6th March 2024 > > Flash Crash, DB, & Coinbase.

tl;dr

Bitcoin is dead! Deutsche Boerse is facilitating crypto adoption for European institutions. Coinbase’s problems remind us of one of the Golden Rules of cryptos.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

A brief wick yesterday to $69,320 on Coinbase set a new ATH for BTC.

And of course, the very hot, very speculative money came in with highly leveraged sells in the expectation that others will join in. Which they did, leading to a $2k correction in less than forty minutes, a $4k correction in 75 minutes, and an $8k drop in four hours.

Truly, BTC is dead and the ECB is right in saying its value is zero.

…

Perhaps not.

This move has taken out many of the leveraged longs as evidenced by the drop in the perpetual futures funding rates which are now at a healthier level but still too high for my liking. I have been saying for days that the leveraged longs will have to reduce, voluntarily or not. That $8k drop was caused by long liquidations totalling over $1bn. They were warned.

The shorts might play sell the ATH game a few times, but each time they play, they will have less and less support.

Once there is a clean break above $70k we are in pure price discovery mode with clear blue air above. No-one knows where it might stop. There is a small but not immaterial possibility that the break – which is undoubtedly coming soon – could be the trigger for the mother of all rallies.

Occasional Series – A bit of silliness posted in one of many crypto chats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJeddv1QbeQ

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Deutsche Boerse

Another fine story about crypto adoption.

Deutsche Boerse – the largest stock exchange in Germany, amongst a plethora of others – has launched a crypto trading and custodial platform for institutional clients. Carl Koelzer, head of FX and digital assets, tells us:

“We aim to provide trusted market operations for crypto assets, ensuring transparency, security, and regulatory compliance for institutional clients in Europe.”

I know I keep repeating myself on this point, but Deutsche Boerse are simply responding to client demand. The EU’s global leadership in crypto regulation, embodied in the flagship legislation known as MiCA, underpins institutional interest in gaining exposure to cryptos.

It is a disgrace that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy “not my real surname but this is a family publication” Hunt are so antagonistic in their attitude towards the crypto revolution that all those tax dollars will accumulate on the other side of the English Channel. Which is strange given their joint desire to raise taxes to ever higher and more destructive levels than any peacetime government. But it does prove that this iteration of the Conservative party is deeply illiberal and believes in state interference in our lives on a scale never seen before.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Coinbase

For the second – or is it the third time – in a week or so Coinbase has had technical problems caused by too much traffic. A nice problem to have I guess, but it isn’t healthy for the market.

Some users are finding their wallets say zero balance, some cannot transact, and some seem to have lost trades.

It seems unlikely that there will be an actual loss to anyone – except the potential opportunity cost of not being able to trade – but it is a salutary reminder of one of the golden rules of crypto. Never leave more than 5-10% of your assets on a centralised exchange.