January 2025 – Mik4mob
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Coin Earn Money forex

CFTC acting chair announces roundtables on crypto market structure

Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham said the commission planned to go “back to basics,” also suggesting the regulator would explore regulatory safeguards.

Caroline Pham, acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has announced the agency will be holding public roundtable discussions on market issues, including those related to digital assets.

In a Jan. 27 notice, the CFTC said the commission would be scheduling roundtable events “over the next several months,” dealing with conflicts of interest, prediction markets and digital assets. According to the acting chair, the discussions would follow engagement with industry leaders and market participants.

“The CFTC will get back to basics by hosting staff roundtables that will develop a robust administrative record with studies, data, expert reports, and public input,” said Pham.

“A holistic approach to evolving market trends will help to establish clear rules of the road and safeguards that will promote US economic growth and American competitiveness.”

The announcement came less than a week after CFTC commissioners voted for Pham to be the regulator’s acting chair following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Pham has been serving as a CFTC commissioner since April 2022. It’s unclear at the time of publication whom Trump intends to nominate to serve as chair.

Former CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, who stepped down from his position on Jan. 20, will remain at the commission until Feb. 7. In one of his final statements as head of the regulator, he urged policymakers to address regulatory gaps on crypto.

New administration, new approach to crypto?
The CFTC’s authority to regulate crypto could change should US lawmakers in Congress move forward with legislation to differentiate how the agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission handle digital assets.

One of the proposed market structure bills, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century, passed the House of Representatives in May 2024 and is expected to go to the Senate for a vote.

Trump nominated former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as chair of the commission, which had three out of five members serving at the time of publication.

Until Atkins’ Senate nomination hearing and potential confirmation, SEC commissioner Mark Uyeda will likely be serving as acting chair.

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Coin Earn Money forex

Bitcoin price fell below $98,000 with heavy selling

Bitcoin price fell to $97,754 as crypto and stock markets digested the significance of a China-based ChatGPT AI competitor called DeepSeek.

Bitcoin
BTC
$102,077
experienced a surprising 7% correction on Jan. 27, briefly dropping below $98,000 for the first time in over 10 days. Regardless of the factors driving this movement,

Bitcoin’s price is struggling to reclaim the $100,000 support level, prompting traders to question whether the bullish momentum has dissipated.

Bitcoin derivatives metrics remained stable despite the $7,320 price drop to $97,754, suggesting that whales and arbitrage desks were prepared for the downturn. However, stablecoin metrics from Chinese markets indicate that cryptocurrency demand in the region remains subdued.

Bitcoin futures and options markets displayed resilience
The Bitcoin futures annualized premium, which measures how monthly contracts trade relative to the spot market, provides a key insight into leverage demand. Premium levels between 5% and 10% are considered neutral, while values above this range reflect optimism.

Despite Bitcoin’s temporary dip to its lowest level in 10 days, the BTC futures premium consistently stayed above the 10% neutral threshold.

This suggests no signs of panic selling or significant demand for bearish leveraged positions (shorts).

Similarly, Bitcoin options skew, which measures the price difference between call (buy) and put (sell) options, was largely unaffected by the price drop. In neutral markets, the 25% delta skew typically ranges between -6% and +6%, with values below that indicating bullish sentiment.

The BTC options skew briefly shifted from -7% to -2%, moving out of bullish territory. However, professional traders quickly adjusted their positions, bringing the metric back to -6%,

near the boundary of a neutral-to-bullish market. More importantly, the dip below $98,000 did not trigger excessive downside hedging demand, demonstrating resilience in the derivatives market.

Bitcoin and crypto market sentiment remains cautious
To assess whether sentiment is limited to Bitcoin derivatives, it is crucial to analyze stablecoin demand in China. When traders exit cryptocurrency markets, USD Tether
USDT
$0.9998
typically trades at a discount to the official Yuan exchange rate. Conversely, during bull runs, stablecoins can trade at a 1.5% or higher premium.

Currently, USD Tether is trading at a 0.7% discount to the official USD/CNY rate, signaling moderate selling pressure. However, this represents an improvement from recent days when USDT traded at a

1.5% discount. This trend has been noticeable since Jan. 19, shortly after Bitcoin reclaimed the $105,000 level, following 30 days below this resistance.

Data from derivatives markets shows that professional traders remain cautiously optimistic and relatively comfortable with Bitcoin above $100,000. However, overall cryptocurrency demand in China remains weak. Likely, external factors are weighing on sentiment.

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Coin Earn Money forex

Bitcoin ‘extremely bullish’ as traders gear up for next BTC price pump

BTC price woes are increasingly a thing of the past after Bitcoin recovers the majority of its DeepSeek dip.

Bitcoin
BTC
$101,971
is a “buy” again after reclaiming $102,000 during the DeepSeek US stocks rout.

In a post on X on Jan. 28, Andre Dragosch, European head of research at asset management firm Bitwise, called BTC price action “extremely bullish.”

BTC price action “outperformed” Nasdaq
Bitcoin is beating stock markets on intraday timeframes, showing resilience in the face of mass uncertainty over the US’ prowess in the AI sector.

BTC/USD has gained more than $5,000 since its local lows of $97,750 on Jan. 27, putting it firmly in contrast to both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. These closed the latest trading session down 1.5% and 3%, respectively.

Even as concerns over DeepSeek continued with the announcement of another DeepSeek AI tool, the Janus-Pro-7B image generator, Bitcoin bulls held the six-figure mark.

“The fact that Bitcoin stabilised while the NASDAQ continued to slide is extremely bullish imo,” Dragosch thus reacted.

“Bitcoin also outperformed the NASDAQ over the past 2 trading days. Bitcoin already showing limited downside here.”

The increasing divergence between crypto and stocks is also apparent in sentiment data. According to the Fear & Greed Index, an atmosphere of “fear” currently prevails across the latter with a score of 39/100.

Meanwhile, the Index’s crypto equivalent measures 72/100, closing in on “extreme greed” territory.

Among them is Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, who confirmed that he had scaled into the market on the bounce.

“That wick to $97,750 should not shake your confidence in this Bitcoin bull run, but it should remind you that a deep correction can, and most likely will, develop when the market gets over hyped,” he told X followers.

Alan referenced one of Material Indicators’ proprietary trading tools showing positive signals for price direction.

“Recovering the 21-Day Moving Average before the D candle close was a positive sign, and the new Trend Precognition signal is an

indication that BTC is likely to continue consolidating in this range before the next explosive move develops,” he continued.

Popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital is equally optimistic, arguing that the bull market is far from at its peak by historical standards.

“It is still relatively early on in the BTC Parabolic Phase of this cycle,” he reiterated.

“Historically, this phase has lasted on average ~300 days. Bitcoin is on Day 82 of its Parabolic Phase.”