Why is Bitcoin stagnated despite $2B in spot ETF inflows?

Why is Bitcoin stagnated despite $2B in spot ETF inflows?

Bitcoin has experienced a 6.7% drop after almost reaching $72,000 on May 21, settling at $67,100. This decline does not necessarily signal a bearish trend, as Bitcoin is still only 8.7% below its all-time high. However, investors are puzzled why the recent inflows into Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) haven’t sparked more bullish sentiment.

Distribution of assets by the failed Mt. Gox exchange estate

Data from Farside Investors reveals $1.96 billion in net inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs since May 15, equivalent to 64 days of BTC issuance from miners. Notably, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market has now exceeded $50 billion in assets under management. In comparison, U.S. gold ETFs hold about $118.5 billion, according to the World Gold Council.

Moreover, inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs typically prompt the withdrawal of Bitcoins from exchanges, which has dropped to its lowest level since March 2018—2.3 million BTC, as per Glassnode data.

Aggregate Bitcoin balances on exchanges, BTC. Source: Glassnode

Although there’s no certainty these coins will be sold in the near term, their transfer to cold storage and custodians outside of exchanges usually reduces market liquidity. This issue becomes more pronounced in bull markets, where thinner order books at higher price levels can amplify price movements due to aggressive buying.

Consequently, if institutional investors continue to acquire Bitcoin through ETFs yet the price keeps falling, it’s likely that selling pressure originates from the regular spot markets. It’s suggested that the movement of 141,686 BTC by the bankrupt Japanese exchange Mt. Gox on May 28 indicates an imminent asset distribution to its creditors, ahead of the scheduled deadline on October 31.

Over $9.4 billion worth of Bitcoin is owed to about 127,000 creditors of Mt. Gox, who have been waiting for over a decade since the exchange’s collapse in 2014 due to multiple hacks. Despite the short-term negative impact on Bitcoin’s price, Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert, believes that repaying this debt will resolve a longstanding issue and permanently remove the associated uncertainty.

Regulatory uncertainty and the anti-crypto lobby

Among the reasons prompting Bitcoin holders to cash out above $67,000 is the regulatory uncertainty in the United States. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have taken legal actions against leading exchanges and intermediaries, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, and Robinhood.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice has levied charges against the co-founders of Tornado Cash and the developers of Samourai Wallet for money laundering, as well as against Roger “Bitcoin Jesus” Ver for allegations of tax evasion and fraud dating back seven years. Although these events do not directly affect Bitcoin, they tarnish the industry’s image, making it less appealing to institutional investors.

This issue extends beyond the U.S. For instance, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has issued an ultimatum to cryptocurrency exchanges that have not yet registered to operate in the area. As of May 31, only 18 exchanges have applied for a license, with major players such as OKX, Huobi, and Gate opting out due to the stringent regulatory requirements imposed by Hong Kong.

In addition to ongoing legal challenges and Wells notices, there’s a persistent political backlash against cryptocurrencies. On May 29, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and William Cassidy addressed a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration, claiming that cryptocurrencies have “played an increasingly prominent role” in the fentanyl trade. Senator Warren has previously faced criticism for using unreliable data in discussions about terrorism.

These factors, together with the potential impact on cryptocurrency intermediaries and the possible selling pressure from the distribution of Mt. Gox coins do not set a definitive upper limit for Bitcoin at $70,000 or similar levels. It remains to be seen whether spot ETF investors will maintain their positions as the U.S. debt continues to escalate. For now, the market appears to be under bearish control in the short term.

 

 

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-is-bitcoin-stagnated-despite-2b-in-spot-etf-inflows

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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SUSHI / BTC prediction: SushiSwap showing signs of life despite shrinking exchange market share

SUSHI / BTC prediction: SushiSwap showing signs of life despite shrinking exchange market share

SUSHI is well poised to see growth. These are the additional comments that I have.

Let’s track back to around two weeks ago. GoldenTree Asset Management has invested $5.3 million into SUSHI governance token. During that period of time, investors were all excited about the news. Social media mentions spiked to around 0.851%. They gained 14% in 24 hours back then.

