Weekly Forex Forecast and Cryptocurrencies Forecast

[Stan NordFX]

XAU/USD: Historical Overview and Forecast Until 2027

Gold is one of the favourite trading instruments of the most successful traders at NordFX. This can be easily confirmed by looking at the monthly rankings published by this brokerage company. That is why it is appropriate to provide a special review, focusing solely on the XAU/USD pair.

Is Gold Truly a Protective Asset?

In the current economic situation, as leading central banks worldwide attempt to curb inflation, the price of this precious metal has reached a historic high, hitting $2,080 per troy ounce on May 4. Market participants are rushing to buy gold, believing it can safeguard their capital from devaluation.

According to a survey conducted by Bloomberg, approximately 50% of respondents identified gold as their primary safe-haven asset (with US Treasury bonds coming in second place, receiving only 15% of the votes). However, is gold truly an effective tool for hedging price risks, or is this a widespread misconception?

Consider, for instance, the period from March to October 2022 when gold prices fell from $2,070 to $1,616, a decline of almost 22%. This occurred despite the fact that inflation in the United States reached a 40-year peak during that time. So, what kind of protective asset is gold, then?

The Growth of Gold Prices

If we trace the dynamics of gold prices since the beginning of the 20th century, we observe the following pattern. In the year 1900, the price of this precious metal was approximately $20 per troy ounce.

During the period from 1914 to 1918, amidst and immediately after World War I, the price rose to around $35. Then, in the 1930s, during the Great Depression and as a result of currency reforms in the United States, the price was set at $20.67 per troy ounce. Throughout World War II, the value of the asset remained stable and was fixed at $35 under the Bretton Woods system, the same level as during World War I.

In 1971, the United States abandoned the gold standard, which led to floating exchange rates and an increase in the price of gold. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the price exceeded the $800 mark per troy ounce due to geopolitical tensions, inflation, and a reduction in gold production. From the 1980s to the 2000s, the price of gold declined and fluctuated within a range of approximately $250 to $500.

Since the early 2000s, there has been a significant increase in the price of gold due to geopolitical events, financial instability, and inflationary pressures. In August 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty, the price of gold surpassed the $2,000 mark per troy ounce for the first time. However, following this peak, it experienced a decline due to expectations of economic recovery, tightening monetary policies by central banks, rising interest rates, and various other factors.

A subsequent unsuccessful attempt to break above the $2,000 resistance level occurred in March 2022. Finally, the third surge occurred in May of this year.

Why Gold Prices Are Rising

So, what contributes to the value of gold and why does its price rise?

- Rarity and Limited Supply: Gold is a rare metal, and its extraction is limited and requires significant efforts and resources.
- Durability and Longevity: Gold is highly resistant to wear and corrosion. It retains its physical properties over time, making it suitable for long-term storage and attractive for use in jewellery and various industries.
- Store of Value: Gold has long been considered a store of value. It can preserve its purchasing power over extended periods, serving as a hedge against inflation and the instability of stocks and currencies.
- Liquidity and Recognizability: Gold is universally recognized and accepted as an asset. It can be easily exchanged for cash or used as a medium of payment in different countries and cultures.
- These factors contribute to the desirability and demand for gold, thus driving its price upward.

Factors Influencing Gold Prices

Let's delve into the factors that influence the price of gold. It's important to note that there is no direct correlation between the price of gold and each of these factors individually. Market forecasts and the combination of these factors also play a role in determining gold prices. For example, the recent surge in XAU/USD can be attributed to expectations of a reversal in the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike cycle, potential U.S. debt default, as well as geopolitical and economic instability due to Russia's armed actions in Ukraine. Now, let's explore the key factors:

- Economic Conditions: The global economic situation, including GDP growth or decline, unemployment, and overall financial stability, can impact gold prices. Uncertainty in the markets or a recession, for instance, may increase demand for gold as a risk-free asset.
- Geopolitical Events: Political and geopolitical events such as armed conflicts, wars, terrorist acts, sanctions, elections, etc., can cause market instability and uncertainty, leading to an increased demand for gold as a safe haven.
- Inflation: The level of inflation plays a crucial role in determining the value of gold. When inflation rises, the price of gold typically follows suit as investors seek protection against the devaluation of money.
- Central Banks: Actions taken by central banks, including changes in interest rates, can influence gold prices. For example, a decrease in interest rates may stimulate demand for gold as holding it becomes comparatively more attractive than other assets.
- Currency Movements: Fluctuations in exchange rates between different countries can also impact the price of gold. If the currency of a gold-producing country weakens against other currencies, the price of gold in that currency may increase, stimulating exports and raising the demand for gold.
- Investment Demand: Investment demand includes the purchase of gold bars, coins, and futures market transactions. Demand typically rises when trust in fiat currencies weakens.
- It's important to consider the interplay of these factors and market expectations when assessing the price of gold.

Forecast: Will the Price of Gold Rise?

When it comes to forecasts, it's important to note that they are mere assumptions based on available information and analysis. As mentioned before, the gold market is complex and subject to the influence of multiple factors. Any forecasts are subjective assessments and can change depending on economic and geopolitical situations, as well as changes in market demand and supply. However, it should be acknowledged that some forecasts have proven to be relatively accurate.

Here are a few examples of such forecasts made before September 2021. In May 2021, analysts at Goldman Sachs predicted that the price of gold would reach $2,000 per troy ounce by 2024. Two months later, their counterparts at Bank of America made the exact same forecast. The touch of this resistance level occurred one year earlier. However, whether XAU/USD will be able to sustainably establish itself above this level, turning it from resistance to support, remains to be seen.

Currently, Goldman Sachs strategists are indicating a target of $2,200. Meanwhile, the Swiss financial holding UBS believes that the price of gold may rise to $2,100 by the end of 2023 and to $2,200 by March 2024. (It's worth noting that their previous forecast projected a peak of $2,400 for this year). Similar figures are mentioned by analysts at the Economic Forecasting Agency, who believe that the price of gold may even exceed $2,400, but this is expected to occur only in 2027.

***

At the beginning of this overview, we raised the question of whether gold is a protective asset. In his early statements, Warren Buffett expressed scepticism about investing in gold, referring to it as an unproductive asset that doesn't generate income. However, looking at the chart, it becomes clear that he was mistaken. Even the legendary investor himself acknowledged this and later expressed a positive attitude towards gold as a store of value. Prominent financier George Soros also recognized gold as a diversification asset that provides protection against inflation and political instability. Ray Dalio, the founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates, recommended including this precious metal in one's portfolio.

Most likely, they are all correct, and in the foreseeable future, gold will retain its role as a primary capital preserver. However, it is always important to remember that the effectiveness of any investment depends on the entry point. If the timing of a trade is chosen incorrectly, it is possible that your deposit may start to decrease. Nevertheless, in the case of gold, the probability of XAU/USD rising again is significantly higher than that of many fiat currencies. To withstand drawdowns and ultimately achieve profit, sound money management, as well as time and patience, are necessary.


NordFX Analytical Group


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

 

[Stan NordFX]

CryptoNews of the Week

– American bitcoin exchanges are likely to be required to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as brokers, and all cryptocurrencies will be classified as securities. These conclusions were drawn by strategists at JPMorgan bank. According to experts, such a situation will exert significant pressure on the industry. However, they believe that this approach also has positive aspects, as digital assets will be subject to the same legislation as traditional ones.
JPMorgan analysts noted that the actions of the SEC highlight the need for U.S. lawmakers to develop a clear regulatory framework. According to them, otherwise, the crypto industry is likely to leave the United States and relocate to other jurisdictions, while venture financing in the sector will decline. The new rules will "rid the industry of bad practices and dishonest players, which, in turn, is necessary for the industry to mature and witness more active institutional participation."
It is worth recalling that earlier, the SEC filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing the platforms of selling unregistered assets. In the court documents, the SEC named over a dozen tokens as securities. According to experts, a regulator's victory could lead to the delisting of these coins and limit the potential development of their blockchains. In total, over 60 coins have already ended up on the regulator's blacklist.

– According to the analytical platform Glassnode, investor behavior has noticeably shifted the distribution of Bitcoin across regions. Experts from the company have reported a significant decline in the share of American players, whose dominance peaked between 2020 and 2021. The downward trend has been observed since the sharp drop in BTC price last year, with the share of Americans decreasing by 11% since mid-2022. During the same period, the share in the Asian region increased by 9.9%.

– Adam Back, the creator of the Hashcash algorithm and CEO of Blockstream, is considered one of the key figures in the field of modern cryptography and the crypto industry. In a recent conversation with Decrypt, this prominent scientist stated that the cryptocurrency market is "anti-fragile." Like water, it flows and, when faced with obstacles, finds alternative paths. Therefore, if any major crypto exchange operating in the United States stops serving its customers due to regulatory pressure, the industry will eventually find a way out. In the event of restrictions on bank transfers in the US, bitcoin traders would simply shift towards opening bank accounts in other jurisdictions in euros or Swiss francs and engage in trading using a different currency.

– Journalists from Bitcoin.com conducted a survey with six popular AI chatbots regarding the potential of Bitcoin becoming a global reserve currency. The experiment involved ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4 from OpenAI, Bard from Google, Claude Instant and Claude 4 from Anthropic, as well as the creative mode of Bing AI.
ChatGPT 3.5 struggled to assess the potential of bitcoin and other digital assets, citing existing "issues and uncertainties." According to its response, the likelihood of achieving reserve currency status depends on "current events and the evolution of the crypto currency ecosystem." However, it noted that its information was based on data available until September 2021.
Bard emphasized the need for wider adoption of bitcoin by central banks and other financial institutions, as well as the improvement of price stability and advancements in blockchain technology. The bot stated, "If bitcoin can overcome these challenges, it could become a global reserve asset within the next decade. However, it is also possible that this may never happen or that it will take much longer to achieve this goal."
Claude Instant, pointing out "significant obstacles" for bitcoin in terms of stability and recognition, considered it unlikely for BTC to become a reserve currency in the next 5-10 years. As for the 10–15-year horizon, Claude 4 estimated the probability of such an event to be in the low to moderate range. ChatGPT 4 also stated that it would take "several years or even decades" for bitcoin to achieve reserve currency status and warned that it "cannot confidently predict the future."
Bing AI took a "creative" approach and listed a range of factors that will determine the future of bitcoin. These factors include widespread adoption of the asset, including by financial institutions, innovation and improvement of technology, scalability and user-friendliness, regulation and legal status management, taxation and compliance with regulatory requirements, and competition and interaction with other crypto assets and fiat currencies.
In summary, it can be said that all six Artificial Intelligences behaved like experienced politicians and did not provide any specific answers to the question posed.

– According to The Wall Street Journal, the actions of hackers associated with North Korea have caused $3 billion in damage to the crypto industry. Half of this amount was reportedly used to finance a program for the development of ballistic nuclear missiles. As per the statement by U.S. authorities, North Korea has formed a "shadow" army of thousands of IT specialists around the world for these purposes. Cybersecurity experts believe that the "arms race" with North Korean hackers has only just begun.

– Peter Brandt, known as the "Mysterious Market Wizard," has been successful in accurately predicting the crypto winter of 2018 and many other market movements in the digital asset space. Now, this legendary trader and analyst has virtually "buried" all coins except bitcoin. "Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that will be able to finish this marathon. All others, including Ethereum, are counterfeits or scams," wrote Brandt.
Many members of the crypto community were puzzled by the fact that a respected analyst placed the second-largest cryptocurrency, ethereum, in the same category as fraudulent projects. In response, Brandt stated, "Silver to BTC's gold is ETH. ETH will likely survive, but the real legacy is BTC."

– Vitalik Buterin, the founder of ethereum, believes that the success of his blockchain depends on three main "transitions" that need to happen almost simultaneously. According to him, the leading altcoin is "failing" without sufficient scaling infrastructure that would make transactions on the network cheaper.
Another factor is related to the transition to smart contract wallets, which has been challenging in terms of user interaction. Moreover, these wallets will need to protect data to fully align with the concept of zero-knowledge (ZK) privacy. The last factor for ethereum's success that Buterin mentioned is privacy. In his opinion, significant improvements in identification systems and the implementation of hidden addresses are necessary.
"Achieving scalability, wallet security, and user privacy is crucial for the future of ethereum. It's not just about technical feasibility but also about practical accessibility for ordinary users," concluded the network's founder.

