Bitcoin Struggles Around $50K After Crypto CEOs Took Center Stage

MicroStrategy Says It Bought 1,434 Bitcoins Since Nov. 29

The latest moves in crypto markets, in context Edited by Bradley Keoun December 9, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) See the latest price here Ether (ETH)  See the latest price here If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning: Market Moves: Bitcoin fades, a day after a (really long) U.S. Congressional hearing with cryptocurrency-industry CEOs.    And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today's guests will include: Do Kwon, founder and CEO, Terraform Labs John Wu, president, Ava Labs Dean Thomas, global head of institutional capital, Polygon   – Brad Market Moves by Lyllah Ledesma Bitcoin (BTC) failed to hold above the $50,000 mark in the last 24 hours and is down 13% on the week.    The largest cryptocurrency was looking weak on Thursday, a day after CEOs from six major crypto firms spoke before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.    The hearing, which clocked in as one of the longest Congressional hearings on crypto, lasted almost five hours. Nearly 40 lawmakers asked questions ranging from specific topics like stablecoin backing to broader areas like use cases in the crypto sector.    Bitcoin and Ethereum saw significant bids being stacked up following the hearing. However, this has since slowed down according to Matthew Dibb, Stack Funds' chief operating officer.  Bitcoin price chart over the past week shows how the cryptocurrency has struggled to regain momentum above $50,000.  Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading in the green, around $4,295 at press time, down 0.31% over the past few hours.     All eyes are currently on the ETH/BTC trading pair, according to Dibb. That's the ratio between prices for ether and bitcoin, and it's used to track the relative strength between the two cryptocurrencies.   The ratio rose even when the market crashed last weekend, rising around 13%, reaching a 3 1/2-year high and registering its best weekly performance since May.   Analysts pointed to several factors to explain the upward trajectory, one of them being Ethereum blockchain's EIP-1559 upgrade implemented in August. That change has effectively reduced the net new supply of ether from the Ethereum blockchain, and it appeared to help ETH/BTC make gains in a risk-off environment.    "ETH/BTC is showing a huge amount of outperformance since the start of November," said Dibb.    Dibb said that if this strength continues, traders can expect the ETH/BTC ratio to hit 0.10 in Q1 of 2022. The ratio is currently at 0.8.    For altcoins, XRP was up 11% on the day, Terra's LUNA 3.7% and BNB 1.6% according to data source Messari.    In traditional markets, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open in New York and European equities edged down as investors took into account new restrictions to battle the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.  A Message from Bybit Grow Your Crypto Gains With Bybit Flexible Staking Looking for a way to maximize your crypto gains while doing less? You can, with Bybit Flexible Staking! It's a safer and simpler way to grow your assets even if the market plateaus. Plus, with Flexible Staking, you can earn stable and guaranteed yields of up to 9% APY*. That's definitely a win-win! The yield is automatically calculated and deposited into your account for every day that your tokens are staked, so you don't have to lift a finger to watch your account grow. Staked tokens can be unstaked at any time. Stake your tokens with Bybit today! *Terms and conditions apply. Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Top Gainers: XRP (XRP): +12% Dogecoin (DOGE): +0.7% Top Losers:  EOS (EOS): -5.8% Polygon (MATIC): -5.3% Filecoin (FIL): -3.1% 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. A Message from Chainalysis Looking for your ticket #ToTheMoon?    Market Intel by Chainalysis - the blockchain data platform - arms you with the most complete on-chain dataset for crypto research and investment decisions.   Whether you're an Asset Manager searching for a signal...   A Quant Analyst interested in spotting market trends...   Or a VC looking to fund the next emerging crypto player...   Market Intel will help you reach your goals, utilizing 53 metrics across 10 categories—like whales, exchanges, liquidity, and supply. To get started, head to markets.chainalysis.com. ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Nexo Partners With Fidelity Digital Assets to Expand Institutional Access to Crypto, Crypto CEOs to Testify Before Lawmakers Weighing Greater Regulation   "First Mover" hosts speak to Nexo Co-founder and Managing Partner Kalin Metodiev as the firm partners with Fidelity digital assets to expand institutional access to crypto. MoonPay Co-founder & CEO Ivan Soto-Wright provides insights into its latest funding round that values the company at $3 billion. Crypto CEOs are testifying in front of lawmakers today. CoinDesk's Managing Editor for Global Policy & Regulation, Nikhilesh De, brings us the latest from the hearing. Plus, CoinDesk Chief Insights Columnist David Z. Morris speaks to one of CoinDesk's Most Influential winners, Strike CEO Jack Mallers. Latest Headlines Decentralized Travel Site Dtravel Says It Has 250K Homes Available to Book Using Crypto Renters can use the company's TRVL token for payment. MicroStrategy Says It Bought 1,434 Bitcoins Since Nov. 29 The company held about 122,478 bitcoins as of Dec. 8. Coinbase–Ledger Integration Looks to Boost Crypto Self-Custody Coinbase will start integrating Ledger wallets in its browser extension in Q1 2022. Wallet Maker Ledger Launches Crypto-Linked Debit Card for US and EU Customers Crypto Life cardholders will be able to open a line of credit using cryptocurrency as collateral. Bitcoin Hashrate Approaches Full Recovery From China Crackdown Mining difficulty is likely to increase this weekend as capacity recovers, but given record-high bitcoin prices, that won't discourage miners. AVAX's Ava Labs Among Startups Chosen for Mastercard's Crypto Accelerator Program The payment giant has chosen five new companies to be a part of its "Start Path Crypto" program.   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.  First Mover A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Copyright © 2021 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA Manage your newsletter subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe from all CoinDesk email