The US Senate Finance Committee votes in favour of the nomination of Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary.

Janet Yellen, the former US Federal Reserve Chair, has moved a big step closer to her nomination as the country’s first female Treasury Secretary.

The US Senate’s parliamentary Finance Committee unanimously approved Yellen’s nomination yesterday (Friday). Subsequently, her nomination must now be confirmed by the full parliament. Chuck Grassley, a senator from the rival Republican Party, sees the approval by the Finance Committee as a strong „bipartisan“ signal of cooperation to the government.

His Republican colleagues emphasise that they support Crypto Engine app Yellen even though they disagree with the substance of some of her views. Nonetheless, she would be highly qualified for the post, which is why the MPs are blessing her nomination.

The Finance Committee hopes that the Senate will also vote unanimously in favour of Yellen’s nomination, although this has not yet happened.

If Janet Yellen is confirmed as Treasury Secretary, she would have an important role in Joe Biden’s cabinet, setting the course for the economy and finance of the world’s most powerful country. Moreover, her appointment would also have a symbolic value, as she would be the first woman in this position.

In her hearing before the Senate on Tuesday, Yellen had called for „decisive action“ in the Corona crisis:

„Economists don’t always agree, but I think there is a consensus on this. If we don’t intervene further, then we risk a longer and worse crisis than we have now, which could have long-term effects on the economy.“
Yellen was the US central bank chief from 2014 to 2018, already the first woman to hold that post. Under her leadership, the Federal Reserve was back on track to normalise monetary policy for the first time, before her successor Jerome Powell later reversed that strategy.

The crypto industry is watching Yellen’s nomination quite closely, as the former Fed chief has sent mixed signals on cryptocurrencies so far. On the one hand, she has praised Bitcoin (BTC) as a digital asset that can drive innovation and optimisation of the global financial system, while on the other hand, she fears that cryptocurrencies encourage money laundering and other illegal activities.

The last days of Trump’s administration had previously sent the crypto industry into a panic, with outgoing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin quickly introducing legislation that would tighten the handling of crypto wallets.

However, upon taking office, new President Joe Biden put a hold on all bills entered by agencies, blocking many late efforts by the Trump administration for the time being. The crypto wallet law in question is also affected, which makes the industry breathe a sigh of relief.

Bitcoin futures and options indicators held steady during the 26.5% drop, a sign that the hardest part of the BTC correction may be over.

This week’s $11,000 drop occurred in only 32 hours and this is definitely a major milestone for the Bitcoin price (BTC).

Many conventional media perceived the correction as the beginning of a new bearish market, but the data simply doesn’t support that view.

Take it easy! Data suggests that the $9,000 drop in One Bitcoin a Day price isn’t a trend reversal

Bitcoin’s price may have been corrected by 26.5% as if it had fallen to re-test the $30,300 support, but it has since shown significant strength amidst record $160 billion in derivative volume.
Daily BTC futures volume, in USD. Source: coinalyze.net

Spot exchanges also surpassed their previous record set just three days ago on January 9th when BTC shot up to a new all-time high of USD 41,950. The incredible volume of USD 27.7 billion seen on January 11th was 60% higher than the previous peak.

Binance alone moved $9 billion at BTC, which is more than double the industry average seen in December 2020.

The 20% increase in Bitcoin’s price in one day is the largest in its history, but is there a catch?

The infamous 50% intraday drop on March 12, 2020 resulted in a volume of $8 billion in cash exchanges. To put things in perspective, Ether (ETH) moved a volume of USD 16 billion on January 11.

Despite the recent bearish price action and the $1.5 billion in long position liquidations this week, Bitcoin has recovered more than 13% from the $30.3 billion low.

Although the price didn’t manage to hold the USD 36,000 level seen in the early hours of January 12, investors appear relatively calm and trading volumes don’t point to a deeper correction.

GBTC still has a substantial premium

While this event may have scared off some shoppers, looking under the hood is a very healthy sign. Another factor to consider is that Grayscale’s GBTC funds added 72,950 BTCs in December, but suspended issuing new shares on December 24. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price nearly doubled from $23,200 to its high of $42,000.

The fund manager has now resumed its regular activity for most of its crypto-currency trusts, which raises the question of whether the institutional flow initiated can be attributed to the rising BTC share price. What is clear is that the interest and demand of institutional investors is still present. Although the Bitcoin price fell by 26.5%, the GBTC premium remained above 14%.

The premium of fixed date futures remained stable

Professional traders tend to dominate longer term futures contracts with established expiration dates. Therefore, by evaluating how much more expensive futures are compared to the regular spot market, a trader can determine how optimistic the market is. 3-month fixed date futures should generally be traded at a premium of 1.5% or more compared to regular spot exchanges.

Bitcoin trading volume reaches $22 billion while the BTC price recovers

Every time this indicator disappears or enters negative territory, it is an alarming signal to start worrying. Such a situation, also known as backwardation, indicates that the market is becoming bearish.

The above chart shows that the futures premium remained above 3.5% during the storm, which is equivalent to an annualized level of 14.5% and indicates that there is optimism on the part of professional traders.

The bias of options is on the upside

Analyzing the sell/buy ratio will help determine if the recent downward price action contaminated Bitcoin’s upward posture among professional investors. The current level of bias provides a real-time indicator of fear and greed based on option pricing.

