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  • MicroStrategy BTC paper loss hits $1.3B but no plans to stop trading bitcoin

    MicroStrategy BTC paper loss hits $1.3B but no plans to stop trading bitcoin

    • MicroStrategy registered $34 million in its first-ever bitcoin sale.
    • The company registered a paper loss of over 1 billion in 2022.
    • MicroStrategy made its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020.

    Despite making a paper loss of about $1.3 billion in 2022, MicroStrategy’s chief financial officer, Andrew Kang, said that the company will continue trading bitcoin. During a presentation for the Q4 2022 financial results webnier, Kang said:

    “We may consider pursuing additional transactions that may take advantage of the volatility in Bitcoin prices, or other market dislocations that are consistent with our long-term Bitcoin strategy.”

    The company’s stand on digital currencies comes at a time the crypto market is witnessing considerable recovery from last year’s plunge although it is not clear if digital currencies will ever reclaim their previous highs.

    Microstrategy bitcoin investment

    Microstrategy made its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020 acquiring 21,454 BTC in what it described as a “capital allocation strategy.” The company has been accumulating bitcoins since then and by December 24 2022 it had as much as 132,500 BTC worth $4.027 billion according to Microstrategy bitcoin statistics on the Buy Bitcoin Worldwide website.

    In the presentation on February 2023, Kang confirmed that Microstrategy holds 132,500 bitcoin that are worth about $1.84 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022.

    In the last quarter, MicroStrategy made a loss of $34 million after making its first-ever Bitcoin sale. The company made the decision to sell some of its bitcoins to recoup some tax losses.

    Microstrategy co-founder Michael Saylor said Bitcoin is one of the most important benchmarks that it uses to measure its stock performance against. He said that the company’s stock has risen by 117% since August 2020 compared to the bitcoin price which has risen by 98% in the same period.

    In an interview with a popular news outlet, Saylor said:

    “The only real safe haven for an institutional investor is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the only universally acknowledged digital commodity, and so if you’re an investor, Bitcoin is your safe haven in this regard.”

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  • 30+ million Bitcoin addresses are in profit after BTC spike

    30+ million Bitcoin addresses are in profit after BTC spike

    • Bitcoin addresses in profit is at a 9-month high of 30+ million.
    • More unique addresses in profit were last above 30 million in early April 2022.
    • Non-zero addresses also hit a 1-month high while addresses with 0.01+ BTC is at an all-time high.

    The number of Bitcoin addresses that are currently in profit has reached a 9-month high, on-chain data shared by crypto platform Glassnode shows.

    Per the metric, the percentage of unique addresses with Bitcoin funds in profit were 30,081,429 on Monday morning. The figure is a 7-day moving average measure and shows the current value of BTC in the wallets compared to the average buy price.

    Therefore, these 30 million plus BTC addresses currently hold coins that were valued lower at the time of their purchase when compared to their current value.

    Chart showing number of BTC in profit. Source: Glassnode.

    Addresses with 0.01+ coins hit all-time high

    At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s addresses in profit (7-day moving average) sat at a 9-month high after Bitcoin’s latest price action. The last time these many BTC addresses were in profit was in April-early May 2022 – with this happening as the events of Terra and Three Arrows Capital collapse helped to push prices below $40k.

    Bitcoin eventually sank to lows of $15,600 in November amid the FTX-triggered sell-off that likely saw more people buy Bitcoin.

    Now BTC is up more than 40% in 2023 and is currently above the $23,000 price level, helping add over 7 million more unique addresses into the profitable bracket as prices began to soar in January.

    Meanwhile, the number of non-zero addresses has also increased, reaching a 1-month high of over 43 million. Indeed, the number of addresses with 0.01+ coins has recently hit an all-time high of 11,484,618, according to on-chain data Glassnode shared early Monday.

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  • Bitcoin price outlook after BTC break above $23k

    Bitcoin price outlook after BTC break above $23k

    • Bitcoin’s rally from December lows after the FTX collapse surprised many investors, Glassnode says in its weekly report.
    • Bitcoin could see further upside but a fresh buy signal is likely at prices around $28.3k.
    • Selling pressure above $23.3k is more likely given short-term holders and miner push for exit liquidity.

    Bitcoin price remains poised near $23,000 after a breakout pushed the leading cryptocurrency’s value above the psychological $20k level.

    As highlighted ove the weekend, Bitcoin’s surge to prices above $23,000 did surprise many people, and while optimism is high among bulls, a potential liquidity exit from profit booking is likely. Particularly, this could be the outlook given how brutal the 2022 bear market was for short term holders and miners.

