Following a strong bullish rise seen in the crypto sphere over recent weeks, market bears have finally made themselves present in the room, bringing disturbance to the upward momentum. The last few hours saw a minor crypto sell-off that brought BTC below its recent achievement of $23,000, and ETH too is trading under $1,600.
Highlights of the week
- The finance industry’s seven largest banks have been reportedly working together in a venture to launch their very own digital wallet. This strategic collaboration includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, and has supposedly come together to compete against top digital money players such as Paypal and Apple Pay.
- South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board recently introduced a new code applicable to crypto-service providers operating within the country. According to these regulations, any such service must explicitly mention in its promotions that capital loss may come about for investors, given the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies. Similarly, influencers working with services will no longer be able to offer trading and investment advice.
- UAE’s minister of foreign trade recently stated that crypto assets will be playing a major role in trade for the emirates moving forward, and stressed the need for global governance. This move by the UAE, which many see as a financial center of the world bodes extremely well for crypto-acceptance going mainstream and could see many developing nations following suit.
- The government of Indonesia recently undertook a major regulatory shift, that will see crypto assets being classed as securities, rather than commodities such as gold or silver. The move has been a long time in the coming and has been started to facilitate ease for the public, and allow for the development of the industry in a sustainable manner.
- The governor of the Irish central bank, who is a harsh critic of the crypto phenomenon, went on a fiery tirade against the industry in his recent parliamentary address. He regularly called out the assets as offering no social value and likened trading in them to gambling. This attitude towards cryptocurrencies shows the likelihood of their acceptance remaining slow, at present.
Crypto fear & greed index
Despite the temporary slowing down in the bullish rise seen, market sentiment appears to be impressive by all available metrics. The crypto and greed index shows market sentiment to lie well within the greed zone, at the 54-point mark. This figure is the most positive appearing in the index, during the last 10 months, and hints at a rise to higher levels of improvement.
Such a whopping sentimental improvement across the market shows that crypto momentum may continue an upward push, despite temporary concerns. The index’s present standing bodes extremely well for the short-term direction of the market.
