Market update

‘Uptober’ seems to be going well for Bitcoin in particular, with the price increasing 13% this week to around AU$78,000 (US$57.3K), its highest level in five months. Expectations are now high for a big fourth quarter, and with April’s ATH of AU$84.7K (US$64.9K) back in sight, “all data science models suggest that BTC will peak much higher than US$100,000 (AU$136K) in this cycle,” analyst Rekt Capital said. While alt season may be a little way off just yet according to trader Pentoshi, it is coming. Ethereum was up 4% to around AU$4,800 (US$3.5K), XRP (9.35%), Polkadot (9.1%). But Cardano fell 1.1%, Dogecoin (-3.8%), Chainlink (-5.6%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 71, or Greed.

September is historically the worst month for Bitcoin and the price was hit by fears over Evergrande and the latest China crackdown … but we have now entered what Crypto Twitter optimistically calls ‘Uptober’. The global crypto market cap is back at US$2.1 trillion (AU$2.9T) – more than the US junk bond market – and around 86% of the supply is currently in profit. Bitcoin is up 12% on the same time last week to trade just under the US$50K mark, at around AU$67K. Ethereum also jumped 12.3%, Ripple (9%), Polkadot (8%), Chainlink (11%). Cardano was flat. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 54 or neutral. Despite the recent market rebranding of October, it’s also the month that saw the 1929 Stock Market Crash and Black Monday in 1987…

Despite new China ban FUD, the existing FUD about Evergrande, and the looming passage of the Infrastructure bill in the US Senate, Bitcoin has held up remarkably well (compared to where it started) and finished flat this week to trade around AU$58,150 (US$42.6K). BTC is also about 13.8% down on 30 days ago, but September is historically a poor month for returns. Ethereum was also flat, while Polkadot was down 1%, Ripple was up 1.6%, Cardano increased 3.5% and Uniswap was up 10.5%. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 26, or Fear.

Crypto markets fell this week alongside traditional markets over mounting concerns Beijing will allow Chinese property giant Evergrande to default on its massive AU$400 billion (US$300 billion) debts. Bitcoin finishes the week down 10% to AU$57,600 (US$ 41.9K) while Ethereum lost 14% and is trading around AU$4,000 (US$ 2,950). Everything else lost ground: Cardano (-18%), Ripple (-18%), Polkadot (-23%), Dogecoin (-17%), Chainlink (-19%). In more positive news crypto assets held by institutional managers rose for a fifth straight week and El Salvador bought the dip, adding another 150 BTC to its stash.

Bitcoin has had a rocky week, with US$400 billion (AU$544B) wiped off markets on the day the Bitcoin Law went into effect in El Salvador. It finishes the week down 13.6% to trade around US$45.1K or AU$61,150. That’s also 4.5% down on a month ago. TVL locked in DeFi protocols has dropped from US$98.26B (AU$133.3B) to US$85.85B (AU$116.5B). Polkadot was a rare green shot, increasing by 3.4% but everything else lost ground including Ether (-17.2%), Cardano (-14.7%), Ripple (-17.9%), Chainlink (-23.2%). The Fear and Greed Index has pulled back to 44 (fear) which is down from 79 (extreme greed) last week. In more promising news, MicroStrategy has just bought 5,050 Bitcoin for an average price of US$48,099 (AU$65.3K) bringing its total to 114,042 BTC.

Bitcoin put in a strong showing this week and is up 8.3% to trade around A$70,400 (US$52.5K). According to Glassnode, the total amount of Bitcoin held on exchanges has hit a 2021 low. Ethereum did twice as well and is up 17.7% to trade just below A$5,300 (US$4K). It’s now within 10% of its all time high price of approximately A$5,645 (US$4.4K) set on May 12. To flip Bitcoin in market cap the price would need to double from here. Everything else was up: Cardano (0.7%), Ripple (20.6%), Dogecoin (9.3%), Polkadot (26%). The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 79, or extreme greed.