– Benjamin Cowen, the founder of Into The Cryptoverse, has noted that liquidity in the crypto market has dried up for quite some time, and many people have been blaming the SEC for what is happening. Most of them believe it is the end for the entire industry. According to Cowen, altcoins will face retribution, while Bitcoin dominance will continue to grow.
A similar sentiment was expressed by renowned trader Gareth Soloway, who compared the crypto market to the dot-com bubble. He stated that the collapse that occurred in the early 2000s would repeat itself in this industry. Soloway asserted that the "system needs to be cleansed of garbage" in order to thrive. According to him, 95% of all tokens "will strive toward zero."

– ARK Invest CEO Cathy Wood has doubled down on her bitcoin forecast, stating that the leading cryptocurrency will reach seven-figure values. In an interview with Bloomberg, she reaffirmed her confidence that the $1 million target for BTC will be achieved.
According to Wood, the current global economic environment increases her trust in the flagship crypto asset. "The more uncertainty and volatility in the global economy, the more our confidence grows in Bitcoin, which has been and remains a hedge against inflation," she stated. The head of ARK Invest believes that the greater risk lies not in inflation but in deflation, which she sees looming over the world. In this case, the primary cryptocurrency would act as an antidote against the crisis in the traditional financial system.

– Prominent investor and founder of venture firm Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, has analyzed the market capitalization chart of the crypto market and arrived at discouraging conclusions. According to the analyst, the current situation is not what one would want to see. He noted that a breakthrough below the support of the 200-week moving average (SMA) indicates a continuation of the downward trend.


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #forex #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

 

[Stan NordFX]

Forex and Cryptocurrencies Forecast for June 19 - 23, 2023​

EUR/USD: The Euro's Victory Over the Dollar

The key events of the past week were the meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday, June 14, and the European Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday, June 15. The outcome of these meetings resulted in a decisive victory for the euro over the dollar.

During the COVID19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve printed and released a large amount of cheap money into the market. This action spurred inflation, which ultimately reached its highest level in the last 40 years. With the pandemic over, the American regulator completely reversed its monetary policy, shifting from Quantitative Easing (QE) to Quantitative Tightening (QT). Over the course of the last ten meetings, in an attempt to curb inflation, the Fed raised the key interest rate, which ultimately reached 5.25%: the highest level since 2006.

Data published on Tuesday, June 13, showed that the core inflation (CPI) in May was 5.3% (year-on-year) after 5.5% a month earlier. This is, of course, progress, but very slight, and the target value of 2.0% is still far off. However, in an effort to avoid economic problems and the continuation of the banking crisis, the Federal Reserve leaders at their meeting decided to keep the interest rate unchanged.

This was not a surprise to the market. Both the vice president of the Federal Reserve, Philip Jefferson, and the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, talked about the need for a pause in the monetary tightening process. Even the head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, mentioned the possibility of a break. As a result, on the eve of the meeting, the likelihood of the rate remaining at the previous level was estimated by market participants at 95%.

Moreover, data published on Thursday, June 15, showed that industrial production in the US fell by 0.2% in May, and the number of unemployment benefit claims stubbornly remains at the previous level of 262K. This weak statistics increased the market's expectations that the current Fed pause might be extended for a longer period. As for the long-term forecasts published by the FOMC, the peak rate is seen by the committee members at 5.60%, after which a decrease should follow: in a one-year perspective to 4.60%, in a two-year perspective to 3.40%, and then further down to 2.50%.

So, while the Federal Reserve left borrowing costs unchanged at its June meeting, the European Central Bank raised it by 25 basis points (b.p.) - from 3.75% to 4.00%. Furthermore, ECB President Christine Lagarde noted that the tightening of monetary policy will continue in July. Additionally, inflation forecasts were revised upwards due to rising wages and high energy prices. Based on this, the market expects a 25 b.p. rate hike not only next month but also in September. The ECB's hawkish stance caused a surge in German government bond yields, while U.S. security yields conversely dropped. As a result, the Dollar Index (DXY) continued its decline, and EUR/USD continued to build on its bullish impulse formed earlier in the week. If on Monday, June 12th, it was trading at 1.0732, by June 16th it had reached 1.0970, closely approaching the psychologically important level of 1.1000.

EUR/USD concluded the five-day period at 1.0940. As for near-term prospects, at the time of writing this review on the evening of June 16, most analysts (65%) expect the continuation of its upward trend, 25% voted for the pair's fall, and 10% took a neutral position. Among trend indicators on D1, 100% are in favour of the bulls, and among oscillators, 90% are in the green, although a third of them are signalling overbought conditions. The remaining 10% are in the red. The pair's nearest support is located around 1.0895-1.0925, then 1.0865, 1.0790-1.0800, 1.0745, 1.0670, and finally, the May 31 low of 1.0635. The bulls will encounter resistance in the area of 1.0970-1.0985, then 1.1045, and 1.1090-1.1110.

Notable dates on the calendar for the upcoming week include June 21 and 22, which are set for the testimony of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before Congress. Fresh unemployment data from the US will also be released on Thursday. At the end of the work week, preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) figures for both Germany and the Eurozone as a whole, as well as for the US services sector, will be revealed. In addition, traders should note that Monday, June 19, is a public holiday in the United States: Juneteenth.

GBP/USD: The Pair's Growth May Continue

Taking advantage of the weakening dollar, the pound actively strengthened its position throughout the past week. Having bounced off the local low of 1.2486 on Monday, GBP/USD soared by 362 points on Friday and reached a high of 1.2848. The week ended slightly lower: at the level of 1.2822. The British currency last felt this good over a year ago, in April 2022.

Bullish investor sentiment was also supported by the expectation that the Bank of England (BoE) will raise its rate from 4.50% to 4.75% at its meeting on Thursday, June 22, accompanying this decision with hawkish rhetoric and promises to continue tightening its monetary policy.

As a result, economists at Scotiabank expect that GBP/USD may soon rise to 1.3000. They are joined in this prediction by their colleagues from ING, the largest banking group in the Netherlands. "Looking at the charts," they write, "it seems that there are no significant levels between current levels and 1.3000, which suggests that the latter is not far off."

Overall, the median forecast from analysts appears more neutral. Bullish sentiment is supported by 50% of experts, 40% favor bears, and 10% prefer to refrain from comments. As for technical analysis, 100% of both trend indicators and oscillators point north, but a quarter of the oscillators are in the overbought zone. If the pair moves south, support levels and zones await it – 1.2685-1.2700, 1.2570, 1.2480-1.2510, 1.2330-1.2350, 1.2275, 1.2200-1.2210. In case of the pair's growth, it will meet resistance at levels 1.2940, 1.3000, 1.3050 and 1.3185-1.3210.

Next week, on the eve of the aforementioned meeting of the Bank of England, on Wednesday, June 21, inflation statistics will be released in the United Kingdom. It is expected that it will show a decrease in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 8.7% to 8.5%. However, such a slight drop will likely not deter the BoE in its hawkish stance. In addition, attention should be paid to Friday, June 23, when the preliminary Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) value will be published in the UK. Since the PMI for Germany, the Eurozone, and the US will also be announced on this day, it will vividly illustrate and allow a comparison of the state of their economies.

continued below...

 

[Stan NordFX]

USD/JPY: The Pair Yearns to Return to Earth, But Can't

It would have been logical to assume that as a result of the fall in the US Dollar Index (DXY) and US Treasury bond yields, the Japanese currency would strengthen its position and USD/JPY would finally change course: instead of flying to the Moon, it would start landing on Earth. Such a movement even appeared on Thursday, June 15. But it only lasted one day: until the meeting of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), at which it again maintained the policy rate at the negative level of -0.1%. (We recall that the Japanese Central Bank has not changed this rate since January 2016). In addition, as part of the new decision, the regulator announced that it also plans to buy a "necessary" amount of government bonds and continue to target the yield of 10-year securities at a level close to zero.

Economists at MUFG Bank believe that the increasing divergence in monetary policy between the Bank of Japan and other major central banks is a recipe for further yen weakening. "The expansion of yield spreads between Japan and foreign countries, coupled with the decrease in currency exchange rate volatility and rates [...] contributes to the yen becoming more undervalued," write MUFG analysts.

Their colleagues at Commerzbank believe that if the Federal Reserve signals two potential new dollar rate increases, the yen's decline will continue. According to specialists from the French financial conglomerate Societe Generale, if another rate hike occurs in the US in July, USD/JPY could rise to 145.00.

Only hopes that the BоJ will eventually take the first step towards ending its ultra-loose monetary policy can alleviate pressure on the Japanese currency. For example, economists at BNP Paribas write that "although we have revised our USD/JPY forecasts upwards considering the higher terminal rate of the Fed and a later expansion of the Bank of Japan's YCC, we continue to forecast a downward trend in USD/JPY". They target levels of 130.00 by the end of this year and 123.00 by the end of 2024.

Having fixed a local high at 141.89, the pair ended the past five-day period at 141.82. 70% of analysts expect that the weakening DXY will soon cause a correction of the pair to the south, while the remaining 30% set their goal to reach the height of 143.00. 100% of trend indicators on D1 also look up. Among the oscillators, 90% are also pointing up (a third signals the pair's overbought condition), the remaining 10% are painted in a neutral grey color. The nearest support level is located in the 1.4140 zone, followed by 140.90-141.00, 1.4060, 139.45,1.3875-1.3905, 137.50. The nearest resistance is 142.20, then the bulls will need to overcome barriers at levels 1.4300, 143.50 and 144.90-145.10. And from there it's not far to the October 2022 high of 151.95.

No significant economic information related to the Japanese economy is expected to be released in the upcoming week. The release of the report on the last Bank of Japan meeting on Wednesday, June 21, could be an exception, but market participants are unlikely to find anything new in it: everything has already been said at the press conference on June 16.

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[Stan NordFX]

CRYPTOCURRENCIES: The Fed and ECB Prevent Bitcoin Catastrophe

BTC/USD climbed to the $30,989 mark on April 14, its highest value since June 2022. Since then, the market has been dominated by bearish sentiment for nine weeks in a row. The past week was no exception and did not bring joy to investors. As noted by Michael Van De Poppe, founder of venture company Eight, "this is not the situation you would want to see." The expert noted that breaking support in the form of the 200-week moving average (200WMA) indicates a continuation of the downtrend.

This scenario seemed obvious after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing the platforms of selling unregistered assets. Meanwhile, in court documents, the SEC named more than a dozen tokens as securities. According to experts, a victory for the regulator could lead to the delisting of these coins and limit the potential development of their blockchains. In total, over 60 coins have already made it onto the regulator's blacklist.

The court rejected the SEC's request to freeze the assets of Binance's American division last week. However, as some observers believe, the battle is far from over. It's worth noting that Gary Gensler, the head of the regulator, has recently stated that cryptocurrencies, in essence, are not needed at all. Quote: "We don't need more digital currency. We already have digital currency. It's called the U.S. dollar. It's called the euro or the yen. Now they are all digital.".

According to strategists at JPMorgan, US bitcoin exchanges are highly likely to be forced to register with the SEC as brokers, and all cryptocurrencies will be classified as securities. While many see this as the beginning of the end for the entire industry, there are optimists. For instance, JPMorgan believes that new rules "will free the industry from bad practices and dishonest players, which in turn is necessary for the industry to mature and see more active institutional participation."

Adam Back, the CEO of Blockstream, tried to calm market participants. Considered one of the leading figures in modern cryptography and the crypto industry, his argument was directly opposed to JPMorgan's. This prominent expert stated that the crypto market is like water, flowing and finding detours when encountering obstacles. So, if any major crypto exchange operating in the US stops servicing its clients due to regulatory pressure, the industry will ultimately find a way out. Bitcoin traders will simply move to other jurisdictions and start trading in other currencies. And it seems that Adam Back is right: the exodus from the US is already underway. According to data from the analytical platform Glassnode, the share of American players has dropped by 11% since mid-2022. At the same time, it has grown by 9.9% in the Asian region.

It's worth noting that many influencers, while predicting a dismal end for cryptocurrencies, often exclude bitcoin from their projections. For instance, Into The Cryptoverse founder Benjamin Cowen stated that liquidity in the crypto market has long since dried up, and altcoins are "due for a reckoning, while bitcoin's dominance will continue to grow." A similar sentiment was expressed by well-known trader Gareth Soloway, who said he has always compared the crypto market to the dotcom bubble. According to him, the collapse that occurred in the early 2000s will repeat in this industry. He assured that "the system needs to be cleared of trash" to flourish, stating that 95% of all tokens "will be striving towards zero."

