Bitcoin advanced five out of seven sessions last week. Bitcoin price is still close to $24,000. A glance at the daily chart reveals the price is retracing down to the mid-channel after multiple test of the Fibonacci 23.6 resistance level! Fibonacci 23.6 still remains the main hurdle for Bitcoin price on the way to the upper bound of the uptrend channel.
Bitcoin uptrend is intact and while markets are still implying around a 50% chance the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by 75 basis points in September, United Nations recommended that regulators ban banks from holding crypto, crypto derivatives trading rose and Coinbase crypto exchange reported it is under investigation by US securities regulator.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, advises countries to “ban regulated financial institutions from holding stablecoins and cryptocurrencies or offering related products to clients.” the United Nations’ development arm, warns that the rising use of crypto for domestic payments and by migrant workers sending funds back home, challenges states' monopoly in monetary matters, and may cause “leakage” of development funds. The agency advised imposing higher taxes on crypto transactions, requiring exchanges and wallets to register with regulators, and curbing or forbidding crypto ads.
The value of crypto derivative trading rose for in July first time in four months, according to CryptoCompare. Market observers consider derivatives market activity as a proxy for traders, or speculative interest as it involves leverage, while the spot market is seen as representing long-term investors. Crypto derivative trading volume rose 13.4% last month from June to $3.17 trillion while turnover in the spot market fell 1.34% to $1.39 trillion. So the use of leverage, not spot market trading, drove a crypto market rally in July.
Publicly traded crypto exchange Coinbase Global disclosed in its quarterly report it is under investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission SEC) over its token listing processes as well as its staking programs and yield-generating products. The exchange has stated it believes that certain tokens are not securities and therefore exempt from the SEC's purview while the US securities regulator has taken a different stance in its ongoing case against an ex-Coinbase employee accused of insider trading.
