News Updates January 24, 2023

1. Bitcoin price prediction for Valentine’s Day 2023; Will BTC bring some love? Valentine’s Day is a day associated with love and affection, and for many investors, the love for Bitcoin (BTC) runs deep. They believe in the potential of digital currency and are willing to ride out the volatility in the hopes of realizing substantial returns in the long run.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, and to explore the potential impact of the holiday on the purchasing of Bitcoin as gifts, Finbold has analyzed the future performance of Bitcoin in 2023 using AI predictions, as well as a retrospective examination of Bitcoin’s past performance on Valentine’s Day to determine any correlation.

In particular, the machine learning algorithms over at the crypto monitoring platform PricePredictions have projected the price of Bitcoin to stand at $23,868 on February 14, 2023, according to the data retrieved on January 24.

Indeed, aggregating the technical analysis (TA) indicators, including the moving averages (MA), moving average convergence divergence (MACD), relative strength index (RSI), Bollinger Bands (BB), and more, the platform’s artificial intelligence (AI) predict a 4.11% increase on the price of BTC by Valentines Day.

Historical BTC Valentines Day prices

Valentine’s Day 2021 saw fresh all-time highs reaching as high as $49,000 on the day, but over a year later, Bitcoin was already trading below that level, trading just about $42,000. 

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It will be up to this year’s holiday to make amends and keep the romance alive, although the asset is almost half of that value. However, following a streak of red monthly candles, Bitcoin may be a buy once again, making it one present you could potentially offer loved ones this year.

In terms of the sentiment on TradingView’s technical analysis indicators on 1-day gauges, they were rather bullish, pointing at a ‘buy’ at 14, as summarized from oscillators being in the ‘neutral’ zone at 8, and moving averages suggesting ‘strong buy’ at 14.

Bitcoin Holiday price predictions

Notably, Finbold’s historical analyses and predictions for the holidays of Thanksgiving (with the projection of $16,353 ending with BTC trading at $16,256 at the start of the day) and Halloween (from a projected $21,348 to realized $20,728 at the start of the day) have proven rather accurate,  

However, the Christmas prediction did not fair as well, with the asset predicted to trade at $12,117 on December 25, 2022, as per CoinCodex.com projection.

Meanwhile, as things stand, Bitcoin is changing hands at $22,924, up 0.13% in the last 24 hours and up a further 8.04% across the previous seven days, with a total market capitalization of $441.7 billion.

2. Crypto exchanges keep failing, so why do we still trust Changpeng Zhao?

New data indicates Binance’s stablecoin, BUSD, has been undercollateralized at times by more than $1 billion. Yet, few have questioned CEO Changpeng Zhao.

Cryptocurrency has faced more than its fair share of catastrophes, nearly all of which seemed as though they might end or at least seriously impede the continued growth of the sector. Yet despite the many “teachable moments,” the social layer of crypto refuses to learn its lesson and continues to place its trust in the hands of individuals rather than fully utilize the technologies it claims to support.

Since the early days of the industry, crypto has faced major blows at the hands of centralized actors — Mt. Gox, which handled 70% of global Bitcoin transactions, lost track of 25,000 Bitcoin 

BTC $23,005 in 2011. The most recent debacle with FTX is only the latest iteration of a longstanding pattern within crypto. Just last year, we saw Terra implode and be written off as a Ponzi scheme. In the past, we’ve seen major exchanges unable to account for vast sums of user deposits, as was the case in 2018 with Canada-based exchange QuadrigaCX.

These incidents all made waves in mainstream news publications, working to erode crypto’s public image and further instilling an air of mystery and heightened risk surrounding the technology. Ironically, adherence to the underlying ethos of crypto would have averted such catastrophes, and concepts such as “don’t trust, verify” along with permissionless, publicly visible blockchain scanners should have barred centralized actors from being able to conduct clandestine operations and risking customer funds.

3. UK Treasury Is Looking for CBDC Head as It Explores Digital Pound

The country's government will introduce a consultation on its CBDC in the coming weeks.

A new LinkedIn job posting from the U.K. Treasury is seeking a "Head of Central Bank Digital Currency."

"The successful candidate will be responsible for leadership of HM Treasury’s work on a potential digital pound – a U.K. central bank digital currency (CBDC)," reads the posting.

The CBDC chief will lead the Treasury team as it works with the Bank of England on the government's soon to be issued consultation on the digital pound, the listing continues. This role will fit into the existing Payments and Fintech Team and is a separate from the current head of crypto-assets and digital currencies.

