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The US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Index, the preferred inflation gauge of the US Federal Reserve, rose 2.9% annually and 0.2% monthly last December. So-called Core PCE increased by 0.1% monthly but declined by 3.2% yearly, making for an interesting year ahead for Bitcoin.

Stock futures were slightly lower at the start of the US trading day, while cryptos and Bitcoin remained mostly flat. Before the US inflation news, Bitcoin traded at $41,122.08 and declined marginally before recovering to $41,831.43 at press time.

The PCE is still above the 2% target the US Federal Reserve is using to benchmark tightening effects. The central bank has brought the Federal Funds rate to between 5.25 and 5.5% since March 2022, which has seen prices in most sectors cool off significantly, except for shelter.

People sell risky assets when they feel the central bank may induce a recession by tightening fiat currency policies too aggressively. Investors then move to more stable investments like government bonds, which are backed by the governments full faith. When the bank starts cutting rates, the prices of risky assets like Bitcoin can rise as risk appetite grows.

Read more: 7 Ways To Handle Retirement With Increasing Inflation

The US Treasury plans to announce its borrowing plans for 2024 on Jan. 31, 2024. Higher government borrowing can signal that the government is willing to take on more risk and lower the appeal of government bonds since more debt increases the chances of a default. As a result, some investors could choose Bitcoin.

The approval of certain exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the price of Bitcoin directly means that the asset has a chance to establish itself as a mature investment vehicle. An ETF allows an investor to get direct exposure to BTC price changes without the need to buy Bitcoin directly.

A co-founder of the first gold ETF, Hector McNeil, says a Bitcoin ETF vehicle will increase adoption. He likens it to how a gold ETF removed the hassle of digital asset management but encouraged more people to invest in the asset.

ETFs are at their most powerful when they give market access to difficult-to-trade asset classes. [ETFs] democratize ownership. Having asset managers like BlackRock and Invesco and Fidelity, thats a massive stamp of approval.

Read more: Bitcoin Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

McNeil expects BTCs supply constraints to push up the price gradually. Even though most investors do not use it as a currency, Bitcoin is still regarded as a store of value and has technological properties that make it well-suited to function as a currency, he believes.

Disclaimer

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Why US Inflation and Bitcoin Will Always be Linked - BeInCrypto

Many in the crypto world who previously knew nothing about ETFs are becoming more familiar with such investment vehicles.

Others still may not quite totally grasp what spot bitcoin ETFs are even as the Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to soon rule on them or what impact they could actually have.

The amount of assets controlled by investment professionals potentially interested in crypto but currently sitting on the sidelines is one way to quantify the potential demand for such funds.

Read more: What to know as an SEC decision on spot bitcoin ETFs looms

ETFs are essentially a basket of securities that, unlike mutual funds, can be traded on an exchange. Some hold stocks. Others hold bonds. Some even hold bitcoin futures contracts, as of October 2021.

The SEC, however, has never allowed a US ETF to hold bitcoin directly.

So why would approval of these types of funds be a big deal?

There are roughly 2,000 US ETFs with combined assets of about $6.4 trillion, according to ETF.com.

Individuals can readily buy and sell ETFs via traditional brokerage accounts. A June survey by the Journal of Financial Planning and the Financial Planning Association found that more than 90% of financial advisers use or recommend ETFs.

The introduction of ETFs could usher in new investor cohorts from traditional finance, significantly improving market transparency and liquidity and bringing long term capital inflow in the digital assets market, Fineqia research analyst Matteo Greco said in a Friday statement.

Read more: Spot bitcoin ETF would be final seal of approval for institutions: Cathie Wood

Assets managed by registered investment advisers (RIAs), brokers-dealers and banks total roughly $48 trillion, according to an October report by Galaxy Digital research associate Charles Yu.

But many such investors are walled off. About 80% of financial advisers surveyed by Bitwise and VettaFi said they were either unable to buy crypto for clients, or unsure whether they could. Nearly 90% of advisers interested in buying BTC are waiting until after the SEC approves a spot bitcoin ETF, the survey found.

Yu said he expects bitcoin ETFs could see $14.4 billion of inflows in their first year of trading. These funds shares would be physically backed by bitcoin, meaning buying pressure could increase the assets price by 74% in that span, Yu noted in the report.

Read more: To gauge impact of bitcoin spot ETF, analysts look to gold

VanEck analysts wrote last month they estimate inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs will amount to roughly $1 billion in the first few days and $2.4 billion within the first three months.

Over the longer-term, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said in an August webinar a US spot bitcoin ETF could attract $55 billion in net flows in its first five years on the market.