5 days ago, we saw a plunge of around 20% when they announced their newly appointed CEO, Jared Grey. He was being accused of being involved in a couple of scam projects and once sexually assaulted a horse. The token price went down to around $1.0962 at that point. Jared has since written his statement and shared it on his personal Medium page to address all the allegations. The token has since traded higher to $1.51 this morning.

All these price movements are driven by news and this is no way sustainable. The need for SUSHI to continue to build, find new niches and new products are important for its growth. SushiSwap started with a “vampire attack” if you remember, it has drawn so much attention back then, personally I hope to see that kind of drive back to the platform.

Retail investors got to know this. In order for SUSHI to grow, SushiSwap got to continue growing in popularity. As much as I believe decentralised exchanges are the way forward, the competition is very high and it is ever changing. SUSHI or not, it all depends on how strong your team is. I look forward to their new developments.

SUSHI / BTC prediction: SushiSwap showing signs of life despite shrinking exchange market share

 

Since facing major losses in the crypto winter of 2022 cryptocurrencies have been struggling to resurface. Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 70% since its November 2021 highs while SushiSwap’s SUSHI fell by 94% since its all-time high of 14 March 2021, as of 21 October.

How do the two tokens trade against each other and what does the SUSHI to BTC forecast suggest amid the current bear market? Here we take  a look at the SUSHI/BTC pair and some of the factors that may shape its exchange rate.

What is SUSHI/BTC?

SUSHI/BTC is the exchange rate between SUSHI, the native cryptocurrency of the decentralised exchange (DEX) platform SushiSwap, and BTC, the native coin of the Bitcoin Network.

Joerg Hansen, Caiz Development GMbh’s CEO, told Capital.com that the SUSHI to BTC value is calculated in the same way that a fixed exchange rate is calculated and is based on the rates of up to 100 exchanges.

Bitcoin is the pioneer cryptocurrency launched in 2009 by a creator or group of creators using the anonymous nickname Satoshi Nakamoto. BTC is built, distributed, exchanged and stored on a collective network known as a blockchain, and the token is used for peer-to-peer payments.

The cryptocurrency is secured by a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which is how new bitcoins are mined. Miners gain BTC as rewards for solving mathematical equations that confirm whether a BTC transaction is legitimate.

Approximately every four years or once every 210,000 mined BTC blocks, the blockchain goes through a halving event, which is when the rewards given to miners are cut in half, decreasing the amount of bitcoins in circulation.

SushiSwap is a decentralised finance (DeFi) platform that aims to solve what it describes to be “the inability of disparate forms of liquidity to connect with markets in a decentralized way”. It creates automated liquidity pools through which anyone can swap a crypto token based on the ERC-20 Ethereum protocol for another ERC-20 token.

The platform’s Japanese food-themed ecosystem was launched in 2020 by an anonymous creator who calls themself Chef Nomi. The software is running on the Ethereum blockchain, and is often compared to other similar platforms like Uniswap (UNI) and Balancer (BAL).

SushiSwap uses a number of products to achieve full liquidity and decentralisation, and allows users to exchange, earn, lend and borrow digital assets, stack yields and leverage funds. In addition, SushiSwap has smart contract capabilities, which means it also supports the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

SUSHI coins are rewarded to users for maintaining liquidity on the platform. They can also be used for staking and governance.

SUSHI has a maximum supply of 150 million coins. Meanwhile, BTC’s maximum supply is capped at 21 million.

SUSHI to BTC price history

The SUSHI to BTC exchange rate surged by more than 235% in the first four days following its launch, up from 0.0002201BTC on 19 August 2020 to 0.0007436BTC, its all-time high. The SUSHI value in USD surged by 250%.

The SUSHI/BTC price chart shows that SUSHI was quick to dip against BTC as the exchange rate’s value lost over 95% of its gains in the following months, down to 0.00003331BTC by mid-November 2020.

SUSHI to BTC price chart, 2020 – 2022

At the start of 2021, SUSHI/BTC jumped 317.5% from 0.0001001BTC on 8 January 2021 to 0.0004179BTC on 5 February 2021, in line with a hike in the SUSHI price in USD as the platform announced the launch of MISO, a suit of open-source smart contracts.

SUSHI to USD price chart, 2020 – 2022

The bull trend in the SUSHI to BTC price chart lasted for the following five months and by 19 May 2021 the exchange rate reached 0.0005008BTC, up by 19.8% as the SUSHI ecosystem became compatible with the Polygon blockchain.

