#FINANCIAL_LITERACY

Key points

• Bitcoin price crash causes crypto market chaos
• Bitcoin price prediction model still on track

Bitcoin has risen in value by over 9 per cent compared to its Friday morning price of around $43,500.

The cryptocurrency is currently valued at over $47,000 and is inching closer to the $48,000 mark. Other cryptocurrencies, including Etherum (eth), Solana (sol), and Ripple (XRP) have also risen in value, growing by over 10 per cent compared to their Friday values.

The crypto market has also surged above the $2 trillion mark and is showing signs of stabilising.

© Provided by The Independent Values of cryptocurrencies over last 24 hours (Coin Market Cap)

Missouri mayor pledges $1,000 of bitcoin to residents

A US mayor has pledged $1,000 worth of bitcoin to the 1,500 residents of his town.

Jayson Stewart, who is the mayor of the aptly named Cool Valley, hopes the cryptocurrency can drive social change in his community.

“Bitcoin is fundamentally American,” he says. “It is the most American thing. Our government is built on freedom and personal liberty, and rights and self-sovereignty, and all of the things that bitcoin really is. I think it’s a natural marriage that bitcoin in America will thrive.”

You can read the full story here.

© Provided by The Independent

US mayor pledges to give $1,000 of bitcoin to all residents of his town

What will trigger second leg of bitcoin’s bull run?

This is the question being asked by pseudonymous Dutch analyst PlanB, whose Stock-toFlow (S2F) price prediction model puts bitcoin on track to reach six figures before the end of the year.

Potential triggers include more countries following El Salvador’s lead, a major corporation like Apple or Google adopting bitcoin, and China U-turning on its recent cryptocurrency crackdown.

It often only needs one major piece of positive news to push the momentum on a sustained upward trajectory, as was seen earlier this year when Elon Musk announced Tesla’s $1.5 billion bitcoin investment.

El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele has shared a video of what seems to be the country’s Bitcoin mining facility powered by electricity from a volcano.

Mr Bukele had announced in June, just hours after El Salvador became the first nation to authorise bitcoin as a legal tender, that the state-owned geothermal electric company would use geothermal energy from the country’s volcanoes for mining for the cryptocurrency.

The prices of bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies are still down compared to their values before Friday’s crash. However the price drop appears to be slowing down, and values marginally stabilising compared to the values of cryptocurrencies a day earlier.

Bitcoin is currently valued at about $42,000, down by about 2 per cent in the last 24 hours, compared to its value drop by about 4 per cent over the previous day.

The prices of Ethereum (eth), Dogecoin (doge) and Solana (sol) also appear to be marginally stabilising after continuing to drop since Friday. The global crypto market is valued at $1.85 trillion, and is down by about 2 per cent in the last 24 hours.

Coinbase Global unveiled on Monday a new feature for its US users to deposit their paycheck directly into their accounts on the exchange.

The new feature – expected to be rolled out in a few weeks – would allow users to convert their paychecks into any of the more than a hundred cryptocurrencies with no transaction fees.“Stay in control of your money by depositing as little or as much of your paycheck as you want,” the company noted in a blog post.

The move is expected to address concerns among users that making frequent transfers was time-consuming, and would allow them to make investments and earn interest on their digital assets with greater speed and efficiency.

The prices of several cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana have slid down by over 3 to 5 per cent in the last 24 hours. The crypto market is down by over 4 per cent in the last 24 hours, currently valued at about $1.88 trillion. Experts say the current value drop is tied to China’s new blanket ban on all cryptocurrency trading and mining - the broadest yet by a major economy.

The latest move has barred overseas exchanges from providing services to mainland investors via the internet - a previously grey area.

Following the move, top global exchanges, including Huobi Global and Binance, have stopped new account registrations by mainland China customers.

The chart is still all red with no signs of recovery yet.

The prices of several cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and Ethereum have tumbled after China’s central bank said all crypto-related transactions are illegal in the country.

While the prices of many cryptocurrencies were stabilising early Friday, their values have plunged in the last two hours. You can read more about it here.

