2024-03-12 22:22

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com – The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, as hotter than expected U.S. inflation data had markets considering the prospect of a rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve coming later than June. The annualized reading rose by 3.2% last month, quicker than estimates for a 3.1% gain. Month-over-month, the overall consumer price index rose by 0.4% in February, in line with expectations “The U.S. dollar is broadly higher on a hotter inflation report and that’s the whole story in the currency market today,” said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive. Given that the Bank of Canada is unlikely to want to diverge too much for the Fed, continued pressure from the BoC on the cooling Canadian economy, “economic risks begin to build for 2025 around global growth and Canadian growth,” Button noted. This is a view also iterated by analysts at Monex Canada, who note that, “Whilst the BoC’s high for longer stance should offer some short term protection weighing against a CAD selling off, its negative growth impact sets up a dynamic where the loonie should consistently underperform.” On a technical level for the pair, however, the USD/CAD pair is expected to remain range bound in the near term. Analysts at FXStreet note, “The pair is bound between supply and demand zones between 1.3450 and 1.3590.” “A bullish turn in the USD/CAD will bounce bids off of the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 1.3478, and the way is open for buyers to explore into the 1.3600 handle as a pattern of higher highs bakes into the chart paper.” “On the low side, failure to capture territory north of the 200-day SMA will see the pair dump back into early February low bids near 1.3360.” https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/canadian-dollar-weakens-as-hot-us-cpi-raises-prospect-of-delayed-fed-rate-cuts-3335148

2024-03-12 21:02

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly fell, the API reported Tuesday, signalling an ongoing recovery in crude demand. Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $78.05 a barrel following the report after settling down 0.5% at $77.56 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories fell by about 5.5 million barrels for the week ended Mar. 8, compared with a build of 423,000 barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 400,000 barrels. The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by about 3.8M barrels, and distillate stockpiles fell by 1.2M barrels. The ongoing fall in gasoline supplies come just as prices at the pump have jumped to multi-month highs amid a still-nascent recovery in refinery activity, trade routes disruptions and the seasonal post-winter rise in demand. The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies increased by about 875,000 barrels last week. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/us-oil-inventories-in-surprise-slump-last-week-api-3335028

2024-03-12 17:21

Investing.com - Litecoin was trading at $77.458 by 19:22 (23:22 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Tuesday, down 10.69% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since March 19. The move downwards pushed Litecoin's market cap down to $5.779B, or 0.25% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Litecoin's market cap was $25.609B. Litecoin had traded in a range of $77.458 to $87.739 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, Litecoin has seen a drop in value, as it lost 20.15%. The volume of Litecoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $979.628M or 0.53% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $77.4579 to $98.8706 in the past 7 days. At its current price, Litecoin is still down 81.56% from its all-time high of $420.00 set on December 12, 2017. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $61,827.4 on the Investing.com Index, down 8.53% on the day. Ethereum was trading at $3,156.46 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 10.38%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $1,221.508B or 52.44% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $381.787B or 16.39% of the total cryptocurrency market value. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/litecoin-falls-11-in-selloff-3345057

