Author: Antonio Richard

Trading volume records in bitcoin’s options market were smashed on Monday as investors scrambled to hedge their positions amid the sell-off.

Major exchanges – Deribit, LedgerX, Bakkt, OKEx, CME – registered total trading volume of $198 million, surpassing the previous record high of $171.3 million reached on Feb. 11, according to crypto derivatives research firm Skew Markets.

Deribit, the world’s biggest crypto options exchange by volume, contributed nearly 86 percent, or $170 million, of the total trading volume on Monday. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) traded $2.1 million, while Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE’s) Bakkt did not trade any contracts. Bakkt last registered activity on Feb. 27 and prior to that on Feb. 12.

An option contract is a derivative based on the value of an underlying instrument that gives the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the specified amount of an underlying asset on or before the expiration date. A call option gives the holder a right to buy, while the put option gives the holder the right to sell.

“Derivatives trading activity tends to increase when a large spot move occurs, which was triggered yesterday by an extraordinary sell-off in risk assets globally,” Skew CEO and co-founder Emmanuel Goh told CoinDesk.

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading above $9,000 on Friday and looked set for stronger gains over the weekend. However, the cryptocurrency fell sharply from $9,900 to $9,000 on Sunday, possibly due to liquidations by alleged PlusToken scammers and declined further to a two-month low of $7,640 on Monday.

The rapid price drop was accompanied by a sell-off in the traditional markets and likely fueled demand for options.

“The sell-off has provided an ample amount of opportunities for both shorter-term traders and longer-term investors alike to acquire bitcoin and other assets at a significant discount to where prices stood just two weeks ago. Options are one effective way of taking advantage of these opportunities.” Justin Gillespie, CEO of Titus Investment Advisors and bitcoin trader told CoinDesk.

Volumes have been rising right from the start of the year. For example, Deribit has witnessed an average daily volume of nearly $100 million over the past four weeks compared to $50 million in the period from December through January.

“There’s been an explosion of interest from investors, intraday traders, and miners in BTC options on Deribit the past few months,” Su Zhu, CEO of Three Arrows Capital, told CoinDesk. 

Zhu added the recent record volume reflects the growing importance of options flow on Deribit in bitcoin price setting. Back in mid-January, Zhu tweeted predicting a surge in options trading volume. 

Open interest rises

As bitcoin’s price dropped, the global open interest – the sum of all options contracts that have not expired, been exercised or physically delivered – rose to $841 million on Monday from Sunday’s $798 million, according to Skew Markets. 

The open positions surged from $250 million to $950 million in the first six weeks of the year and has remained elevated ever since, a sign of increased institutional participation in the bitcoin market. 

Looking ahead, bitcoin’s option market could continue to register strong volumes because of uncertainty is likely to stay high ahead of the May 2020 reward halving, the coronavirus pandemic and the prospects of an all-out price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. 

A New York power plant turns to Bitcoin mining in a successful bid to increase profitability.

Bloomberg reported on Mar. 5 that a power plant in New York’s Finger Lakes region now mines about $50,000 of Bitcoin (BTC) each day using the electricity it produces.

Atlas Holding, the private equity company that owns the facility, installed 7,000 crypto mining machines at the Greenidge Generation’s 65,000-square-foot power plant in Dresden, New York. The firm pointed out that since it produces the power consumed by the machines on its own, the mining operation is extremely low cost.

An extremely profitable operation

Cryptocurrency mining is extremely energy-intensive. Mining facilities tend to concentrate where electricity prices are the lowest. In this case, the power cost is equivalent to production costs.

Atlas Holding’s mining operation consumes about 15 megawatts of the 115 megawatts of the power plant’s total capacity. In the past, the Dresden power plant used to operate only when there was higher-than-usual energy demand during summer and winter, but now it operates the whole year. 

Bitcoin block reward halving is “favorable”

The cryptocurrency community is afraid that Bitcoin mining will become unprofitable for most miners after the block reward will be cut in half in about a month . Dave Perrill, the CEO of colocation service for crypto miners, recently told the press that the profitability of all but the most efficient mining operations will be greatly challenged after the halving takes place.

Still, the profitability of Atlas Holding’s mining operation is high enough to be safe after the block reward cut. Greenidge’s chief financial officer Tim Rainey said that he expects the operation will stay profitable after Bitcoin’s halving:

“We are in a favorable market position regardless of how the halving materializes. […] Due to our unique position as a co-generation facility, we are able to make money in down markets so that we’re available to catch the upside of volatile price swings.”

Bitcoin (BTC) will reach $100,000 and Jamie Dimon will be “begging” the United States Federal Reserve for money to buy some. 

Those were just two of the predictions from Max Keiser on March 5, as the coronavirus outbreak sees financial markets tumble again.

