Crypto traders' urge to create leverage positions with Bitcoin (BTC) appears irresistible to many people, but it's impossible to know if these traders are extreme risk-takers or savvy market makers hedging their positions. The need to maintain hedges holds even if traders rely on leverage merely to reduce their counterparty exposure by maintaining a collateral deposit and the bulk of their position on cold wallets. Not all leverage is reckless Regardless of the reason for traders' use of leverage, currently there is a highly unusual imbalance in margin lending markets that favors BTC longs betting on a price increase. Despite …

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $25,000 on Feb. 21, accruing a 53% year-to-date gain at the time, it made sense to expect the rally to continue after U.S. retail sales data from the previous week vastly surpassed the market consensus. This fuelled investors' hope for a soft landing and the possible aversion of a recession in the U.S. economy. The apex of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s strategy success would be increasing interest rates and scaling back its $9 trillion balance sheet reduction without significatively damaging the economy. If that miracle happens, the outcome would benefit risk assets, including stocks, commodities …

It might seem like forever and a day ago when the Bitcoin (BTC) price was trading below $18,000, but in reality, it was 40 days ago. Generally, cryptocurrency traders tend to have a short-term memory and, more importantly, they attribute less importance to negative news during bull runs. A great example of this behavior is BTC’s 15% gain since Feb. 13, despite a steady flow of bad news in the crypto market. For instance, on Feb. 13, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) ordered Paxos to "cease minting" the Paxos-issued Binance USD (BUSD) dollar-pegged stablecoin. Similarly, Reuters …

Bitcoin (BTC) price rallied over 12% on Feb. 15, marking the highest daily close in more than six months. Curiously, the movement happened while gold reached a 40-day low at $1,826, indicating some potential shift in investors' risk assessment for cryptocurrencies. A stronger than expected U.S. inflation report on Feb. 14 presented 5.6% growth year-over-year, followed by data showing resilient consumer demand caused traders to rethink Bitcoin's scarcity value. U.S. retail sales increased by 3% in January versus the previous month — the highest gain in almost two years. On-chain data indicates that the recent gains can be traced back …

Bitcoin (BTC) had a rough year all throughout 2022. But fresh on-chain and futures market data show positive signs that the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization has started to recover. After a bevy of short liquidations, the futures market is pointing toward renewed equilibrium. According to data from Glassnode, short position liquidations cleared out unhealthy market speculators, on-chain and exchange data now point to an improving spot market and exchange netflows. A large group of investors that were previously at a loss is now back in the category that Glassnode analysts label as “unrealized profits.” Massive short liquidations set the …

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $22,500 on Jan. 20 and has since been able to defend that level — accumulating 40.5% gains in the month of January. The move accompanied improvements in the stock market, which also rallied after China dropped COVID-19 restrictions after three years of strict pandemic controls. E-commerce and entertainment companies lead as the year-to-date market performers. Warner Bros (WBD) added 54%, Shopify (SHOP) 42%, MercadoLibre (MELI) 41%, Carnival Corp (CCL) 35% and Paramount Global (PARA) managed a gain 35% so far. Corporate earnings continue to attract investors' inflow and attention after oil-producer Chevron posted the second-largest …

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied 11% between Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, reaching the $23,000 level and shattering bears' expectations for a pullback to $20,000. Even more notable is the move brought demand from Asia-based retail investors according to data from a key stablecoin premium indicator. Traders should note that the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index also gained 5.1% between Jan. 20 and Jan. 23, fueled by investors' hope in China reopening for business after temporary shutdowns caused by the CCP’s virus contagion measures and weaker than expected economic data in the U.S. and the Eurozone. Another bit of bullish information came on Jan. …

Bitcoin (BTC) price has gained 15% in the past 13 days, and during this timeframe, traders’ bearish bets in BTC futures were liquidated in excess of $530 million compared to bulls. After rallying to $19,000 on Jan. 12, Bitcoin reached its highest price since the FTX exchange collapse on Nov. 8. The move was largely fueled by the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) expectation for December, which matched consensus at 6.5% year-over-year — highlighting that the inflationary pressure likely peaked at 9% in June. Furthermore, on Jan. 11, FTX attorney Andy Dietderich said $5 billion in cash and liquid …

In Hong Kong, the bell rings for Bitcoin (BTC). Samsung Asset Management Hong Kong (SAMHK), a subsidiary of Samsung's investment arm Samsung Asset Management, is set to list the "Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF" on the Hong Kong stock market on Jan. 13. The move comes amid a surge in interest from both the government and institutional investors in the region. The ETF, or exchange-traded fund, will track the spot price of Bitcoin by investing in Bitcoin futures products listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The ETF will primarily invest in the CME Bitcoin Futures, with some investments in …

Bitcoin (BTC) price lost 11.3% between Dec. 14 and Dec. 18 after briefly testing the $18,300 resistance. The move followed a 7-day correction of 8% in the S&P500 futures after the U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell issued hawkish statements after raising the interest rate on Dec. 14. Bitcoin price retreats to channel support Macroeconomic trends have been the main driver of recent movements. For instance, the latest bounce from the 5-week-long ascending channel support at $16,400 has been attributed to the Central Bank of Japan's efforts to contain inflation. The Bank of Japan increased the limit on government bond …

Bitcoin (BTC) broke below $16,800 on Dec. 16, reaching its lowest level in more than two weeks. More importantly, the movement was a complete turnaround from the momentary excitement that had led to the $18,370 peak on Dec. 14. Curiously, Bitcoin dropped 3.8% in seven days, compared to the S&P 500 Index's 3.5% decline in the same period. So from one side, Bitcoin bulls have some comfort in knowing that correlation played a key role; at the same time, however, it got $206 million of BTC futures contracts liquidated on Dec. 15. Some troublesome economic data from the auto loan …

Bitcoin (BTC) price gained 6.1% between Nov. 28 and Nov. 30 after briefly testing the $17,000 support. Favorable regulatory winds might have helped fuel the rally after the Binance exchange announced the acquisition of a regulated crypto exchange in Japan on Nov. 30. Binance shut its operations in Japan in 2018 after being warned by the Japan Financial Services Agency for operating without a license. The acquisition of Sakura Exchange BitCoin would mark the re-entry of Binance in the Japanese market. Furthermore, Gemini exchange announced new regulatory approvals in Italy and Greece on Nov. 30. The exchange was granted registration …