By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
Narratives change rapidly in crypto.
Just yesterday we talked about the weak institutional demand for bitcoin. highlighting net outflows of more than $500 million from spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the first two days of the week.
Guess what? On Wednesday, they accumulated more than $457.3 million, the highest single-day figure in five weeks. That’s a trend that should continue to drive BTC higher. The bull phases earlier this year saw several days of net inflows of more than $500 million almost every week.
For now, the cryptocurrency remains stuck in Wednesday’s undecided trading range of $86,000 to $90,000, with traders awaiting US inflation data due at 8:30 am.
A lower-than-expected figure of 3.1% year-on-year could prompt new risk-taking. Federal Reserve member Christopher Waller said Wednesday that interest rates remain well above the neutral level, meaning there is room for the central bank to make cuts.
After that report, attention will turn to the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision due late in the day US time on Friday morning in Asia. The central bank is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points to 0.75%. Some observers say that could trigger a rally in the yen, causing risk aversion, although the positioning in the currency market suggests little chance of a quick bullish reaction.
XRP is starting to look increasingly bearish on the charts. Veteran trader Peter Brandt called a double-top breakout in the cryptocurrency, which could see prices fall to $1 or lower. It recently changed hands at $1.87.
Ether the second largest cryptocurrency, is down more than 2% in 24 hours and BNB is trading 1.8% down. Compare that to privacy-focused tokens XMR and ZEC, both up 2%. The CoinDesk 20 index was down 1%, while the CoinDesk 80 index was down 3.2%, pointing to weakness in the smaller tokens.
In traditional markets, the dollar index rose for a second day, sparking a bullish resurgence. The index held at 98.50, while gold fell to $4,324 after testing the recent $4,340-$4,350 resistance zone. Stay alert!
Read more: For an analysis of current activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to watch
For a more complete list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Crypto
- December 18, 12:30 pm: BNB Chain is hosting a year-end AMA on X with former Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”).
- Macro
- December 18, 8:15 am: European Central Bank interest rate decision. Est. reference rate 2.15%.
- December 18, 8:30 am: US November Inflation Rate Headline Est. YoY 3.1%; Main year-on-year est. 3%.
- December 18, 8:30 am: Unemployment claims in the United States. Initial (for week ending December 13) Est. 225K; Continued (for week ending December 6) Est. 1930K.
- December 18, 2:00 p.m.: Unemployment rate in the third quarter of Argentina (previously 7.6%).
- December 18, 2 pm: Decision on interest rates by the central bank of Mexico. Est reference rate 7%.
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
symbolic events
For a more complete list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes and calls
- December 18: STONfi will host a community call.
- December 18: IOTA will host an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with Dominik Schiener, co-founder and president of the IOTA Foundation.
- December 18: Cardano will host an AMA session with the CEO of the Cardano Foundation, Emurgo, and other executives from its ecosystem.
- Unlock
- Token releases
Conferences
For a more complete list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is up 1.55% since 4 pm ET on Wednesday to $87,291.26 (24 hours: +0.39%)
- ETH is up 1.26% to $2,853.16 (24 hours: -2.41%)
- CoinDesk 20 rose 0.96% to 2,671.22 (24 hours: -1.5%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate Up 2 Basis Points to 2.87%
- BTC funding rate is at -0.0007% (-0.8026% annualized) on Binance
- DXY rises 0.14% to 98.51
- Gold futures fall 0.39% to $4,356.80
- Silver futures down 1% to $66.24
- The Nikkei 225 closed down 1.03% at 49,001.50
- Hang Seng closed up 0.12% at 25,498.13
- The FTSE rises 0.25% to 9,798.54
- The Euro Stoxx 50 rises 0.37% to 5,702.83
- DJIA closed Wednesday down 0.47% at 47,885.97
- The S&P 500 closed down 1.16% at 6,721.43
- Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.81% at 22,693.32
- S&P/TSX Composite closed down 0.04% at 31,250.02
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed with a fall of 1.36% to 3,058.30
- The 10-year US Treasury rate fell 2 basis points to 4.131%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures rise 0.39% to 6,804.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures rise 0.72% to 25,078.25
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average index futures rise 0.12% to 48,298.00
Bitcoin Statistics
- BTC dominance: 59.97% (+0.38%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.03273 (-0.39%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,049 EH/s
- Hashprice (spot): $37.29
- Total fees: 2.81 BTC / $244,324
- CME Futures Open Interest: 121,680 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 20.1 oz.
- BTC market capitalization against gold: 5.83%
Technical analysis
- The chart shows weekly DOGE price swings on a logarithmic scale. The logarithmic scale is used when tracking prices of assets with extreme price ranges, such as DOGE.
- The joke token has broken above the ascending trend line drawn from the 2023 and 2024 lows.
- The breakdown indicates that the bull market is likely over and deeper losses could be seen in the coming weeks.
Crypto Stocks
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Wednesday at $244.19 (-3.33%), +2.63% to $250.60 in premarket
- Círculo (CRCL): closed at $79.20 (-4.58%), +1.57% to $80.44
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $22.81 (-6.17%), +1.05% to $23.05
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $42.15 (-1.89%), +0.52% to $42.37
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $9.93 (-7.11%), +1.31% at $10.06
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $12.96 (-3.79%), +1.31% at $13.13
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $11.48 (-7.88%), +3.02% to $13.98
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $14.03 (-3.20%), +1.13% at $11.61
- CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $36.51 (-4.82%)
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $14.54 (+0.76%)
Crypto treasury companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $160.38 (-4.25%), +1.87% at $163.38
- Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $16.93 (-2.7%)
- SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $9.27 (-4.53%), +1.94% to $9.45
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $1.87 (-8.78%), +2.14% at $1.91
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.37 (-9.87%)
ETF Flows
BTC Spot ETF
- Daily net flows: $457.3 million
- Accumulated net flows: $57.71 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.3 million
ETH Spot ETF
- Daily net flows: -$22.4 million
- Accumulated net flows: 12,640 million dollars
- Total ETH holdings ~6.16 million
Source: Farside Investors
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