China’s central bank has said all crypto-related transactions are illegal.

Amid the growing crackdown on cryptocurrency mining and transactions in the country, the latest statement is the most extreme intervention from the People’s Bank of China.

Bitcoin appears to be stabilising after a surge following Twitter’s announcement that it is adding the ability to pay users with the cryptocurrency in the platform.

It has not risen to its pre-Monday levels of $47,000 yet. But the latest surge has put its value above $44,000, growing by about 2 per cent in the last 24 hours. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (eth) Solana (sol), Dogecoin (Doge) appear stable with their prices not changing much in the last 24 hours. The global crypto market has grown by about 1 per cent in the last 24 hours and is currently valued at $1.98 trillion.

BREAKING: Twitter adds bitcoin payments

After many rumours and hints from Jack Dorsey, Twitter is adding the ability to pay other users with bitcoin through its Tips feature.

Dorsey is one of bitcoin’s biggest advocates, having previously said that the cryptocurrency has the power to “unite the world” and bring about world peace.

The Twitter boss, who also heads online payments firm Square, believes bitcoin also has the potential to become the “single currency” of the internet, which could take place as early as 2030.

You can read the full story here.

© Provided by The Independent

Twitter will let users send each other Bitcoin in crypto payments update

Dogecoin price boosted by Robinhood and AMC news

Dogecoin has surged in price by 5 per cent over the last 24 hours, presumably boosted by hints from the CEO of movie theatre chain AMC that they will soon accept payments of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency.

AMC CEO Adam Aron noted that his dogecoin poll on Twitter was “by far” the highest read tweet he had ever posted, with more than 4 million views in just 24 hours.

The online trading app Robinhood, which has helped bring more investors to dogecoin, has also announce that it will soon begin testing crypto wallets to allow users to store their funds.

“Robinhood announcing wallets, AMC CEO not only talking about accepting dogecoin but saying it was the single most interacted with tweet he has ever made, the crypto market finally seeing some green,” tweeted dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus.

‘Is $40k bitcoin the new $10k?'

After once again finding support at the $40,000 level, some analysts are asking whether this is the new base level for bitcoin’s price.

Mike McGlone, a senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, likens the latest rebound to the ones seen in 2020, when bitcoin was able to sustain its price above $10,000 after being tested through several sell-offs and crashes. It then was able to build from there and ultimately go on a record-breaking bull run that took it all the way above $64,000 in mid April this year.

The higher support level is bolstered by increased adoption combined with bitcoin’s limited supply, according to McGlone.

Bitcoin scam alert

Bitcoin.org, an open-source project to support Bitcoin development, was just hacked with a “double your money” scam appearing on its homepage. Visitors to the site were greeted with a pop-up message with a QR code inviting users to send money to a bitcoin wallet, Coindesk reported.

The message said the funds would be “doubled and sent back.”

The website is currently unreachable.

The scam’s address has so far received more than $17,500 in transactions.

Bitcoin, as well as several other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano, are showing signs of recovery from Monday’s flash crash which wiped out nearly $200 million from the crypto market. Ethereum (eth), Cardano (ada), and Dogecoin (doge) have grown in price between 7 and 8 per cent in the last 24 hours, while Solana (sol) has risen in value by over 13 per cent in the last day.

The crypto market has grown in value by more than 6 per cent in the last 24 hours, and is currently valued at about $1.94 trillion.

While bitcoin has not recovered to its pre-Monday price of $47,000 yet, it has risen to close to $44,000 after dropping below $40,000 for the first time in six weeks on Wednesday.

© Provided by The Independent (Coin Market Cap)

BREAKING: Dutch football giants PSV reveals it ‘HODLs bitcoin'

One of the biggest football teams in the Netherlands has just revealed that it is holding bitcoin on its balance sheet.

PSV said that it has become the first major football club in the EU to have an entire sponsorship paid in bitcoin from its partner Anycoin Direct.

Rather than exchange the cryptocurrency into fiat, the Dutch club said it plans to “HODL” the bitcoin.

“The possibilities and the future that the world of cryptocurrency offers is very promising,” says Frans Janssen, PSV’s commercial director.

