First Mover: Bitcoin Bounces Back to $55K as Yellen Backtracks on Rate Hike Comments

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond

By the CoinDesk Markets Team

Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets

May 5, 2021

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Bitcoin (BTC)

-1.3% $55,678

Ether (ETH)

-1.3% $3,384

(Price data as of May 5 @11:00 UTC)

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Peter Roffman, S&P Dow Jones Indices Managing Director & Global Head of Innovation and Strategy

Paul Klanschek, Bitpanda Co-Founder & CEO

Jeff Garzik, Bloq Co-Founder

Biggest Movers

These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:

Gainers:

Losers:

Aave (AAVE): -6.7%

Yearn Finance (YFI): -4.7%

The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges.

Market Moves

by Omkar Godbole

Bitcoin Bounces Back to $55K as Yellen Backtracks on Rate Hike Comments

Bitcoin (BTC) has regained poise on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen toned down comments suggesting interest rate hikes may be needed to stop the economy from overheating.

“It’s not something I’m predicting or recommending,” Yellen clarified during an online event hosted by The Wall Street Journal late on Tuesday, downplaying remarks made earlier in the day.

“If anyone appreciates the independence of the Federal Reserve, I think that person is me,” Yellen added, according to a Bloomberg report Wednesday.

Bitcoin found a floor near $53,000 after Yellen’s clarification and was trading back above $55,400 at press time, representing a nearly 4% gain on the day.

Bitcoin daily chart (Source: TradingView)

Yellen had originally been discussing the scope for rate hikes in the context of U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans for $4 trillion of infrastructure and welfare spending over the next decade.

Looking ahead

While the Fed recently reiterated its commitment to keep the liquidity tap open for a prolonged period, some experts fear the U.S. central bank would ditch its pro-easing bias and turn hawkish later this year.

The U.S. dollar is starting to show signs of life amid a growing debate over whether Biden’s massive spending, coupled with a vaccine-led economic recovery, would force the Fed to scale back stimulus earlier than expected.

The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback’s value against major currencies, rose to a 2.5-week high of 91.44 earlier today, extending its recovery from the two-month low of 90.42 reached on April 29, according to data and chart provider TradingView.

A continued rally in the U.S. dollar could yield deeper losses for bitcoin. The two assets have moved mainly in the opposite direction since March 2020, courtesy of the Fed’s stimulus measures.

The dollar’s recovery rally will likely pick up the pace if the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, scheduled for release on Friday, blows past expectations, pointing to faster economic recovery.

Read the original story here:

Bitcoin Bounces Back to $55K as Yellen Backtracks on Rate Hike Comments

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Technician's Take

by Damanick Dantes

Bitcoin Reclaims Support; Approaching Resistance Near $56K-$58K

Bitcoin (BTC) is holding support around $55,400 at the time of writing as buyers attempt to erase Tuesday’s losses. Resistance is seen around $56,000 and $58,000 where traders have taken profit over the past few months.

Hourly bitcoin chart shows support and resistance levels with RSI (Source: TradingView)

Original story found here:

Bitcoin Reclaims Support; Approaching Resistance Near $56K-$58K

A message from CME

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BOLO

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Unlocked 101 at Consensus by CoinDesk 2021

The countdown is on to Consensus by CoinDesk, our virtual big-tent event this May.

For those who need a primer or to brush up on the fundamentals, we're hosting Unlocked 101, a free educational series designed to give you the tools you need to navigate crypto.

Sessions run May 4–20, covering the basics of Bitcoin, DeFi, scams and hacks and the NFT boom.

Register for Unlocked 101.

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here's the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:

Ether sets new records, breaking through $3400 and "flipping" bitcoin on options volume. "First Mover" dives into crypto markets analysis with MarketGauge Managing Director Michele Schneider. Also, Nikhilesh De on Coinbase's decision to expand support for the stablecoin tether. And, why did the Decentralized Finance Oracle Umbrella Network migrate from Ethereum to the Binance Smart Chain? We hear from the network's founder, Sam Kim.

Introducing CoinDesk Indexes

TradeBlock, the leader in providing crypto asset indexes to financial institutions, will now assume the CoinDesk name.

Introducing CoinDesk Indexes: the industry standard for institutional-grade digital currency price references with billions of dollars in monthly trading volume quoted against them.

Underlying new brand names, TradeBlock's index methodology will continue to adhere to the standards of integrity and reliability that have always differentiated its indexes.

Read more about CoinDesk Indexes, the industry standard in crypto benchmarks.

Latest Headlines

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ADA staking was launched on Tuesday, the exchange said.

Galaxy Digital to Buy BitGo for About $1.2 Billion in Stock, Cash

Galaxy also said it will "undergo a domestication process" on an intended path to U.S. listing later this year.

Australian Traders Favor Stocks and Crypto, TradingView Survey Shows

Cryptocurrency was beaten to the top investors' choice by stocks, but only by 3%.

Eth 2.0 Validators Earn Record $3M as ETH Soars Past $3K

ETH hit several new all-time price highs this past week as developers made progress with their plans to expedite the merging of Ethereum and Ethereum 2.0.

CoinDesk Research: Does Bitcoin Have an Energy Problem?

Is Bitcoin bad for the environment? This CoinDesk Research report looks at the data behind the most common critiques and shows that, while Bitcoin uses a lot of energy, the mix is evolving toward renewables. Bitcoin also incentivizes investment in clean energy sources, can convert pollution into value, and redistributes wasted power production.
Download the free report.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.

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