Bitcoin Descends as Regulatory Concerns Resurface
  The latest moves in crypto markets, in context January 31, 2022 Sponsored by  If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.
Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning:
And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today's show will feature guests:
Today's newsletter was edited by Omkar Godbole and produced by Parikshit Mishra.
Market Moves By Omkar Godbole Financial markets remained risk averse early Monday, with bitcoin and futures tied to the S&P 500 nursing moderate losses.
The U.S. two-year Treasury yield held at 12-months above 1.2% as Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told Financial Times that the central bank may surprise with a 50 basis point interest rate hike in March.
Several Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs, penciled in five rate hikes form 2022. As of writing, markets were priced for a 25 basis point rate rise in March followed by four more hikes by the end of the year.
Renewed regulatory concerns
A controversial proposed rule that would enforce know-your-customer rules on unhosted or self-hosted crypto wallets may again be under consideration by the U.S. federal government, CoinDesk's Nikhilesh De reported over the weekend.
The rule first proposed at the end of 2020 and dismissed as short-sighted and not made in good faith by observers, if enacted, would require crypto exchanges to collect names and home addresses, including other personal details of anyone hoping to transfer cryptocurrencies to their own private wallets.
Prospects of increased regulatory surveillance may add to the ongoing market distress. Market flows continue to lean bearish.
Options market screams uncle
The bitcoin market appears plagued by negativity after the cryptocurrency lost half its value in 2 1/2 months.
The cryptocurrency's put-call open interest ratio, which measures the number of open positions in put options relative to those in calls, rose to a six-month high of 0.62 on Sunday, according to data provided by Skew. The ratio was 0.42 earlier this month.
"The put-call ratio suggests demand for puts is currently high," said Patrick Chu, director of institutional sales and trading at over-the-counter tech platform Paradigm. "We have seen a lot of risk reversal flow recently, where clients were buying puts/ selling calls."  Bitcoin's put-call open interest ratio (Source: Skew) A put option gives the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, to sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A put buyer is implicitly bearish on the market, while a call buyer is bullish.
Given the depth of bitcoin's drop from its Nov. 10 record near $69,000 – it was trading recently about 2.6% down on the day at $36,900 – increased buying of puts is hardly surprising. It might, however, indicate an excess of fear that's often seen at the end of bear runs.
Correction within historical norms
While bitcoin's slide from November highs near $69,000 may appear catastrophic to traditional market investors, it's business as usual for crypto investors, according to Morgan Stanley.
Bitcoin's 50% drop from November's record high is nothing new and the correction is within historical norms, Morgan Stanley said in a research note entitled "State of the bear market."
Also read: Bitcoin's 'MACD' Indicator Threatens Long Term Bullish Bias as Rate Hike Fears Linger
 What if you could gain broad-based exposure to nearly the entire crypto market with one investment fund?*
Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund, symbol: GDLC, offers exposure to a diversified basket of digital currencies. The fund holds large cap names that collectively comprise 70% of the crypto market, allowing it to capture asset class growth as the industry matures.
Access Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund by typing symbol: GDLC into your brokerage account, or learn more here.
*For information on how GDLC defines the crypto market, see disclosures in the annual report.
Crypto Prices Bitcoin (BTC) See the latest price here Ether (ETH) See the latest price here The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours: Biggest Gainers: There are no gainers in CoinDesk 20 today. Biggest Losers:
Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.
 Brave Wallet is the first secure crypto wallet built natively in a web3 browser. No extensions required.
Store, manage, and grow your portfolio, get NFT & multi-chain support. Even connect other wallets and DApps. All from the security of the best privacy browser on the market.
Whether you're new to crypto, or a seasoned pro, it's time to ditch those risky extensions. It's time to switch to Brave Wallet.
 Introducing CoinDesk's Privacy Week. Cryptocurrency was supposed to be about privacy. While Bitcoin and its various knockoffs and descendants have become a $2 trillion asset class, privacy remains hard to come by, either for cryptocurrency users or everyday people. We take stock of the state of online privacy in 2022, in crypto and beyond, and where it might be headed in the years and decades to come. Explore Privacy Week here.
Technician's Take By Omkar Godbole Radicle's Native Token Jumps 20%  RAD Token's daily chart with MACD histogram (Source: TradingView) RAD, the native token of open-source, peer-to-peer network for software collaboration Radicle, was trading nearly 20% higher on the day at press time.
While the exact reason for the price rally was unknown, the bullish divergence of the MACD histogram and signs of seller exhaustion near $5 seen on the daily chart indicates a price jump was perhaps overdue.
ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV: Bitcoin Worth $670M Leaving Centralized Exchanges After Hawkish Fed Comments, Fireblocks Raises $550M at $8B Valuation, FTX US Raising $400M
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.
First Mover A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here. Copyright © 2021 CoinDesk, All rights reserved. 250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA Manage your newsletter subscriptions | Unsubscribe from all CoinDesk email |
