Chart of the Day
Range bound. Yesterday’s relief rally gradually lost steam as the price of Bitcoin failed to clear the $35k resistance level, triggering another round of decline back to the same old early June range. The climb up above $30k might have restored some faith among market participants; the broader market is still very much shrouded in uncertainty. Perhaps, the $2.3 billion worth of BTC options expiring this Friday could offer some clarity, as historical data suggest that the options market tends to influence spot prices ahead of contract expiration on Fridays. The current put/call ratio sits at around 0.75, though tons of out-of-the-money calls are set to expire worthlessly and in-the-money puts dominate with an overwhelming majority — bears prevail. Puts concentrated between $28-$40k will present major hurdles should the price of Bitcoin rise above $36k. We’ll see how things unravel.
Talk of the Town
Halving. On average, Bitcoin hashrate across major pools has dropped by nearly 50% in over a month, especially as ‘mine-gration’ ensues on the back of the Chinese government’s crackdown on Bitcoin mining. Kevin Zhang, VP of Foundry Services, reported that around 90% of the mining capacity in China is expected to go offline by the end of this month. Some are even ordered to dismantle all infrastructure within a 2-week notice, adding insult to injury. According to Zhang, the “Great ASIC Exodus” will be anything but seamless, which is likely to cast a long shadow over market sentiment.
