Bitcoin Market Leverage and Coinbase Premium: What Recent Data Reveals

The crypto market is recovering, with assets like Dogecoin bouncing back from multi-month lows. The Dogecoin price has jumped by 12.67% in 24 hours, pushing the meme coin to the $0.3379 price mark. With current on-chain data, there is more ahead for DOGE.

Dogecoin signals more uptrend

Beyond the 24-hour price gain, Dogecoin has recorded a 9.6% jump in trading volume, with more than $11.6 billion shuffled in one day. This massive volume proves there’s enough liquidity to power the meme coin’s trading volume, a unique boost for a price rally.

Over the past week, Dogecoin dropped from a high of $0.4109 to as low as $0.27. While Bitcoin’s correction was the only causative factor, DOGE joined the list of altcoins that suffered the brunt. With the market in recovery mode, the coin has yet to reach its weekly high, marking enough room for growth.

On-chain indicators also hint at intense activity within the DOGE ecosystem. Whale transactions, as seen on IntoTheBlock, show intense activities. This metric, accounting for Dogecoin transactions worth at least $100,000, skyrocketed by 41.12% to $23.35 billion.

With massive embrace from this class of investors, chances are the price will recover swiftly to cover the past week's losses.

Key fundamentals to watch

To complement the growth in the price of Dogecoin, crucial fundamentals form a major backbone to watch. There are insinuations that a DOGE ETF might become a reality amid the positive shift in the regulatory landscape in the U.S.

While no asset manager has made a push for this filing, many experts have weighed the possibility. In all, DOGE remains oversold on different timescales, and related sentiments around BTC retesting its all-time high can drive positive momentum for the meme coin.

Dogecoin might reclaim the $0.4 price mark in the short term if it flips the $0.35 resistance as support.

Michael Saylor, the Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, has outlined a Bitcoin strategy to position the United States as a global leader in the digital economy.

This move comes as his company expanded its Board of Directors from six to nine members, incorporating prominent crypto advocates to strengthen its strategic focus on digital assets.

Saylor Advocates for Bitcoin Reserve

On December 20, Saylor explained that his vision revolves around implementing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) to address economic challenges, enhance the dollar’s dominance, and create unprecedented growth opportunities in the digital asset sector.

Saylor’s proposal outlines how a robust digital asset policy could create a capital markets renaissance, unlocking trillions in value. He envisions a $10 trillion digital currency market driving demand for US Treasuries while fostering growth in digital assets.

He also believes that expanding this market could increase the digital economy’s valuation from $1 trillion to $590 trillion, with the United States leading the charge.

Despite these bold claims, critics like venture capitalist Nic Carter remain skeptical. Carter argues that the SBR concept lacks clarity and could destabilize markets rather than strengthen the dollar.

He points to Bitcoin’s volatility, referencing its recent price dip from over $108,000 to $92,000, as evidence that it may not be a reliable reserve asset. Additionally, Carter believes such a move could undermine the dollar’s global position rather than enhance it.

New MicroStrategy Board Members Bring Crypto Expertise

According to a December 20 SEC filing, the board of Bitcoin-focused company has elected new board members. The new additions include Brian Brooks, former Binance US CEO and a prominent figure in crypto regulation; Jane Dietze, Chief Investment Officer at Brown University; and Gregg Winiarski, Chief Legal Officer at Fanatics Holdings.

These new board members bring diverse expertise across finance, technology, and emerging markets, aligning with MicroStrategy’s broader strategic objectives. Brooks, in particular, is renowned for his regulatory and crypto expertise. He has held leadership roles at top crypto firms, including Coinbase and BitFury Group, and has also served as the Acting Comptroller of the Currency.

Meanwhile, Dietze has also served on the crypto asset management firm Galaxy Digital board, while Winiarski has experience with a privately held global digital sports platform.

MicroStrategy is the largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin. According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, the company currently holds 439,000 Bitcoin valued at over $43 billion.

Amid a wider readjusting of market expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) for 2025, investors withdrew a record $680 million from Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday, the highest outflow in a single day since January’s approval of these investment funds.

Grayscale And Bitwise Bitcoin ETFs Experience 8% Decline

As Bitcoin ETFs faced this outflow, the price declined, dropping another 5% to trade around $97,400 to close the week. The sell-off aligns with a general downturn in risk assets, triggered by the Fed’s updated economic projections released earlier this week.

The US central bank now anticipates only two quarter-point rate cuts in the coming year, a significant reduction from the four cuts previously expected at its September meeting.

Notable Bitcoin ETFs, including Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust and Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF, have experienced declines of approximately 8% since the Fed’s new guidance, while Bitcoin itself has lost about 9% in the same timeframe.

Notably, Thursday’s outflows broke a streak of 15 consecutive days of inflows for the twelve US Bitcoin ETFs, for a net inflow of approximately $5.3 billion during this period.

After hitting a record high of just over $108,000 earlier in this week, the market’s top cryptocurrency dropped below the $100,000 level on Thursday. Prior to the recent recovery, which is just around $100,000, it fell all the way to $92,000.

While the bearish sentiment in the markets can be attributed to the Fed’s cautious stance, it is also likely influenced by seasonal profit-taking among institutional investors of the Bitcoin ETFs.

Analysts Warn Of Continued Crypto Sell-Off

The recent selling pressure could further strain market sentiment, as noted by Joseph Dahrieh, managing principal at Tickmill.

“This decline could weigh strongly on the cryptocurrency and broader market sentiment, particularly as Bitcoin fell below the USD 100,000 mark, indicating potential short-term volatility and downside risks,” he remarked.