Peter Brandt, often called the "Mysterious Wizard of the Market," also joined the chorus praising bitcoin. This legendary trader and analyst also metaphorically "buried" all coins, with the exception of bitcoin. "Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that will manage to finish this marathon. All others, including ethereum, are fakes or scams," he wrote. Many members of the crypto community were unsettled by the respected analyst's grouping of ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by capitalization, together with fraudulent projects. In response, Brandt stated that "ETH will likely survive, but the true legacy is BTC."

ARK Invest CEO Cathy Wood has doubled down on her bitcoin forecast, stating that the target of $1 million per coin will be realized. According to Wood, the current global economic environment increases her confidence in the flagship cryptocurrency. She stated, "The more uncertainty and volatility there is in the global economy, the more our confidence in bitcoin grows, which has been and remains a hedge against inflation."

CEO and founder of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, also expects support from the global economy. Specifically, the billionaire predicts that the Federal Reserve will begin lowering interest rates in October, leading to a sharp increase in liquidity inflows into the crypto market. Dan Tapiero, co-founder of 10T Holdings and Gold Bullion International, expressed a more specific outlook, forecasting an "explosive" rally. He stated, "We will likely see new highs in the second half of 2024 and in 2025. And I think during this bull phase, the overall market capitalization of the crypto market will reach $6-8 trillion."

Despite optimistic long-term forecasts, the outlook for the near future does not inspire investors. Bloomberg strategist Mike McGlone does not rule out a significant decline in the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Composite Index, which reflects the performance of leading digital currencies. In an analytical note prepared for investors, he warned of a dominant bearish trend for at least the next few months. Fiona Cincotta, a strategist at City Bank, also cautioned that a drop in the price of bitcoin below the strong support level of $25,000 could further activate sellers and trigger a more pronounced decline in prices.

PlanB, an analyst and the author of the well-known Stock-to-Flow (S2F) forecasting model, asked his 1.8 million followers to provide their Bitcoin price predictions for the end of June. Many responded that Bitcoin would close the first month of summer near the $24,000-25,000 levels. Only a small portion of respondents indicated the potential for further growth above $30,000. Another expert with the username PROFIT BLUE believes that BTC will not be able to sustain itself in the $25,000 range, and the next target for the cryptocurrency will be the $23,700 level. The most pessimistic forecast came from analyst WhaleWire, who did not rule out the coin revisiting its cyclical low. According to WhaleWire, BTC is preparing for a move towards $12,000. The breakthrough of the $15,000 level, WhaleWire is confident, will occur during this summer.

The minimum for the past seven days and the last three months was recorded at $24,791. The main cryptocurrency was saved from further decline by the weakening US dollar, following the decisions of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank regarding interest rates. At the time of writing the review, on the evening of Friday, June 16, BTC/USD recovered all of its losses for the week and is trading at around $26,400. The total market capitalization of the crypto market stands at $1.064 trillion ($1.102 trillion a week ago). The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has remained in the Neutral zone, although it has decreased from 50 to 47 points over the past seven days.


NordFX Analytical Group


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

 

[Stan NordFX]

CryptoNews of the Week

– Bitcoin experienced an unexpected surge from June 15 to 21, smashing through resistance levels of $25,000 and $26,500, and ultimately peaking at $29,000. This represents an impressive six-day growth of approximately 17%. Following in the footsteps of this leading cryptocurrency, altcoins also witnessed similar uptrends. For instance, Ethereum recorded a roughly 12% appreciation.
This notable ascent cannot be attributed to a single catalyst. Rather, bitcoin's rise coincided with a sequence of positive developments within the industry. Investment heavyweight BlackRock submitted a proposal for a spot bitcoin trust, aimed at streamlining institutional entrance into the crypto market. Deutsche Bank, one of Germany's most formidable financial conglomerates, declared its foray into the digital asset sector, taking on cryptocurrency storage duties. Wall Street powerhouses, Citadel and Fidelity, joined forces to launch a decentralized crypto exchange named EDX Markets on June 20th. Invesco, another investment juggernaut, overseeing $1.4 trillion in assets, has lodged an application to roll out a spot Bitcoin ETF. MicroStrategy has even speculated that such a spot Bitcoin ETF could absorb trillions of dollars. One additional factor potentially fuelling bitcoin's rise could be the minting of a fresh batch of Tether stablecoins (USDT).

– It's worth noting that the surge of the flagship cryptocurrency occurred despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) crackdown on the digital market. Recall that the SEC previously filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing the platforms of selling unregistered assets. In court documents, the SEC classified more than a dozen tokens as securities. Experts believe that a victory for the regulator could lead to the delisting of these coins and limit the potential development of their blockchains. In total, over 60 coins have already made it onto the regulator's blacklist.
Preston Pysh, a popular author on investment books, believes that this regulatory pressure was part of a planned campaign. The goal being to give major players the opportunity to enter the digital asset market under favourable conditions. He substantiated his perspective with the daring moves made by Wall Street giants, as previously mentioned.

– TV host and billionaire Mark Cuban and former SEC executive John Reed Stark discussed the ongoing crackdown on the crypto industry. Stark believes the SEC's actions are necessary. According to him, the regulator is trying to protect investors from potential fraud and scams in this sector. He's also convinced that the SEC's actions will ultimately benefit the industry, by weeding out dishonest participants and increasing transparency.
As for Mark Cuban, he drew a comparison to the early days of the internet. In the billionaire's view, "90% of blockchain companies will fail. 99% of tokens will fail. Just like 99% of early internet companies."

– El Salvador could potentially clear its debts through bitcoin and geothermal cryptocurrency mining. This viewpoint was expressed by Max Keiser, the CEO of Volcano Energy. The former trader and television host moved to El Salvador in 2022 and now serves as an advisor to President Nayib Bukele. Keiser asserts that, owing to its legal framework regarding cryptocurrency and energy resources, El Salvador could become a global centre for bitcoin mining. This could create new jobs, boost the country's GDP, and enable it to settle its debts with creditors.
As for Volcano Energy itself, Keiser believes that the company's market capitalization will grow to $50 billion, exceeding El Salvador's GDP, which is estimated at $29 billion. According to him, this growth will be driven by bitcoin's price rising to $1 million per coin.

– Author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," Robert Kiyosaki, is convinced that the crisis in the banking sector is far from over. Last week, he warned of an impending crash in the real estate sector. According to the expert, California-based mortgage lender LoanDepot is already on the brink of bankruptcy, and the looming real estate market crash could likely be far worse than the 2008 crisis. In light of this situation, Kiyosaki once again advised his followers to prepare for disaster by accumulating precious metals and bitcoin.

– Galaxy Digital's CEO, Mike Novogratz, has compared the recent crypto crash to the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis of 2008-2009. The billionaire believes that the industry needs to be legalized. In that case, it will become transparent, and regulators will be able to ensure investor safety. As it stands, regulators lack sufficient levers to control the movement of funds in digital currencies. Novogratz made these remarks at a summit organized by Bloomberg.
The CEO of Galaxy Digital also believes that in the fight against inflation, demand for alternative instruments will intensify, one of which is bitcoin. He foresees that the price of bitcoin will reach $500,000 in the long term.

– Placeholder venture partner Chris Burniske is known for accurately predicting the crypto bottom in 2022. He also noted that cryptocurrencies often surge when the Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) takes a breather. A cooling down in stocks triggers a capital flow into riskier assets, prompting a bullish rally for BTC.
In this context, Burniske referenced data from Glassnode founders Jan Happel and Yann Allemann. According to their observations, starting from 2019, bitcoin has shown strong growth whenever the NDX showed signs of bullish exhaustion. Currently, bitcoin is just a few steps away from outperforming the NDX again, as the index is nearing its local peak.

– Popular investor and founder of venture firm Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, believes that the market situation makes the realization of negative BTC forecasts impossible, particularly those predicting a drop in cryptocurrency to $12,000. In his opinion, investors should now be "filling their pockets" in anticipation of further growth.

– BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes believes that U.S. authorities are not only hindering the development of the blockchain industry but are also creating conditions for it to shift to China. Last week, he published an article criticizing the U.S. crackdown on the industry. In his article, Hayes emphasized that China is more flexible than the U.S. and allows investors to enter the crypto sphere through platforms registered in Hong Kong. This metropolis is beginning to accumulate significant capital, which positively affects its financial development. Conversely, the American market is losing appeal, forcing companies and funds to leave.

– Former Coinbase CTO, Balaji Srinivasan, has issued a stark warning. He believes that since Apple, Microsoft, and Google have access to all user data on their devices, including private wallet keys, they could assist authorities in confiscating cryptocurrency from its owners if required. He argues that it would only take permission from the governments of G7 countries and China to do this. Srinivasan considers such permission quite possible, as authorities are interested in the development of CBDCs - digital currencies managed by central banks - and the elimination of their competitors in the form of Bitcoin and various altcoins.

– Prominent analyst Benjamin Cowen has warned of a potential fall in Ethereum compared to the leading cryptocurrency. ETH/BTC could plummet by 45% from its current value of 0.066 BTC. "As far as I can tell from the chart," he wrote, "we constantly see lower peaks in ETH/BTC, at least in the short term. However, in the longer term, we see even lower peaks in 2017 (0.036 BTC). And this is where the level of recovery might begin." At the same time, the analyst notes that the likelihood of a "bull rally" in this pair without a downward correction is quite low - first, the "bears" need to complete this movement. "Only then will we be able to assess the prospects for ETH/BTC," Cowen concluded.

– For the first time since 2021, BTC's market dominance has approached 50%. This means that half of the entire market capitalization is attributed to a single asset. The index last rose this high two years ago, in May 2021. The current rise is associated with SEC pressure on altcoins and the application for a spot Bitcoin trust by BlackRock.
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor believes that bitcoin's dominance will reach 80% in the coming years. There are now about 25,000 tokens of varying quality in the market, and this confuses large investors. After the SEC helps remove excess assets, large capital will be more willing to invest in the leading cryptocurrency.

– Cybersecurity analysts have discovered that 95% of users of hacking software for stealing NFTs are schoolchildren. They are responsible for stealing tokens worth $73 million. They then spent these assets on purchasing skins in Roblox, branded items, food delivery, and gambling. According to The Block, high school students do this without fully realizing the crime. They perceive the theft as a game. The peak activity of young criminals occurs during the summer holidays when they have more free time.


Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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[Delusione _Mistero]

Forex Forecast and Cryptocurrencies Forecast for October 26 - 30, 2020​

As for the forecast for the coming week, summarizing the opinions of a number of experts, as well as forecasts made on the basis of a variety of methods of technical and graphical analysis, we can say the following:

- EUR/USD. If you follow the textbooks on fundamental analysis, macroeconomic statistics is of basic, fundamental importance. However, there was no coronavirus pandemic when these books were written. And now it's here. And it is capable of destroying any predictions.
On the one hand, the incidence schedule in Europe is bursting upward, Germany and France set a new "anti-record" for the number of infected people on Thursday, October 22. Spain has become the first European country to see the number of people falling ill above 1m, putting pressure on the euro. But COVID-19 has hit supply as well as demand.
The situation is similar in the US. The number of coronavirus patients is approaching record levels. But at the same time, the country's authorities do not want to introduce new quarantine restrictions in order to support economic activity. Much, including the mood of the markets, depends on the outcome of the US presidential election on November 3.
According to Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan, Democrat Joe Biden's victory will reduce the likelihood of a new wave of protectionist US policies and allow the pair to reach the 1.2000 mark. If Donald Trump wins again, the dollar, in anticipation of a new round of trade war, is likely to go into growth, and the EUR/USD pair will fall to the lows of September in the 1.1600 zone.
In the meantime, despite the fact that Biden's ratings are higher, investors are in no hurry to get rid of the dollar, because they remember how, unexpectedly for many, Donald Trump became the resident of the White House in 2016. And this can happen again.
The intrigue with the election results will continue after November 3, because they may be challenged, especially those of voting by mail, and the electoral college will meet only on December 14.
Now about the forecast for the coming week. The listed uncertainties prevent analysts from unambiguously pointing in one direction or another. However, 75% of them do not exclude a slight rise in the EUR/USD pair at least to the level of 1.1900. Also, 100% of indicators and 85% of oscillators on H4 and D1 are colored green.
The remaining 15% of the oscillators give signals that the pair is overbought. Its fall is also supported by 25% of experts, supported by graphical analysis on both timeframes. Support levels are 1.1800, 1.1760 and 1.1700. The ultimate goal, as already stated, is 1.1600.
As for the events of the coming week, special attention should be paid to the meeting of the European Central Bank on Thursday, October 29, and especially to the final press conference of its lmanagement, which will be held in the afternoon of the same day. The data on US GDP, which will be released on October 29, and the Eurozone GDP, which will be released a day later, on Friday, October 30, can also influence the formation of local trends;

