Bitcoin is currently hovering around $37k at press time. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is currently uneasily trading around this level as many expect it to not continue here for a long time. Altcoins on the other hand posted mixed losses overall today apart from a few exceptions. More on that later on.

In other news, Belgian MP Christophe De Beukelaer became the first major European legislator to ask for a salary in Bitcoin. But, since the Belgian treasury doesn’t allow such payments at the moment, he will instead convert his 5,500 EUR salary into Bitcoin using a local exchange service. This is the first such incident in the EU which is likely to open the doors for more Bitcoin adoption.

Top Chinese food delivery service Meituan has started a pilot run of accepting the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The move comes after the Chinese government rolled out a limited test run of the digital currency in the country.

Basketball star Lebron James and American exchange crypto.com have teamed up to improve blockchain education in James’ hometown in Ohio, USA. The move is being done to prepare the next generation of blockchain innovators in the country.  

According to one estimate, crypto users are snowballing around the world and they could reach as many as 1 billion by the end of this year alone. Among the biggest reason why is probably the Great Transfer of Wealth that is slowly going to occur in the near future. In this, more than $20 trillion in wealth is expected to be passed down by the elder generation into the incoming one. 

Major NFT auction platform OpenSea has stepped into some hot water recently as it tried to limit token minting on its platform. According to an exchange email, it had decided to ask users to remove their inactive NFT listings. However, Twitter users pointed out that doing so resulted in a users’ ETH being lost and its NFTs deleted from the platform. This major issue sparked further controversy on the major NFT auction site. More on that later on.

Disgraced English legislator Matt Hancock has urged the United Kingdom to become a home for cryptocurrencies. He gave these statements during a recent address in the English parliament. Hancock is trying hard to be relevant after it was revealed that he made Covic-19 breaches during the height of the pandemic to have some illicit affairs.

US president Joe Biden is preparing an executive order on crypto right now according to a source close to the president. It would assign government entities to study the crypto sector and make regulations accordingly. 

The overall Ethereum hash rate has reached record highs even though a complete shift to a less energy intensive Proof of Stake (PoS) concept is on the cards. This massive migration may change things a lot for the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. 

Apple stock rose more than 10% earlier today as the CEO announced the company’s foray into the metaverse. The move was much awaited as Apple has generally been slow to respond to the new metaverse craze.

Bitcoin Flat at $37k

Bitcoin is currently trading right around $37k at press time. The index remained entrenched below key resistance and support levels for most of the day, showcasing a current deadlock.

The last 24 hours started with the cryptocurrency at around $36.2k. It rose slightly to $37k just before midnight and has remained there ever since barring a few minor, short-lived moves above or below it. 

Going forward, Bitcoin is currently at an uneasy calm after recent losses and a short-lived recovery. The index has found some support at around $36k but it might not hold for long. The bears are biding their time and might jump in to steal the show once again. 

The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was around $700 billion and its share of the proceedings was 42.5%.

Altcoins Post Losses

Other cryptocurrencies aka altcoins posted mixed losses during the course of the day. They included Terra (LUNA, -15%), Ripple (XRP, -2%), Polkadot (DOT, -2%) and Cosmos (ATOM, -8.5%). Other altcoins posted slight losses earlier before recovering some of those losses close to press time.

In Other News…..

OpenSea’s Drive to Limit InActive NFTs Results in Major Issues for Users

Top NFT auction and trading platform OpenSea recently got embroiled in a major issue that robbed users of their money and NFTs. It all started with an email from the company that advised the users to cancel their NFTs because it wasn’t able to cancel them on their behalf. But, due to an error or a bug, many users lost access to their NFTs and even their funds on OpenSea. This caused a major commotion on Twitter as the users shared their stories and called out the company over this. 

