First Mover: Bitcoin Flat, Ether Rises and It Wasn’t Dogeday’s Afternoon

PLUS: Bitcoin's Recovery Stalls; Lower Support Around $52K

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets April 21, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) -2.0%  $54,965 Ether (ETH)  +3.7%  $2,2266 (Price data as of April 21 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning. Here's what we're writing about: Market Moves: Bitcoin Flat, Ether Rises and It Wasn't Dogeday's Afternoon   Technician's Take: Bitcoin's Recovery Stalls; Lower Support Around $52K   Check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Lawrence Lewitinn and Emily Parker, at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests: Chris Giancarlo, BlockFi Board of Directors Member Erik Vorhees, ShapeShift CEO Rene Reinsberg, Celo Co-Founder Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: Kyber Network (KNC): +14.3% 0x (ZRX): +5.0% Orchid (OXT): +1.9%   Losers:  Ethereum Classic (ETC): -7.6% Algorand (RAND): -7.3% EOS (EOS): -4.3% Bitcoin Cash (BCH): -4.1%   The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges. Market Moves by Daniel Cawrey Bitcoin Flat, Ether Rises and It Wasn't Dogeday's Afternoon The Takeaway: The bitcoin market takes a breather, ether flashes green and recent data suggests joke cryptocurrency dogecoin is more volatile than most major altcoins. Bitcoin prices, April 20 - 21, 2021 (Source: CoinDesk)   Bitcoin's (BTC) price is relatively sideways since 0:00 UTC on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET Monday). It's a respite for a market that saw a deep dive during the weekend as record-high action in the derivatives market saw the price of the world's oldest cryptocurrency drop to $53,787 according to CoinDesk 20 data.    Katie Stockon, a technical analyst for research firm Fairlead Strategies, noted in her weekly outlook that the bitcoin market is in a "risk-off" mode, meaning investors could be pushing the sell button to move into other assets such as cash.    "There are indications that this week will see downturns in our short-term gauges," Stockton noted. "For one, risk-off positioning has become evident on the sector front in assets like gold and bitcoin."    Bitcoin futures funding the past month with spot price superimposed in grey (Source: Glassnode)   In the derivatives market, bitcoin funding rates, reflecting what traders pay for leverage on positions, slid to 14 basis points on Monday. That's the lowest in almost a month, according to data aggregator Glassnode.   That means market interest in bull-oriented leveraged plays has evaporated. The lowest in the past month was 5 basis points March 26. Traders are waiting to see if the figure will get to that point.    Neil Van Huis, head of institutional trading for liquidity provider Blockfills, says last week's excitement from Coinbase's Nasdaq direct listing has subsided. He worries about downside risk, despite holding on to his bullish stance.    "Still looks bullish to me – breaking $38,000 or so would make me a bit more nervous," Van Huis told CoinDesk.   Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Tuesday, trading around $2,313 and climbing 6.3% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).  Bitcoin prices, April 20 - 21, 2021 (Source: CoinDesk)   Darius Sit, chief investment officer for quantitative trading firm QCP Capital, doesn't see any fundamental reasons why ether's performance was much higher on Tuesday when bitcoin traded relatively sideways. "Don't see anything material," he told CoinDesk.   Ether dominance since the start of 2021 (Source: TradingView) It is clear, however, that traders are rotating out of other crypto assets and into ETH.    Ether's market dominance Tuesday, a measure of its share of the larger crypto ecosystem, was up 3.6% and at 13.1% overall according to charting provider TradingView.   Dogecoin prices, April 15 - 21, 2021 (Source: CoinDesk) After jumping over 19% Monday, the canine-oriented meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE) was in the red roughly 20% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk 20. Enthusiasts were expected to rally the price Tuesday for "Dogeday". However, dogecoin's cryptocurrency's volatility is more of a story than its price Tuesday, according to Greg Magadini, CEO of derivatives data provider Genesis Volatility.   Magadini's firm, which tracks volatility metrics for 90 different altercoin's, pegs dogecoin as the third-highest volatile digital asset it tracks on Tuesday, trailing only ziliqua (ZIL) and voyager token (VGX).   However, dogecoin is significantly more liquid than those two assets, Magadini noted, meaning there are a lot more traders and investors betting on DOGE's spot price.    "The difference with dogecoin and these other [altcoins] is DOGE actually has a sizable market cap, so this volatility is much more significant," Magadini told CoinDesk.    Dogecoin's market capitalization ranks sixth overall among cryptocurrencies at around $46 billion, according to data aggregator CoinGecko. ZIL and VGX combined only make up about $3 billion.    "Right now, the way DOGE is moving risk is greatly increasing," Magadini said.    