Kiss The Ring

Okay it’s not that I can read minds, walk on water, predict the future, or undo bras with the power of my mind. My only claim to fame is that I am damn bloody good at reading the tape.

Not because I’m special or particularly gifted.

But if you have been in this game for as long as I have, then certain price formations simply become more or less predictable within a reasonable margin of error.

Either that or I just keep getting lucky 😉

And it’s not that I would let it get to my head right?

Anyway, enough screwing around, let’s get serious.

The current bounce suggests we have completed what I would call a technically healthy retest of a previous cluster of resistance.

Which should henceforth act as support should we experience any unexpected monkey business.

Now here’s an interesting thought experiment for you:

Two weeks ago the SEC craps all over the crypto sector which produces a quick slide toward the $25k mark.

Then suddenly Bitcoin gains 5.2% and the rally triggers the liquidation of approximately $36.6 million worth of short positions.

What caused such a massive move?

Well, a number of announcements of major financial institutions venturing into the cryptocurrency space – all released in quick succession:

Deutsche Bank announced its application for a digital asset custody license in Germany, while crypto exchange EDX Markets began offering trading with Bitcoin and Ethereum after receiving funding from notable entities like Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, and Fidelity Digital Assets.

David Lynn, the head of Deutsche Bank’s commercial banking unit, stated during a conference that the bank is currently expanding its digital asset and custody business. Additionally, the CEO of DWS, Stefan Hoops, highlighted earlier this year that the current low cryptocurrency prices could present interesting opportunities for their asset management division.

WisdomTree Investments, an $87 billion asset manager in the US, has filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) called “WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust.”

The ETF is planned to be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange with the ticker symbol BTCW. WisdomTree aims to provide investors with exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements while considering the operational costs and obligations of the ETF.

The value of the ETF’s shares will be calculated daily using the CF Bitcoin U.S. Settlement Price, which consolidates trading data from Bitcoin spot exchanges.

If you recall, this comes after its previous ETF application was rejected in 2021 due to concerns over surveillance-sharing agreements and market manipulation protection.

However Wisdom Tree has now reentered the ETF race, following BlackRock’s filing for a Bitcoin ETF just last week.

And finally, EDX Markets (EDX), a crypto exchange backed by Fidelity Digital Assets, Charles Schwab, and Citadel Securities, has officially launched in the United States.

After nine months of building out its technology, the exchange is now operational. EDX aims to bring the same values and standards of competition, transparency, fairness, and safety found in traditional asset markets to the crypto industry.

The exchange garnered attention when it was announced in September, with investments from major traditional finance (tradfi) firms such as Fidelity, Schwab, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, and Citadel.

One aspect that sets EDX Markets apart from other crypto exchanges is its business model. It does not custody customers’ digital assets directly but relies on financial intermediaries for asset trading, similar to how trades are executed on traditional stock exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or Nasdaq.

Regulators appreciate this approach as it ensures separation between the exchange function and the broker-dealer function.

Now back to my ‘Gedankenexperiment’ (thought experiment) I mentioned earlier.

Let me ask you this:

Do you seriously believe the timing of any of this is pure coincidence?

Because IF you do then let me assure you that I can in fact walk on water, read minds, and predict the future.

I still suck at opening bras though…

Anyway, keep on stacking those coins, boys and girls. 2023 is turning out to be an interesting year for crypto.

And if you are looking for a top notch BTC/ETH trend signal then look no further than Gravitas, which continues to kick a$$ and take numbers (I’ll post an update on that before the weekend).

Shoot us a message here and we’ll get you set up right away.

 

  • Mike
  • last year

About the Author

Hey there, I am one of the founding members of Red Pill Quants. I used to work as a systems engineer in Silicon Valley until I left the industry in 2008 to become a full time quant trader. It's been fun ever since.