The volatility has been exacerbated by massive liquidations in both long and short positions, totaling over $240 million within a 24-hour period. Antonio Di Giacomo, a senior market analyst at XS.com, commented, “The Federal Reserve’s cautious stance in signaling fewer cuts for 2025 created an atmosphere of doubt and speculation.”

Looking ahead, the sell-off in the cryptocurrency market may persist in the near term. Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, speculated that the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies could drop below $3 trillion, down from a peak of $3.7 trillion earlier this month.

He cautioned that “a failure below $94,500 would signal a break of the uptrend of the last six weeks, while a fall below $92,000 would bring the price under the 50-day moving average. In this case, time is playing on the side of the bears.”

As of this writing, Bitcoin has managed to stabilize above $97,400 as the week draws to a close, despite registering 4% losses over the previous 24 hours.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

Due to yesterday’s crypto market rout, Ethereum (ETH) has now faced rejection at the key $4,000 resistance level for three times since March 2024. The second-largest cryptocurrency by reported market cap is now trading at the $3,400 level, down 6.7% in the past 24 hours.

What’s Behind Ethereum’s Underwhelming Price Performance?

While ETH has posted a respectable 47% year-to-date (YTD) gain, it has been outpaced by other major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and XRP, which have recorded significantly higher returns in the same period. Several factors appear to be holding back Ethereum’s price momentum.

One contributing factor is Ethereum’s comparatively weaker brand recognition versus Bitcoin. This was highlighted by the lackluster response to the launch of spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in August. The introduction of these ETFs failed to generate any meaningful price movement for ETH.

Data further reveals a significant disparity in investor interest between the two assets. The total net assets held in U.S. spot ETH ETFs currently amount to $11.98 billion. In contrast, spot BTC ETFs hold $109.66 billion – nearly ten times as much.

Additionally, yesterday saw over $60 million in outflows from spot ETH ETFs, marking the largest single-day outflow since November 19. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez pointed out that social sentiment around ETH has reached its lowest point in a year. However, based on historical trends, this could paradoxically signal a bullish opportunity for Ethereum.

Futures traders have also turned bearish on ETH, as the aggregated premium for futures positions flipped negative for the first time since November 6. The market downturn triggered Ethereum’s largest liquidation event since December 9, with $299 million liquidated in a single day. Such large-scale liquidations often lead to cascading sell-offs and heightened price volatility.

Another recurring concern stems from the Ethereum Foundation’s tendency to sell ETH near local price peaks. In a recent X post, Lookonchain noted that the Ethereum Foundation sold 100 ETH on December 17. Following this sale, ETH’s price has dropped approximately 17%.

Further skepticism surrounds Ethereum’s supply issuance. A recent Binance Research report highlighted that ETH’s relatively high issuance rate raises questions about its “ultrasound money” narrative, which suggests Ethereum is a deflationary asset.

Is Ethereum Set For A Bounce?

Seasoned crypto analyst @Trader_XO stated that they bought spot ETH at the $3,200 price level yesterday. The analyst added that they expect “a good few weeks” of price consolidation before ETH’s next leg up.

Meanwhile, crypto trader @CryptoShadowOff identified a potential ascending triangle formation on ETH’s monthly chart. According to their analysis, ETH could drop further to the $2,800 range before targeting a new all-time high (ATH).

Market analyst @CryptoBullet1 emphasized that on the 4-hour chart, ETH has not been this oversold since August 5, indicating a bounce may be on the horizon. At press time, ETH trades at $3,400, down 6% in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) neared $100,000 on Dec. 21 after a “monster” BTC price bounce delivered snap upside.

In a recent tweet, Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the popular book on managing finance “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” investor and entrepreneur, raised the topic of Bitcoin, U.S. government spending and the Fed Reserve.

He also made an important warning to the financial markets as to how he sees their nearest future.

Best assets to park your money in per Kiyosaki

Kiyosaki got on his hobby-horse right from the start, saying that he does not trust the "US Givernment" (hinting at the excessive spending over the past few years), the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve. He added that he stopped trusting the government back in 1965, when he took notice that U.S. “silver coins were now alloys of cooper.”

Kiyosaki also reminded his readers about president Nixon removing the gold standard that had been used to back the U.S. dollar until then: “Nixon took the US dollar off the gold standard.”

It was then, the financial expert revealed, that he began to “save” gold, silver, and these days he is saving Bitcoin.

Today, he said, “the best assets for your money are real gold, silver, and Bitcoin.”

Crucial warning to financial markets

In his typical manner, Kiyosaki warned the financial community about the approaching crash, which is likely to be the biggest in history. He tweeted: “The world is about to crash financially.”

However, he believes that saving Bitcoin, physical gold and silver can save one’s wealth, and it is much safer to invest in those rather than saving fiat money and investing in assets based on fiat money.

Bitcoin to $350,000 in 2025, Kiyosaki believes

Earlier this week, Robert Kiyosaki made a bold prediction, saying that he expects the world’s flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin to skyrocket to $350,000, largely thanks to the new U.S. president who supports crypto and intends to build a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for the U.S. in the next few years.

So far, he has recommended that the community should start accumulating Bitcoin in parts, buying Satoshis, since one single BTC back then was worth more than $106,000. After that BTC soared above $108,000. From Tuesday to Friday, Bitcoin plummeted by 15%, falling from $108,380 to $92,640 on the news of the Fed Reserve planning to reduce its dovish policy and make a much smaller interest rate cut next year. By now, Bitcoin has managed to recover 7%, rising to $99,150.