will BTC Rally? 

Without question, [Bitcoin (BTC)](/coins/btc) and the Bitcoin network are the best-known names in blockchain and cryptocurrency. 

The individual, or group, behind the invention of Bitcoin, remains pseudonymous, and this has arguably had a massive impact on the community.  Additionally, there is no individual with total power or control over the system. 

 
 

## Cryptography 


A simplistic way to think of Bitcoin is a combination of computing, cryptography, and a system of economic competition designed to ensure following the rules is in everyone’s best interest, without a central authority. The network manages itself, with no single party controlling the system. 
Honest work that supports the network, such as validating transactions, is rewarded, creating a mechanism for new bitcoin to be programmatically introduced into the system in a predictable way, achieving the key quality of scarcity. 
While Bitcoin participants may at times have conflicting interests, they share the goal of seeing Bitcoin succeed. But who controls the Bitcoin ledger, and how does it achieve sound money? 

 

## Design 

 
 

Bitcoin can be explained as a peer-to-peer network of computers all following a set of rules and instructions (the Bitcoin protocol) for validating transactions and issuing new coins. Any computer running any software that respects these rules - Bitcoin Nodes - can participate in the Bitcoin network.  
 

The protocol is like the banking laws of a country, but the Bitcoin protocol is enforced by code, and not by law. 

Bitcoin has a ledger of all the transactions - the blockchain - where transactions are recorded in blocks created at set intervals and connected to the previous block to create a chain. Then there is the mechanism for adding blocks to the chain and reaching an agreement, or consensus, that transactions are valid and the chain accurate – this is mining. 

The ledger and the way transactions are validated are revolutionary.  

We trust banks to maintain the integrity of their ledgers, but cannot verify this for ourselves. On the Bitcoin network, anyone can have a copy of the ledger containing every transaction ever made. This allows everyone to mathematically verify that every transaction in it is legitimate, and transactions that don’t respect the rules are automatically rejected by the software. 

This does lead to questions, however. For example, how do we all agree that the current version is the most up to date one and how can thousands of computers reach consensus without someone in charge? 

 
 

## Mining  

 
 

[Mining](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin-mining.asp) is about solving a complex mathematical problem, and it is competitive, with the winner being able to add to the chain of transactions and receive a reward. 

Everyone can verify that the solution is right, so if a miner cheats, other participants will simply discard the block.  

In theory, anyone can mine, but the maths problems are so difficult, and the competition so fierce, you’d need a lot of specialised computer equipment. Despite the costs this can involve, it can be very profitable, and the competition ensures no one person has complete control. 

## Supply 

 
As mentioned, mining is also the way new bitcoin (BTC) enters the system. When a miner gets to add a new block of transactions to the blockchain, they receive a reward of new bitcoins. 

The transaction fee is the sum of fees paid for all transactions included in that block, which vary according to demand. This is BTC already in circulation. 

The block rewards, however, are entirely new coins and currently set at 6.25 BTC per block until 2024. This process will continue until all 21 million BTC are released, at which point miners will only receive transaction fees. 

It is this which gives BTC the scarcity its value needs. 

 
 

## Sound Money 

 
 

So, bitcoin achieves reliable digital scarcity with no one in charge. What about the other properties of sound money? 

- **Durability** – As every node has a copy of the ledger, destroying the Bitcoin network would require that all 50,000 nodes be destroyed at the same time, along with all backups. Unlikely. 

- **Divisibility** – The smallest unit of Bitcoin is the satoshi, which is 1/100,000,000 of one coin. That’s far more precise than even the smallest microtransactions would require, although network fees make that level of precision impractical at the moment. 

- **Fungibility** - All Bitcoin have equal value, just like one gram of gold is equal to any other gram of gold. 

- **Portability** – It is entirely digital and incredibly portable, and can be stored on a computer, mobile phone, and on paper. 

 
 

## Limitations 

 
No system is entirely perfect. For the Bitcoin network, the chief limitation focuses on the relationship between security, scalability, and decentralisation.  

- Scalability is the capacity of the system to execute a higher volume of transactions  

- Security is the capacity to protect the ledger from cheating and attacks  

- Decentralisation is what stops any one party from controlling the network 



When you design a network, you have to make trade-offs in this area as you can’t have all three completely. [Fiat currency](link) is scalable and quite secure, but is centralised and controlled by a small group. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is focused on decentralisation and is secure, but at the price of scalability. 