Read the original story here: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat at $56.7K, Ether Rises and It Wasn't Dogeday's Afternoon A message from Nexo Your digital assets deserve a savings account in their BEST INTEREST. Leading crypto lender Nexo treats you, your crypto and your fiat to industry-best Crypto & Fiat services, featuring:    * Up to 12% interest on digital assets, paid out daily! * Yields available on BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP, XLM, EOS, TRX, LINK, BNB, PAXG, USDT, USDC, TUSD, PAX, DAI, HUSD, GBP and EUR. * No minimum or maximum limits on funds deposited, offering infinite opportunities to earn. * #ZeroFees on all transactions. * Military-grade wallet security and top-tier insurance on all custodial assets with SOC 2 Type 2 certified crypto custodian BitGo. Get started at nexo.io Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes Bitcoin's Recovery Stalls; Lower Support Around $52K Bitcoin (BTC) has traded in a tight range over the past few days, which suggests buyers are losing strength. The recovery from the April 17 sell-off appears weak with a cluster of resistance levels from $56,000-$59,000. The cryptocurrency was trading around $55,000 at press time. Four-hour chart shows BTC support and resistance levels (Source: TradingView) BTC has broken its uptrend since March on the four-hour chart and failed to reverse a series of lower price highs since April 1. Support is seen around the April 17 selloff low just below $52,000. The relative strength index (RSI) on the four-hour chart registered an oversold reading during the weekend selloff and is now neutral. BTC is back in a consolidation phase that began around February. Since then, price rallies have been limited around the $60,000 resistance zone with frequent drawdowns of roughly 15%-20%. Original story found here: Bitcoin's Recovery Stalls; Lower Support Around $52K A message from Residual Our software platform leverages blockchain's near instantaneous, immutable settlement capabilities and eliminates latency and costly transaction fees. By bridging the gap between traditional financial services and today's cutting edge technology, unFederalReserve can help thousands of non-bank lenders and borrowers around the world. The eRSDL community is diverse and inclusive, encourages engagement and ongoing support for each other, and is dedicated to DeFi projects that de-risk at every opportunity. We are pleased to welcome the first product in our ecosystem, the Reserve Lending platform - the beginning of a robust treasurer's tool kit that will streamline future banking transactions. BOLO Be on the look out for these upcoming events:  No major economic data today. A message from CoinDesk CoinDesk's Quarterly Review Webinar Series   The suits are here to stay, but retail isn't going away. While Q1 saw the emergence of retail investors as a market driver, crypto caught explosive interest through non-fungible tokens from investors, celebrities and the general public.   Every Monday at 11:30 a.m. ET, crypto analysts Noelle Acheson and Christine Kim will discuss the performance and milestones of bitcoin and ether compared to macro and other crypto assets, along with important developments in the emerging DeFi and NFT sectors. Each episode in this four-part series will reference key findings from the latest CoinDesk Quarterly Review report and a live Q&A.   Sign up for CoinDesk's Quarterly Review Webinar Series, every Monday from April 12. ICYMI In case you missed it, here's the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Brian Brooks Discusses His New Job as Binance.US CEO, Hester Peirce on the Updated 'Safe Harbor' Proposal The crypto world reacting to big breaking news today as it learns Binance.US has hired former acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks to be its new CEO. Brooks joins "First Mover" to discuss his new role. Also, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce discusses the update she has made to her 'safe harbor' proposal. Charlie Morris of ByteTree with crypto markets analysis, and Riot Blockchain's Jason Les explains the significance of the drop in the Bitcoin network's hashrate. Introducing Unlocked 101 at Consensus by CoinDesk 2021 New to crypto? Here's a crash course. Unlocked 101 is a free educational series of sessions designed to give you the tools to navigate crypto. Sessions will be hosted May 4–20 to prepare you for Consensus by CoinDesk 2021, our virtual big-tent event. Register for Unlocked 101 this May.   Latest Headlines   Solana Bucked Bitcoin Sell-Off; Upstart Blockchain Challenges Ethereum on Speed, Fees Solana's SOL tokens have jumped 17-fold in price this year, for a market capitalization over $8 billion. South Korea Kicks Off New Crackdown on Illicit Crypto Activities The government's "special enforcement period" stems from a new crypto-related law that took effect this year. Ark Investment Management Ups Holdings in Coinbase The firm has continued to sell shares in Square. US House Passes Bill to Require Financial Regulators to Set Up Digital Assets Working Group The Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021 seeks to establish a digital asset working group with representatives from the SEC and CFTC. UK Asset Manager Baillie Gifford Invests $100M in Blockchain.com The Edinburgh, Scotland-based company was also an early investor in tech giants Tesla and Google. Signature Bank Added $3.8B in Non-Interest Bearing Deposits in Q1 These deposits are seen as a proxy for growth among crypto-industry clients.   Valid Points: The Reality of 'Rayonism,' a New Plan to Merge Ethereum and Eth 2.0 Let's get nerdy. Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. 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