Bitcoin (BTC) price jumped to $17,500 on Jan. 11, driving it to its highest level in three weeks. The price move gave bulls control of the $275 million BTC weekly options expiry on Jan. 13 because bears had placed bets at $16,500 and lower. The recent move has perma-bulls and dip buyers calling a market bottom and potential end to the bear market but what does the data actually show? Is the Bitcoin bear market over? It might seem too pessimistic to say right now, but Bitcoin did trade below the $16,500 level on Dec. 30 and those bearish bets …

Despite the financial volatility that has engulfed the global economic landscape over the last month or so, there seems to be no stopping the growth of the cryptocurrency market, especially the nonfungible token (NFT) sector. This growth is highlighted by the fact that crypto’s total market capitalization has increased from around $800 billion to $1.8 trillion since the start of 2021. Furthermore, a report from NonFungible.com released late last month reveals that sales associated with the NFT market ballooned to hit an all-time high of $17.6 billion during 2021, representing an increase of 21,000% from 2020. The report further suggests …

Institutional investors are returning to accumulate Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares as the discount to spot price his risen to nearly 30%, data on Glassnode shows. Since December 2021, some weekly sessions saw investors pouring in between $10 million and $120 million into Grayscale's flagship fund. Meanwhile, the biggest capital inflow — amounting to nearly $140 million — appeared in the week ending on Feb. 25, as shown in the chart below. No selloff yet among high-profile GBTC backers The GBTC trust attracted investments as global markets faced back-to-back shocks in the past few months, including a dramatic selloff in …

Morgan Stanley’s wealth management global investment office has published a report on Ethereum (ETH) arguing that the blockchain’s dominance could dwindle if strong market competition emerges. The investment banking giant’s report is titled “Cryptocurrency 201: What Is Ethereum?” and it provides a detailed rundown of the ecosystem along with its advantages and disadvantages in relation to Bitcoin (BTC). “Due in part to its more ambitious addressable market, Ethereum faces more competitive threats, scalability issues, and complexity challenges than Bitcoin. Furthermore, Ether is more volatile than Bitcoin,” the report reads. Morgan Stanley argued that Ethereum may lose smart contract superiority to …

One of the world’s largest investment banks has its Bitcoin (BTC) price predictions ready for 2022. In a recent poll, JPMorgan Chase asked its clients “where do you see Bitcoin trading at 2022 year-end?” Just 5% said they saw the digital coin reaching $100,000, and 9% saw it breaking previous all-time highs, reaching over $80,000. The bank is known for its wealthy client portfolio. While some BTC bulls may welcome the news that 14% of JPMorgan's clients expect at least a 2x, it’s not the fireworks the crypto market is accustomed to. On balance, however, the survey is generally positive. …

Investment funds from major U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley have increased their exposure to Bitcoin through purchases of shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. According to filings from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 23, the Morgan Stanley Insight Fund increased its holdings of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, or GBTC, shares more than 63%, from 928,051 in the second quarter of 2021 to 1,520,549 as of Sept. 30. In addition, filings on the firm’s Growth Portfolio show it holding 3,642,118 GBTC shares in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 71% when compared with 2,130,153 shares as of …

American multinational investment bank JPMorgan has put a price on Bitcoin and it is a lot less than the asset currently trades for. In a report to investors as part of the bank’s inaugural outlook focused on alternative investments, strategists stated that alternative assets which include cryptocurrencies “should continue to outperform into 2022.” They also asserted that Bitcoin’s “fair value” is around $35,000 based on the firm’s price model, which roughly 45% lower than its current trading price of $63,281. Nevertheless a price target of $73,000 seems reasonable should the relative volatility continue into next year, the strategists added, but …

Major U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley has more than doubled its shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust since April. According to a report from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, filed Sept. 27, the Morgan Stanley Europe Opportunity Fund, which invests in established and emerging companies throughout Europe, owned 58,116 shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, or GBTC, as of July 31. At the time of publication, the price of GBTC is $34.28, making the investment bank’s exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) roughly $2 million — Morgan Stanley reported thatthe shares cost $2.4 million. Previous filings show that Morgan …

Morgan Stanley's Dennis Lynch shared a light-hearted analogy during a discussion at Morningstar’s yearly investment conference today, claiming that Bitcoin’s insatiable ability to defy the odds and rise from both technical and fundamental adversity portrays that of the South Park cartoon character Kenny. The 24-series show has garnered a global audience base for its weird and wacky sense of humour, epitomised by the long-standing gag that Kenny dies in each episode, only to be rebirthed and gleefully unaware of his brutal demise in the following show. Head of asset management firm Counterpoint, a Morgan Stanley subsidiary — and a keen …

Bitcoin (BTC) has the potential to push its prices to between $250,000 and $350,000 by the end of 2021, a long-standing fractal suggests. First spotted by pseudonymous analyst Bit Harington, the bullish setup drew its inspirations from Bitcoin’s spectacular bull runs every time after halvings, which is when the miner block reward gets cut in half. Analysts perceive the halving as a bullish event, which reduced the supply of newly mined BTC. Harington reminded that Bitcoin’s prices surged by more than 600% after the first two halving events in 2012 and 2016 when measured from a so-called resistance/support (R/S) line, …

Morgan Stanley, one of the largest banks in the United States, is setting up a new crypto-focused research division. The Wall Street megabank has appointed Sheena Shah as lead cryptocurrency analyst for its dedicated cryptocurrency research team, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Shah worked as Morgan Stanley’s lead currency strategist covering G10 currencies for more than eight years and contributed to the bank’s crypto-related research efforts. In the new role, Shah will reportedly focus on analyzing the impact of cryptocurrencies on equities and fixed-income investments such as treasury and corporate bonds. Announcing the news in a memo to staff, Morgan Stanley’s …

Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley has gained exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) through Grayscale, offering further evidence of wider institutional acceptance of digital assets. The Morgan Stanley Europe Opportunity Fund, which invests in established and emerging companies throughout Europe, owned 28,298 shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, or GBTC, as of April 30, according to a June 28 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. At a current GBTC price of $29.68, Morgan Stanley’s exposure is worth roughly $840,000. The exposure was worth over $1.3 million at the end of April, according to the filing. Morgan Stanley's Europe …