 

At the moment, Bitcoin's maximum transaction speed makes it impractical to scale (compare five transactions per second to the reported 50,000+ leading debit/card handlers deal with). This, to an extent, is why bitcoin is stored for value rather than used as a medium of exchange. 

What is Bitcoin? A Guide

A sense of optimism hung in the crypto air this morning as [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) and other major cryptocurrencies bounced strongly after a week of heavy losses.

At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin stood at $36,460 representing an increase of 8.10% in the last 24 hours while Ethereum gained 8.23% reaching a price of $2,423. The total market cap of crypto currently stands at $1.65 trillion, an increase of 7.71%. After a week of absolute carnage, it appears that investors have indeed bought the dip demonstrating continued strength in the cryptocurrency market.

## Increasing correlation to traditional markets

Bitcoin began its bounce on Monday as US east coast traders returned to their desks after lunch. Interestingly the US equity market also saw a strong surge during the same time indicating Bitcoin’s increased correlation with traditional markets. With many eyes on today’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) which is anticipated to discuss interest rate rises and continued asset purchases, this week could be very interesting indeed.

The Relative Strength Index continues to indicate Bitcoin is heavily oversold which would suggest a turnaround is imminent as buyers seek to take advantage of the discounted prices. As we have mentioned before, historically Bitcoin often begins strong rallies after precipitous falls. Could this be the start of a rally to new all-time highs?

## Alt season on hold?

Mike McGlone, Chief Commodity Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence however was not so optimistic for altcoins going on record to say, “Price reversion in crypto is likely to spread in 2022 after the assets were a poster child of speculative inflationary excess in 2021, but Bitcoin stands to come out ahead.”

However, as we can see above many of the major altcoins demonstrated as much resilience in Bitcoin with equally strong bounces. Solana, Polkadot, Atom, and Avalanche all posted 24-hour gains ranging between 12% and 17% respectively. The crypto market may be down, but it is certainly not out.

## ‘I'm loving it’

Finally, in a candidate for tweet of the year already the official Twitter account of McDonald’s Restaurants asked “[how are you doing people who run crypto twitter accounts?](https://twitter.com/McDonalds/status/1485726032967704582)” Demonstrating the humour and camaraderie that has come to be associated with what is known as ‘crypto Twitter’ McDonald’s are clearly getting their own back on all those crypto tweeters who see a job at McDonald’s as the last resort in a prolonged bear market. However, I and many others have a feeling that McDonald’s will soon be eating their own words, with extra fries.

Bitcoin and Crypto Rebound After Week of Loss

[Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) traders woke to yet more shock Monday morning as the price of the asset tumbled to further localised lows.

At time of press, the price of the world’s number one digital asset sat at $33,728 – a fall of 5.52% in the last 24 hours. However, with the price of Bitcoin bottoming at $33,243 at 11:09 UTC this morning the current price shows that there are buyers at this level but as you may well imagine traders and investors are treading with extreme caution. 

Bitcoin wasn’t the only crypto to experience a devastating fall in value. The entire market also dropped sharply and currently stands at $1.54 trillion representing a fall of 7.01% in the last 24 hours.

## Outside factors

With market and network fundamentals at their strongest in years many investors are looking for outside factors as the reason behind the latest market crash. Tensions between Russia and NATO led allies continue to simmer over a Russian military build up at the Ukrainian border and while Russia insists it has no plans to invade, the USA and the UK have already told their embassy staff to begin making plans to leave the country. In contrast, the EU have no plans to fly diplomats out of Ukraine and is at a loss to explain why the USA and UK have given the green light adding ‘the US has not given any clear justification for its decision’.

As we reported on Friday, cryptocurrency and digital assets are still seen by many as risk-on investments which in times of uncertainty are often the first to be sacrificed, regardless of market strength.

However, there are other angles at play in this situation which many in the crypto community believe are having an impact on market activity. The US have threatened Russia with economic sanctions which will ‘bring the country to its knees’ should the country decide to stage an invasion of Ukraine. In practical terms this means deactivating Russia from the SWIFT network which has been used by every nation state to transfer capital around the world since 1972.