- GBP/USD. The overwhelming majority (90%) of experts, supported by graphical analysis and trend indicators on D1, believe that the pair changed the echelon 1.2845-1.3035 to a higher one - 1.3000-1.3175. However, this forecast is very short-term, and its further behavior will be determined by the result of the presidential election in the United States, the epidemiological situation on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the course of negotiations between the EU and the UK on the terms of Brexit. If the parties show that there will be no withdrawal from the Agreement, this will have a beneficial effect on the pound rate. The situation on this issue should be clarified by mid-November. In the meantime, COVID-19 will continue to play the main role, having the most serious impact on the British economy and especially on finances.
It should be noted that when switching from a weekly to a monthly forecast, the picture changes radically, and here already the majority of experts (60%) and graphical analysis on D1 expect the pair to fall rather than rise: first to the level of 1.2860, and then by another 100 points below;

- USD/JPY. We are waiting for the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision and its management's comment on monetary policy next week, on October 29. But, as usual, we do not expect any surprises from them, and the rate is highly likely to remain at the same negative level, minus 0.1%.
More interesting is the tug of war between the dollar and the yen as safe haven currencies. And here, given the pre-election and pandemic chaos in the US, 75% of experts prefer the Japanese currency as more stable. This scenario is supported by 90% of oscillators and 100% of trend indicators on D1.
Note that, starting in 2016, the USD/JPY pair has fallen below 105.00 for the seventh time. However, it usually lingers there only for a very short time, after which it returns above this mark. The question is still open as to what will happen this time. However, in the medium term, 60% of experts do not exclude that the pair may break through the support of 104.00 and even go down to the zone 102.00-103.00.
As for the graphical analysis, on D1 it draws a sideways movement in the 104.00-105.55 channel within the next three weeks;

- cryptocurrencies. On Friday evening, October 23, the BTC/USD pair is in the $12.860 zone - a new local support/resistance level. If bitcoin holds above $12,800, it promises to be the highest weekly rise in 2.5 years and offers hope for growth to historic highs around $20,000. The immediate challenge is testing the July 2019 high of $13,760.
Bitcoin's rise right now is driven by the pandemic, the monetary printing press that trillions of fiats are coming out of, and the growing popularity of cryptocurrency with large institutional investors. Thus, co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital investment firm Anthony Pompliano increased accumulations in the main cryptocurrency from 50% to 80%.
The number of contracts to buy BTC accumulated in the hands of institutional investors has reached an all-time high, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). However, according to the Commitment of traders (COT) reports, hedge funds hold no fewer contracts to sell bitcoin. A number of experts believe that hedge funds do this in order to provide sufficient liquidity for institutional investors.
Popular TV host and long-time bitcoin supporter Max Kaiser agrees with this version. He believes that at current levels, bitcoin futures traders are slowing the price of BTC to give institutional players a chance to "load the boat." However, once the asset reaches the $28,000 mark (the intermediate benchmark set by Kaiser), the number of coins for sale will go zero, and thanks to the deficit, their price will burst up to the cosmic heights.
“For the poor of this world, the current price and availability of BTC,” says Kaiser, “is the only opportunity in life to purchase non-forfeitable hard money before the price of it rises to 40-80 times, and prices will soar to the level of golden parity by around $400,000.”
Turning to the forecast for the coming months, we will cite the opinion of Anton Kravchenko, CEO of the investment company Xena Financial Systems, according to which the rate of the BTC/USD pair may reach $14,000 by the end of the year. 65% of experts agree with this forecast. The fact that the pair could fall to $9,000 was mentioned by 25% of analysts a week ago, now their number has fallen to 15%. The remaining 10% have taken a neutral position.


NordFX Analytical Group


Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

What acquiesce in referral with being of persuasive and intense ingenuity of trading sytem

 

[Stan NordFX]

Forex and Cryptocurrencies Forecast for June 26 - 30, 2023​

EUR/USD: Officials' Words Drive the Markets

Just a reminder, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve decided on Wednesday, June 14 to pause the process of monetary tightening and left the interest rate unchanged at 5.25%. The following day, on Thursday, June 15, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised the euro interest rate by 25 basis points from 3.75% to 4.00%. ECB President Christine Lagarde noted that the tightening of credit and monetary policy would continue in July.

The firm rhetoric was supported by other ECB representatives. According to comments from ECB Governing Council member Olli Rehn, the underlying inflation in the Eurozone is declining too slowly, necessitating additional efforts from the regulator to stabilize prices. The intentions of the regulator to continue raising rates were also confirmed by ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane and ECB Governing Council member Isabel Schnabel. In their view, the regulator has significant work to do before inflation stabilizes around 2%. (According to the latest data, annual inflation in the Eurozone remained at 6.1%, and the Core Consumer Price Index stood at 5.3%).

Against the backdrop of these hawkish statements from European officials, the markets concluded that at least two more rate hikes should be expected for the euro, in July and September, each by 25 basis points. This continued to push the euro currency higher, and EUR/USD reached a peak at 1.1011 on Thursday, June 22.

However, the financial world doesn't revolve solely around the ECB. On June 21 and 22, market participants' attention was focused on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's semi-annual testimony before the U.S. Congress. While the overall rhetoric was nearly identical to the press conference on June 14, this time Powell placed more emphasis on the prospects of further rate hikes in the near future. This sentiment became particularly evident on the second day of his testimony. The hawkish stance of the Fed Chair and the market's risk-averse atmosphere helped the American currency outperform its competitors. On Thursday, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) reversed its course and started moving upwards again, while EUR/USD declined.

The growing concerns of a recession in the Eurozone also played against the euro. On Friday, June 23, the European currency came under significant bearish pressure as data from Germany and the Eurozone indicated that business activity (PMI) in the manufacturing sector continued to decline at an accelerated pace. Following the release of the PMI statistics, according to Reuters calculations, the likelihood of the ECB's final rate reaching 4.25% decreased to nearly 0%, and EUR/USD reached a local minimum at the level of 1.0844.

However, the situation for the European currency is not as dire, at least in the medium term. For instance, economists at ANZ (The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) believe that while the Federal Reserve may reduce its key interest rate by 20 basis points by the end of the year, market expectations suggest that the ECB will not lower its rates until early 2024. As a result, the ECB's easing cycle will be later and less significant compared to the Fed's, which is favorable for the euro. Consequently, in Q3, EUR/USD could rise to 1.1200. Overall, according to ANZ, the exchange rates are expected to fluctuate in the range of 1.0500 to 1.1400 throughout 2023.

After the release of PMI data for the manufacturing and services sectors in the United States, EUR/USD concluded the five-day period at 1.0893. As for the immediate prospects, at the time of writing this review on the evening of June 24, the forecast appears highly uncertain: 45% of analysts favored a decline in the pair, while an equal percentage expected its growth, and the remaining 10% adopted a neutral position. Among the oscillators on the daily timeframe, 90% lean towards bullish signals, while 10% remain neutral-grey. Regarding the trend indicators, 80% are coloured green, while 20% are in red. The nearest support levels for the pair are located around 1.0865, followed by 1.0790-1.0800, 1.0745, 1.0670, and finally the May 31 low at 1.0635. Bulls will encounter resistance around 1.0900-1.0925, followed by 1.0960-1.0985, 1.1010, and 1.1045, with further resistance at 1.1090-1.1110.

The upcoming week brings a cascade of macroeconomic data from the United States. We can expect housing market data on Tuesday, June 27, as well as the release of durable goods orders and capital goods orders. Additionally, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) from the Conference Board, a leading indicator, will be announced. The results of the country's bank stress tests will be revealed on the following day, Wednesday, June 28, which is particularly interesting given the banking crisis that followed the Fed's interest rate hikes. Furthermore, on the same day, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will deliver a speech. Thursday will bring labour market statistics and GDP data for the country. Finally, on Friday, June 30, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, a key measure of inflation, will be released for US residents. As for the Eurozone economy, preliminary inflation figures (CPI) for Germany and the Eurozone as a whole, which will be published on June 29 and 30, respectively, are of interest.

continued below...

 

[Stan NordFX]

GBP/USD: Bank of England's Delayed Surprise

The economic data released during the past week concerning the UK appeared quite mixed. A significant inflation indicator, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), remained unchanged for the month, standing at 8.7% YoY, surpassing market expectations of 8.4%. Retail sales showed a positive outlook as they unexpectedly grew by 0.3% for the month, contrary to the anticipated decline of -0.2% and the previous value of 0.5%. The core retail sales, excluding automotive fuel, increased by 0.1% against the negative forecast of -0.3% and the previous month's 0.7%. However, the business activity indicators in the country were disappointing. The preliminary Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) decreased to 53.7 in June, compared to the expected 54.8. The Manufacturing PMI also fell short of expectations, dropping from 47.1 to 46.2 (forecast: 46.8).

The inflation data released on June 21 not only exceeded market expectations but also surpassed the Bank of England's (BoE) own forecasts. Against this backdrop, the central bank surprised the markets during its meeting on Thursday, June 22, by raising the base rate not by 25 basis points but by 50 basis points, bringing it to 5.00%.

Following conventional logic, such a move should have significantly supported the British currency. However, that was not the case. GBP/USD initially jumped 60 pips to 1.2841 within 10 minutes of the BoE decision, but then declined by over 100 pips to 1.2737. Analysts believe that the initial upward movement was driven by news headline-reactive algorithmic trading, but the bullish momentum was later dampened as sellers encountered resistance near 14-month highs recorded on June 16.

Strategists from the largest banking group in the Netherlands, ING, believe that a 150 basis point rate hike was already priced in before the Central bank meeting. The 50-basis point increase has occurred, and now markets are anticipating a further 100 basis point rise to 6.00%. Along with the aggressive rate hike, market speculation is growing that the Bank of England, in order to avoid an economic collapse, may be compelled to begin easing its monetary policy starting from the summer of 2024 (or even earlier).

Economists at Commerzbank argue that the BoE started raising the key rate too late and too slowly, putting itself in a position of playing catch-up. According to their view, the regulator is chasing inflation rather than actively combating it through monetary policy, which could have a negative impact on the British currency.

However, different opinions exist. Scotiabank economists, for example, anticipate that GBP/USD could rise to 1.3000 in the near future. Colleagues at ING share this view, stating, "Looking at the charts, it seems that there are no significant levels between current levels and 1.3000, which suggests that the latter is not far away."

GBP/USD ended the past week at the level of 1.2714. Given the current volatility, theoretically, it could cover the remaining distance to 1.3000 in just a few weeks or even days. Currently, 45% of surveyed experts support this scenario, while 25% hold the opposite view, and 30% prefer to refrain from commenting. In terms of technical analysis, both oscillators and trend indicators on the daily timeframe mirror the readings of their counterparts for EUR/USD. In the event of a southward movement in the pair, it will encounter support levels and zones at 1.2685-1.2700, 1.2625, 1.2570, 1.2480-1.2510, 1.2330-1.2350, 1.2275, and 1.2200-1.2210. In the case of an upward movement, the pair will face resistance levels at 1.2760, 1.2800-1.2815, 1.2850, 1.2940, 1.3000, 1.3050, and 1.3185-1.3210.

One notable event in the upcoming week's calendar is Friday, June 30, when the GDP data for the United Kingdom will be released.

USD/JPY: The Journey to the Moon Continues

We issued a "Ticket to the Moon" for USD/JPY a few weeks ago, and it continues to be in effect. The pair reached a height of 143.86 last week. According to Commerzbank, "the yen's weakness is gradually taking on a dramatic character." Economists at Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) forecast that the dollar is likely to continue rising in the next 1-3 weeks. They state, "The next significant level is 144.00. It is still too early to determine whether the dollar's strength [...] will break above this barrier. On the other hand, our strong support level has been adjusted to 141.60 from 141.00."

