Bitcoin and the broader crypto market traded higher over the seven days to 22 October. The bitcoin price rose to US$30,146, with Ethereum underperforming bitcoin, up 5.85% vs bitcoin’s 11.93% increase. Bitcoin’s market capitalisation rose to US$587.3 billion, with the total crypto market cap at US$1.14 trillion. Bitcoin’s market dominance has increased to 51.4%. Pushing prices higher is bullish sentiment that a spot bitcoin ETF may soon be approved.
| Price | High | Low | Change from previous week | |
| BTC (in US$) | $30,089 | $30,179 | $26,856 | 11.93% |
| ETH (in US$) | $1,644 | $1,646 | $1,604 | 5.85% |
Source: CoinMarketCap. As at 22 October 2023. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Performance is shown in US dollars and does not take into account any USD/AUD currency movements.
Source: Glassnode. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
Crypto news we’re watching
Proposal to regulate crypto exchanges
‘Regulating digital asset platforms’, a consultation paper released last Monday by the Australian Treasury, proposes that crypto exchanges that operate in Australia should be required to apply for a financial services licence from the local financial regulator, ASIC. The intention is to regulate crypto exchanges using existing financial services laws instead of creating new, crypto specific rules.
The new regulatory framework is focused on overseeing cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers, rather than individual cryptocurrencies or tokens. The Australian Treasury said the new regulatory framework aims to address consumer harms while still supporting innovation in the digital asset sector.1
Spot bitcoin ETF approval in next few months: JP Morgan
A research report published last Wednesday by JP Morgan stated that the SEC is likely to approve a spot bitcoin ETF in the US within the next few months. The recent decision by the SEC not to appeal a court ruling that the regulatory body was wrong to reject Grayscale’s proposed bitcoin ETF indicates that recent ETF applications may be approved, and that multiple applications may be approved all at once.
JP Morgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said: “The timing of spot bitcoin ETF approvals remains unclear but should happen within months and most likely before Jan 10, 2024, the final deadline of Ark Invest and 21Shares applications. This is the earliest among the various final deadlines faced by SEC across bitcoin ETF applications”.2
HIVE Digital Technologies partners with NVIDIA
According to a recent press release, HIVE Digital Technologies has announced a partnership with NVIDIA as a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and the launch of a GPU grant program for open-source AI developers. The company believes open-source AI is critical for advancement of this space and will continue to grow in importance.3
HIVE Digital Technologies builds and operates data centres in North America and Europe. The hardware powers cutting-edge projects ranging from Web3 to AI and HPC (High Performance Computing).
HIVE Digital Technologies is held in the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP).
On-chain metrics
Bitcoin: Percent of Supply Last Active 1+ Years Ago
This metric displays the percentage of circulating supply that has not moved in at least one year.
According to data from Glassnode, bitcoin’s long-term investors own over 68% of all BTC, which is an all-time high.
Source: Glassnode. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
This metric shows the number of unique addresses holding at least 0.1 coins or US$2,991 at the current price.
According to data from Glassnode, the number of addresses with a balance greater than 0.1 bitcoin has continued to move higher and currently sits at an all-time high.
Source: Glassnode. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
Altcoin news
The top-performing Top 20 altcoin over the seven days to 22 October was Solana (SOL), jumping by more than 34%. The blockchain’s network activity has been increasing over the past few weeks, and a new tech upgrade which allows validators to reduce hardware requirements has recently been activated. The asset manager Coinshares also reported that Solana-focused funds have seen net-inflows4.
Solana is a blockchain platform designed to host decentralised scalable applications and is engineered for widespread mainstream use by being energy-efficient, very fast, and generally inexpensive.
Investing in crypto assets or companies servicing crypto-asset markets should be considered very high risk. Exposure to crypto assets involves substantially higher risk when compared to traditional investments due to their speculative nature and the very high volatility of crypto-asset markets.
Investing in crypto assets or crypto-focused companies is not suitable for all investors and should only be considered by investors who (i) fully understand their features and risks or after consulting a professional financial adviser, and (ii) who have a very high tolerance for risk and the capacity to absorb a rapid loss of some or all of their investment. Any investment in crypto assets or crypto- focused companies should only be considered as a very small component of an investor’s overall portfolio.
References:
1. https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-10/c2023-427004-proposal-paper-finalised.pdf.
2. https://www.theblock.co/post/258453/jpmorgan-bitcoin-etf-approval-within-months
3. https://gameishard.gg/news/hive-digital-partners-with-nvidia-and-offers-gpu-grants-for-open-source-ai-developers/394108/
4. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/10/20/solana-rallies-26-in-a-week-despite-ftx-sale-fears-whats-behind-the-move/
Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
Off the Chain is published every second Tuesday. It provides the latest news on bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market, along with analysis and insights into the world of crypto.
It provides general information only and is not a recommendation to invest in any crypto asset, crypto-focused company or investment product.
This article mentions the following funds
Written by
Justin Arzadon
Director, Adviser Services & Head of Digital Assets.
C4 Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) and Blockchain Council Certified Bitcoin Expert™ with over 18 years’ experience in the ETF market. Passionate about the future of money.
Read more from Justin.
2 comments on this
Cryptocurrencies have proven to be revolutionary and they can bring lots of benefits to the humanity. That’s why blockchain tech & cryptocurrencies will play pivotal role in our future global digital economy powered by web 4.0 + AI + Blockchain tech. The decentralized nature of these networks will allow users to transact in many different ways via secure and shared networks, allow them to issue and accept for example P2P DeFi loans unavailable to the unbanked masses, etc… This is the best alternative vs inflationary fiat currencies where the federal governments in sync with central banks determine how much they will print and how. This printing is what fuels inflations and unfortunately politicians don’t understand that every extra printed Dollar or Euro causes the same exact opposite force/effect = burning one Dollar or Euro. That’s why Bitcoin and other digital gold-like currencies have become a valid investment tool or inflationary hedge against the fiat. That’s why Bitcoin is so popular in Africa and Asia – it keeps the business running without the concerns of conducting business transactions only in national inflationary currencies. Crypto projects will keep growing and this tech will keep further developing and evolving, we already have interoperable blockchains able to communicate and transmit transactions, instead of legacy isolated blockchains of the past… With Bitcoin ETF, Ethereum ETF and others opening the doors for the Wall Street players – this will be the most positive news for the crypto universe together with EU’s passage of the MiCA Act, which is quite crypto & blockchain friendly set of laws. The next bull run (2025-2026 might start in 2024 as Bitcoin halving approaches) will be massive – mega bull run and potentially shoot the overall crypto market cap to $7-$10 trillion range. Crypto market cap will outperform gold very soon. The future looks unique and interesting!
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