Following the positive trend, SUSHI/BTC fell by 60.2% down to 0.0001994BTC by 26 June 2021 and continued to fluctuate for the following four months seeing minor losses and gains.

By 16 September 2021, SUSHI/BTC reached 0.0003152BTC but within a month fell by 40%. Around this time, the BTC value in USD was picking up the momentum, surging by around 55% to reach its all-time high of $64,158.12 on 13 November 2021, up from $41,551.27 at the end of September 2021.

The SUSHI to BTC exchange rate continued to further decline and reached 0.0001069BTC by the beginning of December 2021. By the end of the month, the rate surged by 103% to 0.0002174BTC as the platform launched a migration to the Optics V2 bridge, but the trend was short lived.

In line with recent negative market sentiment, SUSHI/BTC has lost over 65% of its value with the pairing’s current exchange rate trading at  0.00006957BTC as of 21 October.

Caiz Deveopment’s Hansen noted that in terms of technical analysis, the SUSHI/BTC price is struggling:

“Based on technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and important simple and exponential moving averages, SUSHI is currently in neutral territory and Bitcoin in a bearish one, which suggests that now is a bad time to exchange Sushi for Bitcoin.”

News driving SUSHI/BTC

At the start of October, Golden Tree Asset Management announced that it will stake $5.3m into SUSHI. Anndy Lian, chief digital advisor at the Mongolian Productivity Organisation and author of NFT: From Zero to Hero, told Capital.com that the announcement sparked enthusiasm in the online SUSHI community, but the hype was short-lived. Lian explained:

“Five days ago, we saw a plunge of around 20% when [SUSHI] announced their newly appointed CEO, Jared Grey. He was being accused of being involved in a couple of scam projects and once sexually assaulting a horse. The token price went down to around $1.0962 at that point,” Lian noted.

On 11 October, a Twitter user under the handle YannickCrypto alleged in a series of tweets that Grey was involved in a series of scam projects between 2012 and 2020. The user added that they met Grey in 2019. Other users chimed in, alleging that the CEO had also engaged in bestiality with a horse.

Grey addressed the scam allegations, saying they were “100% untrue”. But SUSHI did not resurface.

Caiz Deveopment’s Hansen told Capital.com that “sharply rising interest rates” have also been “poisonous” for the SUSHI to BTC exchange rate, as well as the declining trading volumes on cryptocurrency exchanges. He noted:

“Another important reason is the huge competition in the crypto exchanges. Since the bitcoin peak, the volume of the exchanges has fallen up to 60% this year. You can see a clear decline in crypto exchanges and coins like SUSHI because you don’t earn as much in fees at the moment.”

SUSHI/BTC forecast for 2022, 2023 and beyond

Based on the analysis of past performance, as of 21 October, the algorithm-based forecasting service Wallet Investor predicted that SUSHI/USD could fall to $0.0663 in 2023. The platform did not provide a price prediction for 2027.

In terms of its BTC price forecast, the site saw BTC/USD trade at $25,101.65 in 2023 and reach $46,783.81 by 2027.

While Wallet Investor did not provide a direct SUSHI to BTC forecast, data suggested that the exchange rate could be 0.0000025098BTC in 2023.

DigitalCoinPrice predicted that SHIB/USD could rise to $1.63 by the end of 2022. The site’s data, as of 21 October, showed that the coin was expected to trade at $2.18  in 2023 and $3.49  in 2025. Its long-term prediction saw the coin reaching $7.32 in 2030.

The site also gave an upbeat BTC/USD forecast, expecting the coin to grow to $24,108.19 by the end of 2022, $31,466.60 in 2023, $49,830.68 in 2025 and surpass $105,000 in 2030.

DigitalCoinPrice’s SUSHI to BTC forecast for 2022 expected the pair to reach 0.0000676119BTC and 0.0000692798BTC in 2023. The site’s SUSHI/BTC forecast for 2025 stood at 0.0000700372BTC. Its long-term SUSHI/BTC forecast for 2030 was 0.0000697143BTC.

Hansenalso  gave a bullish SUSHI to BTC price outlook:

“In my opinion, the SUSHI/BTC price will climb beyond what we have seen so far, mainly because of its popularity and resilience despite it being around since the beginning stages of DeFi.”