Both VanEck and Bitwise are among more than a dozen issuers that look to launch such a fund.

Matthew Sigel, VanEcks head of digital assets research, said during a Friday Twitter space that VanEck has been meeting with financial advisers to talk about the proposed spot bitcoin ETFs.

We still think these products are going to offer a much more cost-effective way for retail [investors], and [for] advisers to buy bitcoin for clients, Sigel noted. On the VanEck side, were obviously positioning ourselves to be the bridge between TradFi and crypto.

Read more here:

Why many say the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs would be a big deal - Blockworks

The year 2024 began with great levels for all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum and also for crypto enthusiasts. The largest cryptocurrency in the world, BTC has lost approximately 65% of its market value in the entire last year. Crypto enthusiasts were caught off guard by a series of unpredictable events such as the Terra Luna crash, FTX fall, macroeconomic conditions and Binance guilty plea.

The start of the last year 2023 was strong for the cryptocurrencies as the crypto world showed signs of recovery. Bitcoin even rose an average of 0.39 in the month of July at around $31,000 in 2023. The crypto world is showing immense recovery as of October, November and December has BTC rising at good levels. As of the start of the new year Jan. 3, 2024, BTC is at $45,203, market capitalization at $886.64 billion and market volume at $31.76 billion. Bitcoin rises high as expected.

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Post the psychological threshold of the $31,000 mark, Bitcoin has yet again started showing a bearish trend and trading below $30K levels. The worlds largest cryptocurrency, BTC, which was on the path of recovery had added on up to the monthly benefit of almost 15%, according to the latest charts retrieved by CoinMarketCap and is now trading at its highest level since May 2022 at $45,203.

BTC seems under slim pressure as inflation continues to be a crucial issue in emerging economies such as the U.S. and the UK, and as anticipated the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked the interest rates with a 25-basis point to tackle inflation issues. As per experts, the major resistance is seen near the $29,800 level and the next major resistance is at the $30,400 level.

This is not the first time that BTC is under pressure. Bitcoin had seen a major fall that pushed the cryptocurrency below the $26,000 level, a three-month low, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Binance and its founder and chief executive officer, Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

The SEC blamed crypto exchange Binance for creating separate entities as Binance.com and Binance US, as segments of an elaborate scheme to evade U.S. federal securities laws. It has also alleged that a firm owned by its founder CZ, had been involved in artificially growing the trading volume of crypto assets, listed on its Binance U.S. platform.

Cryptocurrency experts believe that if BTC sticks to its level of $30,000, then it could bounce back likely from here and now is leading at $45,203 as of Jan. 3, 2024.

In April 2023, the top cryptocurrency Bitcoin touched the key resistance of $30,000 level, for the first time since June 10, 2022 and then started dipping below till $26,000 level and now has supremely raised at $45,203 after May 2022. Crypto experts believe Bitcoin must stick to the current level and more to touch the level of $60,000 by the end of the year 2024.

However, the recovery path is lengthy, as BTC is still down almost 34.26%, from its all-time high. At the start of the year, Bitcoin plunged below the level of $20,000. But due factors such as the deepening banking crisis in the U.S., the weakening of the dollar index and cooling inflation have been able to bring back Bitcoin and other digital currencies to lead the path of resistance. So, it is not wrong to say that the recent U.S. financial crisis has increased the appetite for cryptocurrencies.

While the future of Bitcoin is unknown, retail investors are required to be very cautious about each and every move of Bitcoin, as it has been a tumultuous year for Bitcoin. Bitcoiners should not forget the fact that the currency is still trading low at almost 34.26 from its all-time high. The reason behind this volatility can be attributed to the macroeconomic conditions in countries including the U.S. and the UK.

Moreover, Indias stance on cryptocurrencies continues to be firm with the government bringing all crypto-related transactions under the ambit of the Money Laundering Act. In a specific gazette notification, the Union Finance Ministry of India stated that all the transactions related to digital assets or virtual currency would fall under the purview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

On the face of it, the new development may appear damaging to the cryptocurrency community in India. On the ground, the move has been praised by the industry at large as this is a step towards regulating this space, where in the absence of regulators, the enforcement agencies will straight up take recourse to any discrepancies.

One of the other reasons why crypto experts are hopeful about Bitcoin is that, this year 2024, will be a year for Bitcoins halving event. The Bitcoin halving event happens every four years in which BTC rewards to its miners are cut by 50%, (the miners payout will be reduced to 3.125 BTC). This event is usually viewed as positive for Bitcoins price, as it helps in contracting supply. Historically, halving has been seen as a great sign for bringing momentum to Bitcoins price.