    On-chain data platform Glassnode has highlighted this possibility.

    Glassnode’s outlook after latest BTC price action

    According to on-chain data firm Glassnode, Bitcoin looks “almost out of the woods,” but the price action to levels in the $21k to $23k region also reclaimed several on-chain pricing models.

    A look at the Investor Price (currently at $17.4k) and Delta Price ($11.4k), signifies a similar price action at the bear market bottom of 2018-2019. Investor Price is the average price at which investors acquired all the spent and miner distributed coins, while Delta Price is derived from Realized Cap minus Bitcoin’s all-time Average Cap to get a technical pricing model.

    At the base of this outlook is the price discovery phase, which during that 2018 bear market bottom lasted 78 days. The current market is at a similar level, with BTC above the Realized Price of $19.7k.

    “This suggests an equivalency in durational pain across the darkest phase of both bear markets,” Glassnode wrote in its weekly market report.

    Still on the Investor Price/Delta Price metrics, the on-chain platform points to a measure called compression, which takes into account the spot price to determine the intensity of the market’s undervaluation.  The metric also correlates with the scale of change in an asset’s Realized Cap or capital inflow volume, with a threshold zone of 0.15-0.2.

    Given the current BTC price and compression value, Glassnode estimates a bullish confirmation signal could be triggered if Bitcoin bulls reclaim $28.3k.

    More optimism for bulls

    Also helping the bull case is the Supply in Profit measure, which spiked 12% in the last two weeks to rise from 55% to 67%. The spike in percent of coins in profit is “the sharpest” of all prior bear markets, suggesting a lot more coins changed hands below the $23.3k level.

    Key to bulls’ case is also the fact that Bitcoin price at current levels is above all the three cost basis of long-term holder, short-term holder and BTC Realized Price. This is the first time spot price has pierced the three Realized Prices and sustained momentum above the levels would be positive.

    A bull trap case

    While Glassnode points to potential bull case scenarios, its report also highlights probable cases of fresh sell-off pressure.

    According to the on-chain data report, one of these is the “substantial spike in profitability,” which the platform says raises the possibility of selling pressure triggered by short-term holders. 

    Miners are also likely to be motivated by the price action and might look to liquidate some of their holdings, adding to a potential retreat for BTC price.

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  • Bitcoin bulls push BTC to highs of $23,300

    Bitcoin bulls push BTC to highs of $23,300

    • Bitcoin hit highs of $23,342 on Binance, with a breakout above $22k extending year-to-date gains.
    • BTC price is up 30% in a month and has recovered 47% since the decline to $15,500 lows.
    • Short liquidations were around $376 million in the past 24 hours.

    Bitcoin price roared to highs above $23,000 on Saturday morning, rising to $23,342 on Binance as the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap hit levels last seen in mid-August 2022.

    BTC was changing hands around $22,900 at the time of writing, about 9% up in the past 24 hours after shedding some of the gains. 

    The price of Bitcoin was, however, still 35% up in the past 30 days, and as crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital pointed out earlier this morning, BTC had rallied over 47% since falling to lows of $15,500 amid the FTX dump.

    Bitcoin price chart showing BTC rally to $23,000 on 21 January, 2023. Source: TradingView

     On-chain data platform Santiment noted just before today’s break above $23k that Bitcoin’s price rally has come amid a bullish outlook from large BTC investors. As the firm highlights in the chart below, whale addresses with 1,000 to 10,000 BTC have in the past two weeks accumulated over 64,638 bitcoins worth more than $1.46 billion.

    Over $376 million in shorts liquidated

    As Bitcoin raced to highs near $23,350, liquidation data showed that in the past 24 hours, about 80,497 traders had been liquidated.

    According to Coinglass, the largest short liquidation was on Bitmex where an order worth $4.53million was rekt. The total liquidations as of 06:10 am ET on 21 January were $376.61 million. 

    Notably, total liquidations are not at the levels seen when BTC/USD broke above $20,000 last week towards erasing all post-FTX losses. Nonetheless, it still shows some traders are convinced this could be a gigantic bull trap. 

    But as it is, further upside momentum could see bulls target $25,000 or possibly higher if sentiment across risk markets helps bouy buy pressure.

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  • Binance and Huobi recover 121 BTC from Harmony bridge hackers

    Binance and Huobi recover 121 BTC from Harmony bridge hackers

    • The Harmony bridge hack took place in June last year and over $100 million was lost
    • 121 bitcoins have been recovered by Huobi and Binance security teams.
    • The hackers were also moving ETH worth about $64 million over the weekend.

