Bitazza Crypto Weekly: Financial Institutions Flock to Open Investment Avenues in Crypto For Customers -

Crypto Weekly: 8 – 14 August 2022

Despite numerous Crypto projects facing several challenges or issues recently, notable hedge funds and financial institutions around the world seem open to the idea of exploring opportunities in the digital asset world.

US-based investment giant Blackrock Inc. has partnered with Coinbase to provide institutional investors access to the cryptocurrency market, beginning with Bitcoin(BTC). Coinbase stocks (COIN) surged by more than 30% following the announcement of the partnership. Select BlackRock clients will be able to use its Aladdin investment-management system to oversee their exposure to Bitcoin along with other portfolio assets such as stocks and bonds and to facilitate financing and trading on Coinbase’s exchange.

Investment management giant Morgan Stanley has listed a job posting to recruit a crypto-focused product development manager to join the firm’s Investment Solutions Product Development team. The team provides multiple services supporting over $900 billion in assets under management across mutual funds, money market funds, College savings plans, and ETFs. The posting indicates Morgan Stanley’s interest in providing its clients with products in the crypto world, joining the ranks of other traditional banking giants like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, who have dived into the crypto space by opening crypto products for institutional clients already.

Meta has announced its expansion for NFT support to over 100 countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas. Users and business will soon be able to share their NFTs and digital collectibles on Instagram by connecting their Instagram account to a compatible third-party wallet. Supported blockchains currently include Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow.

Technology research firm Technavio has published a report analyzing the Metaverse that looked at how different geographical regions may contribute to the rapidly emerging Metaverse business sector. According to the report, the Metaverse will have a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of nearly 21% over the next 4 years, making the Metaverse’s market share worth approximately $50.37 billion by 2026. In terms of regional growth, 32% percent of market growth will come from the North American region, with the United States and Canada dominating the area.

Michael Saylor has announced that he will be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of MicroStrategy in favor of a new position concentrating on MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy and related Bitcoin advocacy projects. The MicroStrategy co-founder will continue to serve as executive chairman.

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, has continued to mint additional USDT tokens in the past three months, which may suggest an upcoming bull run or market recovery. Moreover, the world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDC, continues to challenge USDT’s dominance as the leading stablecoin during this period of uncertainty for the stablecoin market.

Crypto Intelligence Firm Messari’s latest report indicates that Crypto Funds and Traditional Funds have raised approximately $35.9 billion in the first half of 2022, surpassing the whole-year volume of $19B in 2021 despite the current bear market.

Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, has pointed out in a recent interview that Dogecoin transactions are completed in 60 seconds while transactions take approximately 10 minutes to be completed. He then further argued that Dogecoin’s inflationary factor, which allows 5 billion coins to be created annually, will be beneficial for using it as a transactional currency, unlike Bitcoin and its maximum supply of 21 million BTC.

Weekly Technical Analysis: 8 – 14 August 2022

Bitcoin (BTC)

Over the past week, BTC has been stuck trending sideways with little indication of whether the market leader is set to embark on an upwards or downwards trend any time soon. However, prices did not create new lows coming into this week, and support has been lifted to the $21,500 level. Resistance remains at the $29,000 mark, and BTC will have to successfully challenge this level for the market leader to signal a true upwards recovery.

Ethereum (ETH)

ETH’s uptrend continues coming into this week, and traders can make the most of any momentary price contractions/dips for short-term trading opportunities. Keep a close eye on the support level at $1,500; if support can remain intact, ETH’s uptrend should continue. ETH could potentially be looking to test its $2,000 resistance level this week.

Optimism (OP)

OP is up by over +13.7% from last week. Despite largely positive performances for the Layer2 token recently, OP has been unable to break through the 80 baht resistance level. If the support level at 48 baht can remain intact, OP may have the opportunity to accumulate enough momentum to challenge the initial 80 baht resistance and the subsequent 88 baht resistance level.

NEAR Protocol (NEAR)

NEAR is up by +17.9% from last week. Overall though, NEAR will have to surpass resistance at the 220 baht to signal a full uptrend/bull run. Traders should focus on short-term profit taking. Keep a close eye on support at 130 baht; if broken, NEAR may be forced into a downtrend.

Trading and Investment Considerations For The Week

The market is keeping a close eye on the US inflation figures for July, which are scheduled for release on 10 August. The inflation figures will likely dictate the direction the FED will take at the next FOMC meeting and whether interest rates will be raised any further. If July’s US inflation figures can be lower than the 9.1% peak in June, the FED may concede to slowing down its interest rate hikes, which could be beneficial for Bitcoin price.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) seems to be retreating in conjunction with a bearish reversal of oil prices, potentially a good sign for Bitcoin. Overall though, there is little direct positive news that could fuel a bullish reversal for the Crypto market, and the trend remains sideways for the time being.

Investors are advised to focus on tokens that have been able to outperform the rest of the market and have posted good returns recently. The trading strategy should revolve around short-term profit taking rather than any long-term investments due to the high risk and uncertainty of the market. Additionally, if the conflict in the Taiwan Straight escalates, this could have massive repercussions throughout global financial markets, including the Crypto market.

*Materials on Bitazza Weekly Newsletter are intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. The views, information, or opinions expressed are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Bitazza and its employees. The information contained herein is not intended to be a source of advice or financial analysis with respect to the material presented, and the information and/or documents contained in this website do not constitute investment advice.

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