## ‘Alternative rails of finance’

In retaliation to the threat from Joe Biden, Russia have spoken of using ‘alternative rails of finance’ which many people believe is a nod toward distributed and decentralised networks able to move large amounts of capital such as Ripplenet or Stellar Lumens. However, with both of these firms originating in the US it is hard to believe Russia would choose to adopt their services. That being said the nature of many cryptocurrency networks is borderless and the vision they hold for the future is one of harmonious trade with drastically reduced friction in terms of policy, regulation and cost.

The last thing the world needs right now is yet another conflict and personally speaking I don’t think that is going to happen. I do believe however that a movement away from out of date and weighted legacy payment systems such as SWIFT towards the large scale use of decentralised and distributed networks that enable a fairer and balanced global economic environment is only a matter of time. However what time frame this financial transformation occurs on is anybody's guess.


Crypto Price Down as Ukraine Crisis Hits

The price of [Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) suffered further crash losses today as the value of the world’s foremost digital currency dropped below $40,000 usd for the first time in six months. While recovering slightly since a precipitous fall to $38,250 in the early hours of this morning, the price of Bitcoin is currently trading at $39,022 usd leaving many investors to speculate what caused the drop.

The Bitcoin network has never been stronger with the hash rate at all time highs. The hash rate is the metric which illustrates the computing power needed to mine Bitcoin. A higher hash rate demonstrates confidence in the network and its long term growth. After dipping in mid 2021 the hash rate has recently rebounded to record highs.

## External influences

It is often said that positive price action usually follows higher hash rates however looking at the current market performance this is clearly not the case. As we know the cost of mining is closely tied to the price of Bitcoin. For large scale mining farms to be profitable miners need to know their break even point and calculations based on the current hash rate indicate this to be around $34,000 usd.

With the network in good health it is pertinent to look for outside factors which may have caused investors to sell off.

## $600 million ways to fry

Many people are pointing towards Friday’s options expiry of some $600 million in open interest contracts as a major factor in the price crash of Bitcoin. After almost two weeks of sideways action many investors believed that $40,000 usd represented a solid price floor. However, with speculators gambling on the value of Bitcoin through futures based ETF’s the price of an unregulated asset such as Bitcoin is always going to be open to manipulation. When you add in the fact that leveraged Bitcoin liquidations across trading platforms account for $292 million the picture of market manipulation becomes clear. Regulation has never been more needed in an industry desperate to break into the mainstream.

## Ukraine crisis

History shows us investors do not like uncertainty and when anxiety is in the air capital is often pulled from high risk assets into safe havens. Although Bitcoin is more frequently viewed as a risk free hedge to rising rates of inflation it is still considered by many to be a risk-on investment. Therefore, with the crisis in Ukraine bringing increased uncertainty to worldwide markets it is prudent to believe that a degree of long term profit is banked as significant capital leaves the market. The difficult question any serious investor should be asking right now is what and  how long will it take before Bitcoin inevitably bounces back?


Bitcoin below $40,000 for first time in 6 months

[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?

The world’s most heavily capitalised digital asset, Bitcoin, celebrated its 13th birthday last week, but the cryptocurrency market’s mood has been far from “celebratory,” despite all that Bitcoin has achieved since it was launched in 2009.   January 8th marked the seventh-straight day in a row that the digital asset’s value trended lower – Not since 2018 has there been such a steady decline.

Last year, while crypto-enthusiasts were applauding the digital assets market for finally achieving “mainstream adoption,” a crucial inflection point, other cryptocurrency analysts were trying to warn investors that the fever pitch and accelerated values may trigger a late year sell-off.  They were right. 

How did we get here?  As Bitcoin slips toward the psychological floor of $40K, crypto-investors are anxiously looking for any credible news or trends to suggest that the current market sell-off could finally be ending. 

Let’s all take a collective breath as we consider some important facts.

First, the month of January _always_ seems to spook investors with sudden dips.  This historically creates a domino effect that chases the newer investors out of the market, and it appears that 2022 will be more of the same.  Yes, this sell-off has been especially disconcerting as Bitcoin has shed 10% of its value in the first ten days of 2022, but a closer look at the market players reveals some answers. 