Keiser: 2020 is “part two” of the 2008 crisis

Speaking on the latest edition of his RT news magazine, The Keiser report , the well-known Bitcoin proponent said that global panic would have a profound impact on Bitcoin uptake this year.

2020, he explained, was “part two of the global financial crisis” which originally spawned the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2009.

“…Now Bitcoin will experience part two of the global financial crisis — it’s already close to $10,000 a coin,” he told fellow presenter Stacey Herbert.

“This is the global financial crisis that will catapult the price to $100,000 and beyond.”  

As earlier reported , Bitcoin saw losses in line with traditional markets including gold last week but has made gains in recent days.

Jamie Dimon, Peter Schiff to “beg Fed for money”

Referencing a dream which JPMorgan CEO and notorious Bitcoin skeptic Jamie Dimon claimed he had last month, Keiser continued that even he would soon privilege Bitcoin over fiat.

Dimon allegedly dreamt that coronavirus infected attendees of the World Economic Forum in Davos. While the victims “spread” the disease afterward, he appeared happy — possibly sarcastically — that it had killed the world’s most powerful financial figures.

“The only good news from that is that it might have just killed the elite,” CNN quoted him as saying at the time.

Ironically, it was at Davos in 2018 that Dimon denied  that he disliked Bitcoin.

Keiser meanwhile was wholly unconvinced.

“He’s confusing the coronavirus with the Bitcoin virus; the same thing with Peter Schiff,” he explained.

“Their minds are being hacked by the Bitcoin virus. Soon Jamie will be a blathering idiot on the ground begging the Fed for money to buy Bitcoin. He’s going to turn into a kind of street urchin. Same with Peter Schiff.”

Gold bug Schiff also continues his criticism of Bitcoin, claiming its price is set for a selloff due to what he considers as insufficient gains this week.

The number of crypto ATMs across the globe has grown to over 7,000, with machines in 75 countries.

At press time, CoinATMRadar listed 7,014 cryptocurrency ATMs in existence. This number also includes machines hosting digital currencies other than Bitcoin (BTC), including assets such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Dash (DASH) and Litecoin (LTC).

Crypto ATMs have come a long way
The world saw its first Bitcoin ATM in 2013, when a company called Robocoin placed a machine in a Vancouver coffee shop. Allowing customers to trade Bitcoin for cash, and vice versa, the machine saw $10,000 in BTC transacted on its launch day.

At present, 42 different manufacturers are responsible for the 7,000 global crypto ATMs. Only two locations host Robocoin ATMs, CoinATMRadar data showed. Genesis Coin sits in the lead with machines in 2,348 locations.

Digital asset ATMs keep coming
The world now sees 11.7 new crypto ATMs installed per day, according to CoinATMRadar’s data from the past seven days.

Last fall, Bitcoin ATM company Bitstop teamed up with massive United States-based mall operator Simon Malls, spurring the installation of five machines in five separate malls run by the operator.

Florida’s Miami International Airport also received a Bitcoin ATM from Bitstop in the latter half of 2019.

Crypto ATMs only recently surpassed the 6,000 landmark in November 2019, showing a growing public demand for cryptocurrency availability. This type of data shows digital asset adoption and presence continues waging forward, one step at a time.

Just over a month after delivering sceptical remarks on Bitcoin (BTC), SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is apparently rooting for major altcoin Dogecoin (DOGE) again.

Already known as a big fan of DOGE, Musk has made yet another endorsement for the cryptocurrency in a March 3 tweet. While the initial tweet isn’t exactly crypto-related but just a shoob meme with caption “Dogs rock,” the subsequent tweet — “They have the best coin — clearly shows Musk was talking about the Dogecoin.

Musk is a known fan of Dogecoin so far

This is not the first time when the Tesla CEO has expressed his positive stance to Dogecoin though. In April 2019, Elon Musk tweeted that DOGE “might be” his favorite cryptocurrency, adding that it’s “pretty cool.”

Musk is also known for his collaborative efforts with Dogecoin creator Jackson Palmer in fighting against cryptocurrency scammers on Twitter. The famous technology entrepreneur has even been elected on Twitter to become the “CEO” of Dogecoin, leaving behind other candidates such as Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Litecoin (LTC) creator Charlie Lee.

As reported by Cointelegraph, Dogecoin is a blockchain-based peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was born out of the “doge” meme in honor of a dog of shiba-inu breed. Launched in 2013, DOGE became a widely-used cryptocurrency, with its popularity reportedly far exceeding expectations of its founder Billy Markus.

Once a regular of the top 25 coins list by market capitalization, Dogecoin has slightly edged down to be ranked the 32 biggest cryptocurrency at press time, according to Coin360. The altcoin surged about 2% over the past 24 hours, trading at $0.002 at press time.

