Category Bitcoin News

A chart created by Dominic Chu of CNBC shows that Bitcoin’s correlation to Invesco QQQ (a popular ETF that tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index) has reached a score of 0.894. This is the highest score in almost three years.
It is important to note that 1 would indicate an exact correlation.

The fact that the flagship cryptocurrency trades almost as a stock in tech stocks undermines the ‘inflation-hedging’ narrative that helped propel the asset to record highs last year.

Bitcoin is now being seen as a speculative investment, rather than a legitimate store-of-value. This is a complete contradiction to the claims made by those who marketed Bitcoin as a revolutionary asset.

Tech stocks were also affected by the cryptocurrency’s massive plunge. Recent losses of 22.4% in value have seen the Nasdaq Composite suffer its worst quarter since 2008. Bitcoin has recently posted its worst quarterly performance in over a year after it collapsed by 58%.

The graph above shows that convergence with the Nasdaq began rapidly increasing after institutional investors bought into the ‘inflation-hedge’ narrative following unprecedented monetary support by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The double whammy between the ominous technical signs, and the unfavorable macro background is expected to cause Bitcoin’s price to continue falling.

It is widely believed that the Fed will announce another jumbo rate increase this month, following the surprise jobs report. This should reduce unfounded recession fears.

CoinFlex stated that Roger Ver, a long-time Bitcoin evangelist, is the high-profile investor that has a negative balance on the crypto exchange.

Ver, also known as “bitcoin Jesus”, has denied any owing the exchange anything. Yesterday, Ver tweeted that CoinFlex actually owes Ver money. Coinflex stopped customer withdrawals because of issues related to a large account with a negative balance.

“Recently, there have been rumors that I default on a debt to a contra-party,” Ver wrote shortly after CoinFlex announced it would issuing recovery tokens. This was an attempt by the exchange, to resume customer withdrawals, after a high integrity’ investor ran out of money. “I do not owe any debt to this counter party, but the counter-party owes me a significant sum of money and I am seeking my return.”

Ver Rumors began when a Twitter user claimed that a “verified insider” had revealed that Ver was the owner the indebted accounts, Ethereum World News reported.

Lamb tweeted a reply less than an hour later, reinforcing the identity of Ver. Lamb stated that he is not claiming that the debt is his. Therefore, he tweeted a response less than an hour later.

Ver is a vocal supporter of cryptocurrency and bitcoin in general. Ver would be one of many prominent holders who will be affected by the latest market stumble. Cryptocurrency investors are struggling to stay afloat amid a long-running selloff.

Bitcoin bears are now resting after a bloody Monday on Satoshi Street. As of now, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency trades at below $22,000 levels.

One positive aspect of the Bitcoin market is the fact that retailers aren’t giving up on hope, despite the aggressive correction. On-chain data provider IntoTheBlock explains:

Despite the downtrend, retail buyers continue to accumulate $BTC every day since November 2021. Since November, the balance of addresses with 1 BTC has increased by 100.395 BTC. This represents a 10.11% rise in value compared to the 68% price drop.

Analysts have tried to predict Bitcoin’s bottom but so far, they are all wrong! IncomeCharts also notes that spot buying of Bitcoin could be possible at this time. This is what the crypto trader wrote:

Nobody knows the bottom line. This is the right time to buy like mad. These are the key levels that I prefer for support. While I believe $20k is a good price, if I am wrong I will buy lower. This will not be sold until I reach my $34,000 or $40,000 goals.

Peter Schiff Believes Bitcoin Can Still Go Lower

Peter Schiff is convinced that Bitcoin will continue to slide, despite its support. Schiff shares the following chart:

Is it possible to look at this chart and sell Bitcoin long? Although you may believe that Bitcoin will trade higher in the future, it is difficult to imagine it not testing long-term support at its lower line first. It will fail this test, I believe. It is better to sell it now and rebuy at a lower price.

Peter Schiff warned that long-term Bitcoin holders could see a sell-off as inflation continues its upward spiral. Scott Minerd, Chief Investment Officer at Guggenheim, stated last month that Bitcoin could fall further to $8,000. He spoke to CNBC and said:

“When you consistently break below 30,000 [dollars], 8,000 [dollars] is your ultimate bottom. I believe we have more room for the downside, especially since the Fed is restrictive.”

