First Mover: Traders Opting for Cash and Carry Strategy as Bitcoin’s ‘Contango’ Widens

PLUS: Bitcoin Struggles Near $60K; Short-Term Support Around $58K

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets April 12, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) +0.4%  $59,790 Ether (ETH)  -0.1% $2,138 (Price data as of April 12 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning. Here's what we're writing about: Market Moves: Traders Opting for Cash and Carry Strategy as Bitcoin's 'Contango' Widens Technician's Take: Bitcoin Struggles Near $60K; Short-Term Support Around $58K Check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Lawrence Lewitinn and Emily Parker, at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests: Alex Meshinsky, Celsius Founder and CEO Michele Schneider, MarketGauge Managing Director Max Moore, Sotheby's Head of Contemporary Afternoon Sales Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: Cardano (ADA): +6.2% Algorand (ALGO): +5.9% Cosmos (ATOM): +2.8% Losers:  Stellar (XLM): -5.8% OMG Network (OMG): -5.2%  EOS (EOS): -4.1%   The CoinDesk 20 filters from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and digital assets to define a core group of 20. These assets constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges. Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Traders Opting for Cash and Carry Strategy as Bitcoin's 'Contango' Widens   Savvy traders are locking returns of over 40% in the wake of bitcoin (BTC)'s widening contango – the spread between prices in futures and spot markets, also known as futures basis/premium.   "With the premium on bitcoin futures expanding to as high as 40% per annum for the June expiry, there is a lot of interest from cash and carry traders to arbitrage the premium and lock-in risk-free gains," Pankaj Balani, co-founder and CEO of the Singapore-based Delta Exchange, told CoinDesk in a WhatsApp chat.   Cash and carry arbitrage is a market-neutral strategy aimed to profit from price discrepancies in one or more markets.   It involves buying an asset in the spot market against a short position in the futures market when the futures draw a significant premium relative to the spot price. That way, traders pocket a fixed return, as the premium decays over time and converges with the spot price on the expiry date.   Bitcoin futures basis (Source: Skew) According to data source Skew, bitcoin's June expiry futures listed on major exchanges such as Binance, Huobi, OKEx, BitMEX, and Deribit are currently drawing an annualized premium of 44% to 48%. Meanwhile, those listed on the Delta Exchange are trading at a premium of 30%.   So, a carry trade taken now will yield an annualized return of 44% to 48% – a number significantly higher than interest rates on crypto deposits offered by lending platforms such as Genesis and BlockFi or government bond yields in emerging economies.   CoinDesk 20 data shows bitcoin broke out of a multi-week consolidation early Saturday with a sudden $3,000 rise to $61,065. Futures premium on major exchanges increased along with the spot market price, rising from roughly 32% to over 40%.   However, market chatter shows growing concerns regarding the uptick in perpetual futures funding rate – the cost of holding long positions calculated and paid every eight hours.    Read the original story here: Traders Opting for Cash and Carry Strategy as Bitcoin's 'Contango' Widens A message from Nexo Your digital assets deserve a savings account in their BEST INTEREST. 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Four-hour BTC chart shows all-time high resistance with lower support levels and RSI (Source: TradingView) BTC held support around $50,000 on March 25 after retracing nearly 50% of its rally from the February 28 price low. Since then, BTC's near 19% rally has stabilized, breaking above a series of lower price highs from April 1 and holding support from the 200-period moving average. The cryptocurrency is now overbought, defined by its relative strength index (RSI) on the four-hour chart. Previous overbought signals have preceded 5%-10% declines over the past month and have all occurred near $58,000-$60,000 resistance areas. A decisive break above $60,000 is needed to reignite the broader uptrend. For now, short-term buyers remain active at higher support levels since February. Original story found here: Bitcoin Struggles Near $60K; Short-Term Support Around $58K A message from FBG Capital FBG is a leading digital asset manager and investment firm focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Founded in 2017, FBG has supported hundreds of innovative global blockchain projects and is one of the largest liquidity providers on major Crypto exchanges in Asia/World. BOLO Be on the look out for these upcoming events: 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. ET): U.S. monthly budget statement (March). Forecast is for a deficit of $315 billion. A message from CoinDesk CoinDesk's Quarterly Review Webinar Series   The suits are here to stay, but retail isn't going away. While Q1 saw the emergence of retail investors as a market driver, crypto caught explosive interest through non-fungible tokens from investors, celebrities and the general public.   Every Monday at 11:30 a.m. ET, crypto analysts Noelle Acheson and Christine Kim will discuss the performance and milestones of bitcoin and ether compared to macro and other crypto assets, along with important developments in the emerging DeFi and NFT sectors. Each episode in this four-part series will reference key findings from the latest CoinDesk Quarterly Review report and a live Q&A.   Sign up for CoinDesk's Quarterly Review Webinar Series, every Monday from April 12. ICYMI In case you missed it, here's the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Crypto Markets and Taxes; Meltem Demirors on Crypto Climate Accord, Coinbase and More Crypto influencer Meltem Demirors of CoinShares explains the Crypto Climate Accord that CoinShares joined along with Ripple and ConsenSys, and how they plan to convince the entire cryptocurrency industry to use renewable energy. Plus, Tim Frost of Yield App joins our markets discussion with a closer look at DeFi, and Pierre Accounting CEO Eric Pierre with tax-related information and news. Are accountants seeing signs of cryptocurrencies going mainstream? A message from CoinDesk Investor Momentum to NFT Boom: CoinDesk Research's Quarterly Review   Introducing CoinDesk Research's quarterly review, covering the main developments over the first three months of 2021 in Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, stablecoins and – of course – NFTs.   The report presents over 100 insights on how retail investors are picking up market momentum, how Ethereum activity is not being driven by NFTs as much as one might think, how stablecoins have responded to increased activity, how DeFi is for now the realm of decentralized exchanges and more.   Download the CoinDesk Quarterly Review, First Quarter 2021. Latest Headlines Crypto Long & Short: Peter Thiel Defines Bitcoin's Accidental Role in Global Politics Thiel's comments about China "weaponizing" bitcoin to hurt the U.S. are a warning about the cost of inaction. XRP Doubles in 7 Days, Heads for Biggest Weekly Gain Since December 2017 The token used in Ripple Labs' payment network has climbed six-fold this year as some traders look through the SEC case and analysts see bullish patterns in price charts. Biden Administration Concerned Over Long-Term Effects of Digital Yuan: Report Officials at multiple government departments are increasing efforts to better understand any possible threat posed to the U.S. dollar by China's digital yuan.   JPMorgan Testing Blockchain Solution to Improve Transfers With Taiwanese Banks The solution, called "Confirm," will enable participating banks to confirm recipients' account information ahead of making payments in near-real time.   Topps to Launch Official MLB NFTs in Bid to Best NBA Top Shot The baseball card company, fresh on the heels of announcing plans to go public, is launching official MLB collectibles on the Wax blockchain later this month. Introducing Unlocked 101 at Consensus by CoinDesk 2021 New to crypto? Here's a crash course. Unlocked 101 is a free educational series of sessions designed to give you the tools to navigate crypto. Sessions will be hosted May 4–20 to prepare you for Consensus by CoinDesk 2021, our virtual big-tent event. Register for Unlocked 101 this May.   Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. 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