On Wednesday, bitcoin’s trade volume and overall value provided insights into its current technical situation. With a daily trading volume reaching $45.30 billion and a total market value of $1.29 trillion, the cryptocurrency’s liquidity and market breadth still stands strong. However, recent downturns have left traders wary. Currently, bitcoin has declined by 6% this week […]
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Following a dynamic period of activity in the crypto market on Friday, stocks of publicly traded mining companies have recovered from their recent decline. In the last five days, Marathon Digital Holdings’ stock fell over 15%, yet on Friday, it experienced a 7.71% increase in value against the U.S. dollar. Several other leading mining corporations […]
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The volume of daily transactions on the Bitcoin network has seen a significant decline since Jan. 28, 2024, with numbers falling from peaks above 600,000 to below 300,000 transactions per day. This downturn is in sync with a decrease in the daily creation of Ordinal inscriptions, overall easing congestion and reducing onchain fees. Network Activity […]
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XRP, the native cryptocurrency of the Ripple network, became a focal point in the face of the recent downturn in the broader market, facing the consequences of breaching a crucial support level and prompting uncertainties regarding its immediate outlook.
In tandem with Bitcoin’s descent below the $40,000 mark and Ethereum’s stumble beneath $2,200, XRP mirrored the trend, slipping below the pivotal $0.51 threshold for the first time since January 3.
This abrupt breakdown laid bare the vulnerability of XRP’s current standing, triggering a wave of speculation about its potential trajectory in the near term.
Amid the market turbulence, analysts have offered a spectrum of conflicting predictions, leaving investors to navigate a complex landscape characterized by mixed signals.
The varying assessments of XRP’s future add an additional layer of uncertainty to an already tumultuous market environment, compelling investors to carefully weigh their options and stay attuned to the dynamic nature of cryptocurrency markets.
JD, a technical analyst, identified a long-term triangular pattern in XRP’s price chart. He predicts a potential further decline towards the lower trendline of this pattern, with the $0.28-$0.33 range identified as a potential “buy-the-dip” zone.
#XRP – May be creating “Hidden Bullish Divergence” on weekly (candle body close below red line would negate divergence)
A “wick” down the orange box is very possible. (Orange box been posted since November 2023!)
My personal DCA: 0.28 – 0.33 (HEAVILY!), 0.45, 0.51, 0.59
Don’t… pic.twitter.com/ipMsM0p7ZE
— JD 🇵🇭 (@jaydee_757) January 23, 2024
Ali Martinez, a veteran market observer, warned of a potentially steeper descent if XRP fails to hold above $0.55. Based on his Jan. 18 analysis, a breach of this level could trigger a significant drop, plummeting the token towards the $0.34 mark.
$XRP is currently grappling to maintain its footing at the crucial $0.55 support level. Should this support fail to hold, be prepared for a possible sell-off scenario that could see #XRP descending toward $0.34! pic.twitter.com/6oKObjpnnm
— Ali (@ali_charts) January 18, 2024
Alternatively, XRP Shark, another analyst, presented a more optimistic outlook. While acknowledging the possibility of a drop to the $0.35-$0.45 range, XRP Shark sees this as a potential buying opportunity and predicts a subsequent substantial recovery for the token.
Looking to load up a bit on XRP in the coming time between .35-.45 🍻 I personally think that will be the bottom area of this move down and a violent move to the upside is following. Invalidation below .30 cents (would be pretty bad to see it go past that level) 🍻 pic.twitter.com/OA0SbXOEOZ
— XRP_Shark (@XRP_Shark) January 22, 2024
At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $0.51, down 0.4% and 9.3% in the last 24 hours and seven days, respectively, according to data from Coingecko.
The $0.51 threshold is one of the most important price zones for XRP because a retreat from this level could push the token below the psychological $0.50 level.
Ripple currently trading at $0.51 on the daily chart: TradingView.com
Despite the varied predictions, one consensus emerges: the short-term outlook for XRP appears bearish. With analysts anticipating further declines if crucial support levels are not held, investors should brace for potential volatility in the immediate future.
However, a closer look reveals glimmers of potential hope. Both XRP Shark and JD anticipate a future rebound for the token, albeit at different price points. This suggests that while the near-term may be turbulent, the longer-term prospects for XRP may not be devoid of promise.
Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
The digital asset landscape is seeing a noteworthy surge in Bitcoin whale activity, as signaled by CryptoSlate’s recent data analysis. Amid a 20% pullback from Bitcoin’s highs, these whales – entities holding 1k BTC or more – appear to be capitalizing on the opportunity to accumulate. A marked uptick in activity reveals a withdrawal of approximately 38k Bitcoin from exchanges, notably surpassing the 24k BTC deposited on Jan. 22. This suggests a penchant for buying, even as the price dips under $40,000.