According to Restaurant Business, customers at Chipotle can now pay for their burritos using cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ether and dogecoin. This could make crypto more mainstream. There is one caveat. Chipotle will now accept crypto via Flexa, a payment system that is far from the decentralized technology crypto advocates have promised for more than a decade.

Flexa posted the news about the agreement with Chipotle on a blog post. One Florida Twitter user even uploaded a video explaining the process. However, Chipotle has not yet made an announcement about accepting cryptocurrency. Gizmodo received an email from Chipotle’s PR department on Thursday morning.

Customers who wish to pay with crypto for their burrito bowls will need to first download Flexa’s SPEDN or Gemini apps. After that, they will be able to connect to their digital wallet via apps such as Metamask and Coinbase. This will allow them access their digital currencies and stablecoins. You probably don’t understand what all of this means. Crypto payments are still not mainstream. It’s important that such a large national bank is trying crypto.

Customers aren’t actually paying with crypto the way they were intended-as a peer to peer system that is completely decentralized. Flexa, a centralized solution for crypto payments, facilitates Chipotle’s payment in fiat currency and cryptocurrency. We don’t know for certain, but we believe that Chipotle chose to receive cold hard American cash through Flexa. Tesla had bitcoin in its books for a time, but it was probably just to make it more profitable for one quarter.

The biggest reason for not adopting crypto payments is their volatile prices. Bitcoin’s current price is down 5.17% compared to 24 hours ago. Why would you spend bitcoin on a burrito if you think the bitcoin price will rise and recover? It’s possible to buy two burritos with the same amount bitcoin next week. If the crypto optimists are right, you might be able buy an entire Chipotle restaurant in a decade. It’s better to spend that money on food than the guy who bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins in 2010 . This amount of bitcoin is worth more than $300 million.

Twitter users also reported that Flexa’s apps did not work at Chipotle on Wednesday. New Yorkers claimed that no one knew how to allow them to pay using the Flexa system. Another user suggested that cashiers should select “” in the payment options menu to allow customers to pay with Flexa.

While they are still working out the details, theoretically it should not be difficult. Flexa has accepted crypto and is pledging real money to Chipotle. Flexa even offers 10% off their next order from the fast-casual chain.

You can go ahead and grab the guac. They can also tell you that it’s extra. Magic Internet Money was a great way to make a profit. You can also pay with Flexa.

MicroStrategy now has more than 129,000 Bitcoin, since the software company bought the cryptocurrency with debt in 2020.

However, the strategy of raising more debt than $2 billion to purchase speculative assets has one major risk: It can trigger a margin-call if bitcoin’s price falls below a certain point.

Phong Le, MicroStrategy’s chief financial officer, stated in Tuesday’s earnings call that if bitcoin falls to $21,000, it would have to make a margin call. This would be a 46% drop from the current level.

MicroStrategy was asked by the caller, “How far does Bitcoin have to fall in order for MicroStrategy receive a margin call from the Silvergate Loan?”

“As far as bitcoin’s future direction, we borrowed the loan at 25% loan-to value, and the margin call is [at] 50% loan to value. Le stated that bitcoin must be cut in half, or approximately $21,000, before we can make a margin call.

MicroStrategy may not have to sell its bitcoin for less than what it paid when it adds collateral to its loan. “Before it reaches 50%, we could add more bitcoin to the collateral package so that it never gets there. So we don’t get into a position of a margin call.”

In March, MicroStrategy took out a $205 million bitcoin-collateralized loan with Silvergate Bank to purchase more bitcoin. The average cost basis for the software company’s bitcoin holdings is about $30,700. CEO Michael Saylor stated earlier this year that he does not plan to sell MicroStrategy’s bitcoin stash.

MicroStrategy trades at a $4.4 billion market valuation, which means the stock is trading at an undervalued discount to its crypto holdings. This signals that investors might be uneasy about its billions in debt, its slowing software business and its exposures to volatile assets.

MicroStrategy’s stock prices have closely mirrored bitcoin’s, to the point that some consider it an ETF quasi-bitcoin, since there is no bitcoin ETF approved in the US.

MicroStrategy’s stock prices are currently affected by the bitcoin price. This is 44% lower than November’s record high of $69,000. MicroStrategy stock has fallen 62% since November’s bitcoin peak and is down 37% over the past year.