    Seven months after one of the largest cryptocurrency exploits of 2022 took place, industry players are still optimistic about recovering the stolen funds. Over the weekend, Binance and Huobi teams teamed up to freeze and recover 121 bitcoins that the Harmony bridge hackers were trying to launder.

    According to a tweet by Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, the hackers tried to launder 121 bitcoins worth about $2.5 million on the Huobi exchange and Binance detected the move and alerted Huobi. Binance then went ahead to assist Huobi in freezing and recovering the crypto assets which had already been deposited by the hackers.

    Prior to Huobi and Binance recovering the bitcoins, on-chain crypto detective ZachXBT had tweeted saying that the hackers were moving 41,000 ETH worth about $64 million over the weekend.

    Laundering seven months after the hack

    The Harmony One team detected the hack on June 24, 2022, and reported that crypto assets worth about $100 million had been lost in the hack. The hackers, who were identified on June 30 to be the notorious North Korean Lazarus Group had exploited mutisigs securing the Horizon bridge.

    After the hack, the attackers deployed laundering programs to move the stolen assets.

    According to ZachXBT, the hackers deposited the stolen crypto assets in three crypto exchanges although he did not specify these exchanges.

    However, going by the recent developments, it is most likely that Huobi is one of the exchanges that the attackers have been trying to use.

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  • Bitcoin hits $18,200 as 13% more of of BTC supply in profit

    Bitcoin hits $18,200 as 13% more of of BTC supply in profit

    • Bitcoin price jumped more than 5% on Thursday to hit levels above $18,400.
    • According to on-chain data from Glassnode, the price rally has helped return 13% more BTC into profit; now 60.5% of circulating supply is in profit.
    • Only 47%-48% of BTC had been in profit between November 2022 and the start of January, 2023.

    Bitcoin’s breakout to prices above $18,200 has seen 13% more of circulating supply return into profit, on-chain data from Glassnode says.

    Per the platform, the sharp surge in percentage of supply in profit amid the latest crypto rally confirms a buy the dip scenario as prices fell in late 2022. Indeed, the metric suggests a large volume of the benchmark cryptocurrency was acquired at prices between $16,500 and $18,200.

    Bitcoin supply in profit jumps amid BTC rally

    Bitcoin price hit lows of $15,600 in November 2022 after a violent market reaction to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The price bounced to above $18,000 in mid-December before bulls hit resistance and BTC tumbled to below $17,000.

    The supply in profit or supply in loss metric considers the on-chain history of a coin, determining the price at which it last moved. Coins are in profit if the price at which they last moved is lower than the current price of BTC, while the percent in loss is when the current price of BTC is higher than the value of the coins when they last moved on-chain.

    According to Glassnode, more than half of Bitcoin circulating supply fell into loss between November and January this year. Approximately 47%-48% of BTC supply was in profit during the period.

    However, with 2023 starting positively for cryptocurrencies and BTC’s push to highs of $18,420 on 12 January, the percentage of circulating supply on profit has increased to 60.5%.

    As of writing, Bitcoin price is 5.2% up in the past 24 hours and data from CoinGecko shows the flagship cryptocurrency has rallied nearly 9% in the past week.

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  • Bitcoin remains close to $17k after FOMC minutes release: Will BTC rally soon?

    Bitcoin remains close to $17k after FOMC minutes release: Will BTC rally soon?

    • Bitcoin price steadied above $16,800 as US Federal Reserve officials agreed to slow its pace of interest rate hikes.

    • The latest FOMC minutes indicate that US policymakers are focused on controlling the pace of price hikes.

    • Bitcoin could surge past the $17k resistance level soon.

    BTC eyes the $17k resistance level

    The United States Federal Reserve recently released minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee for December. Fed members agreed that a restrictive policy stance would need to be maintained for now until the incoming data provided confidence that core inflation was on a sustained downward path back down to 2%.

    This latest cryptocurrency news saw Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market cap, maintain its price above the $16,800 level over the last 24 hours. It has lost less than 1% of its value, and the price of Bitcoin now stands at $16,834. 

    The broader crypto market is also recovering from its recent slump. At press time, the total cryptocurrency market cap stands at $819 billion, up by less than 1% in the last 24 hours.

    Key levels to watch

    The BTC/USD 4-hour chart is bullish as Bitcoin has held its ground above the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $16,714 over the last few days. 

