- Fed Preview: Bitcoin Market Skews Bearish as Analysts Anticipate ‘Hawkish Rate-Hike Pause’
Bitcoin (BTC) traders are taking a defensive stance ahead of Wednesday’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, with the central bank seen likely to leave interest rates unchanged while keeping the door open for future increases in a move some observers described as a “hawkish pause.”
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is set to announce the interest rate decision on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC). Half an hour later, Chair Jerome Powell will speak at a press conference.
Fed fund futures show interest-rate traders expect the central bank to hold the benchmark borrowing cost steady in the 5%-5.25% range, having raised by 500 basis points (5 percentage points) since March 2022. The steep rate-increase cycle, coupled with the balance sheet shrinkage, destabilized risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, last year.
- US Inflation Cools to 4% Annual Rate, Setting Stage for Fed’s Decision on Interest Rates
The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that the annual inflation rate dipped to 4% in May. This data marks the smallest increase since March 2021, a significant turning point when inflation began its rapid ascent, prompting the Federal Reserve to adopt measures such as monetary tightening and interest rate hikes.
“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.4 percent in April,” the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. “Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.0 percent before seasonal adjustment.”
The announcement had a positive impact on Wall Street as all four key stock indexes experienced gains, while the crypto economy witnessed a 0.62% rise on Tuesday morning. However, the New York-based spot prices of gold and silver took a hit, with gold declining by 0.23% and silver shedding 0.37%. Market participants eagerly await the upcoming FOMC meeting tomorrow to ascertain whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will opt for an increase in the federal funds rate.
- Metaverse Tokens Lead Weekly Crypto Losses Amid SEC’s Securities Allegations
It’s dark days in crypto, but especially in the metaverse.
Tokens linked to digital worlds and NFTs have suffered the most this past week after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) labeled many of them as securities in its lawsuit against Coinbase and Binance.
A week after the American regulator filed the cases, specific tokens cited now dominate the
These include Chilliz (CHZ), Flow (FLOW), Axie Infinity (AXS), and The Sandbox (SAND). They posted roughly 25% losses on a weekly scale.
Metaverse tokens listed in CoinGecko.
The top 10 losers over the week in the crypto market. Source: CoinGecko.
In the complaints against Binance and Coinbase, the SEC alleged that CHZ, FLOW, SAND, and Decentraland (MANA) were all securities.
https://decrypt.co/144537/metaverse-tokens-lead-weekly-crypto-losses-sec-securities-allegations
- Australia’s Crypto Industry Body Denounces Recent Banking Restrictions
Blockchain industry stakeholders in Australia are taking a stand against recent restrictions by local banks on crypto payments.
Industry body, Blockchain Australia, called out restrictions and said it wants to tackle the issue “head-on by using real data,” in a Wednesday announcement.
Recently, Australia has seen a string of instances in which banking partners have blocked payments to cryptocurrency exchanges. Last week, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) applied partial restrictions citing “scams and the amount of money lost by customers.” And earlier this month, Binance Australia halted Australian dollar (AUD) deposits and withdrawals by bank transfer “due to a decision made” by a third-party payment service provider.
“The recent decision by banking institutions to restrict millions of their customers from making payments to cryptocurrency exchanges represents a profound curtailment of economic freedom in Australia,” said Jackson Zeng, director of Blockchain Australia. “Every individual has the inherent right … to make decisions on how and where to use their finances … The principal role of banks is to facilitate these decisions, not to impose restrictions upon them.”
https://www.binance.com/en/feed/post/642191
- SEC asks for more time to respond to Coinbase call for crypto clarity
The United States securities regulator has asked for four more months to provide a response to Coinbase’s request for crypto regulatory clarity.
In a June 13 letter submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it needs an additional 120 days to reply to Coinbase’s request that it adopt new rules and provide further clarity on the laws governing crypto.
The letter was in response to the court’s June 6 order to the SEC, which asked the regulator to address if it’s denying the rulemaking or if it needs more time to respond.
