Cryptocurrency sentiment remains bullish in wake of Beijing’s Bitcoin ban
Digital asset markets plummeted last Friday as Chinese authorities reiterated their anti-crypto stance by banning all cryptocurrency-related activity, further cementing their view against the ever-growing asset class.
According to data from CryptoCompare, Bitcoin’s price fell from $45,064 to $40,759 in the wake of Friday’s announcement. Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies followed Bitcoin’s lead, with the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization plummeting 12% to $2,741 in the same period.
The crypto market has slowly been recovering from Friday’s sell-off over the weekend, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum increasing by 6.7% and 10.8%, respectively, since their Friday lows.
Despite the increasing pressure from mainland China, overall sentiment remains fairly bullish, with many mainstream analysts, publications and investors predicting that Q4 will be largely positive for the crypto ecosystem. But just how well has Bitcoin fared over the same period historically?
According to CryptoCompare, Bitcoin has historically recorded much larger gains than losses in Q4. In 2017, for example, during what many would consider the last bull run, Bitcoin’s price increased by 217.6% in Q4. The largest decrease during this period was the year following the 2017 bull market, which saw the prices of all cryptos drop dramatically. In Q4 of 2018, Bitcoin’s price fell by 43.4%.
Prior to China’s latest anti-crypto announcement, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also cemented its stance on crypto, with increased regulatory emphasis on stablecoins.
Coinbase, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, cancelled its plans to launch its Lend product, which was designed to deliver high-interest returns on users’ USDC stablecoin holdings, following the threat of legal action from the SEC.
‘Wild West Crypto Casino’
Not long after Coinbase’s announcement, the chair of the SEC, Gary Gensler, released a statement in which he likened stablecoins to “Poker Chips” at what he called the “Wild West Crypto Casino”. Gensler believes that crypto shares characteristics with the Wildcat banking era of the 19th century, stating that “history tells us that private forms of money don’t last long.”
Despite both China and the U.S. taking a negative stance on crypto, adoption continues – with El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender offering a glimpse of the other side of the coin.
El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, took to Twitter to disclose that 2.1 million Salvadorian’s are now using the government-backed Chivo cryptocurrency wallet – which, according to Bukele, is more than any bank in El Salvador.
The tweet reads: “2.1 million Salvadorans are ACTIVELY USING @chivowallet (not downloads). Chivo is not a bank, but in less than 3 weeks, it now has more users than any bank in El Salvador and is moving fast to have more users than ALL BANKS IN EL SALVADOR combined. This is wild!”
In other news, Deutsche Börse, a marketplace organizer for the trading of shares and other securities, launched three new crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) by VanEck, which are now are tradable for the first time via Xetra and Börse Frankfurt.
Finally, if you thought you were a crypto aficionado, then you haven’t met Mr Goxx, the crypto trading hamster. Goxx has been trading cryptocurrencies in a cage that is rigged to automatically buy and sell tokens based on its movement since June.
Since it started trading, Goxx’s crypto portfolio has increased 24 per cent, as of Friday, which is currently outperforming the S&P 500.
Twitter tips with Bitcoin
Crypto is slowly becoming more and more mainstream by the day, with Twitter being the latest mainstream platform to adopt blockchain technology.
In an announcement last Thursday, Twitter revealed that starting immediately, users around the globe would be able to tip with Bitcoin via payment application Strike – a payments app built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network that allows for free and instant crypto payments globally.
“People will be able to add a bitcoin lightning wallet or their bitcoin address to send and receive bitcoin Tips beginning today,” explained Esther Crawford, Twitter’s product lead for creator monetization, on a Thursday press call.
Tipping is currently available to Twitter users in El Salvador and the U.S., excluding residents of Hawaii and New York.
Crawford also discussed NFTs, of non-fungible tokens, which many use as their Twitter profile pictures. Twitter is exploring a way to verify NFT ownership within its app.
“We’re excited to soon explore NFT authentication,” she explained.
“It’s a way to support creators making this art with a stamp to demonstrate authenticity. By allowing people to directly connect their crypto wallets, they can track and showcase their NFT ownership on Twitter.”