Economists at MUFG Bank believe that the increasing divergence in monetary policy between the Bank of Japan and other major central banks is a recipe for further weakening of the yen. "The widening yield differentials between Japan and foreign countries, along with the reduction in currency and rate volatility, contribute to the yen becoming increasingly undervalued," write analysts at MUFG. According to their counterparts at the French financial conglomerate Societe Generale, if there is another interest rate hike in the United States in July, the USD/JPY pair could rise to 145.00.

It is clear that the yen is suffering not only from the persistently "dovish" stance of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) but also from the overall rise in global yields. The pressure on the Japanese currency can only be alleviated by the hope that the BoJ will eventually take the first step towards ending its ultra-loose monetary policy. For instance, economists at Danske Bank hope that USD/JPY exchange rate will fall below 130.00 within a 6–12-month horizon. Similar forecasts are made by strategists at BNP Paribas, with targets of 130.00 by the end of the current year and 123.00 by the end of 2024.

As for the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan, it seems that they are not yet ready for any significant changes. Last week, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki stated that while they closely monitor currency movements, they have no intention of commenting on them. He added that "sharp currency movements are undesirable" and that "currency rates should be determined by the market, reflecting fundamental indicators." However, it appears to us that the head of the finance ministry is being deceptive. We only need to recall the unexpected currency interventions carried out by the Bank of Japan last year, prompted by the Ministry of Finance. Through these interventions, the yen was able to strengthen against the dollar by over 1,500 pips. Is it not possible for a similar surprise to occur now?

After reaching another high at 143.86, the pair concluded the past five-day period at 143.71. At the time of writing this review, 60% of analysts anticipate that the yen will recover at least some of its losses and push the pair lower, while 30% of experts point to the west. Although the number of supporters for pair growth this time stands at just 10%, it's worth noting that even the minority can be right. Moreover, it is supported by technical analysis, as all 100% of trend indicators and oscillators on the daily timeframe point upwards. However, a quarter of the oscillators actively signal overbought conditions for the pair. The nearest support level is located in the 143.00-143.20 zone, followed by 142.20, 1.4140, 140.90-141.00, 1.4060, 139.85, 1.3875-1.3905, 138.30, and 137.50. The closest resistance is at 143.85, and then bulls will need to overcome barriers at 144.90-145.30, 146.85-147.15, 148.85, and potentially reach the October 2022 high at 151.95.

There is no significant economic information related to the Japanese economy expected to be released during the upcoming week.

continued below...

 

[Stan NordFX]

CRYPTOCURRENCIES: Influencers Betting on Bitcoin

Bears dominated the crypto market for nine consecutive weeks. However, the situation abruptly changed on June 15 as bitcoin unexpectedly demonstrated a rapid growth. It broke through resistance levels at $25,000, $26,500, and surpassed $30,000, reaching a peak of $31,388 on June 23. The increase during these days amounted to over 26%. Altcoins also followed bitcoin's upward trend, with ethereum gaining approximately 19% in weight.

Bitcoin's surge was fuelled by a series of positive news. The main highlight was the announcement that investment giant BlackRock filed an application to launch a spot bitcoin trust, aiming to simplify institutional access to the crypto market. However, this news wasn't the only one. One of Germany's largest financial conglomerates, Deutsche Bank, declared its entry into the digital asset market and its involvement in cryptocurrency custody services. Wall Street financial giants Citadel and Fidelity joined forces to launch a decentralized crypto exchange called EDX Markets on June 20. Another investment giant, Invesco, which manages assets worth $1.4 trillion, filed an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF. (MicroStrategy believes that such an ETF could attract trillions of dollars). Lastly, the issuance of a new batch of Tether (USDT) stablecoins may have also contributed to the growth of BTC/USD.

It is worth noting that the surge of the flagship cryptocurrency occurred despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) crackdown on the digital market. Previously, the SEC filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing the platforms of selling unregistered securities. In the court documents, the Commission classified over a dozen tokens as securities. According to experts, a victory for the regulator could lead to the delisting of these coins and restrict the potential development of their blockchains. The regulator has already included over 60 coins on its blacklist.

Preston Pysh, the author of popular investment books, believes that the regulatory pressure was a planned campaign. Its aim is to provide major players with the opportunity to enter the digital asset market under favourable conditions. He supports his viewpoint with the bold moves made by Wall Street giants, as mentioned earlier.

The TV host and billionaire, Mark Cuban, and former SEC executive, John Reed Stark, discussed the ongoing crackdown on the crypto industry. Stark believes that the actions taken by the SEC are necessary. According to him, the regulator is trying to protect investors from potential fraud and scams in this sector. He is also convinced that the SEC's actions will ultimately benefit the industry by filtering out dishonest participants and increasing transparency. As for Mark Cuban, he drew parallels with the early days of the internet. In the billionaire's opinion, "90% of blockchain companies will fail. 99% of tokens will fail. Just like 99% of early internet companies."

It is worth noting that many influencers are skeptical about cryptocurrencies and are putting bitcoin aside. We have already quoted Benjamin Cowen, the founder of Into The Cryptoverse, who believes that altcoins "will face reckoning while bitcoin dominance continues to grow." A similar sentiment was expressed by renowned trader Gareth Soloway, who stated that he has always compared the crypto market to the dot-com bubble. According to him, a collapse similar to the early 2000s will occur in this industry. Soloway reassured that "the system needs to be cleared of junk" in order to thrive. He believes that 95% of all tokens "will strive towards zero.".

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad," has recently warned about an impending real estate market crash. According to the expert, California mortgage lender LoanDepot is already on the verge of bankruptcy, and the upcoming real estate market collapse is likely to be much worse than the 2008 crisis. In this situation, Kiyosaki once again advised his followers to prepare for the disaster and accumulate precious metals and bitcoin.

Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, also believes that in the fight against inflation, the demand for alternative instruments will increase, and one of them is Bitcoin, which he predicts will reach $500,000 in the long term. Max Keiser, a former trader and television host who is now an advisor to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, mentioned an even higher figure of $1 million per coin. Cathy Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, also believes that the $1 million target is achievable.

Peter Brandt, known as the "Mysterious Market Wizard," has joined the ranks of bitcoin praise, expressing doubts about all coins except Bitcoin. This legendary trader and analyst stated that bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that will successfully finish this marathon. He later added that ethereum (ETH) is likely to survive, but the real legacy belongs to bitcoin. Benjamin Cowen, mentioned earlier, also predicts difficulties for ethereum, suggesting that ETH/BTC may plummet to Q1 2021 levels in the near future, potentially losing up to 45% of its current value.

Chris Burniske, a partner at venture capital firm Placeholder, has noted that cryptocurrencies often experience growth when the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) index takes a breather. Cooling off in stocks prompts capital to flow into riskier assets, and bitcoin begins a bullish rally. Burniske refers to observations made by Glassnode's founders, Jan Happel and Yann Allemann. According to their findings, since 2019, bitcoin has shown strong growth after signs of bullish exhaustion in the NDX. Currently, bitcoin is just a few steps away from surpassing the NDX once again as the index nears a local peak.

Popular investor and founder of venture company Eight, Michael Van De Poppe, believes that the current market conditions make it impossible for the negative forecasts for BTC to come true, as some authors predict a drop in the cryptocurrency to $12,000. According to his opinion, investors should now "fill their pockets" in anticipation of further growth.

BTC dominance reached 50% on Thursday, June 21. This means that half of the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization is accounted for by this asset. The last time the index was this high was two years ago in May 2021. The current rise is attributed to the pressure from the SEC on altcoins and the application for a spot bitcoin trust by BlackRock. Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, believes that bitcoin dominance will continue to grow and reach 80% in the coming years. "Currently, there are 25,000 tokens of varying quality in the market, which confuses large investors," he says. "After removing unnecessary assets through the SEC, major capital will be more willing to invest in the leading cryptocurrency.".

At the time of writing the review, on the evening of Friday, June 23, BTC/USD is trading at around $30,840. The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market stands at $1.196 trillion ($1.064 trillion a week ago). The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has returned to mid-April levels, jumping from the Neutral zone to the Greed zone over the week, and rising from 47 to 65 points.


NordFX Analytical Group


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

 

[Josean_Morais]

Congratulations, great content here. I hope I can help everyone with tips and information about the forex market.

 

[Stan NordFX]

CryptoNews of the Week

– Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of the 35th President of the United States and participant in the current election race, outlined his plans regarding bitcoin and financial independence of citizens in an interview with The New York Post.
The candidate promised to make decisions that "support bitcoin and transaction freedom, allowing people to manage their own wallets." He clarified that he would create a relaxed regulatory environment in the U.S., which would incorporate "strict control to prevent money laundering." Kennedy also voiced opposition to a digital dollar. "I oppose central bank digital currencies because they are tools of control and oppression, and they are likely to be abused," explained the politician.
He also identified the search for ways to globally regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies as a significant challenge. Citing remarks by Elon Musk, he noted that "AI will first take away jobs, then it will kill us."
For reference: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an American environmental lawyer, radio host, and writer known for his anti-vaccination advocacy and conspiracy theories.

– Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital, a gold enthusiast, and a fervent critic of bitcoin, claimed that there is "nothing lower quality than cryptocurrencies." "Until recently, the rally in highly speculative assets had excluded Bitcoin. Now that it has finally joined the party, it is likely to end soon," he wrote. According to Schiff, such rallies usually end when the "lowest quality things," such as digital assets, finally join them.
Recall that in March, the President of Euro Pacific Capital urged the sale of the leading cryptocurrency and buying gold amidst the issues with Silvergate Bank.

– Cameron Winklevoss, one of the founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, announced on Twitter that both institutional and retail investors have begun purchasing bitcoin. Notably, according to him, institutions are extremely interested in buying Bitcoin ahead of the approval of spot ETFs.
It's worth noting that the investment giant BlackRock recently filed an application to launch a spot Bitcoin trust, intended to simplify institutional access to the crypto market. Another investment behemoth, Invesco, which manages assets worth $1.4 trillion, has applied to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF. (MicroStrategy believes such an ETF could absorb trillions of dollars).
"The window to buy bitcoin in advance is closing. Bitcoin was the most obvious and profitable investment of the last decade. But it will remain just as beneficial in this decade!", claimed Cameron Winklevoss. Hugh Hendry, the manager of the hedge fund Eclectica Asset Management, agrees with him, suggesting that bitcoin could triple its capitalization in the medium term.

– Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise, stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the cryptocurrency market has shown incredible resilience in the face of constantly increasing regulatory pressure. The recent application by BlackRock, the largest asset management company, to launch a Bitcoin spot ETF is just one of the reasons for a new bull cycle.
"In fact, bitcoin has been gradually rising since November of last year when FTX collapsed. Meaning, cryptocurrencies grew despite all the growing anxiety. Now we have BlackRock, who has raised the flag and declared that BTC matters. That it's asset institutional investors want to invest in. I believe we've entered a new era of cryptocurrency, which I call 'prime,' and expect a multi-year bull trend that's only just beginning," argues the businessman.
The CEO of Bitwise predicts that not only cryptocurrencies will flourish, but also companies working in this industry. The businessman is expecting a multitude of new crypto firms to enter the stock market, as well as companies with large cryptocurrency reserves.
As early as 2021, Matt Hougan said that the futures-based cryptocurrency ETFs, which exist in the US market, are not particularly suitable for long-term investors due to their high ancillary costs. Only when spot exchange-traded funds for bitcoin emerge will institutional investors begin substantial capital injections.

– Popular bitcoin maximalist and advisor to the President of El Salvador, Max Keiser, believes that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has sufficient technical and political tools to assign XRP and ETH the status of a security, which would ultimately kill these altcoins. "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) works for the banking cartel, racketeering on behalf of financial structures," Keiser wrote in his blog.
The crypto enthusiast thinks that the mere fact of XRP and ETH's fate being in the hands of regulatory bodies already suggests that these assets are too centralized and incapable of surviving without losses in the lawless and conflict-ridden environment where the SEC operates. Some opponents of the SEC argue that computer code, by definition, cannot be a security. However, Max Keiser considers this a weak and dead-end argument since the functionality and purpose of the crypto asset will play a significant role in its classification.
Recall that the Commission classified Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Coti (COTI), Algorand (ALGO), Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos (ATOM), Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), and Decentraland (MANA) as securities. The crypto community practically did not react to this regulator's statement. Moreover, several cryptocurrency platforms took the SEC's statement as guidance for action and delisted to avoid possible claims.