Withdrawals have been outstripping deposits for six consecutive days. This divergence hit its peak on Jan. 17, with a staggering 22k Bitcoin difference. Jan. 22 witnessed a similar trend, albeit on a slightly reduced scale, with a 13k Bitcoin difference.
This trend of higher withdrawals than deposits suggests that whales are currently more inclined to move their Bitcoin holdings out of exchanges.
Simultaneously, the number of Bitcoin whales is increasing. The count has grown from 1,480 BTC to 1,513 BTC, a measure not seen since July 2022.
The post Surge in Bitcoin whale transactions defies market downturn appeared first on CryptoSlate.
The past week was largely defined by the Bitcoin price climbing above $45,800 for the first time in over 20 months, marking a great start to the year. However, the premier cryptocurrency soon experienced a sharp price pullback due to negative news about the BTC spot (ETF).
Interestingly, the latest on-chain data has revealed that investors seem not to have completely lost faith in Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
In a post on the X platform, crypto analyst Ali Martinez has offered on-chain insight into the aftermath of the crash that affected Bitcoin and the entire crypto market. The pundit noted in his post that a substantial amount of funds flooded back into the sector a day after the market downturn.
This revelation was based on on-chain data from blockchain analytics platform Glassnode. The relevant indicator here is the “positive 30-day capital inflows”, which tracks the net influx of capital into the crypto market over a 30-day period.
Chart showing aggregate market realized value net position change | Source: Ali_charts/X
The chart above shows that a significant amount of funds have been entering the cryptocurrency market over the past few months. According to Glassnode’s data, more than $2.5 billion flowed back into the cryptocurrency market on Thursday, January 4, bringing the positive 30-day capital inflows to about $27.5 billion.
This latest inflow of capital into the market offers insight into the positive shift in sentiment and market condition. It basically signals renewed investor confidence in crypto assets following a short period of uncertainty and price correction.
As of this writing, the Bitcoin price stands at $43,661, reflecting a 0.2% decline in the past 24 hours. However, the market leader seems to be recovering well, with $44,000 not too far out of reach.
A recent analysis shows how various classes of Bitcoin investors reacted to the negative ETF news and the subsequent decline. This evaluation was based on the Spent Output Age Bands USD (SOAB) indicator on the CryptoQuant analytics platform.
The investors were divided into five classes based on the age of their holdings. According to the analysis, short-term holders who fell within the 1-week-to-1-month and 1-month-to-3-month classes exited the market at break-even and profits, respectively.
Meanwhile, long-term holders who purchased Bitcoin in the first half of 2023, falling between the 6-month-to-12-month class, dumped about $7.6 billion worth of BTC. The 1-year-to-5-year holder class, on the other hand, barely made a move after the market downturn.
Bitcoin price at $43,690 on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
Downturns in the stock market are not much fun to live through. After all, nobody likes to lose money. Unfortunately, downturns are inevitable, so the best that investors can do is try to prepare for them as well as possible. One way is to think about companies that might be more resilient during a downturn, but that also will do well in good times.
This isn’t an easy task, and there are many factors to consider. Yet, here are two stocks worth considering now. Each has advantages that help them do well in good times but insulate them to some degree in bad times.
The first thing to know about Costco Wholesale (COST -1.03%)is that it has a pretty good track record during bad times in the stock market. Consider how its stock price held up during the Great Financial Crisis compared to the S&P 500.
Customers clearly see the value proposition of a Costco membership when times are tough. However, Costco also does extremely well when times are good. Here’s that same chart from the end of the same recession through the end of 2019 — a time that was mostly a long bull market.
Let’s be clear: Past performance is not an indicator of future results. However, Costco has a lot going for it. The company ended its 2023 fiscal year as the third-largest retailer in the world, with 861 locations and $238 billion in annual revenue. And $4.6 billion of that revenue was from membership fees that its customers happily pay. Costco has a membership renewal rate of nearly 93% in the U.S. and Canada.
Recent performance has been impressive as well. For the fourth quarter of the 2023 fiscal year, Costco grew its revenue by 9% and increased its earnings per share by 16%. More impressive is that traffic increased by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. This shows that the growth is being driven by people coming into the stores and not entirely by raising prices. This is an important distinction in a world where many companies are posting higher revenue that are a result of higher input costs being passed along to customers.\
In a market downturn, it’s likely that Costco’s stock would sell off to some degree. However, any such sell-off would likely represent a compelling buying opportunity for a stock that is rarely cheap.
