Gate.io Weekly Newsletter: Elon Slams Web3_ Charlie Munger hates Crypto_ Fed to Accelerate Tapering to Cool Inflation_ ETH Returned to $4500 Mark

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TA Highlight: Cryptocurrency markets have stabilized

Cryptocurrencies rose steadily this week, with the price of bitcoin rising from $53,000 a week ago to just above $55,000. After Nov 28, the price temporarily stood firm at the $55,000 mark. bitcoin still is recovering from the negative news that the U.S. SEC rejected the listing of a bitcoin spot ETF.

From a technical perspective, bitcoin is gradually moving closer to its 20-day SMA, and without any other negative news to stimulate it, bitcoin price may achieve a further steady recovery.

Looking at the momentum indicators, any retracements on bitcoin do not seem to bring in solid price action, therefore market participants seem to prefer to remain on the sidelines for the moment.

The trend of Ether is stronger than bitcoin this week, reaching four consecutive daily gains, with the highest daily rise of $534.88. The spot price of Ether has returned to the level of a week ago again to $4500 mark.

The highest intra-week daily price has started to hit the upper limit of the Bollinger band, and the Ether has plenty of upward momentum. On November 29, MACD on Ether showed a golden cross signal and a buy signal was formed.

LUNA has performed noticeably well this week, achieving seven consecutive positive gains, with the highest price reaching $69.2.

Crypto News

Elon Musk on Web 3.0: “It sounds like bullshit”

In a tweet on Thursday, Musk responded to Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, that web 3.0 is B.S. without further clarifying why.

Altman wrote that he expects average venture capital returns for investments in the 2020s to be even lower than those of the 2010s, due to a tidal wave of capital.

“I would also like to suggest in a simplified way that web 3.0 may still have returns in line with 2010's. But many venture capitalists will miss this train,” Altman added. That was enough to provoke a response from Musk.

MicroStrategy buys another 7,002 bitcoins for $414 million

MicroStrategy, the analysis software maker led by crypto bull Michael Saylor, has purchased more bitcoins as it holds to its promise to keep buying more of the leading digital currency.

It paid an average price of $59,187 per bitcoin for 7002 BTC - bringing its total holdings to 121,044 BTC ($6.9B).

MicroStrategy's stock was up 2.83% at $681.73 in Monday morning trading, and has risen about 75% this year so far.

Vitalik Buterin Proposes New EIP to Tackle Ethereum’s Sky-High Gas Fees

EIP(Ethereum Improvement Proposals)-4488 would limit the total transaction calldata, where data from external calls to functions are stored, before reducing the calldata gas cost to remove the possibility of breaking the network.

He added that the "decrease-cost-and-cap proposal" would increase the maximum block size to 1.5 MB, which "will be sufficient while preventing most of the security risk."

If the proposal is approved, the implementation would require a scheduled network upgrade.

News in the Financial Market

Fidelity Canada officially launches bitcoin ETF and bitcoin Mutual Fund

On Thursday, Fidelity Canada officially launched the Fidelity Advantage bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the Fidelity Advantage bitcoin ETF Fund (mutual fund), marking the first such assets to be made available in the country.

The funds have the tickers FBTC and FBTC.U, denominated in Canadian and United States dollars, and are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The implications are significant for Canadian retail investors who open government-registered accounts. As the name implies, securities held in a TFSA are exempt from capital gains tax liabilities.

Facebook Retreats from Crypto Ad Ban

Facebook on Wednesday announced its decision to reverse long-standing policy that prevented most cryptocurrency companies from running ads on its services.

The company’s new policy is huge for the crypto industry and will allow more retail investors to access cryptocurrencies than ever before.

The move comes after the company, which is now called Meta, tried and failed to launch a cryptocurrency that could be used to send money online to anyone in the world via Facebook products.

‘Crazier than dot-com era’: Charlie Munger Lashes Crypto

Addressing Australian investors at the Sohn Hearts and Minds conference on Friday, Mr Munger underlined the stretched valuations of quality listed companies, and reiterated his extreme scepticism towards cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Dr Mark Nelson of hedge fund Caledonia, Mr Munger said he would not participate in an “insane” cryptocurrency boom, and was scathing of promoters of crypto assets.

The 97-year-old vice chairman of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway also said Australia should try to help calm tensions between China and the United States, as he predicted the two superpowers would avoid a war and reach an “acceptable relationship.”

Global Headlines

Fed President Loretta Mester: “Making the taper faster is definitely buying insurance and optionality”

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said she is “very open” to scaling back the Fed’s asset purchases at a faster pace so it can raise interest rates a couple of times next year if inflation doesn’t cool down.

The Federal Bank of Reserve is currently set to phase out its asset-purchase program in mid-2022 under a plan announced at the start of November to slow buying by $15 billion a month.

But the Fed could vote to accelerate the taper process to curb inflation, which has been accelerating in recent months.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler: bitcoin Competes With The U.S. Banking System

Gensler joined former SEC chairman Jay Clayton on Wednesday to talk about bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and ETFs.

Throughout the conversation, the SEC chairman kept drawing a dividing line between bitcoin and digital assets. While Gensler did not vouch for one or the other, he acknowledged their differences, highlighting the securities-like nature of many projects.

He said, “At the core of our bargain in the securities markets is: investors get to decide what risks they want to take. But the people raising the money, the issuers, should share full and fair disclosure,”, adding that while the value proposition is “for the market to decide,” it must be “within public policy frameworks.”

President Vladimir Putin Says Crypto are “High Risk” Investment

President Putin considers digital assets to be highly volatile while also recognizing that the asset class could play a major role in a future financial network.

He added that the country wouldn’t be imposing a ban on crypto activities, instead they would observe developments and regulate the industry when necessary.

The country is also currently working on a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), dubbed the digital ruble, which is expected to go live in 2022.

A recent report published by the country’s central bank stated that around $5 billion (350 billion rubles) worth of crypto trades happen every year in Russia.


Gate.io Weekly Blogs:
How Will Decentralized Autonomous Organisations Lead The World?
In-Depth Analysis of the "Mt. Gox Incident" from 7 Years Ago: Could the Compensation Package be the Catalyst for a Major Bitcoin Sell-Off?
In-Game Currencies Are Leading the Crypto Space: Gain An Insight Into GameFi’s Future

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.