Daily News | Bitcoin Resumed Buying Pressures After A Quiet Thursday, New FTX CEO Compares FTX to Enron

Fundamental & Technical Outlook:

Macro

Good morning, today is Friday, Nov. 18, 2022.

TL;DR

🔹 Bitcoin and Ether resumed weak buying pressures on early Friday after investors lost most appetite on Thursday which led to both cryptocurrencies remaining relatively unchanged. The FTX saga continues with the new FTX CEO John J. Ray basically saying everything internal is a mess.

🔹 At 3.7%, Japan’s inflation hits 40 years high. Price increases have now exceeded the Bank of Japan’s 2% price target for seven straight months, though the result is unlikely to convince Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to change course. The news had minimal impact on the dollar.

🔹 BTC’s correlations with the dollar and volatility continue to move up to 0.75 and 0.26, up from -0.05 and -0.40 a week ago. With equity indices, the correlations have turned inverse during the same period.

🔹 Investors look to UK retail sales on Friday to further gauge the nation’s economic health following a higher-than-expected CPI report that came out this week.

🔹 The topic of the Day: TradFi Is Losing Confidence In Crypto For A Few Good Reasons

🔹 Happenings of the Week: Bahamas authorities transferred all of FTX’s assets to a digital wallet; 220K Bitcoin exited Crypto Exchanges in 10 days…

💰 . . .

Bitcoin (BTC) 24-Hour Change: 16,904 (+1.26%)

Ether (ETH) 24-Hour Change: 1,211 (-0.85%)

Global Outlook On Inflations

With inflation only starting to ease and a gauge of US retail sales increasing at the fastest pace in eight months, Fed speakers in recent days have emphasized that they need to go further to extinguish price pressures.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said policymakers should increase interest rates to at least 5% to 5.25% to curb inflation. He also warned of further financial stress ahead.

Bullard’s comments came a day after San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said a pause in rate hikes was “off the table.” Their hawkish tone was echoed by Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari on Thursday afternoon.
In Japan, inflation hit its fastest clip in 40 years in October. The outcome puts the Bank of Japan in an even more awkward position as it tries to explain the need to stick with monetary stimulus to pursue stable price growth.

Elsewhere, European Central Bank policymakers are also said to be mulling a smaller 50 basis-point rate hike next month, signaling their concern for the economy and weighing on the euro.

5️⃣ . . .


Friday

07:00 UTC

UK Retail Sales YoY

Actual: Awaiting data; Consensus: -6.5%; Previous: -6.9%

Retail Sales in the United Kingdom decreased by 6.9 percent in September of 2022 over the same month in the previous year. It is a sixth consecutive monthly decline and worse than market forecasts of a 5.0 percent drop, with rising prices and the cost of living weighing on consumer spending.

4️⃣ . . .


Thursday

23:30 UTC

Japan Inflation Rate YoY

Actual: 3.7%; Consensus: 3.2%; Previous: 3%

The annual inflation rate in Japan climbed to 3.7% in October 2022 from 3.0% a month earlier. This was the highest reading since January 1991, amid high prices of food and raw materials as well as persistent yen weakness.

Main upward pressure came from all components: cost of food (6.2% vs 4.2% in September); housing (1.1% vs 0.6%); fuel, light, and water charges (14.6% vs 14.9%), mainly electricity (10.9% vs 21.5%) and gas (20.0% vs 19.4%); transport & communication (2.0% vs 0.6%); medical (0.2% vs -0.5%), furniture & household utensils (6.9% vs 6.6%); culture & recreation (0.9% vs 2.2%), and miscellaneous (0.8% vs 1.2%).

Core consumer prices increased by 3.6% YoY, the most since February 1982, higher than forecasts of 3.5% and above the Bank of Japan's 2% target for a seventh straight month. On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.6% in October, the steepest increase since April 2014, after a 0.3% rise in September.

💡 . . .

Today's Markets

BTC +1.11%; Ether +0.92%.

Asia: Japan +0.18%; Hong Kong +1.05**%**; China -0.15%; India -0.36%.

Europe: London -0.11%; Paris -0.47%; Frankfurt +0.23%.

Futures at 02:00: Dow -0.01%; S&P +0.12%; Nasdaq +0.28%.

US Two-year Treasury Yield up 7bps at 4.459%.

US Ten-year Treasury Yield up 4bps at 3.775%.

UK Ten-year Government up 4bps at 3.194%.

US Dollar Index -0.02% at 106.25.

FX at 02:00: GBP: +0.23%; EUR: +0.07%; JPY: -0.04%; CNY: -0.08%.