– The next bitcoin halving, which is expected to occur in April 2024, will reduce miners' rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. According to an analyst operating under the pseudonym InvestAnswers, such a reduction in supply from miners could catalyse a significant bullish surge.
The expert believes that further institutional adoption, including BackRock's application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, will also increase demand for the asset and further reduce supply. Apart from BlackRock, Fidelity, Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole, Citadel, and Invesco have also shown activity in the crypto market. Together, they manage assets totalling $27 trillion. And bitcoin's market cap is just a little more than $0.5 trillion. Only a tiny part of this half-trillion is being traded in the market. This implies that "demand for Bitcoins is growing, and the supply is drying up. And that means the price is rising," explained InvestAnswers.

– The main altcoin has secured its position above the key $1850 mark, and a number of analysts believe that ethereum has the potential to realize bullish momentum in the near term. For example, popular expert Ali Martinez points out that ETH may face serious resistance near the $2,000-2,060 zone, as over 832,000 addresses previously opened sales in this range. However, if ethereum overcomes this zone, it has every chance of reaching $2,330 on a sharp impulse. And in perspective, a path opens for further growth up to $2,750.
On the other hand, specialists at Santiment believe that the altcoin is currently unstable. This is due to a significant battle between buyers and sellers near the $1,900 region. However, the overall supply of ethereum on centralized platforms has decreased by 9.2%. In theory, this could provide additional support to the main altcoin.

– Futures contracts for ethereum and bitcoin will expire on Friday, June 30. According to AmberDate, more than 150 thousand BTC options will be liquidated by this deadline on the Deribit Exchange, amounting to approximately $4.57 billion. Another $2.3 billion will be allocated to ETH contracts. Experts from CoinGape believe that this could be a trigger for a serious increase in volatility in July and provide significant support to these assets. However, a lot will also depend on the macroeconomic statistics coming from the U.S.

– Morgan Creek Capital's founder and CTO, Mark Yusko, believes that bitcoin and the crypto markets have entered a bullish trajectory. In his opinion, this trend may last up until the next halving. "I think the rally is just starting. We've just entered the so-called crypto-summer season," the specialist wrote. However, he warned that a speculative explosion caused by halving is usually followed by an excessive reaction in the opposite direction, known as a crypto winter.
According to the head of Morgan Creek Capital, bitcoin is digital gold, and it is ready to replace what physical gold has done for 5,000 years. As for ethereum, Yusko thinks of it as a substitute for fiat currency.

– Ten years ago, Davinci Jeremie posted a video on YouTube in which he strongly recommended his viewers spend at least one dollar on Bitcoin, and explained why BTC would grow in the coming years. At that time, this forecast from Jeremie either angered or amused most investors who did not want to heed the recommendation. Now, they bitterly regret it - the $1 invested at that time could have bought more than 1,000 BTC, which today are valued at $30 million.
Jeremie noted in a recent interview that bitcoin should be bought even now. According to him, only 2 percent of the world's population owns cryptocurrency, so it still has time to please its investors with new records. "However, there is also one problem here," says Jeremie. "Everyone wants to have a whole Bitcoin. No one wants to go to the store and say, 'Can I get one trillionth of an apple'. So even though Bitcoin is divisible, this property is essentially its Achilles heel. The solution to the problem is to make the display of small parts of BTC more comprehensible. For example, do not write amounts like 0.00001 BTC, but replace them with an equal number of Satoshi, that is, the smallest indivisible particle of 1 bitcoin worth 0.00000001 BTC."

 

[Stan NordFX]

Forex and Cryptocurrencies Forecast for July 03 - 06, 2023​

EUR/USD: When Will the Pair Return to 1.1000?

Summarizing the second half of June, the result in the EUR and USD confrontation can be said to be neutral. On Friday, June 30, EUR/USD ended up where it traded on both the 15th and 23rd of June.

On Thursday, June 29, some quite strong macroeconomic data came out of the US. The Bureau of Economic Analysis revised its GDP figures for the first quarter upwards to 2.0% year on year (YoY) (forecast was 1.3%). As for the labour market, the number of initial jobless claims for the week dropped by almost 30K, reaching the lowest level since the end of May - 239K.

Recall that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve decided at its June 14 meeting to take a pause in the process of monetary tightening and left the interest rate unchanged at 5.25%. After this, market participants were left to speculate on the regulator's next moves. The released data reinforced confidence in the stability of the country's economy and raised expectations for further dollar interest rate hikes. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a rate hike of 25 basis points (bps) at the Fed's July meeting rose to 87%, and the probability that the total rate hike by the end of 2023 will be 50 bps is nearing 40%. As a result, in the middle of Friday, June 30, EUR/USD recorded a local low at 1.0835.

Speaking at an economic forum in Sintra (Portugal) on Wednesday, June 28, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that further interest rate increases would be driven by a strong labour market and persistently high inflation. However, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data published on June 30 indicated that inflation, although slowly, is declining. Forecasts suggested that the PCE index for June would remain at the previous level of 4.7%, but in reality, it fell to 4.6%. This somewhat dampened the bullish sentiment on the dollar, with the DXY index heading lower and EUR/USD returning to the central zone of the two-week sideways corridor, ending the five-day period at 1.0910.

As for the state of the economy on the other side of the Atlantic, following high preliminary inflation data from Spain and Germany, markets expected the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in the Eurozone to rise by 0.7% in June, significantly exceeding the 0.2% a month earlier. However, the actual value, although higher than in May, was only slightly so, at 0.3%. Moreover, the preliminary Consumer Price Index (CPI) published on Friday, June 30th, showed a decrease in Eurozone inflation from 6.1% to 5.5% YoY (forecast was 5.6%).

Recall that after hawkish statements from ECB leaders made in mid-June, the markets had already priced in two euro rate hikes, in July and September, each by 25 basis points. Therefore, the fresh European inflation data had little effect on investor sentiment.

Friday, June 30, marked not only the end of the quarter but also the first half of the year. In this regard, representatives from several banks decided to make predictions for the second half of 2023 and the start of 2024. Economists at Credit Agricole see risks of a decrease in EUR/USD from current levels in the near term and predict its gradual recovery starting from Q4 2023. In their opinion, over the next 6-12 months, the pair could rise to 1.1100.

Strategists at Wells Fargo expect the dollar to be fairly stable or even slightly stronger for the rest of 2023. However, they predict a noticeable weakening over the course of the following year. "Given our expectations for a later and shallow recession in the U.S. and a later easing of Fed policy," Wells Fargo analysts write, "we anticipate a later and more gradual depreciation of the U.S. dollar. [...] We predict that by the end of 2023, the trade-weighted U.S. dollar rate will change little compared to the current level, and by 2024 it will have declined by 4.5%."

Economists at Goldman Sachs also updated their EUR/USD forecasts. They too now indicate a smaller drop in the coming months and a more prolonged recovery of the euro by the end of 2023 and the first half of 2024. They predict the pair rate to be at 1.0700 in three months, 1.1000 in six months, and 1.1200 in twelve months.

As for the near-term prospects, at the time of writing this review on the evening of June 30, 50% of analysts voted for the pair's decline, 25% for its rise, and the remaining 25% took a neutral position. Among oscillators on D1, 35% are on the side of the bulls (green), 25% are on the side of the bears (red), and 40% are painted in neutral grey. Among the trend indicators, 90% are coloured green, and only 10% are red. The nearest support for the pair is located around 1.0895-1.0900, followed by 1.0865, 1.0790-1.0815, 1.0745, 1.0670 and, finally, the May 31 low of 1.0635. The bulls will encounter resistance in the area of 1.0925-1.0940, followed by 1.0985, 1.1010, 1.1045, 1.1090-1.1110.

Upcoming events to note include the release of the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for Germany and the US on Monday, July 3. The minutes from the latest FOMC meeting will be published on Wednesday, July 5. The following day, on Thursday, July 6, data on retail sales volumes in the Eurozone will be available. On the same day, the ADP employment report and the PMI for the US service sector will also be published.

Closing out the work week, another batch of data from the US labour market will be released on Friday, July 7, including the unemployment rate and the important nonfarm payroll (NFP) figure. ECB President Christine Lagarde will also deliver a speech on the same day.

Furthermore, traders should be aware that Tuesday, July 4 is a public holiday in the US, as the country observes Independence Day. As a result, the markets will close earlier the day before due to the holiday.

GBP/USD: How Mr. Powell "Defeated" Mr. Bailey

In the previous review, we noted how strongly the words of officials affect quotes. This week was another confirmation of this. On Wednesday, June 28, GBP/USD showed an impressive drop. The cause were the speeches of the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Bank of England's Governor Andrew Bailey in Sintra. Mr. Bailey promised that his Central Bank would "do whatever it takes to get inflation to target level". This implies at least two more rate hikes. However, Mr. Powell did not rule out further tightening of the Fed's monetary policy, even though inflation in the US is much lower than in the United Kingdom. As a result of these two speeches, Jerome Powell and the US currency won, and GBP/USD dropped sharply.

The next day, strong US macro statistics added strength to the dollar. If it were not for the data on the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) in the US published at the end of the week, the pound would have suffered quite a bit. But thanks to the PCE, in just a few hours it managed to recover almost all the losses and put the final chord at the mark of 1.2696.

In the mentioned speech in Sintra, Andrew Bailey also stated that "the UK economy has proven much more resilient" than the Central Bank expected. We would like to believe the head of the BoE. However, the data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on June 30 raise certain concerns. Thus, the country's GDP grew in Q1 2023 by 0.1% in quarterly terms and 0.2% in annual terms. And if the first indicator remained at the previous level, then the second showed a significant decline: it turned out to be 0.5% lower than the data for Q4 2022.

According to Credit Suisse economists, the situation facing the Bank of England should be defined as genuinely exceptional. But the slowdown in British GDP does not seem to worry the BoE leadership too much, which is focused on combating high inflation.

Following the May and June meetings, the BoE raised the interest rate by 25 basis points and 50 basis points to 5.00%. Many analysts believe that the regulator may bring it up to 5.50% already at the two upcoming meetings, and then to 6.25%, despite the threat of economic recession. Such steps in the foreseeable future will support the pound. At Credit Suisse, for example, they believe that even though the pound has significantly strengthened since September 2022, GBP/USD still has the potential to grow to 1.3000.

From a technical analysis perspective, the indications of oscillators on D1 appear quite uncertain - a third point to the north, a third to the south, and a third to the east. The picture is clearer for trend indicators - 90% recommend buying, 10% selling. If the pair moves south, it will encounter support levels and zones at 1.2625, 1.2570, 1.2480-1.2510, 1.2330-1.2350, 1.2275, 1.2200-1.2210. In case of the pair's rise, it will meet resistance at levels of 1.2755, 1.2800-1.2815, 1.2850, 1.2940, 1.3000, 1.3050, and 1.3185-1.3210.

As for the events of the coming week, the focus will be on the publication of the PMI in the UK manufacturing sector on Monday, July 3. On Tuesday, July 4, the Bank of England's report will be published, which may shed light on the future course of monetary policy. And at the end of the week, on Friday, July 7, the data on the US labour market, including the level of unemployment and such an important indicator as the number of new jobs outside the agricultural sector (NFP), will be released.

In the events for the upcoming week, one can note Monday, July 3, when the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the United Kingdom will be published.

continued below...

 

[Stan NordFX]

USD/JPY: The "Ticket to the Moon" Turned Out to be Multi-Use

As soon as we mentioned the potential interventions to support the yen in our last review, almost everyone started discussing this topic, including analysts and even officials from the Japanese Government. Of course, our speculations were not the trigger; it was the exchange rate of the Japanese currency. Last week, USD/JPY continued its "flight to the moon," setting another record at the height of 145.06. Interestingly, it was at the 145.00 mark that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) conducted its first intervention in many years.

It has been said a thousand times that increasing divergence in monetary policy between the Bank of Japan and other major central banks is a recipe for further yen weakening. Thus, last week, following the release of US GDP and unemployment claims data, the yield on 10-year US treasury bonds jumped to 3.84%, and two-year bonds to 4.88%, the highest level since March. Therefore, the spread between US and Japanese bonds continues to widen, reflecting the growing divergence in the monetary policy of the Fed and the BoJ and pushing USD/JPY to astronomical heights. Understandably, in such a situation, the question arose about the ability of the Japanese regulator to artificially support its national currency.

Hirokazu Matsuno, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, stated on Friday, June 30 that the authorities are "closely monitoring currency movements with a high sense of urgency and immediacy." "It's important that the exchange rate moves steadily, reflecting fundamental economic indicators. Recently, sharp unilateral movements have been observed. [We] will take appropriate measures in response to excessive currency movements," promised the high-ranking official.