2024-03-12 15:25

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters The underperformance of Bitcoin mining stocks is a 'compelling buying opportunity' - analyst On Tuesday, analysts at H.C. Wainwright released a note providing their views on the Bitcoin (BTC) mining industry, noting a significant increase in the collective operating hash rate among publicly traded BTC miners for February. The hash rate rose by 8% month-over-month to 125.7 EH/s, representing 22% of the total network hash rate at month-end, up from 21% in January, said the firm. Despite this increase, there was a 12% month-over-month decline in total BTC production, with miners producing 5,175 BTC compared to 5,848 BTC in January. The decrease in BTC production was attributed to a 52% month-over-month drop in transaction fees and a 9% increase in network difficulty, along with February's shorter duration compared to January. Additionally, miners sold 60% of the BTC they produced in February, which was less than the 65% sold in January. The recent Bitcoin price rally took a slight pause on Tuesday, with the cryptocurrency currently down around 0.3% at $71,929. In the investment sphere, H.C. Wainwright noted that BTC ETFs in the U.S. experienced record inflows. Last week, these funds attracted over $2.2 billion in net inflows, surpassing the previous week's record of $1.7 billion. This surge in interest has propelled BTC prices to new heights, with the cryptocurrency trading above $72,000 for the first time, following a breakthrough past its prior all-time high of $69,000 on the previous Tuesday. The firm also noted that BlackRock's recent filings indicate plans to invest in Bitcoin ETFs, including its iShares Bitcoin Trust and other issuers' ETFs. This move is part of a broader trend of institutional adoption, with BlackRock's three funds—the Global Allocation Fund, Strategic Income Opportunities Fund, and Strategic Global Bond Fund—now able to allocate to spot BTC ETFs. H.C. Wainwright also highlighted that MicroStrategy has continued to invest in BTC, purchasing an additional 12,000 BTC for approximately $821.7 million. Last week, BTC's price increased by 9.4%, nearly reaching its previous all-time high set in November 2021. The network hash rate grew by 8.0% week-over-week, while network difficulty remained unchanged. Despite the positive price movement of BTC, mining stocks experienced a 1.4% week-over-week decline. H.C. Wainwright echoed comments earlier today, stating that mining stocks' recent underperformance represents a "compelling buying opportunity." The firm attributes the underperformance to capital moving from mining stocks to spot BTC ETFs, concerns around miner revenues post-Bitcoin halving, and a correction after mining stocks outpaced BTC price gains in the fourth quarter of 2023. The firm maintains a positive outlook on the BTC mining sector, noting that miners significantly outperformed BTC in 2023. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/the-underperformance-of-bitcoin-mining-stocks-is-a-compelling-buying-opportunity--analysts-432SI-3334610