“As a club in the heart of the Brainport region, we are always innovating, cryptocurrency fits well into this picture.”

© Provided by The Independent (PSV)

A third of voters in swing states want bitcoin as legal currency

Just a few weeks after El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law came into effect, officially making the cryptocurrency legal tender in the country, a new poll commissioned by Newsweek has found that a third of voters in US swing states want it to be a legal form of payment.

The poll, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, surveyed voters in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The most enthusiastic states were Texas and Wisconsin, with 37 per cent of respondents keen on making cryptocurrency legal in the next election.

© Provided by The Independent Austin, Texas, has a number of bitcoin ATMs already installed in the city (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Bitcoin price crashed 90 per cent in network glitch

Bitcoin’s price crash this week reached as low $5,402 – at least on one platform.

A network glitch on Pyth, which is used by Wall Street traders, saw the cryptocurrency briefly plunge by around 90 per cent.

The issue apparently prompted a series of liquidation events, which would have actually had a negative impact on bitcoin’s real price, though Pyth is yet to provide any detail about the incident beyond a brief statement.

“Engineers are continuing to investigate the cause and a full report is in the works,” the platform tweeted.

Dormant BTC wallet mysteriously wakes up

A bitcoin wallet that has lain dormant for almost nine years has shown signs of life.

The BTC address has not been active since around the time bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared.

In that time it has risen in value from $8,000 to more than $26 million thanks to bitcoin’s exponential price rise.

Exactly who controls it is unclear, though it is not the only old wallet to have activated without explanation in recent years.

You can read the full story here.

© Provided by The Independent

Bitcoin wallet from the Satoshi Nakamoto era suddenly activates

After falling below $40,000 for the first time in six weeks in the early hours of Wednesday, bitcoin’s value has risen and stabilised around $42,000 in the last few hours.

The cryptocurrency still hasn’t recovered to its value of $47,000 prior to the flash crash on Monday, which took out nearly $200 million from the crypto market.

The overall crypto market is down by about 2 per cent since its values yesterday. Most cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL), are still down at varying levels between 1 to 5 per cent compared to their prices 24 hours earlier.

The chart is still all red with marginal signs of recovery to pre-Monday levels.

© Provided by The Independent Values of cryptocurrencies over last 24 hours (Coin Market Cap)

Amid fears that China’s real estate giant Evergrande Group may default on its debt payments and affect the global financial system, including the crypto market, the main unit of the property developer has said it would make a coupon payment on its domestic bonds on 23 September.

Several experts tied the latest bitcoin flash crash, which wiped out nearly $200 million from the crypto market, to fears surrounding the Evergrande Group’s debt payment situation.

But the latest news may offer some relief to jittery markets, according to a report by Reuters.

Ethereum price finally falls below $3,000

The price of Ethereum (ether) has finally fallen below the $3,000 mark after holding on for nearly a day above the milestone figure.

Cardano (ada) is now also threatening to dip below the $2 mark, while dogecoin is hovering dangerously close to the $0.20 mark.

Bitcoin remains above $40,000, though only by a couple of thousand dollars. The latest losses suggest this week’s crash is not quite over, and by the time this downturn does end there may be a lot of key price markers to reconquer.

Bitcoin price right now is irrelevant – MicroStrategy CEO

One of bitcoin’s most prominent backers has described the latest price fluctuations as unimportant when taking into consideration the cryptocurrency’s future prospects.

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, who has led the software company to become the world’s biggest corporate investor in bitcoin, tweeted that this week’s price or last week’s price won’t matter “in the long run”, as they will both be just a tiny fraction of its ultimate value.

Last week the firm bought a further quarter of a billion dollars worth of bitcoin to take its total holdings above $5 billion.

Is bitcoin price still on track for $100k in 2021?

Zooming out on the longer-term market may put bitcoin’s current price difficulties in perspective, but it offers little help in predicting its future trajectory.

Analysts remain divided over whether this is the end of a so-called “dead cat bounce” within a bear market, or if it is just a blip on the way to new all-time highs in 2021.