Costco’s advantage during a market downturn lies in the value proposition it provides to its customers. CrowdStrike‘s (CRWD 10.40%) advantage is that it’s in an indispensable industry: cybersecurity.
Oftentimes, a market slump coincides with a larger recession or downturn in the economy. In such a scenario, companies would feel the pressure and look to cut costs. The last place a cash-strapped business would be looking to cut is cybersecurity. In today’s world, cybersecurity is as necessary of an expense as electricity.
During the bull market of late 2020 and 2021, CrowdStrike was growing revenue in the 60% to 80% range quarter after quarter, resulting in a stock price that became unrealistically optimistic. As a result, the bear market of 2022 saw the stock fall as much as 67% off its high. It has since recovered, but still trades 28% lower than it did near the end of 2021.
One might be tempted to think this means that CrowdStrike would be a bad stock to own during a market downturn, but I think nothing could be further from the truth. The sell-off in 2022 was due more to the inflated stock price than it was to the fundamentals of the business. In fact, even as the stock was selling off and revenue growth was slowing, CrowdStrike improved its bottom line and tipped into generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profitability for the first time ever this year.
In addition to its impressive turn toward profitability, CrowdStrike continues to prove it has a sticky product that its customers see value in. As of the end of the third quarter of its fiscal 2024, 42% of its customers subscribed to six or more of CrowdStrike’s products, and 26% subscribed to seven or more. Those numbers were 36% and 21% in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
CrowdStrike could remain pricey for the foreseeable future as it’s still posting strong growth in an ever-expanding market. The stock still trades for 19 times trailing sales, which is definitely not cheap. However, a potential downturn in the market should provide better valuations to open or add to a position.
Jeff Santoro has positions in Costco Wholesale and CrowdStrike. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale and CrowdStrike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Treasury yields are one of the most important market drivers and indicators. Representing the return an investor will receive by holding a government bond to maturity, these yields provide a snapshot of investor sentiment, future interest rate expectations, and the overall economic health of a nation.
When analyzing Treasury yields, distinguishing between two fundamental yield movements — inversion and flattening is essential.
A yield curve plots the yields of bonds with identical credit quality but varying maturities, offering a visual representation of how short-term yields compare to long-term yields. Under normal economic conditions, the curve slopes upward, signifying higher yields for bonds with longer maturities. However, the curve doesn’t remain static. Its shape morphs in response to changing economic conditions and investor sentiment, leading to phenomena like inversion and flattening.
Inversion occurs when short-term yields surpass long-term yields. This inversion signals market participants’ pessimism about near-term economic prospects.
Conversely, a flattening yield curve indicates a reducing difference between short-term and long-term yields. Both these movements in the curve have profound implications for the market, often acting as harbingers of economic downturns.
There are various ways of assessing the health of the Treasury bill market and, in turn, the broader financial market, but the “10-2” spread stands out for its historical accuracy in predicting economic downturns.
The 2-year and 10-year Treasury notes are among the most liquid and actively traded U.S. government securities. The 2-year note reflects short-term economic expectations, while the 10-year note indicates longer-term expectations. The spread between these two yields provides a clear picture of the yield curve’s slope over a reasonable time horizon.
The 10-2 spread has historically been a reliable predictor of upcoming recessions. When the yield on the 2-year note exceeds that of the 10-year note (resulting in a negative 10-2 spread), it indicates an inversion of this segment of the yield curve. Such inversions have preceded every U.S. recession over the past 50 years, though the time lag between inversion and the onset of a recession varies.
A positive 10-2 spread (where the 10-year yield is higher than the 2-year yield) usually means that investors expect healthy economic growth and demand a premium for locking their money for extended periods. However, when a sharp rise follows a historical low in the spread, it suggests that investors foresee an economic slowdown or recession in the near term. They might be more willing to accept lower yields now for longer-term bonds if they believe they’ll get even lower returns in the future or if they’re seeking safer, longer-term assets in uncertain times.
Recent movements in the 10-2 spread indicate a looming recession. As of Oct. 4, the difference between the 10-year and 2-year Treasury yield now stands at -0.29%. This marks a considerable shift from the -1.06% observed on June 1, 2023, the lowest point the spread has touched since 1982.
Such significant dips in the spread have historically preceded economic challenges.
