First Mover: Bitcoin Rises Despite Dollar Strength as Elon Musk Adds BTC Payment Option
  Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team - Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn March 24, 2021 Sponsored by  (Price data as of Mar. 24 @11:00 UTC) Good morning. Here's what we're writing about:
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Market Moves by OMKAR GODBOLE  Bitcoin Rises Despite Dollar Strength as Elon Musk Adds BTC Payment Option
Bitcoin jumped early Wednesday after the Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker is now accepting the cryptocurrency as a payment option. Musk's Twitter announcement overshadowed the dollar strength, helping the cryptocurrency stay bid.
"You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin," Musk tweeted at 7:02 UTC, adding that the cryptocurrency received in payments won't be converted to cash, meaning the company is adding to its already sizeable stash of bitcoin.
Bitcoin rose from $54,700 to above $56,000 following Musk's announcement, having defended support at $53,000 on Tuesday. Tesla announced in early February it had bought bitcoin (BTC) worth $1.5 billion, validating the cryptocurrency's appeal as a reserve asset.
While the electric vehicle maker's acceptance of crypto as payment will undoubtedly grab the headlines, it's something Musk had said he likely would do when he announced Tesla's bitcoin investment earlier this year. What's at least as significant is his statement that Tesla operates its own bitcoin nodes as it shows the company – and its CEO – are committing even further to the cryptocurrency.
"Tesla accepting Bitcoin payments and running its own Bitcoin nodes is massively bullish. Others will follow," trader and analyst Alex Kruger tweeted.
Musk's announcement comes two days after Federal Reserve's Chairman Jerome Powell called bitcoin a volatile speculative asset.
At press time, bitcoin is changing hands near $55,300, representing a 3.6% gain on the day. The cryptocurrency is trading higher despite the strength of the U.S. dollar in the foreign exchange markets. The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against majors, has risen to 92.52 – the highest level since Nov. 24.
The two assets have mainly moved in opposite directions since March 2020. However, the inverse correlation has weakened somewhat in recent days, with bitcoin trading steady above $50,000 amid the DXY's rise to four-month highs.
The cryptocurrency is now fast approaching a descending trendline hurdle, as seen on the chart below.
 Bitcoin hourly chart (Source: TradingView)
A breakout above the trendline hurdle would open the doors for a re-test of record highs above $61,000. On the downside, $53,000 is key support.
--Omkar Godbole
Read the original story here: Bitcoin Rises Despite Dollar Strength as Elon Musk Adds BTC Payment Option
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Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes Bitcoin Holds Support, Approaching Resistance Around $60K
The long-term uptrend in bitcoin (BTC) remains intact, with support around $50,000. However, upside momentum continues to slow as bitcoin consolidates below the $60,000 resistance level.
Daily chart show BTC consolidating between $50K support and $60K resistance; neutral RSI (Source: Trading View)
--Damanick Dantes
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Over 80% of institutional inflows to bitcoin have come via Grayscale's bitcoin trust (GBTC). Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein on new competition, challenges and trends. A look back and forward with Tether co-founder William Quigley, now focused on the NFT craze. Plus, the popular MetaMask cloud wallet reaches an adoption milestone. We talk to its product lead.
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