Many users are now advising NFT owners to first transfer the NFT to another address before canceling the inactive NFTs. That way, at least the ownership to the NFTs could be maintained. Open Sea still hasn’t given any robust response to this.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) plummeted to below 40,000 US dollars shortly after showing signs of a price recovery on January 20. The leading cryptocurrency suffered another blow after the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, sidelined Bitcoin in a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Ankara, Turkey’s capital.

The Salvadoran and Turkish Presidents’ meeting started with a state-organized ceremony before officially opening the Salvadoran embassy. Later, the two heads of state agreed to work together on matters affecting education, trade, diplomacy, economy, and defense.

While the talks left out Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency community on social media platforms such as Twitter felt betrayed by Bukele, one of the few, if not the only, sitting presidents that openly support Bitcoin.

This invited fake news from parody Twitter accounts of famous crypto supporters, including the Salvadoran president.

The fake accounts tweeted that Turkey is preparing to adopt BTC as an official currency from next month. Although some of the accounts are no longer active, screenshots of their posts are still traversing the internet.

Fake News Shortly Benefit Bitcoin, BTC Price Drops to $35,000

Some in the crypto community had already believed the fake news, and the BTC price shortly abandoned its downward trend to reach slightly above 43,000 US dollars.

However, the glory was short-lived as the price plummeted to lows of 38,000 USD on January 21, according to CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin stood slightly above 36,000 USD after recovering from a 24-hour low of 35,894 US dollars.

Despite the Bitcoin community discovering that the news of Turkey adopting BTC were fabricated, they imagined a future with the Middle Eastern country investing in Bitcoin.

For example, a Twitter user observed that “if Turkey adopts Bitcoin as legal tender and coverts one percent of its GDP into it, they would bring a buy pressure of $7B.”

“Turkey Could do What El Salvador Did,” PlanB

PlanB, the creator of the famous Stock-to Flow (S2F) Model and a popular figure in the Bitcoin ecosystem, expressed confidence that Turkey could adopt the leading cryptocurrency.

In a tweet, PlanB noted that “Turkey could do what El Salvador did. And Mexico could do it. And Brazil. And Tonga. The timing is perfect. Just when Europe/US/Australia are sliding into the new Dar Ages, a new land of the free would attract capital and brains. As demonstrated by El Salvador.”

However, others like @derekmross were “willing to wait for the real thing to happen” before activating a celebratory mode.

As the price of Bitcoin suffers from the short-lived hype, the United States has subpoenaed two individuals, Patrick Casey and Nick Fuentes, who were among rioters during the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot.

Bennie Thompson, the head of a special committee investigating the incident, recently noted that they are using the subpoenas as a way of “seeking facts about the planning, coordination, and funding of events that preceded the violent attack.”

Thompson added that the committee “will continue to” search for answers to prevent a similar attack in the future.

Apart from their presence on the riot scene, Casey and Fuentes are known to oppose Joe Biden’s election as the US president. They have gone as far as calling for the destruction of Biden’s political party, the Republican Party.

French Computer Programmer Donates Bitcoin Then Commits Suicide

Last month, the two attracted the attention of the committee and law enforcement agencies after they received BTC donations from a French computer programmer. Interestingly, the donor made 20 other such donations to individuals with an identical political inclination.

The donor reportedly committed suicide a day after making the donations on December 18. In a suicide note, the computer programmer indicated that they donated their “wealth to certain causes and people” because they “care about what happens after” they die.

The subpoena explicitly mentioned the Bitcoin donations and revealed that the French deposited BTC “worth more than $250,000” into Fuentes BTC wallet. Casey also received a similar amount.

Notably, the two subpoenas indicate that a growing number of far-right extremists have found solace in the leading cryptocurrency.

In mid last year, the FATF (Financial Action Task Force), a global entity focusing on curbing money laundering, said that anti-government groups are increasingly embracing Bitcoin.

In December, QAnon’s presumed leader, Ron Watkins, said he had integrated BTC into his financing options after failing to secure reliable “traditional financing” methods.