For instance, in November 2006, the spread contracted to a low of -0.17%, preceding the onset of the 2007 recession. Similarly, a decline to -0.47% in August 2000 heralded the subsequent dot com crash and the following recession. These historical precedents, among others, solidify the 10-2 spread’s reputation as an economic crystal ball, providing early warnings of financial storms on the horizon.
The current flattening and the associated negative spread have immense implications for the market. It suggests investors anticipate lower returns, prompting a shift towards longer-term bonds. Such behavior typically reflects concerns about future economic stability and growth prospects.
The post The 10-2 Treasury yield spread: A harbinger of economic downturn? appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Germany has reached an all-time high in global venture capital funding share in 2023 despite a decline in the overall performance of the blockchain market across the globe, according to a report published by Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CVVC).
According to a recent CVVC report titled “The German Blockchain Report 2023,” the country’s blockchain sector recorded a total of $355 million invested across 34 deals. This represents a 3% year-over-year (YoY) increase in funding for the Western European country, according to the CVVC.
The report also highlights that Germany experienced its record share in global funding as well. The country reportedly attracted 2.4% of global blockchain funding and 2.5% of global deals. Compared with 2022’s figures of 0.9% in global funding and 1.9% in global deals, the country saw an increase in both statistics in 2023.
When it comes to Europe, Germany has taken a fair share of funding within the region’s blockchain ecosystem. The report notes that the country secured 9.4% of Europe-based blockchain funding and 10.3% of all European blockchain deals.
The report highlights that Germany’s progress in funding comes as all continents are experiencing YoY venture capital funding downturns, with a 62% decline in funding and a 44% decrease in deals compared with the previous four-quarter period globally.
Related: Crypto VCs made $2.6B worth of deals in the first quarter of 2023
Meanwhile, Foresight Ventures’ Tony Cheng believes the funding downturn is due to the lack of innovation in the space. In a recent Cointelegraph interview, he said that most of the narratives in the space — like zero-knowledge proofs, layer-2 solutions and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) — have already “played out.” Cheng believes this may be the reason venture capital firms are being driven away from the space.
Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.
Magazine: How to protect your crypto in a volatile market: Bitcoin OGs and experts weigh in
The state-owned Aramco believes that the oil demand forecast for the rest of 2023 is solid even though metrics point to a dwindling economy.
Saudi-owned oil and gas firm Saudi Aramco has a strong outlook on oil for the rest of the year as it anticipates healthy demand from India and China. Saudi Aramco predicts strong demand from both countries regardless of an economic retraction expected in global markets.
Speaking at the Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said oil market fundamentals “remain generally sound” for 2023. He maintained this expectation, notwithstanding several signs of economic decline in China and India.
“Despite the recession risks in several OECD countries, the economies of developing countries, especially China and India, are driving oil demand growth of more than 2 million barrels per day this year,” said he.
In May, China’s exports fell to $283.5 billion, according to customs data, representing a heavy 7.5% year-on-year (YoY) decrease. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a mild 0.4% drop. In addition, customs data also showed that China’s exports to the European Union (EU) in the same period fell by 4.9%. Furthermore, the dollar value of exports from January to May plunged by 15.1%.
Last week, investment banking and management giant Goldman Sachs reduced its growth outlook for China’s 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) from 6% to 5.4%. Goldman also reduced the outlook for 2024 from 4.6% to 4.5%. In addition to Goldman, several other financial services giants had cut their outlook on China’s growth. Reduced outlooks came from Bank of America, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, UBS, and Nomura.
Saudi Aramco’s expectation of solid oil demand corroborates a forecast published by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In a recently-released medium-term market report, the IEA predicts that global oil demand will hit 2.4 million barrels per day this year. The agency also said China is responsible for 60% of the increase.
Furthermore, the IEA’s report also indicates that demand from India is “equally robust”. According to the agency, May figures in India show the country’s demand for diesel and gasoline broke records.
Although Aramco and IEA predictions for oil demand are bullish for the year, the outlook differs for the decade. According to the IEA, global oil demand will nearly halt by 2028. The agency believes the world’s current shift to clean energy, including the continued adoption of electric vehicles, will affect oil demand.
The IEA added that China’s ability to maintain its pre-COVID momentum would affect the global outlook. Based on the IEA’s prediction, China’s consumption will peak this year after rebounding to 1.5 million barrels per day. However, consumption could fall to 290,000 per day YoY from next year until 2028.
On the other hand, the IEA’s outlook for supply is healthy. The agency estimates that global supply capacity will hit 111 million barrels per day by 2028, rising by 5.9 million barrels per day. The increase will create an extra 4.1 million barrels per day, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
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Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