At the time, the U.K. is still considering whether or not it should issue a CBDC. In November Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and its impact on crypto as a whole proved the need for a digital pound.

Countries around the world are considering the same, with two-thirds of central banks in a recent Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) survey saying they would issue a CBDC within 10 years. The Bahamas, Nigeria, Eastern Caribbean and Jamaica have already issued a CBDC, while China is ahead of most larger nations with its own CBDC trials.

4. Is Bitcoin (BTC) Price Heading For $46K After This Massive Breakout?

January's Bitcoin (BTC) price rally has cryptocurrency analysts gunning for valuations that go as high as $46K.
 
On Tuesday, several cryptocurrencies,including Bitcoin (BTC), were trading higher with gains as the crypto market continued to rise. The price of Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has risen by almost 40% to breach the $23,000 level in January, indicating a substantial surge for the asset. This marks the highest gain for Bitcoin since October of 2021.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Surge

The recent price surge has caused many prominent analysts to focus on greater values, which were last seen in the mid of 2022. However, they also forecast further gains based on the sentiment of traditional risk assets which sometimes act as a catalyst to the price of Bitcoin. According to crypto research conducted by Game of Trades, BTC is racing towards a major breakout on its 1-year chart, with the likely prospect of hitting $46,100 sooner than it was initially anticipated. This would come after first breaking resistance levels located at $25,000 and $32,000.

A price is considered to be at a resistance level when there is a reasonable expectation that supply will be strong enough to prevent further price increases.

BTC Bullish Sentiment Intact

According to a report that was published earlier on CoinGape, there are other analysts who have voiced the same opinion on the price of Bitcoin (BTC). One such analyst is the well-known cryptocurrency analyst Michael van de Poppe, who predicts that the price of the flagship digital asset could reach as high as $35

5. India Has Clamped Down on Crypto. What Will It Do With Its G-20 Power?

As this year's president of the intergovernmental forum, India can dictate how developed countries think about the future of crypto regulation, says CoinDesk's Amitoj Singh.

 
A singular event has given India an opportunity to shape global policy for everything involving crypto – its presidency of the Group of 20 (G-20). Its term, which began in December, puts the country in the driver's seat as the developed world looks to define the future of money.
The presidency comes after India announced steep crypto taxes on Feb. 1, 2022, that were blasted by crypto companies operating in the country. As a result, Indians moved more than $3.8 billion in trading volume from local to international crypto exchanges between February, when the taxes were announced, and October 2022, after the new taxes were implemented, according to the Esya Centre, a New Delhi-based technology policy think tank.
There's a lot that could happen in for the crypto industry in India and how the nation regulates it. What India does during its G-20 presidency may provide some clues.

India’s year-long G-20 presidency gives the nation the power to set the crypto agenda for the intergovernmental forum. India can now bring together different stakeholders – the 19 countries and the European Union that make up the G-20, which together represent over 85% of global GDP – with invited international institutions including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated the G-20 presidency is an opportunity for the nation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that “how to regulate crypto assets” will be one of the presidency’s priorities.

6. MiCA at the Door: How European Crypto Firms Are Getting Ready for Sweeping Legislation

Adapting how crypto exchanges operate under the new regulation won’t be easy, but it might make it easier for them to get bank accounts in Europe.

The European Union’s sweeping Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation is slowly moving toward becoming law, and local crypto companies are getting ready for the change. The new regulations, which will be the law for all 27 EU member countries, apply stricter rules than are now in place in some European countries.

In addition to very detailed rules and limitations for stablecoin issuers, which CoinDesk has been covering in depth, MiCA demands an unprecedented level of transparency from crypto exchanges.

Under the legislation, not only must crypto companies keep the public informed about their pricing process and trading volumes in real time, but they must settle all trades the same day those trades happen. Exchanges must keep separate their own funds, including crypto, and funds belonging to their clients. The regulation also explicitly prohibits insider trading.

Most importantly, MiCA introduces a universal licensing approach for all EU member states, making it the most comprehensive legislation of its kind anywhere in the world.

Frédéric Montagnon, founder of French blockchain company Arianee, told CoinDesk the MiCA licensing and other rules are “more complex, more sophisticated” than those currently established by the French regulator, adding, “During the MICA process, they took a large part of what was done in France and made it deeper.”

At the moment, licensing is only mandatory in France for those crypto companies that provide any kind of crypto custody, meaning they store users’ funds in their own accounts. For those that don’t provide custody services, licensing is optional. MiCA – which as an EU-wide directive must be enacted at the member-state level – will make it obligatory for everyone.