Bitcoin Halving History

In the above table, we can see that past Bitcoin halving events have been able to establish long-term bullish drivers for Bitcoins price. The Bitcoin halving event relates to its deflationary tendency and crushing its supply, which helps the Bitcoin price to rise further. As BTC, being a decentralized cryptocurrency, cant be printed by any central banks or governments and thus Bitcoins total supply is limited.

Moreover, Bitcoin Whales, large investors have started accumulating Bitcoin once again. According to data from on-chain aggregator Santiment, the large Bitcoin whales are holding a range from 1,000-10,000 BTC in their wallets, showcasing that investors have been filling up their wallets with a lot of Bitcoins, which might reflect recovery signs in the price of Bitcoin.

We all are aware that Bitcoin has rallied 80% plus more since the start of this year. With massive and unanticipated gains, it has surely surpassed several other major assets and set huge returns for those who have bought Bitcoin at dips.

The crypto industry is excited to witness the new peak of BTC and hoping for more. Marshall Beard, chief strategy officer at crypto exchange Gemini, believes Bitcoin to break its all-time highs this year. He even said, $100,000 price figure is an interesting number if bitcoin gets to its previous record high of near $69,000.

If Bitcoin really happens to touch this magical figure, then it has to showcase an upside of 270% to reach at $1 lakh level.

Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Tether also has a positive view on Bitcoin. He said BTC could retest its all-time high of around $69,000.

Nonetheless, the year 2023 seems to be a decent year for Bitcoin advocates, who always tend to consider it as a digital gold or safe-haven investment that can offer traders attractive returns in times of mayhem. It was a major boost for BTC in hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserves might reduce the chances of more aggressively increasing interest rates.

Bitcoin enthusiasts always have too positive and at times not possible predictions for their favorite cryptocurrency. And, after this mini-bull run, many discussions are happening around the worlds largest digital coin, BTC, the crypto coin could even witness a level of $10 lakh by 2025.

This hypothetical and notable figure of $10 lakh has been rolled by several well-known personalities in the crypto world. Recently, Standard Chartered, one of the leading British Multinational Banks raised its prediction price for the BTC ranging from $1,00,000 to $1,20,000 by the end of the year 2024 in one of its most recent research reports citing more profit to BTC miners. The MNC bank forecast BTC to reach $50,000 by the end of this current year.

The Chinese-Canadian Bitcoin entrepreneur and CEO of crypto firm, JAN3, Samson Mow, believes that the cryptocurrency will reach $1 million in the next five years. With several such wild guesses, Balaji Srinivasan, an investor and the former technology chief at Coinbase, took a bet that BTC could reach $10 lakh or more in just 90 days.

Srinivasan made this strong statement by merely believing that as the world goes into the stage of hyperinflation, the value of the dollar will get weak due to which the people will start buying more and more BTC. The term Hyperinflation means an extreme increase in the price of goods and services over a period of time.

On the other hand, cryptocurrency experts believe BTC might touch $10 lakh in the coming years, but not that soon and predicting this level in the year 2023 or in just 90 days is just not possible.

Marshall Beard stated Bitcoin to be a million dollars in 90 days, some crazy things are happening in the world, which we dont want, he said, however, that it might take 10 years to reach anywhere close to this extreme prediction.

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Among the myriad predictions on Bitcoin, the bottom line remains that Bitcoin has seen several downfalls and has emerged stronger than before each time. Its resilient nature instills a belief of sorts in the minds of crypto enthusiasts who find value in investing in decentralized currencies. Whether Bitcoin soars higher or turns to dust is something only time can tell, and trading Bitcoin should be done with full awareness your investment will not necessarily give you the anticipated returns.

Originally posted here:

Bitcoin Price Prediction: Can Bitcoin Reach $1000000 by 2025? Forbes Advisor INDIA - Forbes

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed $47,100 on Jan. 8 amidst expectations of spot Bitcoin ETF approvals over the coming days.

Bitcoin was priced at $47,162 at 7:15 p.m. UTC. At the time, its market cap is roughly $918 billion.

The latest high represents daily gains for Bitcoin and other top-ten crypto assets. Bitcoin (BTC) is up 6.2% over 24 hours, while Ethereum (ETH) is up 4.8% over the same period. Additionally, Cardano (ADA) is up 4.6%, Avalanche (AVAX) is up 2.6%, Solana (SOL) is up 3.8%, and XRP is up 2.0%. The entire cryptocurrency market is up 4.0% over a 24-hour period.