Subscribing to the latter theory is Brad Yasar, CEO of decentralised finance (DeFi) firm EQIFI, who shared his thoughts with us. He believes bitcoin “isn’t going anywhere near” $25,000 and could still hit $100,000 this year. Here’s what he had to say in full:

‘When in doubt, zoom out'

A common mantra among bitcoin enthusiasts is ‘when in doubt, zoom out’.

The idea is that any short term price movements seem relatively insignificant when taking a broader view of the cryptocurrency market.

The current price of just above $43,000 is still more than twice that of any previous high seen before 2021. The question many analysts are asking this morning is whether this current cycle will mirror that of those seen in 2013 and 2017 – and if so, is it on the way up or down?

© Provided by The Independent

Bitcoin price prediction model still on track

One of the more remarkable things about the latest bitcoin price crash is that it fits in with an extremely positive price prediction model.

Pseudonymous analyst PlanB has amassed more than 800,000 followers on Twitter, largely thanks to the prescience of his Stock-to-Flow (S2F) model that he first applied to the cryptocurrency back in 2019 when the price was below $4,000.

The forecast, which takes into account bitcoin’s inbuilt scarcity, put it on a path way beyond $100,000 in this current market cycle, however with each price crash come fresh doubts.

After the price fell dramatically in the months following April’s all-time high above $64,000, PlanB made a rough estimate of the path bitcoin could take to reach above $100,000 before the end of 2021.

The June prediction put bitcoin at $47,000 in August (it closed last month less than a couple of hundred dollars off that price) and at $43,000 in September (roughly today’s price), before surging to $63,000 in October, $98,000 in November and $135,000 in December.

While it is hard to pinpoint what exactly caused the latest bitcoin flash crash, some experts say it could be tied to China’s property market.

Experts say concerns surrounding speculation that the Evergrande Group – China’s second-largest property developer – will default on its $300 billion in debts could be driving the current crypto market crash.

To allay fears over the property developer defaulting on its pay, Chinese authorities have injected about $14 billion into its banking system.

However, the cryptomarket continues to nosedive, valued currently at $1.87 trillion – dropping in value by over 7 per cent in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin, which was valued at close to $47,000 on Monday morning, is currently priced at $42,000, with no signs of recovery yet.

Other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (eth), Solana (sol), and Dogecoin (doge), are also down by more than 5 per cent over the last 24 hours.The chart still looks all red with no signs of recovery yet.

© Provided by The Independent (Coin Market Cap)

Bitcoin is 'cyberspace bank’ serving the unbanked

One reason for El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, to “buy the dip” today is because he sees the long-term potential of the cryptocurrency in countries such as his.

Just two weeks after El Salvador officially introduced the Bitcoin Law, which officially made the cryptocurrency legal tender, more than 1.1 million people are already using it as a day-to-day currency. That’s roughly one sixth of the country’s population that didn’t previously have access to traditional financial services.

“It seems that we will be able to bank more people in one month, than they did with nationalisations and privatisations of traditional banks in 40 years,” President Bukele said.

It prompted another staunch believer in bitcoin, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, to praise bitcoin and the stance El Salvador has taken. As the largest corporate investor in bitcoin, with billions on its balance sheet, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that Saylor is also buying the dip.

Bitcoin in ‘greatest buy zone in history'

Many long-term bitcoin holders are using today’s price crash to push the “buy the dip” narrative in the hope that it will bounce back stronger.

Bitcoin podcaster Cedric Youngelman even goes as far as describing it as “the greatest buy zone in history”.

Other traders are offering a more cautious view on the market, with bitcoin author Glen Goodman describing it as “choppy hell” that is too risky to call either way.

“This is why most of my money remains on the sidelines, waiting for better opportunities,” he says.

Bitcoin price stabilises?

The price of bitcoin appears to have stabilised at around $44,000 following the series of flash crashes earlier in the day that saw it drop from above $48,000.

Other leading cryptocurrencies also seem to have levelled out, with Ethereum (ether) just holding above the $3,000 mark and dogecoin managing to keep above $0.20.