Famous tech entrepreneur appears to have reversed his positive stance on Bitcoin lately

Apparently one of the most beloved and influential figures in the crypto industry, Elon Musk has been actively discussing not only Dogecoin, but crypto in general. In March 2019, Musk complimented Bitcoin, claiming that its structure is “quite brilliant,” while the coin is “a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper.”

However, the Tesla chief might have disappointed some Bitcoin believers with his most recent remarks. Musk claimed on Jan. 20 that he is “neither here nor there on Bitcoin,” adding that Bitcoin is not his safe word. Particularly, the entrepreneur purportedly questioned the legal status of Bitcoin, opposing it to cryptocurrency in general by saying “Cryptocurrency is my safe word.”

Organizers in Paris have rescheduled a major local blockchain industry event due to the coronavirus outbreak.

According to an announcement on March 2, the Paris Blockchain Week Summit — initially meant to take place from March 31 to April 1 — is now expected to take place on Dec. 9–10.

The organizers rescheduled the event due to recent guidelines issued by the French government which prohibit large gatherings that could increase the scope and severity of the coronavirus outbreak.

A major industry event
The announcement stated that the conference will proceed as expected and “the venue, schedule and setup remain the same.” Furthermore, the organizers promised that more speakers will join the event’s list.

Speakers expected to participate in the event include Binance cryptocurrency exchange CEO and co-founder Changpeng Zhao, and French Economy, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, Parity Technologies blockchain firm Founder and CEO Jutta Steiner, Coinshares chief investment officer Meltem Demirors, Messari co-founder and CEO Ryan Selkis, and Brave Browser chief scientist Ben Livshits.

Coronavirus’ impact on the cryptocurrency industry
The coronavirus outbreak has a major impact on both traditional finance and the cryptocurrency industry. A number of cryptocurrency-related conferences across Asia are being delayed in response to the regional spread of the virus. Furthermore, a Chinese cryptocurrency mining farm was forced to shut down due to the epidemic.

This week, United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and blockchain firm Messari recommended their employees to work from home. Coinbase also released a plan to react to the coronavirus outbreak.

At the end of February, gold saw its biggest loss since 2014 when it succumbed to the sell-offs affecting traditional markets due to the ongoing epidemic.

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to fluctuate around its key 200-day moving average price on March 3 as traders expressed mounting concern over traditional markets.

BTC price shuns exuberance 

Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets revealed a less volatile day for BTC/USD on Tuesday, press time levels centering on $8,750.

After gaining 3.2% during trading on Monday, Bitcoin broadly held onto higher levels but had failed to tackle $9,000 resistance. At around $8,800, the 200-day moving average remained a noticeable feature for traders.

While the cryptocurrency slowly added to its gains, stocks and other markets held a dramatic rally as the week began. The Dow Jones, having seen its biggest one-day loss ever last week, subsequently advanced more in a single trading session than during any other in its history. 

The progress accompanied bullish sentiment across global markets following news that governments planned to stimulate growth with extra cash in the wake of coronavirus. The United States Federal Reserve is broadly tipped to cut rates significantly in 2020.

“Something tells me that when it comes to a global panic-driven selloff, rate cuts aren’t going to cut it,” Cointelegraph Markets analyst Mati Greenspan summarized to Twitter followers on Tuesday.

Market stimulus reaction “unbelievable”

Startup investor Eric Dadoun agreed.

“Arguably this is actually just making the macro problem worse,” he responded to Greenspan. 

“Short term? My goodness it seems the market doesn’t care and is happy to keep the party going just a tad bit longer before last call. Unbelievable.”

While the impact of coronavirus on Bitcoin remains a topic of debate, financial uncertainty already seemed to weigh on previously buoyant investment outlets. Volumes on CME Group’s Bitcoin futures were down up to 80% versus last month.

At the same time, technical fundamentals for the Bitcoin network remain strong. On Monday, Cointelegraph highlighted what was likely a new all-time high for hash rate, indicating continued positive miner sentiment.

Bitcoin (BTC) may have shed 11% in a week, but it is actually performing exactly like one of the industry’s most famous analysts predicted.

In a tweet on Mar. 1, PlanB, creator of the well-known stock-to-flow Bitcoin price forecasting model, said that at around $8,500, BTC/USD was wholly on schedule.

PlanB: “So far so good” for BTC price
In February, he predicted that Bitcoin might lose its 200-day moving average support, but would ultimately stay above $8,200. The prognosis ultimately became reality last week. The 200 DMA had provided bullish hope to traders after it flipped from resistance to support in February, but recent volatility reversed its role.

For PlanB, however, there is no cause for concern. Sharing data from his Bitcoin price indicator, he said the outlook had in fact improved to $8,600.

“So far so good and .. the indicator just flipped to $8600 (March close),” he wrote in accompanying comments.