However, several experts doubt that the Japanese Government and Central Bank have the strength and capability not just to strengthen the yen once, but to maintain it in such a state over an extended period of time. It's enough to recall that less than eight months have passed since the last intervention in November 2023, and here again, USD/JPY is storming the height of 145.00. Since all currency reserves are finite, say Commerzbank specialists, solving this problem will be infinitely difficult, and "all that remains is to hope that officials from the [finance] ministry realize this and do not overestimate their capabilities.".

The monetary policy pursued by the Japanese Government and Central Bank in recent years clearly indicates that their focus is not solely on the yen exchange rate, but on economic indicators. However, it is important to note that one of these indicators is inflation. In this regard, we have seen an acceleration in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to 3.1% YoY, compared to 3.0% the previous month and 2.7% in February. While these values are significantly lower than those observed in the US, Eurozone, or the UK, no one can guarantee that inflation will not continue to rise further. If the BoJ does not intend to tighten its ultra-easy policy and raise interest rates, the only tool left to maintain the exchange rate is currency interventions. The only remaining question is when they will begin – now or when the rate reaches 150.00, as it did in the autumn of 2022.

Many experts still hold hope that the Bank of Japan will eventually decide to tighten its policy. These hopes allow economists at Danske Bank to forecast a USD/JPY rate below 130.00 within a 6–12-month horizon. Similar predictions are made by strategists at BNP Paribas, who target 130.00 by the end of this year and 123.00 by the end of 2024. However, Wells Fargo's forecast appears more modest, with their specialists expecting the pair to only decrease to 133.00 by the end of 2024. Nonetheless, reaching that level would still be considered a significant achievement for the Japanese currency, as it concluded the past week at 144.29 after the publication of US PCE data.

At the time of writing the review, 60% of analysts, like a week ago, anticipate that the yen will recoup at least some of its losses and push the pair to the south, while the remaining 40% of experts point to the east. However, there are no supporters of the pair's growth this time. It is worth noting that there were only a minimal number of supporters the previous week, with only 10%. Nevertheless, USD/JPY continues its journey to the stars. Ultimately, while experts ponder, the market decides. Regarding this matter, there are no doubts from either trend indicators or oscillators: all 100% on D1 point upwards. However, a quarter of the oscillators actively signal overbought conditions for the pair.

The nearest support level is located in the 143.74 zone, followed by 142.95-143.20, 142.20, 141.40, then 140.90-141.00, 140.60, 138.75-139.05, 138.30, and 137.50. The closest resistance is at 144.55, and then bulls will need to overcome barriers at 145.00-145.30, 146.85-147.15, and 148.85, before reaching the October 2022 high of 151.95.

No significant economic information related to the Japanese economy is expected to be released in the upcoming week. However, unless the Bank of Japan announces currency interventions, which they do not typically preannounce.

continued below...

 

[Stan NordFX]

CRYPTOCURRENCIES: Institutional Bitcoin Frenzy Gains Momentum

What has been talked about and dreamed of for so long seems to be happening: global financial giants are finally believing in the bright future of Bitcoin. Back in 2021, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, mentioned that futures-based cryptocurrency ETFs were not suitable for long-term investors due to high associated costs. He stated that once spot-based bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) emerged, institutional investors would start pouring significant investments. Recently, in an interview with Bloomberg, Hougan announced the dawn of a new era, saying, "Now we have BlackRock raising the flag and stating that BTC has value, that it's an asset in which institutional investors want to invest. I believe we are entering a new era of cryptocurrencies, which I call the 'mainstream era,' and I expect a multi-year bull trend that is just beginning.".

A spot BTC ETF is a fund whose shares are traded on an exchange and track the market or spot price of BTC. The main idea behind such ETFs is to provide institutional investors with access to bitcoin trading without physically owning it, through a regulated and financially familiar product.

Currently, eight major financial institutions have submitted applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to enter the cryptocurrency market through spot-based ETFs. Alongside investment giant BlackRock, these include global asset managers such as Invesco and Fidelity. Global banks such as JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Credit Agricole have also joined the bitcoin fever.

It is worth noting that the SEC has previously rejected all similar applications. However, the current situation may be different. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has confirmed that the SEC considers bitcoin a commodity, opening up broad prospects for the leading cryptocurrency. Cameron Winklevoss, one of the founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, has confirmed that institutional investors are ready to start buying BTC, expecting the approval of spot-based BTC funds. "Bitcoin was the obvious and most profitable investment of the past decade. But it will remain the same in this decade," said Winklevoss. This sentiment is shared by Hugh Hendry, the manager of Eclectica Asset Management hedge fund, who believes that BTC could triple its market capitalization in the medium term.

When it comes to altcoins, the situation is somewhat more challenging. Max Keiser, a popular bitcoin maximalist and now an advisor to the President of El Salvador, believes that Gary Gensler has enough technical and political tools at his disposal to classify XRP and ETH as securities, which would ultimately kill these altcoins. "The Securities and Exchange Commission is working for the banking cartel, engaging in racketeering in the interest of financial structures," Keiser wrote in his blog.

It is worth noting that the SEC has filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing the platforms of selling unregistered securities. In the court documents, the Commission identified Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Coti (COTI), Algorand (ALGO), Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos (ATOM), Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), and Decentraland (MANA) as securities. Several cryptocurrency platforms have already taken this SEC statement as guidance and, to avoid potential claims, have delisted these altcoins.

The statements above indicate that bitcoin is likely to maintain its market leadership in the foreseeable future. Mark Yusko, the founder and CEO of Morgan Creek Capital, believes that the bullish trend of BTC could continue until the next halving, which is expected to occur in April 2024. "I think the rally is just beginning. We have just entered what is known as the crypto summer season," wrote the expert. However, he cautioned that after the speculative surge caused by the halving, there is typically an excessive reaction in the opposite direction, known as crypto winter.

According to an analyst known as InvestAnswers, in addition to the upcoming halving, the institutional adoption that has begun will help drive the growth of BTC by increasing demand for the asset and reducing its supply. The aforementioned investment giants collectively manage trillions of dollars in assets, while the market capitalization of Bitcoin is just over $0.5 trillion. Only a tiny fraction of this $0.5 trillion is actively traded on the market.

Peter Schiff, the president of Euro Pacific Capital and a staunch critic of Bitcoin, holds the opposite view. He believes that there is "nothing more low-quality than cryptocurrencies." "Until recently, the rally in highly speculative assets excluded bitcoin. Now that it has finally joined the party, it is likely to end soon," he stated. According to Schiff, such rallies typically come to an end when "the lowest-quality things" eventually join them, referring to digital assets.

Looking at the BTC/USD chart, there is a suspicion that Peter Schiff might be right. After soaring on the news of BlackRock's and other institutional players' interest, the pair has been trading sideways within a narrow range of $28,850 to $31,000 for the past week. According to analysts, besides concerns about SEC actions, bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market are currently being weighed down by miners. Breaking the $30,000 barrier prompted them to send a record volume of coins to exchanges ($128 million in just the past week). Crypto miners fear a price reversal from a significant level due to increased regulatory scrutiny in the industry. Additionally, the average cost of mining remains higher than the current prices of digital assets due to the doubling of computational difficulty over the past year and a half. As a result, miners are forced to sell their coin holdings to sustain production activities, cover ongoing expenses, and repay debts.

As of the time of writing the review, on Friday evening, June 30, BTC/USD is trading around $30,420. The total market capitalization of the crypto market has slightly decreased to $1.191 trillion ($1.196 trillion a week ago). The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is on the border between the Greed and Neutral zones, dropping from 65 to 56 points over the week.

New catalysts are needed for further upward movement. One of them could be the expiration of futures contracts for ethereum and bitcoin on Friday, June 30. According to AmberDate, over 150,000 BTC options with a total value of around $4.57 billion were settled on the Deribit Exchange. Additionally, $2.3 billion worth of contracts were settled for ETH. According to experts from CoinGape, this could trigger significant volatility in July and provide strong support for these assets. However, much will also depend on the macroeconomic data coming out of the United States.

As of the evening of June 30, ETH/USD is trading around $1,920. Several analysts believe that ethereum still has the potential for further bullish momentum. Popular expert Ali Martinez points out that ETH may encounter significant resistance near the $2,000-2,060 range, as over 832,000 addresses previously opened sales in this range. However, if ethereum surpasses this zone, it has a good chance of experiencing a sharp impulse towards $2,330. Furthermore, there is potential for further growth towards $2,750 in the long term.

And finally, a bit of history. Ten years ago, Davinci Jeremie posted a YouTube video strongly recommending his viewers to spend at least one dollar to purchase bitcoin and explained why BTC would grow in the coming years. At that time, Jeremy's forecast angered or amused most people who did not want to listen to his recommendation. However, they now deeply regret it as they could have acquired over 1,000 BTC for the $1 they would have invested, which is worth $30 million today.

In a recent interview, Jeremy emphasized that it is still worthwhile to buy bitcoin. According to him, only 2 percent of the world's population owns cryptocurrency, so it still has the potential to delight its investors with new records. "However, there is also one problem," says Jeremy. "Everyone wants to own a whole bitcoin. No one wants to go to a store and say, 'Can I get one trillionth of an apple?' So, although bitcoin is divisible, this property is essentially its Achilles' heel. The solution to this problem is to make the display of small fractions of BTC more user-friendly and understandable. For example, instead of writing amounts like 0.00001 BTC, they could be replaced by the equivalent amount of satoshis, which is the smallest indivisible unit of one Bitcoin valued at 0.00000001 BTC."


NordFX Analytical Group


Notice: These materials are not investment recommendations or guidelines for working in financial markets and are intended for informational purposes only. Trading in financial markets is risky and can result in a complete loss of deposited funds.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

 

[Stan NordFX]

June Results: Gold and Pound Remain in NordFX Top 3

The brokerage company NordFX has summarized the trading performance of its clients for June 2023. Additionally, the social trading services, CopyTrading and PAMM, were evaluated, along with the profits generated by the company's IB partners.

- The trader from South Asia, with account No.1658XXX, emerged as the leader for the month, achieving a profit of 66,634 USD. This impressive performance was accomplished through transactions involving gold (XAU/USD), British pound (GBP/USD), and euro (EUR/USD)
- A representative from Western Asia secured the second place, with account No.1692XXX and a result of 36,544 USD. This individual utilized identical trading instruments: gold, the British pound, and the euro. In all pairs, the US dollar also served as the quoted currency.
- Securing the third spot on the podium was another trader from Western Asia, with account No.1553XXX. This trader earned a total of 30,904 USD in June, primarily from trades involving the same instruments, gold and the British pound.

The situation unfolded as follows in NordFX passive investment services:

In CopyTrading, we continue to track the fate of the veteran signal KennyFXPRO - Prismo 2K. For over seven months, it has been recovering from the shock of November 14, 2022 (when its drawdown exceeded 67%). However, the signal experienced a new shock between June 20-23, and to prevent the account from being wiped out, the signal author decided to close the loss-making positions. As a result, the profit returned to the November 2022 level and currently stands at 221% over 788 days of operation.

Another signal, Trade2win, received a fantastic profit of 5,343% in the spring with an equally fantastic drawdown of less than 15%. However, as we warned in our previous review of this signal, trading in financial markets is risky and past results do not guarantee their repetition in the future. This is exactly what happened with Trade2win: no transactions were made based on this signal in June, and all indicators remained at May's level.

From the startups, the signal SM04 caught our attention this time. In its 53 days of existence, it has generated almost 80% profit with a relatively moderate drawdown of about 22%.

On the PAMM service showcase, there remain two accounts that we have mentioned repeatedly in previous reviews. These are KennyFXPRO-The Multi 3000 EA and TranquilityFX-The Genesis v3. On November 14, 2022, similar to their colleague from CopyTrading, they suffered significant losses: their drawdown approached 43%. However, the PAMM managers decided not to give up, and as of June 30, 2023, the profit on the first of these accounts exceeded 103%, and on the second, 68%. The growth over the last month was insignificant, but both of these accounts managed to avoid the shock that KennyFXPRO - Prismo 2K experienced in June.

Additionally, we continue to monitor the Trade and earn account. It was opened over a year ago but was in a state of hibernation, awakening only in November. As a result, over the past 8 months, the return on it has reached 145% with a very small drawdown of less than 10%.