Bitcoins current value represents a 21-month high not seen since April 2022. In May 2022, shortly after that previous high, an extended market crash occurred following collapse of TerraUSD and various crypto lending services. The markets long-term price recovery began in January 2024 and has continued until today.

Though numerous factors affect Bitcoins price, optimism around the likely approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) may be one factor.

CNBC, notably, reported at 3:54p.m UTC that multiple ETFs are expected to be approved in the coming days based on two sources close to the matter. The news outlet said that the funds will likely be approved on Wednesday, Jan. 10 and that trading will likely begin on Thursday, Jan. 11, or Friday, Jan. 12.

Other positive news around ETFs has also emerged. Standard Chartered predicted that Bitcoin ETFs could bring $50 billion to $100 billion of inflows into the crypto market throughout 2024. VanEck bought $72.5 million of Bitcoin to seed its ETF, while Grayscale and other companies entered a fee war to offer competitive rates.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler warned about Bitcoin investments, implicitly hinting about new crypto products despite his negative tone.

Previous weeks have seen the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) meet with asset managers and accept amendments from those applicants, which are important steps toward product approvals.

Any of those events and countless others may have affected investor sentiment, driving up demand for Bitcoin and, in turn, its market value.

At the time of press, Bitcoin is ranked #1 by market cap and the BTC price is up 6.09% over the past 24 hours. BTC has a market capitalization of $919.75 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $42.53 billion. Learn more about BTC

BTCUSD Chart by TradingView

At the time of press, the global cryptocurrency market is valued at at $1.73 trillion with a 24-hour volume of $87.67 billion. Bitcoin dominance is currently at 53.20%. Learn more

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BTC tops $47k as CNBC predicts Wednesday Bitcoin ETF approval - CryptoSlate

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GM, Joanna here!

Bitcoin is getting boring.

As the crypto world breathlessly awaits the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, Bloomberg reports that a startup of Citigroup alumni has launched a depositary receipt for Bitcoin.

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That might not sound very sexy, but bear with me it says volumes about where crypto is headed in 2024.

In short: the TradFi creep is real and its coming.

Lets get the technical details out of the way.

Depositary receipts give US investment companies exposure to foreign companies, but in a way that feels safe and familiar.

Join the community to get our latest stories and updates

How do they do that?

What does that have to do with Bitcoin?

The startup, Receipts Depositary Corporation, is planning to offer an instrument that looks like a depositary receipt but provides direct ownership of Bitcoin.

RDC said the underlying assets will be safeguarded at licensed custodian bank Anchorage Digital, and cleared through the DTC.

The depositary receipts dont go through the same Securities and Exchange Commission approvals process as ETFs do, as they are covered by a regulatory exemption.

They are limited, however, to institutional investor clients this is not a retail product.

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Crypto investment firms are wary of being outmuscled by well-resourced financial goliaths like...Crypto investment firms are wary of being outmuscled by well-resourced financial goliaths like BlackRock, which are diving into...

Why is a Bitcoin depositary receipt important?

If this all sounds a bit dry, thats the point. Institutional investors such as banks and pension funds like dry.

Wall Street has spent the past decade talking a big game about innovation, but really these firms are too heavily regulated to move fast into new asset classes.

While hedge funds trading their own money have a foothold in crypto, Bitcoin has remained too risky for, say, pension funds managing the retirement savings of teachers and firemen.

Volatility, regulatory uncertainty, cybersecurity concerns, and a lack of market structure that feels safe and familiar are all deterrents.

But pensions and endowments represent potentially huge inflows of money one of the reasons theres so much excitement about the prospect of ETFs.

The Bitcoin depositary receipts are an answer to the question: How do you get direct ownership without the hassle of taking physical possession of the asset?

Thats what David Easthope, a senior analyst who heads up the market structure and technology team at Coalition Greenwich, told me.

With these receipts, you dont have any of the hassle of counterparty risk or cybersecurity. You are not controlling the physical asset. You dont have to worry about your private key, your wallet, [or if you will] participate in staking if you offer a product for Ethereum, Easthope said.

Firms dont want the headache of selecting and onboarding a custodian to safeguard the asset, he added.

They just want to have 0.5% or 1% of the endowment or whatever to have access to Bitcoin, but without having to bring on a new technology vendor.

Whether depositary receipts or spot ETFs, for that matter are good solutions remains to be seen. Investors will vote with their dollars.

But RDCs product is one more sign that capital markets firms are laying claim to crypto.

Email me joanna@dlnews.com or Telegram @joannallama.

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Bitcoin gets boring and why that's a good thing for Wall Street - DLNews