Bitcoin is currently hovering around $42k after the bears couldn’t pull the index further down during the last 24 hours. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is trying to recover from the recently set multi-month low of around $39.6k but bears keep pulling back and continue to make significant moves. Altcoins on the other hand remained largely steady earlier today in the face of an uncertain BTC. More on that later on.

In other news, North America is still the place to beat when it comes to crypto adoption around the world. According to a recent survey by Arcane Research, the North American trading hours still dominate the trading market overall despite losing some value to other areas in recent years. More on that later on.

Crypto ATMs across Singapore have suspended their services in anticipation of further crackdown by the government. The move came after a series of anti-crypto moves in the small Southeast Asian country. They include banning crypto ads in public spaces and restricting the use of certain digital currencies. It remains to be seen whether this is a long-term policy by the government or just a knee jerk reaction. 

Another survey shows that over 67% of all Canadians desire to get paid in crypto by 2027. The recent research by Capterra shows that slowly, but surely, the general trend towards crypto is changing and they are being viewed as genuine assets of the present and future rather than a novel concept. 

According to a Bloomberg analyst, Bitcoin can reach $100k in 2022 provided it transitions from a risk-on asset to a risk-off one. This means that the closer the digital currency gets to become a store of value like Gold, the higher its chances of succeeding and posting a new all time high, perhaps as high as $100k.

Top EU securities regulator is suggesting a Proof of Work (PoW) crypto mining ban in the special economic zone. The move will essentially place a ban on Bitcoin mining in the region. The suggestion was made after several ill-advised concerns about the extent of Bitcoin mining’s effects on the environment. 

The government of Iran is looking to demonstrate a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) concept soon. The country will soon become among the pioneers in the world to trial a central digital currency after China and a few smaller examples. 

In a bizarre move, Georgian citizens were made to swear an oath to not mine cryptocurrencies through the national grid. Residents of the town of Svaneti, Georgia were forced to take this oath to St George that they will not mine cryptocurrency after reports of over electricity usage. 

Microsoft is looking to make aggressive entries into the metaverse industry with probably the biggest acquisition of the last few years. The big tech company is closing in on acquiring Activision Blizzard studios, the company who is at the forefront of gaming and metaverse development.

Major chipmaker Intel is close to revealing a new Bitcoin mining chip called Bonanza Mine in the next IEEE conference. The ASIC mining hardware will be the latest to be developed. 

Bitcoin at $42k

Bitcoin is currently hovering around $42k at press time. It had an overall slow day as neither the bulls nor the bears were able to make a significant move throughout this time.

The last 24 hours started with the digital currency at around $41.7k. It immediately rose to around $42.3 and stayed there for a few hours before being pulled back below to as low as $41.2k starting at 4:30 AM. However, the move below didn’t last as well as the digital asset recovered back to $42k and has stayed around that valuation till press time.

Moving forward, Bitcoin recently posted a multi-month low of around $39.6k and is looking to break out from it but is failing to do so. The bulls looked to recover but have faded away and now bears are slowly gaining back control. 

The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was around $792 billion and its share of the proceedings were 40.35%.

Altcoins Remain Steady

Other cryptocurrencies aka altcoins remained largely steady throughout the day. Binance Coin (BNB, 2%) and Terra (LUNA, 3%) were the major gainers of today. 

In Other News…..

North America Reports 43% of Worldwide Crypto Trading Volume

The North American region that includes Canada, the USA, Mexico and many Central American countries were the mainstay of the crypto trading volume, reporting as much as 43%, Arcane Research reports. 

The rest of the world only has 57% of the 24-hour volume according to this research which shows the imbalance. Mondays and Tuesdays are especially the busiest days in the North American market. 

Bitcoin had a slightly bearish day as it dipped below $42k before recovering back above it. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is looking to make a decisive move above or below a narrow trading range but has struggled to post any meaningful change. Altcoins on the other hand witnessed bearish price pullbacks of their own too. More on that later on.

In other news, according to LinkedIn, the number of crypto related jobs posted on the platform have risen more than 395% in 2021. These included jobs with terms like “Bitcoin”, “Ethereum”, “Cryptocurrency” and “Blockchain”. More on that later on.

Crypto.com, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has suspended withdrawals for some users after detecting suspicious transactions. Despite the company claiming that all funds were safe, the withdrawals are still frozen which is giving rise to speculations that the exchange’s hot wallets were hacked and some amount was stolen from them. It would be better for the exchange to come out clean and release the details of the anomaly, otherwise users will look to bail out from the exchange and take their crypto with them. It can also potentially impact its partnerships including a recent one it struck with Australian Football league worth $25 million.

The United Kingdom now ranks 3rd in the world for Ethereum ownership according to a new survey by finder.com. The country also witnessed a growth of 1% during December despite the bearish price action. 