If one considers the role the Federal Reserve has had to play in all this, especially their reaction to the pandemic, the sell-off becomes less of a mystery.  During the pandemic, the Fed was very lenient on the economy and even went so far as to inject over $4 trillion into the economy.  It was a move to support the global marketplace while the world’s employers struggled to find a way to stay in business with much of their workforce needing (or wanting) to work remotely.  Now, as the world’s economies begin to stabilize, the Fed is starting to give signals that it may be thinking about taking some new steps to minimize the rate of inflation - rates that are now at their highest level in forty years.

A simple review of the minutes from last week’s Federal Reserve meeting served to only further fan those flames.  Word began to spread across the media channels, and the rout was on. 

It’s also worth noting that most investors still categorize cryptocurrencies as “high risk” investments.  In so doing, the cryptocurrency market will continue to react with _sell orders_ whenever the Fed hints at tempering the market like it did last week.  So, the big question becomes, especially for the investors who piled into the market late last year, when does this carnage end? 

As of this weekend, Bitcoin was down 35% from the all-time high, but some influential players are sensing better days are ahead.  Are they correct?  The price of Bitcoin is continuing to edge closer to the $39,570 mark.  That’s approximately where Bitcoin’s price hit a floor in September 2021, before going on an upward tear.

In fact, a strategist from Bloomberg made comments earlier suggesting that Bitcoin could _outperform_ traditional stocks in 2022, especially if any moves are made by the Fed to raise interest rates.  The strategist stated: “Cryptos are tops among the risky and speculative. If risk assets decline, it helps the Fed’s inflation fight. Becoming a global reserve asset, Bitcoin may be a primary beneficiary in that scenario.”

Remember, the technology behind these digital assets is still very new to the mainstream public, and there was a lot of FOMO activity that took place in late 2021.  As the market cools, it is establishing a new baseline.  We’ve been here before.

Is it time to pick up some bargains?

Cryptocurrencies Prices Plummet

[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

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

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

NFL player, Odell Beckham Jr, will be receiving his salary in Bitcoin (BTC) as he has entered into a partnership with [Cash App](https://cash.app/).

Beckham Jr. is a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams and reportedly currently earns a $4.25 million salary, which will now be converted into the digital asset.

## 'The Future Has Arrived'

"We're proud to be the first major sports team to embrace Bitcoin –The future has arrived." – Sterling Scott, founder of Cash App.

The partnership has been agreed upon by Cash App's owner, Square which will be paying Beckham Jr. his salary via the service. The app allows users to buy and store Bitcoin amongst other digital currencies.

## Swamped With Deals

Beckham Jr.'s announcement of the deal was made on social media using the Cash App where he also discussed how he was interested in the new technology, but he claimed that he had been swamped with "contracts and endorsement deals" which meant he could not pursue his interest in cryptocurrency until now.

The NFL star said: "It's a NEW ERA & to kick that off I'm hyped to announce that I'm taking my new salary in bitcoin," on Twitter.

The football player also revealed he had invested a small amount of his own money into [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) earlier this year. 



NFL Star Odell Beckham Jr to Receive Salary in Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in El Salvador since September 2021.  Now, the nation’s popular President, Nayib Bukele, added further fuel to his “rock star” persona with an announcement this past Saturday that El Salvador would be building the world's first "Bitcoin City," to be initially funded by bitcoin-backed bonds.

It’s another clear indicator of Bukele’s growing affinity for cryptocurrencies and he appears to be doubling down on his bet to harness the power of the digital assets in order to fuel further investments in the Central American country.  The government has already backed Bitcoin with a $150 million fund and, to incentivize Salvadorans to use it, the El Salvadorian government has offered $30 worth of credit to those using its digital wallet.

**The Liquid Network**
----------------------

It has been announced that the new city would be built [near the Conchagua volcano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchagua_(volcano)) - Conchagua consists of two overlapping stratovolcanoes and overlooks the Gulf of Fonseca.  The geographical location is a deliberate move to take advantage of the available geothermal energy, converting it to a source of power both for the city and for more Bitcoin mining activities.  "This is a fully ecological city that works and is energized by a volcano” Bukele commented at the closing a week-long promotional event for Bitcoin. 

Government officials stated that the country would issue $1 billion in “bitcoin bonds” in 2022 to raise additional resources to fund the construction of Bitcoin City. The bonds are going to be issued on “[the Liquid Network](https://liquid.net/)” - a sidechain-based settlement network that _enables faster, more confidential Bitcoin transactions and the issuance of digital assets_ according to information posted on the site.