Gold +0.14%; Brent Crude -3.32%.

Catalyst this week
Friday: UK Retail Sales

Catalysts next week

Monday: China Loan Prime Rate
Tuesday: Canada Retail Sales
Wednesday: FOMC Minutes
Thursday: Germany Ifo Business Climate
Friday: Germany GfK Consumer Confidence

🏦 . . .


🟠 BTC
BTC Weekly timeframe:
Major Level: 13,965 (Monthly High of Jun. 2019)
Closest support zone: 15,530 - 15,200
Key resistance level: 16,690 - 16,880


Analysis as of Nov. 18 - 20 Session.

BTC Weekly Resistance zones
16,690 - 16,880
17,085 - 17,450
18,090 - 18,750

BTC Weekly Support zones
15,530 - 15,200
14,650 - 14,030
13,965 - 13,455


BTC Daily Timeframe:
Closest support zone: 16,745 - 16,630
Closest resistance zone: 17,085 - 17,205
Key Level: 15,952 (Weekly Close Between Nov. 02 - 09, 2020)


Nov. 18 01:51 UTC Update:
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $16,868, or +1.04% in a 24hr period.

BTC Daily Resistance zones
17,085 - 17,205
17,575 - 18,025
18,215 - 18,430

BTC Daily Support zones
16,745 - 16,630
16,280 - 16,010
15,535 - 15,200

🌐 . . .


🔵 ETH
Weekly Timeframe
Major Level - 757 (Monthly High of Dec. 2020)
Closest support zone: 1,190 - 1,075
Key resistance zone: 1,270 - 1,410


Analysis as of Nov. 18 - Nov. 20 Session.

ETH Weekly Resistance zones
1,270 - 1,410
1,500 - 1,575
1,710 - 1,855

ETH Weekly Support zones
1,190 - 1,075
1,045 - 975
910 - 875


ETH Daily Timeframe
Closest support zone: 1,175 - 1,140
Closest resistance zone: 1,220 - 1,240
Key Level: 1,346 (Weekly High of Jan. 04 - 10, 2021)


Nov. 18 02:00 UTC Update:
ETH was trading at $1,213, or +1.02% in a 24hr period.

ETH Daily Resistance zones
1,220 - 1,240
1,255 - 1,265
1,300 - 1,325

ETH Daily Support zones
1,175 - 1,140
1,120 - 1,060
1,015 - 990

📌 . . .


📌 Today's topic: TradFi Is Losing Confidence In Crypto For A Few Good Reasons
“It’s time to build.” That’s a phrase you hear a lot in the crypto space at times like these, when a crisis or market slump — or both — saps confidence in digital assets and causes many to retreat.

The idea is, when user demand is low, companies have more time to improve their products for the next round of buyers. The only problem is what exactly are they building, and how are they paying for it?

Ideally, crypto technicians are building the banking systems of the future, along with some out-of-this-world fan experiences and blockbuster video games, all on the blockchain.

But much of what’s actually been built so far by the industry’s biggest companies is trading infrastructure: exchanges, lending protocols and decentralized finance apps that only appeal to crypto diehards.

Meanwhile, the things that have been built for the average consumer, like metaverse environments and NFT ticketing, are both poorly used and too technically challenging to get enough bang for your buck.

As for investors — and now more than ever, thanks to the collapse of FTX — they are unlikely to be hungry for more crypto. Some of the VC industry’s biggest backers, such as Sequoia Capital and SoftBank Group, have been forced to write down their investments in the bankrupt crypto exchange to near zero. If they didn’t spot the warning signs in FTX’s balance sheet when signing those deals, what’s to say they’re confident they could spot it in newcomer projects?

If the industry is to grow back to its original size and then some, the crypto community needs to figure out how it can attract those outside its peripheral vision with usable products and convince external investors it’s worth waiting out the storm.

Plus, it must do this even as it fends off regulators and seeks to avoid the centralization and concentration risks that all of the above may create. All while the industry remains under the darkest of clouds. A tall order indeed.

👁️ . . .



Happenings of The Week (Nov. 11 - Nov. 17):

📣 Notables

🔹 The U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold hearings on the FTX collapse in December.

🔹 French central banker calls for global cooperative regulation, not allowing the next 'crypto winter' to remain financially unstable.

🔹 U.S. and Indian finance ministers emphasize in meeting: Crypto regulation requires international cooperation.

🔹 U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen: FTX crash exposes weaknesses in the Crypto industry, the government will regulate the industry under the presidential executive order.

🔹 Hong Kong Financial Secretary: We must prudently promote the development of the virtual asset industry in Hong Kong.