2024-03-12 14:02

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters Bitcoin prices (BTC) blasted past the $70,000 handle earlier this week, touching a new all-time high for the first time since the crypto bull run in 2021. The latest upswing in the world’s largest cryptocurrency has been warmly welcomed by the crypto community. Yet, arguably, no one is celebrating more than Michael Saylor, the man behind a company that holds the title of the world's largest corporate investor in Bitcoin. Bitcoin price surges On Monday, Bitcoin price touched a new record high of $72,910 as its meteoric rise shows no signs of stopping. BTC, by far the largest crypto asset, has won back investor attention following the approval of nearly a dozen fresh spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) earlier in the year, and optimism that the Federal Reserve may soon begin lowering interest rates. Investment in the top 10 U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw a slight dip to a two-week low in the week leading up to March 8, yet it still amassed nearly $2 billion, according to LSEG data. "Bitcoin has kicked off the week on a high note, pulling the entire crypto market up along with it," said Nick Cawley, a strategist at DailyFX. With Bitcoin's supply capped at 21 million coins, investors are scrambling to join the ongoing bull run before April's "halving" event, which is set to further constrict supply. This event, occurring every four years, slashes the rate of new coins entering the market and the reward for mining them in half, historically giving Bitcoin's price a boost. Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy buys more Bitcoin The Bitcoin price surge to a new all-time high came just after MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), an enterprise software maker founded by Michael Saylor, made another significant investment in the flagship cryptocurrency. According to filings with the SEC, the company purchased 12,000 BTC tokens for $821.7 million, marking its second-largest buy since it started investing in the crypto coin nearly four years ago. This latest investment boosts the company's Bitcoin portfolio to approximately 205,000 tokens, valued at over $14 billion. The purchase carried out from Feb. 26 through March 10, was funded primarily by the proceeds of MicroStrategy’s recent $800 million convertible note sale. Under Saylor’s leadership, the business intelligence firm turned to Bitcoin in 2020 as a strategy to hedge against inflation and as an alternative to cash reserves. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, the company's investment in Bitcoin exceeded $1 billion, surpassing half of the total spent last year. Since Saylor initiated Bitcoin acquisitions, the cryptocurrency's value has soared by approximately 675%. Moreover, MicroStrategy's venture into Bitcoin has notably rejuvenated its stock price, which has climbed over 1,000% since the strategic shift. The company's market value now stands at about $25.7 billion, surpassing its peak in March 2000. The company’s average acquisition price per Bitcoin is now $33,706, with the latest batch purchased at an average of $68,477 per token. What analysts are saying about Microstrategy? In the aftermath of its new Bitcoin investment, Canaccord Genuity analysts said the company’s aggressive Bitcoin buys “beget even more accretion” for MicroStrategy. The broker raised the target price on the stock to $1,810. While MicroStrategy primarily financed its Bitcoin acquisitions in the latter part of 2023 and the beginning of this year through equity sales via At the Market (ATM) offerings, the company chose to diversify its financing approach by leveraging its complete capital structure through the issuance of a convertible note, Canaccord analysts said. “Importantly, much like how putting debt to work can drive higher balance sheet returns on equity, purchasing this additional bitcoin via a convert has helped drive MSTR's equity value premium relative to its BTC HODL to approximately 86% according to our sum of the parts (SOTP) analysis,” they wrote. “We also attribute this record-high premium to surging BTC spot where volatility drives more demand for MSTR options,” added analysts. They noted that MSTR’s practice of issuing equity at a premium to acquire more Bitcoin could positively influence its share price. This observation was made through a detailed analysis, which included a hypothetical scenario where the company sells $500 million in stock to purchase Bitcoin, benefiting from an 86% premium in its SOTP valuation. “The bottom line here, according to our analysis is that such a purchase drives ~$23 per share in price accretion,” Canaccord’s team wrote. “While small on a percentage basis, the fact that MSTR has created such a bitcoin acquisition model in the first place is noteworthy and that it is working, at least currently,” they added. Bitcoin prices are already up more than 70% this year, while MicroStrategy’s shares witnessed a triple-digit gain of 142% during that period. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/michael-saylor-smiling-from-eartoear-as-bitcoin-price-blows-past-70000-3334431

2024-03-12 13:03

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. VanEck Waives Fee for Bitcoin ETF HODL VanEck is pleased to announce the waiver of its sponsor fee for the VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL), which provides exposure to spot bitcoin, effective immediately. This adjustment demonstrates VanEck's commitment to delivering enhanced value to investors, including through competitive pricing. During the period starting March 12, 2024 and ending on March 31, 2025, the entire sponsor fee will be waived for the first $1.5B of the Trust’s assets. If the Trust’s assets exceed $1.5B prior to March 31, 2025, the fee on assets over $1.5B will be 0.20%. All investors will incur the same sponsor fee, which is the weighted average of those fee rates. After March 31, 2025, the sponsor fee will be 0.20%. "We listen to our clients and understand the importance of continually reassessing our fee structures to align with their expectations and the dynamic nature of the market," said Kyle DaCruz, Director, Digital Assets Product with VanEck.“This fee waiver reflects our dedication to providing competitive investment opportunities that meet the needs of investors, and we believe it may encourage even more investors to explore the potential of bitcoin as part of their investment strategy.” VanEck was the first established ETF issuer to file for a bitcoin-linked ETF in 2017 and its European arm currently manages 12 crypto ETPs. In addition to HODL, VanEck’s digital assets fund family includes the VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT), which provide futures-focused exposure to Ethereum, and the VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP), which provides access to companies driving the growth of the digital assets economy. VanEck also offers several digital assets-focused private vehicles for institutions and accredited investors. VanEck’s X (formerly Twitter) feed, @vaneck_us, is a go-to source for updates on the firm’s digital asset efforts, and the firm’s digital assets research team, led by Matthew Sigel, is a prolific producer of insights on this space. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/vaneck-waives-fee-for-bitcoin-etf-hodl-432SI-3334244