Major Non Fungible Token (NFT) platform OpenSea has surpassed over $3.5 billion in monthly ETH transactions which is a new record. It also recorded a whopping $260 million worth of volume on last Sunday alone, which is another new high for the NFT scene. The NFT sector is seeing phenomenal growth in recent times despite the overall crypto slowdown which shows that the sector is decoupling from the mainstream digital currency scene and making a mark of its own.

Over in the Far East, Singapore has banned cryptocurrency service providers from advertising in open space. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) doled out the new guidelines as it continued to crack down further after reports of scams and frauds rising in the country.

The Pacific archipelago nation of Tonga is now accepting Bitcoin donations as it grapples with a natural disaster. A big underwater volcano burst in the Pacific Ocean that sent Tsunami warnings across the Pacific Islands. Tonga is one of the countries hit by this disaster and the extent of the damage is yet unclear. 

Bitcoin Drops to $42k

Bitcoin is currently trading around the $42k level as it dropped slightly in value during the last 24 hours. The cryptocurrency was looking to post some recovery after recording a multi month low of around $39.6k recently but it has been a slow experience overall. 

The last 24 hours started with the Bitcoin price at around $43k. It came down slightly to $42.5k at 6 AM in the morning and traded sideways around that level for many hours in the aftermath. After that, the cryptocurrency began to trend downwards at 4:45 PM in the evening and posted a low of $41.9k in the process before recovering from it. At press time, it is trading around $42.3k.

Moving forward, Bitcoin is currently trending slightly downwards and the bears are looking to make a comeback. The bulls needed to show some strength by pulling the index above $45k but they failed to do that yet again. Now, the index is looking to continue on its downwards trajectory, albeit slowly. 

The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was around $800 billion at press time and its share of the proceedings was 39.82%.

Altcoins Post Losses

Other cryptocurrencies aka altcoins also posted some losses during the last 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH, -4.5%). Binance Coin (BNB, -5%), Terra (LUNA, -7%), Polkadot (DOT, -8%), Dogecoin (DOGE, -5%), Avalanche (AVAX, -7%), Polygon (MATIC, -5%), Shiba Inu (SHIBA, -5%) and Chainlink (LINK, -8%) all posted some losses. Cardano (ADA, 5%) was the sole gainer of today.

In Other News….

LinkedIn Gets Almost 4 Times as Many Crypto Jobs in 2021 as in 2020

Major professional recruiting website LinkedIn has announced that its crypto and blockchain-related job postings increased more than 395% in the USA during 2021 alone. The wider tech sector showcased a growth of around 98% and thus the digital currency sector dwarfed that as well. 

Coinbase posted 300, Kraken 250 and Binance posted 600 jobs alone. However, the pace is expected to slow down in 2022 as the bear market kicks in. 

Bitcoin dipped below $41k earlier today as the bears intensified their efforts to pull the index below. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had a slightly bearish day overall as a result and it looks like the two market forces will battle it out around the $40k support. Altcoins on the other hand also posted some losses overall during this time. More on that later on.

In other news, major crypto exchange Coinbase announced that it has established a partnership with big payments provider MasterCard to enable NFT purchases. The agreement allows non crypto holders to invest directly in NFTs without the need of setting up a crypto wallet and buying ETH. 

Major Bitcoin mining company Rhodium is all set to undergo a massive Initial Public Offering (IPO) with an estimated valuation of around $1.6 billion. This shows that despite the recent cooldown of the crypto markets, the mining sector is still going strong and is unlikely to subside in the near future. Rhodium is a Texas-based mining company and will likely use the raised funds to establish more mining facilities across the US state.

Speaking of Bitcoin mining, the resilience of the overall mining sector was on display during the last 10 days or so. The riots and public disturbance in Kazakhstan led to the unfortunate deaths of over 200 people and crippled power and internet around the country. More on that later on.

El Salvador’s official crypto wallet Chivo now has over 4 million users or about 70% of the entire nation’s population according to a recent announcement by one of its partners Netki. Chivo is using Netki’s flagship user ID services for Know Your Customer (KYC) initiatives and now claims that the major unbanked portion of the El Salvadoran economy is now part of the ambitious crypto program. However, questions remain about the effectiveness of the Chivo wallet after its rollout suffered some issues, which the government claims were resolved. 

Major German luxury automaker Mercedes Benz has announced the hiring of five Non Fungible Token (NFT) artists to digitally commemorate its iconic G Class line. The five artists are commissioned to create an NFT collection to celebrate the G Class which includes the G Wagon name plate. 

The United Kingdom Treasury is looking to remove the reference of blockchain technology and its variants from the definition of cryptocurrencies. This is being done to promote the distributed ledger technology at a state level even as it decides to further constrict the digital currency sector. 

Bitcoin Drops to $41k

Bitcoin had a slightly bearish day overall as the index dropped to around $41.2k at one point before recovering a little back to $42k. The cryptocurrency is facing extreme pressure from the bears to recontinue its slide below but so far, it has stalled. However, the outlook doesn’t look that good. 

