Gate.io Weekly Newsletter: ‘Finding YOU in 10M’ 1 BTC Giveaway Event Commences_ Cathie Wood Remains Firm on Bitcoin reaching $500k_ Ethereum Completes Arrow Glacial Upgrade_ IMF Urges Glo

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TA Highlight: Cryptocurrency markets have stabilized

The cryptocurrency market as a whole showed severe bearish sentiment this week.

Bitcoin took another dive in the middle of last week, with the price falling by 8.23% in a single day on the 4th, breaking the $42,000 mark.

In the following days, BTC Spot had a brief pullback, bringing the price back to $51,918 at one point. However, a sharp decline was seen on the 9th (-5.78%).

From a technical standpoint, BTC Spot had broken through the lower limit of the Bollinger band on the 4th, forming an abrupt waterfall decline.

In the subsequent adjustment, the price gradually returned to the Bollinger band and momentum stabilized.

If investors had been using the MACD indicator as their main analysis tool, they would've avoided massive losses as the standard MACD did not show an obvious entry signal since November 8th.

The price of ETH Spot took a big dive on the 9th, dropping a whopping 7.45% in a single day.

Prior to the 9th, ETH Spot had been performing better than BTC Spot, and despite the plunge on the 9th, ETH continued to move within the Bollinger band, which shows stability in price relative to BTC.

It is worth noting that although both BTC and ETH prices have fallen to varying degrees, the market sentiment for both is still predominantly bullish, and investors seem to interpret this price drop as a time to "bottom out" rather than a harbinger of long-term cryptocurrency depression.

Crypto News

Ark Founder Stands Bullish on Bitcoin; with a Prediction of $500K

Cathie Wood, founder of Ark Investment Fund, told CNBC that with an influx of institutional capital, Bitcoin could see $500,000 added to its price.

She added that cryptocurrency is a new asset class with correlation very different compared to other asset classes.

Regulations will play a big part in deciding in which manner institutions will take part in cryptocurrency assets, which is still being debated among policymakers in the U.S.

Elon Musk Thinks NFTs Are 'Jpeging' the Dollar

Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus recently started a thread about cryptocurrencies. He said it has "changed a lot since 2013." In one particular tweet, he emphasized the addition of “jpgs” in the industry which is an apparent jab at NFTs.

Elon Musk was piqued and replied with a different twist, adding that NFTs are jpeging the dollar. For reference, "jpeging" is slang for low-quality images resulting in fuzziness, but Musk could mean something entirely different.

It should also be emphasized that the NFT market is so massive that it trades up to $2 billion per month, up by $400 million since the start of this year.

Ethereum: Arrow Glacier upgrade completed, Difficulty Bomb successfully postponed

The upgrade will be implemented at the Ethereum block height 13,773,000, mimicking the earlier launched Muir Glacier upgrade at block height 9,200,000 in January 2020.

The Arrow Glacier upgrade includes only one proposed improvement, which is to push the difficulty bomb to June 2022 to ensure that the chain does not freeze, also known as the "ice age."

Additionally, this will provide the Ethereum network 6 months to complete the full transition to Proof-of-Stake mechanism.

News in the Financial Market

CME Micro Ether Futures are now open for trading

CME announced the official launch of Micro Ether Futures (MET), with a contract size of one-tenth of an Ether, MET is said to provide an efficient and cost-effective way to manage Ether exposure and further optimize trading strategies.

Foxconn: Mainstream Finance could not be Decentralized

Terry Gou, founder of Foxconn, which manufactures components for Apple’s iPhone, said that mainstream monetary finance could not really be decentralized and only an underground economy would adopt cryptocurrency.

Gou added that it will take another five to 10 years for the metaverse concept to mature, with a long way to go for relevant applications.

He said there are many research and development opportunities in the process, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement in terms of application, so it’s “unrealistic” to talk about the boom of application at the moment.

Visa Launches Crypto Advisory Services for Banks as demand rises

Visa’s crypto advisory team will work alongside the company’s consulting and analytics group to advise banks on their crypto strategy and execution, as well as to help banks build crypto teams.

In a recent study conducted by Visa, 18% of global participants revealed they would be likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one offering crypto-related products over the next year.

And for consumers who already own cryptocurrency, Visa’s study found that almost 40% of participants expressed a willingness to switch their banks to ones offering crypto products.

Global Headlines

Rep. McHenry: Don't Over-regulate Crypto

At a recent crypto hearing in the U.S. Congress, U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry called 2021 the "year of cryptocurrency," adding that even though existing regulations are "clunky," much of the industry is already regulated.

In his opening remarks, he warned against over-regulating the industry as congress may run the risk of ‘dumb regulation’ that drives innovation away.

IMF: Urges Global Effort to Regulate Cryptocurrencies

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged all countries to work together to address the impact of the proliferation of cryptocurrencies and other new forms of financial assets, as reserve banks lowered expectations that they would soon offer their own CNBC (Central Bank Digital Currency).

The IMF said a global approach to regulating emerging technologies is necessary and needs to include regulations similar to those dealing with fiat currencies.

One concern of uncoordinated global regulations around crypto assets is a country may lose complete control over its own currency.

India may Ban crypto trading altogether

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to make a final decision on the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

A high-level meeting was held Thursday to consider all options as well as the views of stakeholders, including concerns expressed by the Reserve Bank of India.

Those options include a complete ban on private cryptocurrencies, a partial ban, allowing all categories of crypto products to be regulated, or allowing only a few regulated products, a person familiar with the matter said.

Gate.io Weekly Blogs:
Key Points of Encryption Hearing | The Industry Called for No Excessive Regulation, and Members of Congress Proposed to Ensure Web 3.0 Revolution Took Place in the United States
What Precisely is Central Bank Digital Currency “ CBDC ” ?
DAOs: Why the world can no longer do without them?

Author: Byron.B & Charles. F & Peter. L (Gate.io Researchers)
* The article only represents the researcher’s views and does not constitute any investment advice.
* Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all other cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.