The Liquid Network is managed by [Blockstream](https://blockstream.com/) who said that $500 million of the funds raised will be dedicated to building the infrastructure for the city and additional bitcoin mining in the region.  The other $500 million would be used for, what else, the purchase of more bitcoin cryptocurrency.

**Zero Carbon Dioxide Emissions**
---------------------------------

Not to be easily outdone, the government plans to build their innovative city to look like the crypto coin from the sky when it's built.  Taxes will also be noticeably lacking from the new city considering there will be no property, income or municipal taxes, and the city is expected to have a level of zero carbon dioxide emissions.  Utopian in every conceivable way.

Some Salvadorans have vocalized their trepidation at Bukele’s well-publicized love affair with digital currencies with some protests being held against the government for its unbridled embrace of the digital assets.  Still, they’ve done little to harm his popularity and credibility with voters. 

Ultimately, the city would be built with the hopes of attracting more foreign investment.  Those with influence over the project have mentioned sites for residential areas, malls, restaurants, and a port.  Also, the El Salvador president mentioned ideas like digital education, technology, and sustainable public transportation.

“This is going to make El Salvador the financial center of the world,” Bukele said.



El Salvador to become World’s First “Bitcoin City”

There’s a lot of chatter about the brave new world of crypto ETFs. So, what’s going on?

[Bitcoin](/coins/btc) (BTC) and [Ethereum](/coins/eth) (ETH) are two of the most popular and heavily capitalised cryptocurrencies on the digital assets market today. Both have gained a reputation for being a starter home of sorts for new investors who are finally ‘ready and willing’ to take their first steps into the world of cryptocurrency investing.

Cryptocurrencies have gone an a remarkable run these past two quarters and while many investors remain wary of the market hysteria, they can also benefit from its innovations. In terms of investment opportunities, the proliferation of new cryptocurrency exchange traded funds (ETFs) has further simplified (and accelerated) the adoption of digital currency investments among newcomers to the digital assets market.

## The History of ETFs

ETFs are a widely adopted strategy used by investors who want to ‘diversify’ their exposure to a particular industry, class, or sector. They were first introduced in the 1990s and rapidly gained popularity with _individual_ investors for their simplicity.

The first Bitcoin ETF in the US started trading on October 19, 2021, and now several crypto ETFs have followed suit. Some of them offer access not only to Bitcoin, but also Ethereum and other popularly traded coins.

### Here are examples of crypto ETFs setting the trends:

[ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF](https://www.proshares.com/funds/bito.html) (ticker: BITO)

Kiplinger has officially called the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ‘[a blockbuster](https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/etfs/603621/proshares-bitcoin-strategy-etf-bito)’. A fitting name for an ETF that successfully attracted a mind-boggling $1 billion of investors’ money over the course of 48 hours after the ETF was launched. The BITO ETF is historical in the sense that it was the first crypto ETF that the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed to trade on a major US exchange. At present, the BITO ETF has close to $1.5 billion in assets.

Grayscale Ethereum Trust (Ticker: ETHE)

For investors willing to invest outside the ‘safety’ of Bitcoin, Grayscale offers their Ethereum Trust ETF. Widely recognised as the number two cryptocurrency, Ethereum came to fruition once people began to realise that Bitcoin’s blockchain technology could be utilised in myriad ways. Voila! The world found the second most popular digital token – Ethereum. As the name would suggest, this ETF seeks to track the ETH market price and presently has $14.5 billion in assets.

[Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund](https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/funds/Bitwise-10) (Ticker: BITW)

For those with an appetite for more risk, this ETF is the world’s first crypto _index_ fund offered to provide investors with a way to get more exposure to the crypto market _beyond_ what Bitcoin alone may offer. Earlier this summer, it was reported that Bitcoin’s share of the total market capitalisation of the crypto market fell from 69% to 42% as other assets like Ethereum, Cardano and Solana have grown in popularity. Bitwise says it screens the fund’s holdings for certain risks and rebalances it monthly. While Bitcoin and Ethereum both have a role to play in this ETF, additional holdings include digital assets such as Algorand and Uniswap. The BITW fund has $1.4 billion in assets.

Investors that are looking for space in between the world of traditional stock investing and the wildly innovative and volatile ecosystem of cryptocurrencies may find what their looking for in the expanding market of crypto ETFs.

The Brave New World of Crypto ETFs