Do you think Bitcoin will reach $100,000? These traders will accept that bet

Bias indicators will shift to the negative side when call options (neutral/bullish) are more expensive than equivalent put options. A 10% level indicates that call options are trading at a premium to the more bearish/neutral put options. On the other hand, a negative bias translates into a higher cost of downward protection, indicating a downward trend.

Der Bürgermeister von Miami, Francis Suarez, hat bekannt gegeben, dass er offen dafür ist, 1% der Schatzreserven der Stadt in Bitcoin zu investieren.

Suarez hat in den letzten Wochen die Kryptowährung untersucht

Der Bürgermeister der Stadt Miami, Florida, gab bekannt, dass er bereit ist, einen Teil der Finanzreserven der Stadt in BTC zu investieren, und antwortete auf einen Tweet von Anthony Pompliano (auch bekannt als „Pomp“), Mitbegründer und Partner von Morgan Creek Digital Assets die Bewegung.

Die Zuweisung wäre nach den verfügbaren Daten erheblich geringer als die Investitionen, die mehrere Unternehmen im vergangenen Jahr in Bitcoin getätigt haben. MicroStrategy hat beispielsweise BTC im Wert von über 1 Milliarde US-Dollar gekauft, während Miamis Allokation rund 18 Millionen US-Dollar betragen könnte.

Für einige in der Krypto-Community ist der Schritt jedoch Teil einer breiteren Akzeptanz der Flaggschiff-Kryptowährung. Ein anderer Benutzer bat Bürgermeister Francis Suarez, die Bürger „als Start“ für Stadtdienste in der Flaggschiff-Kryptowährung bezahlen zu lassen.

Als Antwort sagte Suarez, die Stadt werde dieses Jahr „definitiv“ daran arbeiten

Als Reaktion darauf wiesen andere Benutzer auf die gewählte Senatorin Cynthia Lummis hin, die sich geschworen hat, das Profil von BTC im Kongress zu stärken, wenn sie ihr Amt antritt. Während eines Podcasts sagte die Wyoming Republication, dass Bitcoin ein großer Wertspeicher ist, der dazu beitragen kann, die US-Staatsverschuldung zu bekämpfen, die als eines ihrer größten Probleme gilt.

Für den gewählten Senator ist Bitcoin ein besserer Wertspeicher als Papiergeld, da es einen begrenzten Vorrat an BTC gibt, der im Umlauf sein kann: 21 Millionen Münzen. Die Inflation, sagte sie, sei „in den Plan der Federal Reserve für den US-Dollar eingebrannt“, bis zu dem Punkt, dass Menschen, die von ihren Ersparnissen im Ruhestand leben, sehen, dass ihre Kaufkraft durch die Inflation untergraben wird.

Die Übernahme von Bitcoin scheint als solche nicht nur unter Unternehmen, sondern auch unter Beamten zu sein. Die Nachfrage nach Kryptowährung hat in den letzten Monaten zugenommen und dazu beigetragen, dass der Preis erstmals die Marke von 30.000 USD überschritt.

Bitcoin has enough fuel to continue its bull run – until its price hits $ 73,000, according to top chartist Alan Masters.

The independent investment advisor shared its bullish outlook for the crypto flagship after studying longer-term charts. In doing so, he found that the Bitcoin Machine monthly charts have been printing TD Sequential signals since November 2016, resulting in bullish rallies every time.

Even on weekly time frames since March 2020, every TD Sequential cycle – where the asset prints eight or nine consecutive candles in the same direction before changing course – has been driving BTC / USD rates up. Masters called the technical indicator a „real deal,“ suggesting that its historical accuracy could push the pair towards at least $ 44,000-46,000.

„Bitcoin is clearly on a parabolic course and there are no signs that it will stop,“ said the analyst.

Correction and continuation

The charts presented by Masters show Bitcoin in a repeating upward pattern . For example, the weekly highlighted the cryptocurrency’s tendency to correct downward after the eighth or ninth candle was printed as part of its TD sequence.

In doing so, it tested its 21-period moving average as a support. Later the price continued its upward course.

TD Sequence and 21-EMA setup on Bitcoin’s weekly timeframe. Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
The first such event took place in late May 2020, followed by reruns in August and November. Meanwhile, the pattern was everywhere on the monthly charts. It printed its seventh TD Sequential candle in December 2020, suggesting a bullish continuation through January or February 2021.

„When we look at the volume indicator, we can see that there is clearly room for much more,“ said Masters. „The really bullish action has yet to begin.“

Who is buying bitcoin?

Shortly before Master’s analysis, Bitcoin hit another record high this week at $ 29,321. Many traders agreed that the cryptocurrency would soon hit the $ 30,000 milestone – more than 600 percent higher than its mid-March low of $ 3,858.

The main reason behind Bitcoin’s relentless bull run is fear of inflation. Bitcoin bulls have long cited the cryptocurrency as a safe haven against fiat devaluation. Previously ignored, the narrative finally picked up speed against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

Institutions, family offices, and companies entered the Bitcoin market with the promise that the cryptocurrency would protect their portfolios and reserves against a falling US dollar. Since mid-March, the US dollar index has lost more than 12 percent of its value. Its fall began when the Federal Reserve decided to give the US economy as much monetary stimulus as needed.

The pseudo quantitative easing cut interest rates to near zero. This in turn increased the attractiveness of government bonds, as the yields on short-term bonds fell below zero and on long-term bonds below 1 percent.

That’s lower than the rate of inflation – which means that investors made little money holding cash and bonds.

„Paper money printing will have its own bull run in 2021 and beyond, which is a [strong] bullish signal for Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency markets,“ said Masters.