In order for SUSHI to regain past losses, the platform must continue to develop and “find new niches and new products”, Lian said. He added:

“SushiSwap started with a ‘vampire attack’ if you remember, it has drawn so much attention back then…As much as I believe decentralised exchanges are the way forward, the competition is very high and it is ever changing. SUSHI or not, it all depends on how strong your team is. ”

Remember that analysts’ and algorithm-based predictions can be wrong and shouldn’t be used as a substitute for your own research.

Always conduct your own due diligence on a cryptocurrency project before trading, looking at the latest news, a wide range of analyst commentary and technical analysis. Note that past performance does not guarantee future returns. And never trade money you cannot afford to lose.

 

Source: https://capital.com/amp/sushi-btc-prediction-sushiswap-bitcoin-exchange-market-share

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j

Despite billion-dollar investment, why GameFi is failing to woo Asians?

Despite billion-dollar investment, why GameFi is failing to woo Asians?

Market experts argue that GameFi is not gambling. It refers to the financialisation of video gaming and could transform gaming business models and power the digital economy, they say.

New Delhi: Crypto industry is betting big on the GameFi industry with billions of dollars invested, but in the Asian market, the segment is likely to face a stiff and severe challenge, thanks to strict and rigid regulations in multiple countries.

The existing laws and regulations are quite hostile for GameFi. Countries like South Korea and China have had laws about converting in-game tokens into fiat currency for nearly 15 years.

In South Korea, gaming is a serious industry and has its own regulatory code – strictly prohibiting speculative acts, gambling and free gifts. Its laws prohibit converting game tokens into cash.

Market experts argue that GameFi is not gambling. It refers to the financialisation of video gaming and could transform gaming business models and power the digital economy, they say.

Obasi Francis, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, DeSpace said that GameFi can be defined as the combination of video games (gaming) and decentralised finance (DeFi).

The People’s Bank of China has put a blanket ban on crypto trading, whereas Japan is convinced enough to consider it as gambling. In India, the Supreme Court has questioned the government to clear its stance on the legitimacy of cryptos.

Anndy Lian, Chairman, BigONE Exchange said that GameFi is not Defi. Playing hard to earn in the game and then allow it to turn into coupons so that you can buy some food is not gambling.

“There are games that are tokenised but not listed on any exchanges and only able to redeem very specific things and not cash directly,” he added. “They are only doing it in their own ecosystem.”

Crypto gaming has grown in popularity as it allows players to collect and trade virtual assets that can be exchanged and traded anywhere in the world. It has emerged as a way to earn money from the gaming industry in a safe and secure manner.

However, GameFi is more about the yield, than the game. Games like Axie Infinity, whose native token has delivered multibagger returns, do not have many daily active users, and most of its user base comes from developing countries.

Currently, the blockchain games have more talkers than players. These games lack an active gamer base as users want to reap the yield and not play the game. Also, the in-game economy suffers from crippling inflation.

Unlike conventional games, blockchain games enable users to make money by buying, selling and exchanging non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for various in-game items, said Francis.

On the other hand, Lian agrees that GameFi is not more developed in low per capita countries. “Game content and quality comes first and not the earnings,” he added.

Undoubtedly, GameFi is one of the hottest technologies in the crypto eco-space, and early investors can expect gaming-related collectibles to power the virtual economy.

But the games can’t go mainstream in Asia’s major markets because authorities would crack down using laws. Also, such GameFi are not getting too popular to gain the benefits of word of mouth.

“Ease of transactions, the ability to play anywhere, and the elevated levels of safety and security, GameFi enhances the overall gaming experience for game players while providing new sources of revenue for developers,” said Francis.

However, the concept involves giving players financial incentives to play and progress through games. Though, for the growth of industry, blockchain game developers must work harder to drive that.

“If regulators think that GameFi is gambling, then maybe they should ban NFT too,” said Lian of BigOne. “NFT is a lottery when it comes to mystery boxes. Regulators need to dive deep and not look at the surface.”

 

Original Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/cryptocurrency/despite-billion-dollar-investment-why-gamefi-is-failing-to-woo-asians/articleshow/89943538.cms

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j