🔹 Russia and Turkey will cooperate to combat crime-related crypto transactions.

🔹 Bahamas Financial Crimes Investigation Bureau has officially intervened in the investigation of the FTX incident.

🔹 Financial Crimes Investigation Bureau in Turkey, Bahamas officially involved in the investigation of the FTX incident.


📣 Nov. 17

🔹 The Securities Commission of the Bahamas said it transferred all of FTX Digital Markets’ assets to a digital wallet it controls on Nov. 12. US authorities and the Bahamian government are in an ongoing negotiation to bring SBF back to the US.

🔹 Genesis sought an emergency loan of $1 billion from investors before telling clients it was suspending redemptions in the wake of the collapse of FTX.

🔹 Meta proposes a single metaverse where the company holds centralized power, while EU representatives support the development of many different metaverses.

🔹 Bitcoin Exit From Crypto Exchanges Rises to 220K Over Past 10 Days. At last read, there were 1.87 million Bitcoin on exchanges tracked by Coinglass, the lowest level in at least one year, and down from 2.11 million on Nov. 7.


📣 Nov. 16

🔹 Genesis suspended customer redemptions and new loan originations.

🔹 CZ is considering acquiring loans from Genesis.

🔹 Musk will find someone else to manage Twitter.

🔹 New FTX CEO: SBF currently has no role at FTX Group and does not speak for the company.

🔹 US investors formally launched a class action lawsuit against SBF.

🔹 Shorting agency Citron continues to short ETH, believing it to be as common sense flawed as FTX.

🔹 Bank for International Settlements: Most Bitcoin retail investors incurred losses.

🔹 Zhu Su: Co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets had cashed in about $1 billion through FTX insider trading.

🔹 US SEC delays ARK 21Shares Spot Bitcoin ETF approval date until early next year.

🔹 Prominent Lawyer Considers Class Action Lawsuit Against Celebrities Who Promoted FTX.

🔹 Crypto lending platform Salt has stopped accessing funds due to the FTX collapse.

🔹 CZ proposes six requirements for centralized exchanges to follow.

🔹 Hardware wallet makers Ledger and Trezor sales up sharply. Last Sunday was Ledger's biggest sales day ever.


📣 Nov. 15

🔹 Yuga Labs Launches NFT Museum Donation Program, Begins with CryptoPunk #305 to the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami

🔹 Fed's Harker: I think the pace of rate hikes will slow in the coming months.

🔹 Circle now allows partner businesses to accept Apple Pay as a payment method.

🔹 Cryptocurrency balances on centralized trading platforms have fallen to their lowest levels since November 2018.

🔹 The EU may ban privacy tokens like Zcash, Monero and Dash, the draft was circulated to the other 26 EU member states for comment.

🔹 Singer JJ Lin has set his Twitter self-promotion to jjlin.eth

🔹 25% to 40% of crypto hedge funds have direct exposure to FTX or FTT.

🔹 Alameda has used FTX on insider information to hoard tokens on several occasions.

🔹 Digital asset manager Valkyrie lays off 30% of its workforce.

🔹 CFTC Chairman: FTX derivatives business still operating healthy should be credited to government regulation.

🔹 Manchester United debuts official digital collection and launches Web3 community and plans to distribute NFT digital collections to its supporters through a Tezos-based platform.

🔹 Venture capitalist Kevin O'Leary considered bailing out FTX, but was blocked by SEC chairman.

🔹 FTX hackers lost a lot of tokens in a hasty move, but still hold $339 million in digital assets.


📣 Nov. 14

🔹 Musk: Bitcoin will succeed, but may experience a long winter.

🔹 CZ: In the long run, the FTX bankruptcy will have a positive impact on the cryptocurrency industry.

🔹 Vitalik Buterin recently sold 3,000 Ether via Uniswap.

🔹 Chinese National Television (CCTV2 CCTV) financial channel reported "FTX declared bankruptcy.

🔹 Visa terminates its partnership with FTX.

🔹 Bloomberg: Most of FTX's assets have been devalued, and customers may have difficulty recovering most of their deposits.

🔹 Musk abruptly lays off 80% of Twitter's contract workers, 4,400 in total.


📣 Nov. 13

🔹 CZ: In the future, I will be more outspoken about the problems I see in the industry.

🔹 BitCoke says it is suspending coin withdrawals due to an investigation into the head of finance.

🔹 SBF and others have been placed under surveillance by relevant Bahamian agencies and have tried to flee to Dubai.

🔹Fidelity Analyst: FTX Crash May Trigger Institutional Investors to Abandon Cryptocurrency Market Investments.