    The MACD line is above the neutral zone, indicating that the leading cryptocurrency has preserved its downward trend from the standpoint of realised price. The 14-day RSI of 61 also shows that more bulls controlling the market could see BTC enter the overbought region. 

    If the bullish momentum increases, BTC could surge past the first major resistance level at $17,145 over the next few hours. However, Bitcoin could struggle to surpass the second major resistance level at $17,485 in the short term, unless it gains support from the broader crypto market. 

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  • One of the original Bitcoin core developers losses all his BTC in hack

    One of the original Bitcoin core developers losses all his BTC in hack

    • Bitcoin OG and core developer, Dashjr, claimed virtually all his bitcoins were stolen.
    • The hackers accessed the developer’s PGP key.
    • On November 17, 2022, Dashjr, noted his server had been compromised.

    A Bitcoin OG and one of the original Bitcoin’s core developers, Luke Dashjr, has claimed that he virtually lost all his bitcoins after his Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) keys were compromised on December 31, 2022, just before the new year.

    PGP key is a common security method that uses two keys to gain access to encrypted information.

    In a post on Twitter on January 1, 2023, Dashjr was asking for help from the PSA:

    “PSA: My PGP key is compromised, and at least many of my bitcoins stolen. I have no idea how. Help please.”

    In a follow-up tweet, Dashjr appeared distressed asking why he could not reach anyone from the FBI or IC3 before following it up with a tweet containing a wallet address, which is believed to be one of the Bitcoin wallets where some of the stolen BTC was sent to.

    “What the heck @FBI @ic3  why can’t I reach anyone???

    Although Dashjr did not disclose how many bitcoins were stolen from his wallet, the wallet address that he shared showed four bitcoin transactions on December 31 that totalled to 216.93 BTC.

    Dashjr server compromised in November 2022

    Although the developer said that he had no idea as to how hackers gained access to his PGP key, some community members have drawn a possible connection to an earlier claim that Dashjr had made on November 17, 2022, that his server had been compromised by ““new malware/backdoors on the system.”

    Unfortunately, Dashjr, says that he learnt of the hack after getting emails from Kraken and Coinbase about login attempts.

    The hack also caught the attention of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) who consoled the developer on Twitter saying:

    “Sorry to see you lose so much. Informed our security team to monitor. If it comes our way, we will freeze it. If there is anything else we can help with, please let us know. We deal with these often, and have Law Enforcement (LE) relationships worldwide.”

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  • Bitcoin (BTC) Price Slides as Inflation Is Going Up

    Bitcoin (BTC) Price Slides as Inflation Is Going Up

    Real-world economic performance undeniably impacts global cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin (BTC), the biggest crypto asset by market capitalization, proving an excellent guide to the health of the crypto industry. Recent increases in inflation worldwide, but particularly in the US, have seen the value of Bitcoin slide during the second half of 2022 as the global economic crisis takes hold.

    While this isn’t great news for existing investors in the world’s leading cryptocurrencies, such as BTC, excellent investment opportunities in exciting new crypto projects remain. One of the most enticing new crypto projects is Metacade, which saw an enthusiastic uptake during its beta presale stage, raising almost $1 million in just three weeks.

    What is Metacade?

    Metacade is the world’s first virtual gaming arcade that uses Web3 and blockchain technology to revolutionize the GameFi metaverse industry. The platform will host the broadest range of play-to-earn (P2E) games in the metaverse and offer gamers the same level of fun and social interaction they’d get visiting a real-life video arcade from the comfort of their gaming chair or sofa.

    The P2E element of the community is one of several ways community users benefit from the platform. The other revenue stream initiatives are:

    Compete2Earn – earning by staking tokens and gaining tournament rewards

    Create2Earn – earning by interacting with the community and its members

    Work2Earn – earning through finding new Web3 role on the jobs board, which launches in Q1 2024.

    In addition to the opportunities to earn, Metacade is a platform that allows budding developers to earn their stripes by supporting them to learn game development and has plans to become a self-sufficient and fully-fledged DAO by Q4 2024.

    How Metacade works

    Unlike many GameFi platforms, Metacade has a diverse offering that stretches beyond the P2E element. The native token for the platform is the MCADE coin, and there are several ways Metacade generates revenue.

    Metacade’s revenue-generating features include a range of pay-to-play arcade games, just like gamers would expect to find in a real-world video arcade. There’s also advertising on the platform, entry fees for prize draws and to compete in tournaments, and the launchpad initiative, which allows external companies to release games in Metacade for a price. These revenue streams provide the funds that flow into gamers’ wallets as they earn rewards.

