First Mover: Crypto Futures Saw Record $10B Worth of Liquidations

PLUS: Bitcoin Stabilizes After Weekend Selloff; Resistance Around $59K

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 19, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) +3.1%  $56,621 Ether (ETH)  +4.4% $2,221 (Price data as of April 19 @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: Crypto Futures Saw Record $10B Worth of Liquidations   Technician's Take: Bitcoin Stabilizes After Weekend Selloff; Resistance Around $59K   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: Perianne Boring, Chamber of Digital Commerce Founder & President Bill Powers, ARCA Principal & Strategic Advisor Kevin Roose, New York Times Tech Columnist Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: Chainlink (LINK): +14.0% OMG Network (OMG): +9.4% XRP (XTZ): +8.8%   Losers:   Cosmos (ATOM): -0.3% DAI (DAI): -0.2%   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 Omkar Godbole   Crypto Futures Saw Record $10B Worth of Liquidations     The crypto futures market saw the highest amount of liquidations in history on Sunday, as the sudden bitcoin (BTC) price pullback caught overleveraged traders off guard.    Exchanges offering crypto futures liquidated $10 billion worth of positions on Sunday, toppling the previous market-wide record of $5.77 billion registered on Feb. 23, according to data provider bybt.   Forced closure of long positions or bullish trades accounted for $9.26 billion or over 90% of total liquidations, which shows that the leverage was excessively skewed bullish across the board.    Bitcoin futures accounted for more than 50% of total market-wide liquidations on Sunday. Liquidations happen when trades cannot fulfill margin requirements for holding long/short positions and often exacerbate bullish/bearish moves.    Crypto futures liquidations (Source: bybt)   Bitcoin dropped sharply from $60,000 to $52,148 early Sunday, dragging alternative cryptocurrencies lower. As prices started falling, margin requirements increased, and exchanges liquidated longs (squared off with offsetting shorts), adding to downward pressure in the market.    The massive forced closure of longs pushed bitcoin futures into backwardation – a market condition where futures trade at a discount to the spot price.    Bitcoin futures three-month rolling futures basis (spread between futures and spot prices) (Source: Skew)   As seen above, bitcoin futures listed on Binance and Kraken traded at a bigger discount than the ones listed on other exchanges, showing the dump mainly happened on Binance and Kraken.    The situation has normalized with futures drawing higher prices than the spot price. Bitcoin is currently trading near $56,700 – up 8% from Sunday's low, according to CoinDesk 20 data.    The cryptocurrency may have received a boost from signs of China is softening its stance on cryptocurrencies. On Sunday, Li Bo, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, called bitcoin and stablecoins "investment alternatives".    Read the original story here: Crypto Futures Saw Record $10B Worth of Liquidations on Sunday 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 Stabilizes After Weekend Selloff; Resistance Around $59K The near 15% price drop in bitcoin (BTC) over the weekend triggered oversold readings on intraday charts. Buyers were able to maintain short-term support around $55,000, although there is strong resistance around $58,000-$59,000. The four-hour BTC chart shows resistance levels and RSI (Source: TradingView) BTC's April 13 breakout above $60,000 and subsequent all-time high failed. Slowing upside momentum on daily and weekly chart indicates continued profit taking on rallies. The last 15% price drop occurred on March 21, which fully recovered and then consolidated for several weeks. The relative strength index (RSI) is now oversold on the four-hour chart, which typically leads to price recoveries similar to April 8 and March 25. On the daily chart, BTC is holding support just above its 200-day moving average. If selling pressure returns, the next level of support is around $50,000 and then $42,000.   Original story found here: Bitcoin Stabilizes After Weekend Selloff; Resistance Around $59K 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:  12:15 UTC (8:15 a.m. ET): Canadian housing starts. Forecast: 250,000. In other words, a slow day for economics data. 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:   CEO of Turkey's Largest Crypto Exchange Comments on Country's Crypto Payments Ban; Markets Analysis "First Mover" dives into a developing story with implications for crypto markets worldwide: Turkey's Ban on Crypto Payments. Özgür Güner, CEO of crypto exchange BtcTurk, Turkey's largest, discusses the immediate market reaction, chances of the ban's success, and reasons he's convinced crypto adoption will continue in Turkey. Also, USA CEO Joel Edgerton of bitFlyer joins our markets discussion. And, Dante Disparte, Circle's new Chief Strategy Officer, shares his thoughts on Turkey, stablecoins, and the Diem (formerly Facebook's Libra) project that he previously championed as head of policy at the Libra Association. A message from CoinDesk Can't Beat Them? Join Them: Why Crypto Company Anchorage Became a Bank   Perhaps the old adage "every tech company wants to be a bank — someday, at least" is true. But why would a crypto company, given Bitcoin's philosophical roots, want to become a bank? And what does a crypto bank even look like, let alone do?   Join us for a chat with leaders from Anchorage, the OCC and the Blockchain Association for an inside look on why and how Anchorage became the first crypto company to secure an OCC bank charter.   We'll dive deeper into the topic at Consensus by CoinDesk, our big-tent event May 24-27.   Join us on Clubhouse on April 20 at 5 p.m. ET. Latest Headlines   PBoC Softens Tone Toward Bitcoin, Stablecoins, Calling Them 'Alternative Investment' The deputy governor said bitcoin and stablecoins were investment options and not currency during the Boao Forum on Sunday. Bank of England and HM Treasury Launch Taskforce for UK CBDC This is the first sign of the Bank of England physically exploring the launch of a CBDC following the release of a discussion paper in March 2020. SEC Causing 'Confusion' Over Digital Currencies in Legal Case With Ripple: WSJ Editorial Board Regulators are "creating danger" for investors in their inconsistent approach to determining how to treat cryptocurrencies. Digital Assets Firm Taurus to Launch Securities Marketplace After Getting Swiss License Switzerland's financial regulator has green lighted Taurus' digital securities platform and is now expected to launch next month. 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.   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. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.  ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. 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