Bitcoin was on recovery mode earlier today as the index went above $37k. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was near record lows yesterday but is now looking to post some gains in the face of further bearish pressure. Altcoins on the other hand were also in recovery phase earlier and tried to post as much gains as possible. More on that later on.

In other news, a recent note from the Bank of America stated that stablecoin adoption and the release of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) were inevitable in the near future. More on that later on.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has said that adding NFT adoption could be possible within the video sharing platform. She expressed her intent to help creators capitalize on emerging technologies. She was identifying YouTube’s priorities going into the near future in a letter. 

Rapper Kanye West has expressed his frustration at paparazzi and wants celebrities to get royalties from their unauthorized photos through NFTs. He said, ““You don't give us any percentage of what you make off us, off our kids. And I'm going to change that,”. This could be a great idea for an actual NFT platform and might eventually scare off paparazzi from violating celebrities’ personal space.

Russian Finance ministry executive Ivan Chebeskov has taken a stand that the country shouldn’t be looking to ban the crypto sector. In a move that signals a softening of the government rhetoric, Chebeskov instead said he preferred regulation, not outright bans. The move, however, contrasts with some of the recent moves by the Russian government. The country is now under considerable international pressure as it looks to annex more parts of Ukraine in a military move.

Major crypto exchange Bithumb announced that it would look to block crypto withdrawals to private “unregistered wallets”. The move may generate controversy as the same doesn’t apply to deposits. So, Bithumb wants to end the practice of private wallets, but not at the expense of its own deposits. 

Hollywood celebrity and model Paris Hilton has stated that the metaverse concept will be the future of partying in a recent interview on The Tonight Show. She also gifted all attendants an NFT from her upcoming collection called Superplastic. 

Meta, the parent company of Facebook has announced what it describes as the world’s fastest supercomputer focused on the metaverse itself. The AI-based tech innovation will allow the social media giant to provide metaverse services and is expected to hit full capacity in the near future. 

There is a new browser plugin that autoblocks NFT profile pictures on Twitter. The micro blogging platform had just recently announced this new feature that is helping the NFT sector to grow. 

Bitcoin Recovers Above $37k

Bitcoin recovered slightly earlier today as the bulls looked to get back at least some control back. The cryptocurrency is recovering from record lows of 7 months that it posted just yesterday.

The last 24 hours started with Bitcoin at around $35.8k. It rose immediately to around $37.2k before midnight before receding back to below $36k by 8 AM. However, this was to be the lowest level the index would achieve earlier today. For much of the rest of the day, the cryptocurrency was on a slow, steady climb that eventually resulted in it reaching $37.5k just before press time. 

Moving forward, Bitcoin’s recovery today may open the doors for a bounce back to $40k. However, the bulls are quite weak at the moment and this charge may not last long. So, it is in the interest of the bullish bias that it stays relevant for a long time. The bears are looking for a small opening after totally dominating the bulls in the last 2 months or so. They might strike back after the index reaches a strong resistance level. 

The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was around $701 billion and its share of the proceedings was 42.32%.

Altcoins Post Losses

Other cryptocurrencies aka altcoins had a mixed day overall despite all of them posting some gains. Ethereum (ETH, 5%), Binance Coin (BNB, 5.7%), Solana (SOL, 10%), Dogecoin (DOGE, 7%), Polkadot (DOT, 8%), Avalanche (AVAX, 12%), Polygon (MATIC, 10%), Cosmos (ATOM, 4.5%) and Crypto.com Coin (CRO, 9.5%) all posted good gains. Some other alts, however, remained relatively lifeless even after record losses.

In Other News…..

Bank of America Says Stablecoin Adoption “Inevitable”

The Bank of America is gearing up for a future of stablecoins and CBDCs. Two of its top analysts stated that the adoption of stablecoins was inevitable. 

According to BoA analysts Andrew Moss and Alkesh Shah, there was a significant rise in demand in stable digital currencies and they won’t suffer the same fate as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin because at the end, the USD is the Federal Reserve’s liability. 

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.