    The number of titles available on Metacade will continue to grow. This growth will be aided from Q3 2023 by the introduction of the Metagrants initiative. Metagrants are a source of funding for developers to build games on the platform. Developers submit gaming proposals to be voted on by MCADE token holders, who determine the community’s favorite ideas. The winning developers will receive funding to help turn their proposals into reality. The first Metagrant-backed games hit the Metacade library in Q1 2024.

    Other features in the pipeline include introducing a jobs board in Q1 2024 to boost the Work2Earn initiative. The board will feature a range of opportunities from internships, short-term gig work, and full-time roles within the GameFi industry with Metacade-approved partners, giving anyone with a genuine interest in working in Web3 development a helping hand to get started in the industry.

    Meanwhile, Metacade’s transition into becoming a DAO begins in Q2 2023, with the process estimated to take 18 months before community members assume all of the critical roles. This autonomy is one of Metacade’s leading lights; it hands control of the platform’s future direction to the most important community members.

    Why could MCADE surge?

    The breadth of Metacade’s plans, found in more detail in their white paper, makes it an exciting prospect for investors hunting for new crypto projects. With many other GameFi developments focusing on a minimal range of options, it’s easy for them to become little more than a fad.

    Metacade’s offering will not fall into that trap. The range of games on offer will continue to increase, providing additional opportunities to earn, whether through competitions, playing, or creating social content to engage with the community. Furthermore, the continual addition of new games means there’s no risk of the platform becoming boring or stale since it will continually reinvent itself with the regular release of new and exciting titles. As a result, Metacade has solid project longevity. 

    Additionally, the community will ultimately have complete autonomy over how Metacade develops. Gamers’ interests will forever be at the heart of the platform’s development, unlike in more traditional gaming, where developers have to balance that with providing a return to shareholders.

    These plans place Metacade at the forefront of the blockchain gaming revolution.

    How to purchase MCADE tokens

    The Metacade beta sale sold out in less than four weeks, making it one of the most attractive new crypto projects currently in its presale stage. The price will increase by more than double as  the ninth and final presale round concludes, raising a total market cap of $28 million.

    Getting on board with Metacade couldn’t be simpler. Tokens can be purchased on Metacade’s website by anyone with a Wallet Connect-supported crypto wallet. 

    You can purchase MCADE with ETH (Ethereum) or USDT (Tether). First, connect your wallet to Metacade’s website to access the DEX, and then accept the option to purchase MCADE with ETH or USDT.

    You can buy BTC at eToro here.

    You can participate in the Metacade pre-sale here.

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  • Bitcoin addresses with 100-10K coins buy $726 million BTC

    Bitcoin addresses with 100-10K coins buy $726 million BTC

    • Bitcoin wallet addresses with 100 to 10,000 BTC bought another $726 million worth of coins in 9 days.
    • The sharks and whales activity highlight the continued accumulation of BTC as market navigates the recent FTX- fueled crash.
    • Bitcoin price rose to highs of $18,385 on Tuesday, before retreating late Wednesday following US central bank interest rate hike.

    Bitcoin rallied well above $18,000 this week as the crypto market moved higher amid exuberance in the risk asset market over cooling inflation in the US.

    The flagship cryptocurrency hit highs of $18,385 ahead of Wednesday’s 50% rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.

    While the Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks helped dampen sentiment to push BTC below $18k again, the crypto remains poised for a fresh upside given bulls’ holding of prices above the key support base established in the aftermath of the FTX implosion.

    Whales continue to buy the dip

    Bitcoin’s retreat from $18,385 suggests bulls might have to rely on the buffer at $17,200 – the immediate resistance level that’s likely to act as a key support base. Below that, bears could target $15,700.

    Despite the rejection at intraday highs above $18,300 seen this week, its likely bitcoin will look to retest the price level given its strong fundamental outlook.

    According to o-chain data shared by market platform Santiment, more bitcoin sharks and whales have scooped coins this past week. This happened amid the FTX fallout and as the firm’s data shows, addresses holding 100 to 10,000 BTC have added over $726 million BTC in just nine days.

    About 15,900 wallet addresses in this category hold 8.5 million bitcoins worth over $149 billion (at current prices).

    Notably, it adds to the accumulation seen since Bitcoin price registered a sharp decline on news of FTX’s implosion in early November. 

    As well as whales and sharks, shrimps and crabs have also been grabbing some alpha. The two wallet cohorts have aggressively been buying BTC. As we highlighted here, the group has added more than 96,000 BTC worth over $1.6 billion in 30 days.

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