Market picture
Bitcoin rose close to $25K on Thursday but failed to hold on to those heights, pulling back precisely to $24K on Friday morning and losing 2.4% overnight. Ethereum continues to outperform the market, losing 0.2% to $1900. Other top altcoins are losing between 1.5% (XRP, Dogecoin) and 3% (Polkadot).
Total crypto market capitalisation, according to CoinMarketCap, fell 1.4% to $1.15 trillion overnight.
Bitcoin failed to accelerate its rise on Thursday, rewriting two-month highs but failing to hold on to them. This bullish indecision was probably linked to a similar pullback in US stock markets, where buyers are also very timid and unsure.
Investors and traders should prepare themselves that the market will stick to such a pattern in the coming months, and the recovery trend will bear little resemblance to the FOMO-filled rallies rattling the crypto market.
Instead, it will be a period of foundation work, during which the market, stripped of its easy money, will leave the most talented and passionate enthusiasts. They see cryptocurrencies as more than just easy money and hype.
News background
In this regard, many eyes are on Ethereum, where developers have announced the successful migration of the third and largest Goerli test network to the PoS algorithm. The next step will be the merger of the core network, scheduled for September.
The world's largest investment firm, BlackRock, has launched its first bitcoin-based product targeting institutional clients. It sounds encouraging, but so far, it is difficult to isolate any net positive effect in quotes.
At the same time, regulatory pressure on the industry is intensifying. Coinbase has reported that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought through the courts' information on listing the company's crypto-assets and proprietary products.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) called on world governments to impose additional taxes on cryptocurrency transactions and restrict their advertising.
The CFTC and SEC have proposed requiring significant cryptocurrency hedge funds with more than $500 million in assets under management to report risks associated with digital assets.
This article was written by FxPro’s Senior Market Analyst Alex Kuptsikevich.
