- Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $ 23,310 as of 7:00 PM UTC (2:00 PM ET), down 1.3% in the past 24 hours.
- Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $ 22,644.56 – $ 23,672.82 (CoinDesk 20)
- The futures market indicates higher volatility.
- With the sell-off of XRP, Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto market is increasing.
Bitcoin prices, December 23 – December 24, 2020.
Source: CoinDesk
On the eight exchanges recorded by CoinDesk 20, the lowest level in 10 days, Bitcoin was changed for only 1.2 billion US dollars.
Bitcoin volume on the eight CoinDesk 20 exchanges, December 2020
Source: CryptoCompare
According to technical analyst Katie Stockton, managing partner at Fairlead Strategies, the relative quiet of the holiday season at the start of the new year could potentially lead to some disadvantage.
“Bitcoin digests its gains in a consolidation phase after confirming its breakout to new all-time highs with a spike towards the middle of the month,” Stockton said. “Former resistance near $ 19,500 is now initial support. Overbought conditions did not affect the momentum, “she said, although” it is likely more likely in January as it appears vulnerable to risk positioning on other asset classes. “
Traders who take out loans to buy Bitcoin could also put prices at risk in the not too distant future, according to analyst Alex Krüger.
“The crypto market has tightened extremely since the $ 20,000 breakout, and implied volatility has increased as traders re-set their prices,” Kruger said. “A high leverage results in weaker hands and makes the price vulnerable to large corrections. This is why we have seen such large price moves in both directions since then. Given these market dynamics, this is normal. Under such conditions, negative news would have an overwhelming impact on the market. “
An indication of what will come on Friday can also be found on the derivatives market.
“Tomorrow we will experience the biggest event in the history of Deribit [Dec. 25] 86,000 options contracts expire with a face value of over 2 billion US dollars, ”said Luuk Strijers, Chief Commercial Officer at Deribit, the world’s largest Bitcoin options exchange. Around 35% of all options on the stock exchange expire on Friday, so a certain volatility can be expected on Christmas Day.
Open interest based on the strike price for options that expire on December 25, 2020.
Source: Deribit
“The maximum pain is significantly lower, which may indicate an impending volatility,” added Strijers.
According to Deribit’s definition, the maximum pain price is the strike price with the most open interest on puts and calls and the price at which the underlying asset (such as Bitcoin or Ether) would cause financial losses if the largest number of option holders expired.
Thursday was also the expiry of the Bitcoin futures on the CME in December. 4,309 contracts changed hands, much fewer than on 13,829 the previous day.
Continue reading: SEC gives broker-dealers room to deal with crypto-securities
For XRP, all is certainly not calm, calm, or bright. The downtrend continued on Thursday, and the contested cryptocurrency was dragged another 16% in the past 24 hours. Since Monday, when Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, told the heads-up that the Securities and Exchange Commission would file a lawsuit claiming XRP was a security, the cryptocurrency has lost more than half of its value. While market cap is still the third most important crypto according to CoinDesk 20 data, it is back at $ 26.6 billion, roughly where it was in early November.
XRP Prizes, December 17-24, 2020.
After the problems of XRP, Bitcoin’s share of the total crypto market has increased from 65% last week to almost 69%, according to CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin Dominance, December 17-24, 2020.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Read More: Coinbase, Other Major Exchanges ‘Between Rock And A Tough Place’ On XRP Delisting
Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down 2.3% on Friday, trading at $ 596 as of 7:00 PM UTC (2:00 PM ET).
Ether prices, December 23-24, 2020.
According to data website DeFi Pulse, the amount of ether trapped in DeFi contacts is just under 7.3 million (worth $ 4.3 billion) for those pursuing decentralized finances.
Ether locked in DeFi.
Source: DeFi Pulse
Read more: FinCEN’s proposed Crypto Wallet rule could hit DeFi
The digital assets on CoinDesk 20 were mixed, with eight winners and ten losers on Monday (the remaining two are stablecoins).
Notable Winners as of 7:00 PM UTC (2:00 PM ET):
- Stellar (XLM) + 9.8%
- Orchid (OXT) + 4.0%
- Cardano (ADA) + 4.4%
- OMG Network (OMG) – 6.7%
- Algorand (RAND) – 6.1%
- Chain link (LINK) – 5.6%
- Nikkei 225 (Japan) 26,668.35 (+ 143.56 or + 0.54%)
- The FTSE 100 (UK) 6,502.11 (+6.36 or + 0.10%)
- The S&P 500 (US) 3,703.06 (+13.05 or + 0.35%)
- Oil rose 0.23%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude: $ 48.23.
- Gold was in the green at 0.27% and at press time at $ 1,883.20.
- The US 10-year Treasury yield fell 29 basis points to close the short week at 0.926%.
The CoinDesk 20: The assets that matter most to the market