While the price forecast is a separate entity, stock-to-flow currently calls for an average of around $8,650 for Bitcoin prior to its May 2020 block reward halving.

Thereafter, the model says that gains will take Bitcoin an order of magnitude higher than ever before. PlanB has fended off criticism of his work in recent weeks, appearing to agree with the counterargument that those who doubt stock-to-flow’s value have failed to prove it.

Bitcoin’s price and stock-to-flow are “co-integrated,” he stated last week, reposting the long-term stock-to-flow trajectory.

Halving will not spark “death spiral”
In a separate tweet, meanwhile, PlanB added that he did not foresee negative progress for Bitcoin in terms of network strength following the halving.

During the 2012 and 2016 events, he noted, Bitcoin’s network difficulty increased. This year, the hash rate, which is currently near all-time highs, should likewise continue to expand.

“I don’t know,” he responded when asked what kind of events could reverse Bitcoin’s bullish fortunes in May.

“I don’t see a decreasing hashrate after the halving as a probable scenario, because 1) after 2012 and 2016 halvings hashrate increased 2) miners already invested in new hw that is more efficient than S9, and this replacing of old hw will continue next months.”

Bitcoin (BTC) saw a difficult week as it hit one-month lows, but on gold markets, traders were nursing the biggest daily falls in over seven years.

According to data tracking XAU/USD on Feb. 29, Friday saw the precious metal’s worst 24-hour drop since 2013.

Gold drops 7% in 5 days after coronavirus sell-off

Over the past five days, gold broadly succumbed to the sell-offs affecting traditional markets due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Between Feb. 24 and Feb. 29, XAU/USD lost a total of 7.3% before a slight rebound.

The fragile performance puts gold roughly on par with “digital gold,” Bitcoin, the weekly losses for which currently stand at around 9%. 

As Cointelegraph reported, after rebounding from 4-week lows of $8,450, the largest cryptocurrency returned to its forecast average price and has since attempted to reclaim its 200-day moving average near $8,800.

While gold remained steadfast in a plummeting stock market, its proponents had cause for celebration. Gold bug and infamous Bitcoin skeptic, Peter Schiff, took the opportunity to rubbish those who believed BTC could act as a safe haven.

Schiff: gold “not invalidated”

Following the U-turn in its fortunes, Schiff remained convinced in gold’s promise, while acknowledging such drops were “very rare.”

“Today’s 4% drop in gold is a very rare move in a single day. But it does happen occasionally,” he wrote in a tweet on Friday. 

“However a 4% drop in @Bitcoin is quite common,  which often posts daily declines much larger. Today’s move doesn’t invalidate gold’s safe haven or long-term store of value status.”

Bitcoin figures, notably Schiff’s sparring partner Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano, had wryly suggested that someone should “check on” him as gold’s own health waned.

Stock market misery meanwhile continues after the Dow Jones suffered its own record-breaking daily loss on Wednesday. Traders have since overwhelmingly bet on the United States Federal Reserve cutting its short-term interest rate target significantly in 2020.

Bitcoin (BTC) is worth more in 2020 than any other year it has existed — and historical data suggests that its price will continue climbing for another 19 months.

Data uploaded to Twitter by fund partner James Todaro on Feb. 21 reveals that in terms of volume-weighted average price, 2020 is Bitcoin’s best year ever. https://twitter.com/JamesTodaroMD/status/1230935168715776000?s=19

BTC volume-weighted average: 2020 biggest year
The volume-weighted average calculates the Bitcoin price over a certain period as a ratio on the basis of trading.

For 2020, the average for BTC/USD is $9,120, according to Todaro’s calculations. This is higher than even 2017 when the pair reached its current all-time high of $20,000. For that year, the volume-weighted average was $6,125.

Curiously, the metric actually produces a higher value for 2018, despite this being the year that Bitcoin spent in a near-constant bear market bottoming out at $3,100. 2018’s average was $7,657.

On the surface, 2019 was much more successful in terms of spot price, but Bitcoin’s volume-weighted average for last year was a shade lower than in 2018.

Model forecasts 570 more bullish days
Looking ahead, data from previous Bitcoin bull runs likewise paints an encouraging picture for the next year-and-a-half.

Analyzing Bitcoin bull cycles, the investor and trader known as CryptoKea claimed that their length suggests Bitcoin will keep growing for around 570 days.

In spite of markets dropping 8% last week, 2020 has been characterized by Bitcoin’s strength. Year to date, BTC/USD has gained almost 35%.

“If this relationship were to hold true, we still have more than 570 days of bull market ahead of us, with a cycle top coming in around Sep 2021.”

That deadline is similar to predictions from the increasingly popular stock-to-flow Bitcoin price model, which calls for an average $100,000 price between 2021 and 2024.