First Mover: XRP Rises Above $1 for First Time Since March 2018, Despite SEC Shadow

PLUS: Bitcoin Rangebound With Support Near $57,900

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 6, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) +1.3%  $58,419 Ether (ETH)  +2.9%   $2,103 (Price data as of April 6 @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:XRP Rises Above $1 for First Time Since March 2018, Despite SEC Shadow   Technician's Take: Bitcoin Rangebound With Support Near $57,900 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: Marc Chandler, Bannockburn Global Forex Chief Market Strategist John Jansen, Deribit CEO Tim McCourt, CME Group Managing Director, Global Head of Equity Products   Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: XRP (XRP): +42.7% Tezos (XTZ): +19.3% Stellar (XLM): +15.0% Losers:  Orchid (OXT): -12.6%   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   XRP Rises Above $1 for First Time Since March 2018, Despite SEC Shadow     A rally divorced from reality. A reader might not be blamed for thinking that, after looking at the payment-focused cryptocurrency XRP's rally to a three-year high above $1 in the face of lingering regulatory concern.    There's more to it, according to some observers. The token might be getting price support from the XRP community, popularly known as the XRP army, CoinDesk's Ben Powers said during a panel discussion on CoinDesk TV Monday.    In December, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a case against Ripple Inc., which uses XRP in its payments network, for raising $1.3 billion by selling the token in unregistered securities offerings. While there is no closure yet, the cryptocurrency has climbed to the highest level since March 2018, having erased December's decline from roughly to $0.60 to $0.20 in recent weeks.    1-year chart of XRP   The token's price is still well off its January 2018 all-time of $3.30, based on pricing from the cryptocurrency data provider Messari.   Many feared that the cryptocurrency would miss the 2021 crypto bull run because of the shadow of the SEC probe. That pessimism likely stemmed from observers being overly U.S.-centric.    Several major western crypto exchanges have suspended XRP trading due to regulatory concerns. However, XRP believers can still buy the cryptocurrency on other, less-regulated exchanges, or on Asia-oriented venues.    Two of the top five XRP exchanges, as per the 24-hour trading volume – VCC and HBTC – are based in Singapore, while Bidesk is based in Australia. Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, does not fall under the purview of U.S. regulations.    It's quite clear that the buying pressure is coming from outside the U.S. It validates cryptocurrencies' appeal of being censorship-resistant – one that governments cannot control.    However, the XRP community's tenacity and the price rally do not necessarily mean the cryptocurrency's adoption as a payments mechanism will continue to grow.      Read the original story here: XRP Rises Above $1 for First Time Since March 2018, Despite SEC Shadow A message from Nexo Your digital assets deserve a savings account in their BEST INTEREST. Leading crypto lender Nexo treats you, your crypto and your fiat to industry-best Crypto & Fiat services, featuring:    * Up to 12% interest on digital assets, paid out daily! * Yields available on BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP, XLM, EOS, TRX, LINK, BNB, PAXG, USDT, USDC, TUSD, PAX, DAI, HUSD, GBP and EUR. * No minimum or maximum limits on funds deposited, offering infinite opportunities to earn. * #ZeroFees on all transactions. * Military-grade wallet security and top-tier insurance on all custodial assets with SOC 2 Type 2 certified crypto custodian BitGo. Get started at nexo.io Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes Bitcoin Rangebound With Support Near $57,900 Bitcoin (BTC) traded lower during Asia hours as buyers took profit near the $59,000 resistance zone. But selling pressure was limited near $57,900 support. Momentum signals are neutral over the short-term as BTC continues to consolidate. Hourly BTC chart shows support and resistance levels with a neutral RSI (Sourc: TradingView) The relative strength index (RSI) on the hourly chart signaled overbought conditions yesterday. This preceded a near 3% selloff during Asia hours. Buyers continue to defend rising support levels from the April 3 price low around $56,500. For now, BTC continues to trade above its 50-period volume weighted moving average on the hourly chart, which helps to define support and resistance levels during intraday price swings.   BTC has retraced roughly half of its near 6% selloff from April 1, although price action has been rangebound over the past month. "A consolidation phase is underway as overbought conditions are absorbed," wrote Katie Stockton, managing partner of Fairlead Strategies. "A breach of the 50-day moving average near $54,000 would be a reason to manage risk of a pullback given the first major support is uncomfortably far below near $42,000." Original story found here: Bitcoin Rangebound With Support Near $57,900 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: 14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET): Job Openings and Labor Turnover Surve (JOLTS) for Feb. Forecast is for 7.0 million. 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. ET): Consumer expectations for inflation for March. Forecast is for 3.1%.   ICYMI In case you missed it, here's this past Thursday's episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Alts Higher, Bakkt Crypto Wallet, Coinbase IPO, DeFi Funding Crypto futures trading exchange Bakkt launches Digital Wallet. Bakkt CEO Richard Johnson discusses its new retail focus. ETH, XRP and other alts are higher following Ether's jump this weekend. Texture Capital CEO Richard Johnson joins "First Mover" for Monday's crypto markets update and in the CoinDesk spotlight, DeFi Alliance with a look at DeFi trends and startups. Latest Headlines   Blockstack's STX Token Doubles in a Day, as South Korean Retail Traders Look at Altcoins The token is benefiting from altcoin season – and a listing on a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. Marathon Patent Mined 196 Bitcoin in Q1, Sees Having 100K+ Miners Online by Early 2022 Marathon's ASIC spending spree is one of many, and it could signal that bitcoin's hashrate will hit new highs still this year.   Coinbase and Bakkt Are Behind Paul Tudor Jones' Bitcoin Bets, SEC Documents Show The macro king's $44 billion hedge fund has quietly brokered crypto custody ties with some of the industry's biggest names.   South Korean Prosecutors Sell (and Profit Off) Bitcoin Taken From Criminals Prosecutors moved to liquidate the stolen goods on March 25 when the nation's law defining crypto as"virtual assets" went into effect. Binance-Owned WazirX Launches India's First NFT Platform "We are confident that this would be a beautiful marriage of arts, technology and commerce," one film actor said.   CoinShares Launches Litecoin ETP This follows the introduction of products for bitcoin and ether this year.   Tether's USDT to Launch on Kusama With Polkadot to Follow It's slated to become the first stablecoin to launch on Polkadot. During Market Boom, Monero Cryptojacking Fell for First Time Since 2018 New research from Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 tracks the rise and fall of illicit XMR mining in the cloud.   Grayscale Files to Register Trust for Microsoft-Partnered Nahmii Project Token The filing indicates Grayscale is considering a trust based on the Nahmii project's token as a future offering. Singapore's Central Bank Warns Crypto 'Certainly Not Suitable for Retail Investors' The statement came days after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was caught up in a token scam on blockchain social media platform BitClout. 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. 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. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.  ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. If you are in doubt about a link, type https://www.coindesk.com directly into your browser; do not copy and paste. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. 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