🔹Forbes: FTX Crash May Spark Wave of Solana Eco-NFT Selling.


📣 Nov. 12

🔹 Musk had rejected SBF's $5 billion participation in the Twitter acquisition and questioned its liquidity.

🔹 Twitter will launch a crypto wallet in the near future.

🔹 Vitalik: FTX's fraud is worse than Mt. Gox.

🔹 SoBTC on Solana is down over 77% and can no longer be redeemed.


📣 Nov. 11

🔹 SBF has resigned as CEO of FTX and FTX has filed for bankruptcy in the US.

🔹 FTX does business with over 53 auditors, payments and insurance companies, including Deloitte, Stripe and others.

🔹 Bitcoin's third largest giant whale added 2,677 BTC to its holdings yesterday.

🔹 Japan's Financial Services Agency has ordered the suspension of FTX Japan's operations and has a "written business improvement plan" in place.

🔹 Aptos enters into a partnership with Google Cloud.

🔹 BlockFi: Due to the FTX incident, the company is unable to conduct business as usual and will suspend withdrawal services.

🔹Musk: The possibility of Twitter going bankrupt exists.


📣 This week’s fundraising activities include but are not limited to:

🔹 Data center startup Arkon Energy raised $28 million led by Blue Sky Capital. The startup uses renewable electricity to mine Bitcoin.

🔹 Development company Anode Labs has raised $4.2 million co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Lattice Capital. The project aims to create a decentralized network that will pay individuals and small businesses for their energy storage assets.

🔹 Crypto wallet Zulu has raised $5 million in a seed round led by Cadenza Ventures. The Colombia-based crypto platform focuses on using stablecoins to help Latin America-based residents more efficiently save, in light of currency devaluations — as well as send cross-border payments to friends and family back home.

🔹 Heroic Story raised a $6 million seed round led by Upfront Ventures and includes investors such as Multicoin Capital and Polygon. The project aims to reimagine tabletop RPGs for a digital audience using web3 technology.

🔹 DEX platform Jumbo closes $3.5 million funding round with participation from Pantera Capital and others. Jumbo is an AMM DEX based on NEAR developed to provide cheap, easy and unrestricted access to trading.

🔹 Indian embedded AI financial services company Lentra closed a $60 million Series B round led by SIG and Bessemer Venture Partners. The Mumbai-based startup works with commercial banks to power their digital lending services, with HDFC Bank, Federal Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and IDFC First Bank as key customers. lentra Lending Cloud provides ready-to-use third-party API connectors for various data sources, as well as a loan management system (LMS) and a codeless business rules engine (BREx).

🔹 YAHAHA, Metaverse UGC (User-generated content) platform, has closed a $40 million Series A+ funding round, co-led by Temasek and Alibaba, followed by Sanji Mutual Entertainment, with T&H Capital acting as exclusive financial advisor. YAHAHA will continue to support its community of over 100,000 creators through studio partnerships, gas pedals, global events, Game Jams, and other diversified approaches.

🔹 Web3 game monetization platform PlayEmber closes $2.3 million seed round led by Shima Capital. PlayEmber aims to make it easier to transition game ad revenue from the web2 marketplace to web3 by implementing a Unity-based software development kit for custom monetization solutions.

🔹 Web3 native brand engagement platform Kalder closes $3 million pre-seed round with participation from Indigo Fund and others. The Kalder platform, which allows companies and creators to work together to launch campaigns, use the blockchain to track online brand engagement data and provide incentives to on-chain users, will reportedly use the new funding to enhance Web3 brand experience features and scale its team.

🔹 NFT Marketplace Joepegs Closes $5 Million Seed Round Led by FTX Ventures and Avalanche Foundation. The Joepegs team says the FTX Ventures funding arrived in June of this year, before FTX's bankruptcy restructuring. Joepegs features license-free, off-chain price storage, filtering, rarity display, and more.

🔹 Ping, a digital payment solution, closed a $15 million seed round with participation from Y Combinator and others. Ping enables any individual, organization or company to create a free international account in US dollars and receive bank transfers, allowing users to trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.


📣 This week’s onchain criminal activities include but are not limited to:

🔹 DeFiAI project got rug pulled, contract deployer profited about $40 million, according to blockchain security audit company Beosin's Beosin EagleEye.

🔹 Crypto security expert (@officer_cia) tweeted that the FTX app should be uninstalled immediately, as the FTX app may now have the potential to leak important information such as private keys.



Author: Gate.io Researcher Peter L.
This article represents only the researcher's views and does not constitute any investment advice.
Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced.
In all other cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.