The last 24 hours started with Bitcoin at around $42.3k. It immediately dropped in value to around $41.5k in a matter of minutes just before midnight but recovered back above $42k in no time. Then, the digital currency began to alternate around the $42k value and remained so till just before midday. It then trended slightly downwards for the rest of the day and posted a 24 hour low of around $41.2k just before press time. Now, it is back bear $42k but the bears will be confident to bring it down again.

Moving forward, Bitcoin is currently facing pressure from the bears and the bulls have no concrete answer to this challenge. The bears managed to post a five month low of around $39.6k in the last few weeks and the bulls should have made a strong recovery from there. This means that the bullish trend is weak and will need to reinvigorate itself to stop the index from shedding more value. But, the advantage is clearly in favour of the bears and they will be looking to post further price losses.

The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was around $788 billion and its share of the proceedings was 40.26%.

Altcoins Post Losses

Other cryptocurrencies aka altcoins posted losses during the last 24 hours, mostly bigger than Bitcoin’s. The biggest losers included Cardano (ADA, -7.5%), Polkadot (DOT, -4%), Dogecoin (DOGE, -5%), Polygon (MATIC, -5%), Litecoin (LTC, -6%), Chainlink (LINK, -5%) and Uniswap (UNI, -5.5%).

In Other News…..

Bitcoin Mining’s Resilience on Display

The Bitcoin hash rate dipped around 15% during the last two weeks due to the Kazakhstan issue. This raised concerns about the overall mining ecosystem as it was deemed too reliant on several big mining countries. 

However within a few days, the hash rate has recovered well and is likely to move towards new all time highs soon enough. So, the mining community recovered well from a big challenge and is looking to move on. 

Bitcoin remained lifeless for most of the day as the index remained entrenched in a tight trading zone between $42k-$44k. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is looking to recover from a multi-month low of around $39.6k but is now stuck in this narrow trading range for the last few days. Altcoins on the other hand were also steady for most of the day except for a few outliers. More on that later on. 

In other news, a young Indonesian man has made a whopping $1 million in trading Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs). He made these NFT sales by clicking selfies with his smartphone for the last five years. More on that later on.

Speaking of NFTs, nowadays it is being widely speculated where the NFT market is going to go from here onwards. While the current trends are running their course right now, it is widely expected that they will give way for new ones in the near future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated art is expected to become one of the next in line to be tokenized and sell as NFTs. The concept is quite old but was recently promoted by Dan Brown’s new book Origin in which an AI makes its own art pieces and is in every way smarter than human beings. 

The acting US Comptroller of currency has stated that the immediate need of crypto intermediaries to collaborate and coordinate with each other and federal agencies. Michael J. Hsu, the current temporary incharge of the currency regulator recently spoke at the international event called TransAtlantic Finance Forum and spoke in length on the topic “the future of Crypto Assets and Regulation”. 

Bitcoin is Steady above $43k

Bitcoin had an uneventful day overall as the index refused to go below $42.5k and move to $44k throughout the last 24 hours. The cryptocurrency survived a move below $43k just before press time but that was too shallow on its own.

The last 24 hours started with the cryptocurrency at around $43.3k and it didn’t fluctuate much for the rest of the day. Early in the day, the index rose to as high as $44.7k before midnight. However, that proved to be the highest valuation the digital currency would have during this time. The price immediately came down to $43k and traded sideways around it for the most of the rest of the day. Just a few hours before press time at 2:30 PM, the index posted a low of around $42.6k in a dip but recovered quickly back above $43k. At press time, it is trading at around $43.4k. 

Moving onwards, Bitcoin is currently looking to consolidate itself just above $40k before making the next move. The index has remained within a tight space for the last few days and is expected to carry on in the near future until either the bulls or the bears can make a definitive move. 

The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was around $821 billion and its share of the proceedings was 39.5%.

Altcoins Remain Steady

Other cryptocurrencies aka altcoins remained largely steady during the last 24 hours apart from a few exceptions. Cardano (ADA, 9%), Uniswap (UNI, 6%) and Cosmos (ATOM, 7.25%) were the three big performers. Dogecoin (DOGE, -5%) posted a noticeable loss. But, the rest of the market was very steady and didn’t post any real change during this time. 

In Other News….. 

Indonesian Guy Raises $1 Million from NFT Sales

A 22-year old Indonesian man has raised a massive $1 million from his NFT sales on OpenSea. Interestingly, the NFT collection was made up of 1,000 selfies which Ghulam Gustaf Ali took during the last few years. It was kind of a throwback to his entire graduation from university. He also mentioned what was happening around the time time when he took each particular picture which added a sense of uniqueness to it. Like this one:

Ali didn’t know he was getting into this kind of money. Initially he had placed a price of around $3 for each selfie and didn’t expect much activity from the buyers. However, like a viral meme, the NFT caught on and crypto users on Twitter really promoted it. Now, the NFT has sold for a whopping $1 million. 

The NFT sector in general has really taken off in 2021 and is continuing on this year as well. Despite the crypto market in a sizable dip at the moment, the the NFT market is continuing on with its amazing progress.