By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
Bitcoin fell back below $70,000 as war in the Middle East and U.S. inflation data due later today keeps investors cautious.
The latest failure to build momentum above $70,000 follows reports that Iran was laying mines along the already disrupted Strait of Hormuz, a major global oil bottleneck. Bullish momentum weakened on Tuesday after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a now-deleted social media post that the United States had escorted an oil tanker across the strait.
As usual, the disappointment quickly spread from Bitcoin to the broader crypto market. Major cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and BNB has lost 1% or more since midnight UTC, tracking bitcoin losses. The CoinDesk 20 Index is also down 1% at 1,980 points.
According to Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FXPro, traders should closely follow the 50-day simple moving average of Bitcoin price.
“In the short term, the 50-day moving average has proven to be a formidable resistance level, preventing bulls from quickly reversing the trend in their favor. This indicator often signals the medium-term trend, and a confident break above this level would be an important turning point in the coming days,” he said in an email.
At the same time, Bitfinex analysts said future decisions would largely depend on oil prices, US government bond yields and Fed policy.
Speaking of the Fed, its members will be closely watching February’s U.S. Consumer Price Index report, due Wednesday. It is expected to show an increase in the inflation rate to 2.5% year-on-year, compared to 2.4% in January, according to FactSet. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, is also expected to increase by 2.5%.
A higher-than-expected reading, despite resurgent war-induced inflation fears, could embolden Fed hawks and validate expectations of no rate cuts this year. This in turn could lead to market volatility. Stay vigilant!
Read more: For analysis of current altcoin and derivatives activity, see Crypto Markets Today
What to watch
For a more comprehensive list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Cryptocurrency
- Macro
- March 11, 7:30 a.m.: U.S. consumer price inflation for February YoY Est. 2.5%; base rate YoY Est. 2.5%
- March 11: OPEC monthly report
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
- March 11: Exodus Movement (EXOD), pre-market, $0.14
Token Events
For a more comprehensive list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Votes and calls on governance
- Unlock DAO votes to approve the Unlock Protocol DAO budget for the first and second quarters, totaling $30,768. Voting closes on March 11.
- Unlocks
- Token Launches
Conferences
For a more comprehensive list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is down 0.78% from 4 p.m. ET Tuesday at $69,794.05 (24 hours: -1.92%)
- ETH is down 0.83% at $2,022.17 (24 hours: -1.99%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 0.98% at 1,979.50 (24h: -1.79%)
- Ether CESR composite staking rate is down 3 basis points to 2.78%
- BTC funding rate is -0.0027% (-2.9456% annualized) on Binance
- The DXY is up 0.24% at 99.04
- Gold futures are down 0.57% at $5,200.00
- Silver futures are down 2.05% at $87.26
- The Nikkei 225 closed up 1.43% at 55,025.37
- Hang Seng closed 0.24% lower at 25,898.76
- The FTSE 100 is down 0.96% at 10,312.17
- The Euro Stoxx 50 is down 1.35% at 5,758.30
- DJIA closed Tuesday unchanged at 47,706.51
- The S&P 500 closed down 0.21% at 6,781.48
- The Nasdaq Composite closed unchanged at 22,697.10
- The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 0.25% at 33,270.70
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed down 0.32% at 3,607.58
- The 10-year US Treasury rate is unchanged at 4.14%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 0.23% at 6,771.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 0.26% at 24,917.25
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 0.37% at 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 valued in gold: 13.4 oz.
- BTC vs. gold market capitalization: 4.64%
Technical analysis
- The chart shows daily Bitcoin price fluctuations in candlestick form since July last year. It also shows the 50-day average price.
- Analysts believe this 50-day moving average is a crucial level. A breakout higher could attract more buyers into the market, leading to a stronger rally.
- The outlook remains bearish while prices remain below average.
Crypto Stocks
- Coinbase Global (COIN): Closed Tuesday at $196.52 (–1.64%), –0.94% at $194.68 in pre-market
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $21.83 (+1.56%), –0.41% at $21.74
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $8.57 (–1.04%), –0.58% at $8.52
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): close 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% at $9.59
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $10.93 (+0.92%), unchanged in pre-market
- CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI): Closed at $37.36 (+0.08%)
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL): closed at $118.09 (+5.59%), –1.38% at $116.46
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $36.73 (+1.86%), –0.90% at $36.40
Crypto Cash 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% at $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 Feed
Spot BTC ETF
- Daily net flows: $246.9 million
- Cumulative net flows: $55.76 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.28 million
ETH Spot ETF
- Daily net flow: $12.6 million
- Cumulative net flows: $11.62 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~5.68 million
Source: Farside Investors
