By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
bitcoin fell back below $70,000 as the war in the Middle East and US inflation data due today keep investors cautious.
The latest failure to build momentum above $70,000 came following reports that Iran was laying mines along the already disturbed Strait of Hormuz, a major global oil chokepoint. Bullish momentum weakened late Tuesday after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a now-deleted social media post that the U.S. escorted an oil tanker through the strait.
As usual, disappointment quickly spread from bitcoin to the broader crypto market. Major cryptocurrencies such as ether (ETH), solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and BNB lost 1% or more since midnight UTC, tracking losses in bitcoin. The CoinDesk 20 index also fell 1% to 1,980 points.
According to Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FXPro, traders should closely monitor the 50-day simple moving average of the bitcoin price.
“In the short term, the 50-day moving average has proven to be a formidable resistance level, preventing the bulls from quickly turning the tide in their favor. This indicator often signals the medium-term trend, and a safe break above it would be an important turning point in the coming days,” he said in an email.
Meanwhile, Bitfinex analysts said the next moves largely depend on oil prices, US government bond yields and Federal Reserve policy.
Speaking of the Federal Reserve, its members will closely monitor the February US consumer price index report, which is due out later on Wednesday. The inflation rate is expected to rise to 2.5% year-over-year from 2.4% in January, according to FactSet. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, is also expected to rise by 2.5%.
A higher-than-expected figure, in the face of already resurgent inflation fears caused by the war, could embolden Federal Reserve hawks and validate expectations that there will be no rate cuts this year. That, in turn, could create volatility in the market. 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
- Macro
- March 11, 7:30 am: US Consumer Price Inflation for February YoY Est. 2.5%; Underlying rate Interannual est. 2.5%
- March 11: OPEC monthly report
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
- March 11: Exodus Movement (EXOD), pre-market, $0.14
symbolic events
For a more complete list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes and calls
- Unlock DAO is voting to approve the Unlock Protocol DAO budget for the first and second quarters, totaling $30,768. Voting ends March 11.
- 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 down 0.78% since 4 pm ET on Tuesday at $69,794.05 (24 hours: -1.92%)
- ETH is down 0.83% to $2,022.17 (24 hours: -1.99%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 0.98% at 1,979.50 (24 hours: -1.79%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 3 basis points to 2.78%
- BTC funding rate is at -0.0027% (-2.9456% annualized) on Binance
- DXY rises 0.24% to 99.04
- Gold futures fall 0.57% to $5,200.00
- Silver futures down 2.05% to $87.26
- The Nikkei 225 closed up 1.43% at 55,025.37
- Hang Seng closed down 0.24% at 25,898.76
- The FTSE 100 is down 0.96% at 10,312.17
- The Euro Stoxx 50 falls 1.35% to 5,758.30
- DJIA closed Tuesday unchanged at 47,706.51
- The S&P 500 closed down 0.21% at 6,781.48
- Nasdaq Composite closed unchanged at 22,697.10
- S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.25% at 33,270.70
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed with a fall of 0.32% to 3,607.58
- The 10-year US Treasury rate remains unchanged at 4.14%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures down 0.23% at 6,771.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures down 0.26% at 24,917.25
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures down 0.37% to 47,569.00
Bitcoin Statistics
- BTC dominance: 59.30% (-(0.08%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.0291 (-0.07%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,014 EH/s
- Hash price (spot): $30.31
- Total fees: 2.7 BTC / $189,651
- CME Futures Open Interest: 105,265 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 13.4 oz.
- BTC market capitalization against gold: 4.64%
Technical analysis
- The chart shows daily bitcoin price swings in candlestick format since July last year. It also shows the average price for 50 days.
- Analysts say this 50-day moving average is a crucial level. An upside breakout could attract more buyers to the market, leading to a stronger rally.
- The outlook remains bearish as prices remain below average.
Crypto Stocks
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Tuesday at $196.52 (–1.64%), –0.94% to $194.68 in the pre-market
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $21.83 (+1.56%), –0.41% to $21.74
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $8.57 (–1.04%), –0.58% at $8.52
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $14.64 (–0.41%), –0.48% at $14.57
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $15.46 (+1.98%)
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $9.63 (+0.21%), –0.42% to $9.59
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $10.93 (+0.92%), unchanged from the previous market
- CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI): closed at $37.36 (+0.08%)
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL): closed at $118.09 (+5.59%), –1.38% to $116.46
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $36.73 (+1.86%), –0.90% at $36.40
Crypto treasury companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $138.46 (–0.35%), –0.97% at $137.12
- Strive Asset Management (ASST): closed at $8.98 (+5.52%), –0.78% to $8.91
- Sharplink (SBET): closed at $7.39 (–2.76%), –0.27% at $7.37
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $0.94 (–2.99%), +2.13% at $0.96
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.17 (–2.50%)
ETF Flows
BTC Spot ETF
- Daily net flows: $246.9 million
- Accumulated net flows: $55.76 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.28 million
ETH Spot ETF
- Daily net flows: $12.6 million
- Accumulated net flows: $11.62 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~5.68 million
Source: Farside Investors
