5 Things to Know in Crypto Today

Key Points

• Bitcoin is changing hands around $20,500, above its 21DMA but just under its weekly high pre-Friday’s US NFP report.
• Crypto markets weren’t much fazed by Wednesday’s robust US data or hawkish Fed minutes.
• Shiba Inu’s developer announced plans for a new decentralized stablecoin (SHI).

Bitcoin Edges Higher, Eyes Weekly Highs Pre-US NFP on Friday

Though still capped by earlier weekly highs around $20,700, Bitcoin continues to trade with an upside bias and is now comfortably trading above its 21-Day Moving Average for the first time since early June near $20,500. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is trading higher by about 1.5% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap, in tandem with resilient US stock markets.

Tier two data in the form of US Trade Balance figures and US weekly jobless claims out later in the day probably won’t impact macro sentiment. Traders remain very much focused on slowing growth and interest rate increases from major central banks. On which note, crypto traders should watch comments from a few Fed policymakers later this afternoon for any indications as to whether the bank will hike rates by 50 or 75 bps later this month.

But trading conditions are likely to remain fairly subdued in the run-up to Friday’s US labor market report, which could trigger significant intra-day volatility across asset classes.

In terms of the major altcoins, Ethereum was last trading just under $1,200 and higher by about 3.5% in the last 24 hours according to CoinMarketCap. The likes of XRP, SOL, ADA, DOGE and DOT were all up between 1-3% over the same time period.

Crypto Unfazed Despite Robust US Data/Hawkish Fed Minutes

Cryptocurrency markets were unfazed on Wednesday by strong than expected US services sector activity data, job openings figures and the release of what was a very hawkish set of minutes from the Fed’s June meeting. Though the latest US ISM Services PMI fell to a two-year low, at 55.3 it still indicates that growth in the sector in June was robust.

Additionally, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey showed that there were still slightly more than 11.25 million job openings in the US at the end of May, near an all-time high and well above the number of unemployed. Continued strong labor demand continues to be a source of strength for the US economy. US recession bets thus took a blow on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the latest Fed minutes explained that the bank had accelerated its pace of rate hikes to 75 bps due to a deterioration in the near-term inflation outlook. The minutes said this also justifies the bank’s new hawkish rate guidance that foresees interest rates moving well into restrictive territory (near 4.0%) in 2023. The minutes revealed that Fed policymakers expect another 75 bps or 50 bps at the upcoming meeting in July.

US Ethics Watchdog Clamps Down on Crypto-Owning Government Employees

In a new order issued by the United States Office of Government Ethics, government employees who are actively investing in cryptocurrencies or are found holding any will be banned from participating in developing regulations and policies focusing on cryptocurrencies. An exemption in the order means that government employees working on crypto policy will still be able to invest in crypto via publicly-traded securities and mutual funds of companies involved with crypto and blockchain services.

UK to Introduce Stablecoin Legislation by August, Says BoE Policymaker

Legislation setting out regulations for stablecoins will be introduced in the UK as soon as August, Bank of England (BoE) policymaker Jon Cunliffe said on Wednesday. The legislation is set to be introduced by the UK Treasury in tandem with other government bodies including the BoE and Financial Conduct Authority. Recent events in government (UK PM Boris Johnson just resigned over the piling up of various domestic scandals) have delayed plans a little, Cunliffe noted.

Shiba Inu Devs Announce Plans for SHI Stablecoin

Pseudonymous Shiba Inu token developer Shytoshi Kusama announced plans to expand the token’s ecosystem in a blog post on Wednesday. According to Kusama, “independent developers” are working on a new decentralized stablecoin called SHI, which Kusama said will seek to “avoid the issues found in other moonshots”. Analysts said this was a reference to the spectacular implosion of Terra’s multi-billion market cap UST stablecoin.

Kusama also announced that the soon-to-be-released Shiba Inu metaverse’s reward token TREAT would be linked to the Shiba Collectible Card Game, which will reside in Shiba’s metaverse. TREAT is also going to help provide stability to the SHI stablecoin, the blog post noted without explaining further.