Bitcoin posted its worst month since November, but network activity saw record highs

Even though bitcoin just ended its first down month of the year, the network activity hit new record highs — and that’s a good thing for Bitcoin and its investors. Bitcoin closed May down 7.9% after trading between $26,000 and $28,000. It was the cryptocurrency’s worst month since November. However, Bitcoin’s average daily network hashrate – which measures how much computing power the network uses to process transactions and is a key indicator of the network’s health – increased for the fifth consecutive month. Investors want the hashrate to be…

Paul Tudor Jones says he’s going to keep bitcoin in his portfolio

Legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones said he’s still hanging on to his bitcoin and always will. The founder of Tudor Investment and New York City’s Robinhood Foundation told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday that he’s “never sat on a horse that long.” Jones began buying the cryptocurrency in 2020 as a hedge against inflation. At the time, he compared it to the gold trade back in the 1970s. “From the beginning, I’ve always said I want to have a small allocation to it because it’s the only thing humans…

Bitcoin mining stocks rally as network congestion stirs hopes for higher fees ahead

Bitcoin’s price action has been relatively tame lately, but bitcoin-related stocks are on the rise this week as miners benefit from recent congestion on the network. That congestion was driven primarily by sudden activity in NFT-like assets, or “Ordinals,” on the Bitcoin blockchain. As a result of the congestion, Binance over the weekend briefly paused user withdrawals twice, which helped push the price of bitcoin down 7% over two days. As that played out, however, the network experienced a record high of more than 465,000 transactions awaiting confirmation in Bitcoin’s…

Grayscale moves to expand ETF business as legal fight over spot bitcoin fund continues

Grayscale Investments is forging ahead in its plan to transform itself into a major ETF player even as the firm’s potential flagship fund remains blocked by regulators. The crypto-focused asset manager announced on Tuesday that it has created the Grayscale Funds Trust to manage some publicly traded products, including ETFs, under its own roof as part of the rules of the 1940 Investment Companies Act. Grayscale also filed to create three new ETFs under the banner of the trust. “The formation of the Grayscale Funds Trust represents yet another important…

Bitcoin could rally 30% in the next month, says Canaccord Genuity

Crypto prices were a little sleepy to kick off the first week of May, but investors remain confident in its long-term up trend, and charts show there could be another short-term crypto rally underway, according to Canaccord Genuity. Bitcoin is on pace to end the week up less than 1%, according to Coin Metrics. Meanwhile, ether is looking to notch a 4% gain on the week, thanks in part to its meme-driven rally Friday . Bitcoin and ether ended April higher by 3.3% and 4.3%, respectively. However, there could be…

Bitcoin will have more time to shine later this year, Bernstein says

Crypto dipped to begin May as investors bet that First Republic’s failure and subsequent takeover by JPMorgan Chase would bring an end to the regional banking crisis. However, the havoc in the banking sector that has been pushing bitcoin higher for the past two months is “nowhere near an end,” and bitcoin should stay resilient for many months to come, according to Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani. “Bitcoin and the crypto financial system were made exactly for times like today,” he said in a note Monday, highlighting the “breakdown of traditional…

This beaten-up bitcoin proxy should rebound 35%, Berenberg says

Bitcoin is back in a bull market by many accounts and is poised to continue its 2023 rally as the rest of crypto comes under regulatory scrutiny. Equity investors interested in riding bitcoin’s current uptrend should consider buying shares of Microstrategy , the enterprise analytics firm and bitcoin proxy, according to Berenberg Capital Markets. The firm initiated coverage of the company Thursday with a buy rating and a $430 price target, which is more than 34% from where the stock closed that day. “We believe a combination of circumstances, evolution,…

Bitcoin volatility has eased, but crypto futures show rising optimism

Bitcoin trading has returned to the stillness that characterized the market before U.S. banks went into crisis last month and became a major upside catalyst for crypto. Almost a week ago, bitcoin began a three-day descent below $30,000 after just a few days above the mark. It has been trading sideways ever since. Meanwhile, bitcoin and ether volatility have fallen to below early March levels, according to Kaiko. Even “implied volatility,” which uses options data to show the market’s forecast of a likely movement in an asset’s price, is moving…

Bitcoin’s chart has some eerie parallels to gold in the 1970s

Many investors have dismissed the notion that bitcoin could be a type of digital gold since the cryptocurrency has been trading like a speculative risk asset for much of the past two years. But about 50 years ago, gold did the same thing, Morgan Stanley said in a recent note. If bitcoin’s current moves continue to follow those of gold in the 1970s, the cryptocurrency could be in for some tough times ahead. In 1971, individuals could no longer convert U.S. dollars to a specified amount of gold. Since 2008,…

Where bitcoin goes after hitting $30,000, according to chart analysts

Bitcoin climbed above $30,000 Monday night for the first time since June – and sustained that level throughout trading on Tuesday. After overcoming several obstacles over the past three months, bitcoin ended March up more than 20% and advanced more than 70% over the course of the first quarter. It’s now up about 82% for 2023 and many investors consider crypto to be in or near the start of a new bull market (the previous one began in January 2021). This week’s price rally has added to the optimism around…