Which way it goes from here depends on who you ask, with many bitcoin maximalists backing up Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele by claiming that now is a great time to “buy the dip” in anticipation of future price gains.

Bitcoin sees huge interest from institutional investors

One thing that has been interesting about major bitcoin price crashes in 2021: each low has still been way above any previous high seen in 2020 or earlier.

One reason for the lows being not as low as those in the past is that bitcoin is now bolstered by massive institutional investment. New research from Fidelity Digital Assets has found that 52 per cent of institutional investors now hold bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies

We’ve heard from Simon Peters, a market analyst at the online trading platform eToro, who explains what this means for the overall crypto space.

Bitcoin price pattern mirrors 2013 and 2017

The counter argument to the ‘dead cat bounce’ theory from the last post is that this bitcoin price crash is just a blip amid a record-breaking bull run.

Similar dips were seen in 2013 and 2017 in the run up to new all-time highs, and some analysts have pointed to “consistent” market patterns this time around.

Bullish analysts believe the peak of this current cycle is above $100,000 - way above the $64,000 price record seen earlier this year - and that it will be hit before the end of 2021.

Currently at around $44,000, bitcoin has a lot of climbing to do if it’s to achieve that.

Bitcoin price crash ‘dead cat bounce’ completed?

The latest price crash has divided bitcoin analysts over whether this is the beginning of a longer-term downward trend, or just a blip on the way to new all-time highs.

According to the pseudonymous Mr Whale, who has racked up more than a quarter of a million Twitter followers with his largely pessimistic predictions, the recent price gains were part of a “dead cat bounce” price pattern.

This is where the price rebounds during a bear market, before continuing to plummet. Mr Whale shared this image today to illustrate the phenomenon, though there has been plenty of pushback from crypto advocates dismissing this take.

Mr Whale puts bitcoin on a path to reach below $10,000 within the next year, though it should be noted that he had bearish forecasts all throughout the 2020/21 bull market.

© Provided by The Independent (CryptoWhale)

El Salvador ‘buys dip’ during bitcoin price crash

Bitcoin price crashes typically prompt one of two extreme reactions from traders and investors.

The first is to panic sell, which is usually the response of short-term holders and those new to the market. This forces the price down even further and induces more fear among other so-called ‘paper hands’, who also sell.

The second reaction is to use the price drop as an opportunity to acquire more bitcoin at a cheaper price. These so-called ‘diamond hands’ are often long-term holders who are familiar with its wild fluctuations but are bullish about its longer-term trajectory.

El Salvador’s president has proved himself to be in the latter camp, despite only recently buying bitcoin for the first time. Nayib Bukele revealed that he has “bought the dip” with a $6.7 million investment into the cryptocurrency.

You can read the full story here.

© Provided by The Independent

Bitcoin price flash crash prompts El Salvador president to ‘buy the dip’

Dogecoin founder rides out price crash in typical fashion

Dogecoin founder Billy Markus has responded to the market-wide price crash by sharing a gif of the “This is fine” dog.

The meme-inspired cryptocurrency has seen some of the heaviest losses on Monday, falling by nearly 15 per cent and showing no signs of slowing down.

Having traded above $0.25 over the weekend, dogecoin is now threatening to fall below $0.20 for the first time since May. Despite these losses, the cryptocurrency is still up nearly 10,000 per cent since this time last year.

It’s not much consolation for Markus, who sold his original holdings years ago and only bought back in earlier this year (though still when dogecoin was below $0.20).

Bitcoin price flash crash prompts crypto market dip

Bitcoin has suffered a series of mini flash crashes on Monday morning, pushing the price below $45,000.

Having traded close to $49,000 over the weekend, the cryptocurrency is now back at the levels it was at exactly one week ago.

The price fall has prompted a market-wide dip with other leading cryptos falling by between 5-15 per cent at the start of the week.

Of the top 10 leading cryptocurrencies, Solana (SOL) has been the hardest hit. The altcoin fell by more than 13 per cent over the last 24 hours, pushing its market cap down to $41 billion - $15 billion down from its peak earlier this month.

© Provided by The Independent (CoinMarketCap)