The SEC said it “has not decided what action to take on that petition in whole or in part” and claimed Coinbase’s request for a writ of mandamus has “no merit.”
https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-120-days-respond-coinbase-crypto-clarity
- Binance CEO Hits Back at Rumors of Exchange Selling Bitcoin for BNB Coin
Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao dispelled rumors that the world’s largest crypto exchange has been selling bitcoin (BTC) to keep the prices of bnb coin (BNB) from falling below certain levels.
“Binance have not sold BTC or BNB. We even still have a bag of FTT,” Zhao tweeted early on Wednesday, using his infamous “4” moniker. He suggested there could be short interest among Crypto Twitter members fueling the supposed rumors.
On Tuesday, tweets from popular traders @JW100x and @52kskew, which pointed to short-term price correlations between a sell-off in bitcoin (BTC) and a purchase of BNB, went viral. The tweets were viewed over 3 million times cumulatively, as per Twitter data.
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/06/14/binance-ceo-hits-back-at-rumors-of-exchange-selling-bitcoin-for-bnb-coin/
- Bitcoin, Ethereum Technical Analysis: BTC Above $26,000 Ahead of US Inflation Report
Ahead of the upcoming inflation report in the United States, bitcoin (BTC) moved back above the $26,000 level.
Following a low of $25,686.04 to start the week, BTC/USD raced to a peak of $26,261.14 earlier today.
The move saw bitcoin near a recent resistance level at $26,300, which is one of the last hurdles stopping bulls from moving towards $27,000.
In order to get towards this level, a ceiling on the relative strength index (RSI) will also need to be broken.
This is the 47.00 level on the indicator, and as of writing, price strength is currently tracking at 44.02.
The 10-day (red) moving average will need to also shift course, and divert away from its current downward path.
- Ripple Legal Chief Calls for Investigation Into Former SEC Director Hinman
Stuart Alderoty, the chief legal officer at Ripple, is calling for a new investigation into the former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) director Bill Hinman.
Specifically, he wants to unearth the reasons behind his 2018 speech on crypto transactions and the application of the Howey test.
In that speech delivered in June 2018, Hinman stated that Ethereum (ETH) shouldn’t be considered a security as it was “sufficiently decentralized,” something that caused confusion when the SEC later sued Ripple Labs for allegedly selling $1.6 billion worth of XRP as an unregistered security.
The documents related to Hinman’s speech were formally unsealed and made public on Tuesday, shedding light on the internal discussions that occurred among SEC staff at the time.
https://decrypt.co/144543/ripple-legal-chief-calls-investigation-former-sec-director-hinman
- DOGE Gains Momentum in a Tight Trading Range Despite Recent Crash
In the last 30 days, Dogecoin (DOGE) has lost 11% of its value, mainly due to the widespread volatility that hit the market. As a result, the meme’s price sunk to a yearly low of $0.059 on June 10. However, the respite in the market helped the coin back up above $0.6
While DOGE has experienced periods of rapid price appreciation this year, its return to $0.1 might be more challenging. One of the key factors for this projection is the overall market sentiment and demand for DOGE.
According to the derivates information portal Coinglass, DOGE’s open interest has been decreasing since May.
https://www.binance.com/en/feed/post/641987
- Crypto industry ‘destined’ to be BTC-focused due to regulators: Michael Saylor
Enforcement actions on cryptocurrency firms by regulators in the United States could result in a Bitcoin BTC $25,976 -focused industry that will push its price over $250,000, according to MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor.
In a June 13 Bloomberg interview, the Bitcoin bull explained recent enforcement actions from the Securities and Exchange Commission would eventually play in favor of Bitcoin— the only crypto excluded from being a security by SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Saylor added that U.S. regulators “don’t see a legitimate path forward for cryptocurrencies,” adding “they don’t have any love” for stablecoins, crypto-tokens or crypto-based derivatives.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/industry-will-focus-on-bitcoin-due-to-regulators-michael-saylor
