Bitcoin Tests $25K Before Retreating; Korea Play-to-Earn Ban Unlikely to End Soon

August 15, 2022 World Blockchain

The Korean government has yet to show any sign of wanting to change current laws, said attendees at Korea Blockchain Week; ether falls.

Prices: Bitcoin tested $25K before dropping in weekend trading; ether falls on Sunday
Insights: Korea play-to-earn ban remains a fixture for now.

Prices
●Bitcoin (BTC): $24,404 −0.5%
●Ether (ETH): $1,958 −1.6%
●S&P 500 daily close: 4,280.15 +1.7%
●Gold: $1,816 per troy ounce +0.9%
●Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.85% −0.04

Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Bitcoin Tests $25K Again; ether declines

Bitcoin pushed bravely closer to $25,000 for the third time in four days before retreating nearer more familiar ground.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was recently trading at about $24,400, roughly flat over the past 24 hours and slightly lower than where it started the weekend, although investors remained cautiously optimistic about recent economic indicators showing inflation waning and a lower likelihood of recession. Bitcoin has climbed the past three weeks to change hands toward the upper end of a $20,000 to $24,000 range.

“BTC’s resilience above $20,000 did see bulls pushing for more upside, especially after a successful retest of that range,” Joe DiPasquale, CEO of crypto fund manager BitBull Capital, wrote CoinDesk. “However, we are yet to witness the breakout above $25,000, which could see BTC moving quickly toward the $29,000-$30,000 range.”

Ether was recently down about 1.6% over the previous day to trade at about $1,950. The second largest crypto by market cap behind bitcoin has been lately gaining ground at an even faster pace than bitcoin and topped $2,000 for a second consecutive day on Saturday before declining. Ether’s surge has come as the hotly anticipated Merge, which will transform the Ethereum protocol from proof-of-work to a faster, less energy-sapping model looms closer. Ethereum completed its third and final test environment network (testnet) merge, Goerli last Wednesday.

Most other altcoins were in the red in late weekend trading with OP and QUICK off about 8% and 7%, respectively, although popular meme coin SHIB was up over 30% and DOGE jumped more than 10%.

Equity markets
Crypto gains have largely tracked stocks, which have also been regaining ground in recent weeks after a dismal first seven months. The tech-focused Nasdaq and S&P 500, which has a heavy tech component, closed Friday up 2.1% and 1.7%, respectively, as investors continued to savor Wednesday’s unexpectedly favorable consumer price index (CPI) showing July prices rising at a lower rate than the previous month. Markets are hopeful the data will allow the U.S. central bank to ratchet back its next interest rate hike to 50 basis points, a less aggressive approach than it has been following.
The Nasdaq and S&P have risen four consecutive weeks, their longest weekly upturn since last November. The Nasdaq has gained 20% since June to escape its lengthiest bear market run since 2008.