Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s grim outlook on the US debt ceiling issue has chilled the crypto world (not in a good way). But it’s not the only worry.
Why? Various reasons. But for one thing, it’s because Janet “From the Rooftops” Yellen isn’t exactly giving out the most positive vibes about Congress sorting out the US debt ceiling issue.
US stonks indices are also well down overnight on this dominant narrative du jour, too.
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What happened? Essentially, US Treasury Secretary Yellen reiterated her fears that America “could run out of money” to pay its leaning tower of bills as soon as June 1.
Just sort it out, would you, US politicians? We all know you’ll reach some sort of deal before the 9-10-day deadline … r, right? You’d be batsh-t crazy not to, really. But do you have to drag it out like a reality TV show? Yes, yes it seems you do.
BREAKING: ðºð¸ It’s now “highly likely” the US will run out of cash by early June, says Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen – Bloomberg pic.twitter.com/YvMiDKs5JM
— Radarð¨ (@RadarHits) May 23, 2023
There are hopium-smoke-enshrouded schools of thought out there, however, that Bitcoin could even do pretty well off the back of a US debt default, in a “flight to safety” towards financial “safe-haven” alternatives.
We wouldn’t be placing bets on that happening in the short term.
That said, it is pretty much what Bitcoin was originally designed for by one Satoshi Nakamoto those 13 or so years ago now.
For the (or at least some sort of) record, JP Morgan has put the likelihood of a US default at 25 per cent, according to our very own non-fungible Eddy Sunarto over at this morning’s Market Highlights.
A couple of other things, by the way, that could have been weighing on markets on Thursday are:
- A hot inflation report in the UK
- The release of the US Fed’s latest FOMC meeting minutes.
The latter, according to Eddy, “revealed that if inflation ends up being stickier than economists are expecting, the FOMC board could very well skip a June meeting, but follow through with (a rate rise) at the July meeting.”
Macro uncertainty a-go-go. Fun times, eh?
MORE FROM STOCKHEAD: Hong Kong firms as crypto hub | You got to know when to HODL ‘em | CloudTech demands crypto regulations
Top 10 overview
With the overall crypto market cap at $US1.14 trillion at noon Thursday (AEST), down 3.3 per cent since the same time Wednesday, here’s the state of play among the top 10 tokens – according to CoinGecko.
Source: CoinGecko
It’s a sea of red on the 24-hour time frame, unfortunately. Weekly, too.
Let’s cast a net out to see if we can reel in any, erm, bullfish still swimming about.
Here’s US analyst Roman Trading … and while not exceedingly bullish or bearish, he is at least sticking to his guns for the moment that suggest a serious lack of “bearish vibes” on the Bitcoin charts, based on low volume surrounding these latest dips.
Giving updates where I can here:
Volume isnât giving me bearish vibes. I had a low risk long at 26.7 that was stopped but Iâm still advocating for longs.
Thereâs nothing that looks truly bearish here as volume isnât validating a breakdown.#bitcoin#cryptocurrencypic.twitter.com/tTiAHoR5H1
— Roman (@Roman_Trading) May 24, 2023
Dutchman Michaël van de Poppe, meanwhile, thinks things are “still fine” on the “higher time frames” for the OG digital asset …
If you look at the higher timeframes for #Bitcoin, things are still fine.
Healthy correction in an uptrend, approaching many support levels.
Rather than expecting $12K, it’s important to look at what might be support around here. pic.twitter.com/DZm8vBPfGh
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) May 24, 2023
Uppers and downers
Some of the biggest 24-hour gainers and losers at noon Thursday (AEST). Stats based on CoinGecko.com data.
PUMPERS (11-100 market cap position)
- maramaruNFT (MARU), (market cap: $U479 million) +24.8 per cent
- NEO (NEO), (mc: $US734 million) +4 per cent
- Bitget Token (BGB), (mc: $US644 million) +0.9 per cent
- LEO Token (LEO), (mc: $US3.3 billion) +0.6 per cent
- GGTKN (GGTKN), (mc: $US1.05 billion) +0.6 per cent
PUMPERS (lower, lower caps)
- Samoyedcoin (SAMO), (market cap: $US37 million) +218 per cent
- NUM Token (NUM), (mc: $US28 million) +56.1 per cent
- Krypton DAO (KBD), (mc: $US274 million) +47.4 per cent
- Ben (BEN), (mc: $US98 million) +35 per cent
- Blox (CDT), (mc: $US163 million) +33.3 per cent
- ARPA (ARPA), (mc: $US106 million) +32.4 per cent
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SLUMPERS (11-100 market cap position)
- Pepe (PEPE), (market cap: $US582 million) -12.4 per cent
- Kava (KAVA), (mc: $U590 million) -10.1 per cent
- Fantom (FTM), (mc: $US906 million) -9.8 per cent
- Stacks (STX), (mc: $US809 million) – 8.2 per cent
- Litecoin (LTC), (mc: $US6.12 billion) -8.2 per cent per cent
- Injective (INJ), (mc: $US492 million) – 8.2 per cent
SLUMPERS (lower, lower caps)
- MangoMan Intelligent (MMIT), (market cap: $US24 million) -49.9 per cent
- Multichain (MULTI), (mc: $US99 million) -26.7 per cent
- SelfKIey (KEY), (mc: $US40 million) -20.3 per cent
- ORDI (ORDI), (mc: $US147 million) -22.8 per cent
- Wojak (WOJAK), (mc: $US12 million) -18.8 per cent
Around the blocks: Chinese TV talks about crypto
Some pertinence and randomness that stuck with us on our morning moves through the Crypto Twitterverse.
So, CCTV, Chinese Central Television that is, has reportedly broadcasted a segment referencing the crypto adoption that seems all set to happen in Hong Kong with the opening of retail trading of digital assets there from June 1.
Here’s the CEO head of the global Binance exchange Changpeng “CZ” Zhou, who seems to think this is a non-financially advised “big deal”.
CCTV (China Central Television) just broadcasted crypto. It’s a big deal. The Chinese speaking communities are buzzing. Historically, coverages like these led to bull runs.
Not saying past predicts the future. And not financial advice.https://t.co/2wcArnPI93
— CZ ð¶ Binance (@cz_binance) May 24, 2023
According to an article by The Block, the CCP-controlled broadcaster noted that “starting from June 1, any virtual asset trading platform must apply for a license from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to operate in the country.”
“The broadcaster also prominently displayed two images featuring the Bitcoin logo,” reads the Block report, adding: “Another shot contained what appeared to be a screen with Samoyedcoin’s collection of dog NFTs.”
Ahh … so that’s why the memecoin SAMO is up 218 per cent today (it was at one stage up 340 per cent). Never underestimate the power of a Chinese-related pump (and/or dump), I guess.
In other news, the Ledger hardware wallet firm is still in PR hell over its controversial, proposed Recover feature, which it’s now paused. In the meantime, satirists are having a field day on Twitter …
This content first appeared on stockhead.com.au
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