Among NordFX's IB partners, the top three stand as follows:
- For the second consecutive month, the top spot is held by a partner from Western Asia, with account No.1645XXX. While in May he was awarded a commission of 10,370 USD, it amounted to 10,005 USD in June.
- In second place is a partner from South Asia, with account No.1597XXX, who received a commission of 6,142 USD.
- And rounding out the top three is a partner from Eastern Asia, with account No.1169XXX, who earned 5,436 USD in June.


Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

 

[fredeee]

what a great and informative thread. hope to contribute when i get more experience.

 

[Stan NordFX]

CryptoNews of the Week

– Numerous Twitter users, including many cryptocurrency traders and investors, have voiced complaints against Elon Musk. The discontent was tied to the billionaire and new owner of the social network implementing a series of restrictions. Starting from July 1, 2023, verified users are able to view up to 6,000 posts per day, while unverified users are limited to only 600. At the same time, this limit is further reduced to 300 posts for new accounts.
According to several experts, these new restrictions may have a negative impact on the crypto market. Many industry participants have been receiving a large amount of important information via Twitter. However, it has now become significantly more difficult to obtain current data and news.
Musk himself assured that this measure is temporary and is necessary in order to reduce the load on the system's internal servers. He said that the limits will later increase to 8,000, 800, and 400 posts, respectively.

– The rapid fall in the price of the leading cryptocurrency is only a matter of time. This was asserted by the president of Euro Pacific Capital, "gold bug" Peter Schiff, adding that he had underestimated the "bubble potential of Bitcoin." In his view, most investors do not believe in the first cryptocurrency, they merely hope that someone will buy it at a high price.
The businessman believes that stories about people losing money on cryptocurrency will overshadow those about people getting rich from it. "The peak we saw in 2021, around $70,000, that's it, and ultimately bitcoin will burst," he predicted.

– "The adoption of spot bitcoin ETFs is a major event for the crypto industry," stated Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy. "It's an important milestone on the path to institutional acceptance. I believe it's important, but I don't think bitcoin will rise overnight to $5 million."
"The approval of spot bitcoin ETF applications will make investors realize that the first cryptocurrency is a legitimate asset," the billionaire explained. "If the SEC approves applications for this asset, a user can press a button and purchase $10 million of BTC within 30 seconds." (The SEC is currently reviewing several applications for the launch of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. However, the Commission maintains that these applications are not sufficiently clear and comprehensive.)
For reference: MicroStrategy additionally purchased 12,333 BTC amounting to a total of $347 million between April 29 and June 27. Saylor's company now owns a total of 152,333 BTC, valued at over $4.6 billion, which were acquired at an average rate of $29,668.

– A survey revealed that 92% of Earth's inhabitants have heard of cryptocurrencies at least once. The study involved 15,158 individuals aged between 18 and 65 years from 15 countries across America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
37% of the respondents consider this asset class as part of the monetary system. However, only 15% of Britons and 17% of Germans agree with this statement. Nigerians (65%) and Argentinians (56%) are the most interested in holding digital assets, seeing them as an effective means of preserving value. Analysts attributed this to the instability of local financial systems and state currencies. 26% of those surveyed consider crypto assets to be a scam. Primarily, Americans and Britons associate cryptocurrencies with fraudulent schemes.

– Most cryptocurrency exchanges do not allow minors to trade digital assets, but parents can open accounts on their behalf and allow them to participate in trading. Youth readily engage in this activity, and there are numerous stories of children investing in Bitcoin since its inception. For instance, Erik F. received $1,000 to invest in BTC when he was 12 years old, and by the time he turned 18, he had become a millionaire thanks to it.
According to data published last year by the platform Gohenry, 1.33 million children in the UK invested money in cryptocurrency. Moreover, a study titled "Parents, Kids, and Money," conducted by T. Rowe Price, showed that 57% of children aged 8-14 are familiar with digital currencies. They are better informed about cryptocurrencies than their parents, with only 47% of parents familiar with the technology - 10% less than their kids.

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[Stan NordFX]

– Market participants should exercise more caution when trading cryptocurrency, warned CoinDesk researchers. The fact is that starting from Q4 2022, global fiat liquidity indicators have been rapidly declining, and the rise in BTC quotes in such conditions is an anomaly. The BTC rate hit a local price bottom of $15,500 in November last year and has since doubled in price to $31,000. Moreover, just since June 15, its value has spiked by over 20%. This occurred against the backdrop of news that major companies had once again submitted applications for the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
According to Lewis Harland, portfolio manager at Decentral Park Capital, the situation remains complex. He confirmed that lately, tracked fiat indicators, such as the Fed's net liquidity and global net liquidity level, have significantly dropped. "This is the main reason why we are cautious about BTC, despite the market's optimistic consensus. We think that investors are overlooking this," Harland added.
The global net liquidity indicator, which takes into account the supply of fiat in several major countries, has decreased to $26.5 trillion - the lowest level since November 2022. Such data was provided by the platforms TradingView and Decentral Park Capital.

– Crypto strategist and trader known as Bluntz, who accurately pinpointed the bottom of bitcoin's bear market in 2018, believes that ethereum is showing all the signs of a powerful rally that could occur in the coming months. According to his words, the remaining part of 2023 may set ethereum on parabolic growth, allowing the leading smart contract platform to significantly outperform BTC.
Bluntz is considered an experienced practitioner of technical analysis and, in particular, Elliott Wave Theory, which allows forecasting price behaviour following the psychology of the crowd that tends to manifest in waves.
According to this theory, a bullish asset shows a five-wave rally, with the third wave signalling the steepest rise. Bluntz suggests that ethereum is already in the early stages of the third wave's surge, which could lead to ETH approaching $4,000 by the end of 2023.

– Crypto trader Altcoin Sherpa is confident that the leading cryptocurrency may rise to $32,000 first and then to the new 2023 high of $40,000. However, he's not certain about the latter. This should be followed by a significant downward correction.
Addressing the ETH/BTC pair, Altcoin Sherpa noted that ethereum is likely to fall relative to the flagship crypto asset and target the minimum range around 0.053 BTC, or $1,614.

– Well-known crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen made a forecast about the likely price trajectory of Bitcoin and altcoins. In his opinion, compared to current levels, bitcoin could grow approximately by 14% and reach a maximum of $35,000 in 2023. "In the short term, it's really hard to say whether bitcoin can rise a bit again. For myself, I set a target of $35,000," the expert said.
Cowen also talked about what will happen to other coins if the BTC price does reach this goal. He believes this will be insignificant news for the altcoin market, as it will most likely continue to crash in pairs with Bitcoin. "Upon reaching $35,000, Bitcoin at some point must go down," argues Cowen. "I think it will have to repeat some of these movements, as usually happens in the year preceding the halving. And at this point, the altcoin market will drop a little bit more, and the dominance of Bitcoin will continue to grow. Liquidity is drying up, so people see relative safety in Bitcoin compared to the altcoin market. But this does not mean that Bitcoin cannot fall, it means that it is somewhat safer."

– Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel reported that the global financial market is demonstrating a decrease in correlation between two assets that investors traditionally view as effective hedges against market volatility. While the price of Bitcoin is showing explosive growth, the price of gold is gradually decreasing. Fred Thiel suggested that this not only indicates a shift in priorities in favor of digital assets but also demonstrates the widening accessibility of bitcoin to a broader circle of investors.
In April, analytical company Kaiko cited data on the correlation between BTC and XAU within 50%. At the time, according to Kaiko analyst Dessislava Aubert, this represented the strongest link between the two assets in more than a year.

– According to technical analysis data, the main cryptocurrency's rate on the BTC/USD chart may form a new "bullish flag". This opinion was expressed by experts from Fairlead Strategies. "Bitcoin is digesting its gains during the consolidation phase," they said. "A new bullish flag might be forming, which will emerge when breaking above the weekly Ichimoku cloud around $31,900."
The experts explained that this figure consists of a pole and a flag. According to them, its pole represents the initial price rally, and the flag represents the subsequent consolidation, caused by a "temporary exhaustion of bullish sentiments" and the absence of strong pressure from sellers. According to the theory of technical analysis, once an asset breaks the price above the contour of the flag, it tends to grow by an amount approximately equal to the length of the pole.
In the case of bitcoin, the upward movement from the June 15, 2023, low at $24,790 to the June 23 high at $31,388 represents the pole, and the subsequent consolidation formed the flag. According to analysts, a potential BTC breakout will allow the cryptocurrency's cost to reach the next key resistance level at $35,900.

– Venture capitalist Tim Draper has revised the timeframe within which the price of the main cryptocurrency is supposed to grow to $250,000. "I think we'll have to wait a little longer," the billionaire wrote, adding that his forecast will come true by the end of June 2025 with a 100% probability.
Draper had previously predicted that the price of bitcoin would reach $250,000 by the end of 2022. When his forecast didn't come true, he extended the timeline for its realization by another six months to mid-2023. Now he has made a new "correction", adding that the BTC price will exceed his assumptions due to the adoption of cryptocurrency by women.
However, Draper expressed concern about the regulation of digital assets. "Law enforcement regulation is killing our economy," he wrote on June 20. "I think we have a real problem because the SEC is sowing fear, and all innovators are leaving the country... This forced regulation doesn't make sense."


Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

#eurusd #gbpusd #usdjpy #btcusd #ethusd #ltcusd #xrpusd #forex #forex_example #signals #cryptocurrencies #bitcoin #stock_market

 

[Stan NordFX]

Forex and Cryptocurrencies Forecast for July 10 - 14, 2023​

EUR/USD: Much Depends on the CPI

The Dollar Index (DXY) steadily increased during the past week, leading up to Thursday, July 6. As a result, EUR/USD was more inclined towards the American currency, causing the pair to find a local bottom at the 1.0833 level. The dollar's strength was driven by the publication of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) last meeting on June 14. In it, the Committee members highlighted the risks of inflationary pressure and expressed a commitment to swiftly achieve their target inflation levels of 2.0%. They also noted the appropriateness of at least one more interest rate hike, in addition to the one in July, which boosted confidence for DXY bulls. Recall that the head of the regulator, Jerome Powell, also stated at the end of June that the "vast majority of Federal Reserve leaders expect two or more rate hikes by the end of the year".

Everything seemed to be going well for the dollar. However, the statistics released throughout the week were quite mixed, stirring doubts regarding the unwavering hawkish policy of the regulator. On one hand, according to the ADP report, employment in the US private sector, with a forecast of 228K, actually grew by 497K in June, significantly higher than the 267K in May. On the other hand, the JOLTS job openings index stood at 9.82 million in May, down from 10.3 million the previous month and falling short of the expected 9.935 million. The US manufacturing PMI index, which has been falling for eight consecutive months, disappointed as well, reaching 46.0 in June – the lowest level since May 2020. Commenting on these figures, Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, stated that "the health of the US manufacturing sector deteriorated sharply in June, and this is fuelling fears that the economy may slide into recession in the second half of the year".

These fears were further exacerbated by renewed trade tensions between the US and China. Against this backdrop, market participants are questioning whether the Fed will dare to make another interest rate hike after the July one? (The market has long taken into account the rate increase on July 27 from 5.25% to 5.50% in its quotations.) Or will the regulator announce the end of the current monetary tightening cycle? The latest batch of labour market data released on Friday, July 7, could help answer this question.

The figures turned out to be disappointing for DXY bulls. Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), a key barometer of potential economic cooling in the United States, showed that the number of new jobs created outside the agricultural sector decreased to 209K in June. This figure is lower than both the May value of 306K and the forecast of 225K. As for the growth of average hourly wages, according to the report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, this indicator remained at the previous level: 4.4% YoY and 0.4% MoM. The only market expectation that was met was the unemployment rate, which decreased from 3.7% to 3.6% over the month.

Following the release of such data, dollar sellers returned to the market, and EUR/USD ended the work week at the 1.0968 level. As for the near-term prospects, at the time of writing this review on the evening of July 7, 35% of analysts forecast further growth for the pair, 45% anticipate a decline, and the remaining 20% took a neutral stance. Among the oscillators on D1, 80% favour the bulls, 20% the bears, and all trend indicators are leaning towards bullish. The nearest support for the pair is located around 1.0895-1.0925, followed by 1.0835-1.0865, 1.0790-1.0800, 1.0740, 1.0670, and finally, the May 31st low of 1.0635. The bulls will meet resistance in the 1.0975-1.0985 area, followed by 1.1010, 1.1045, 1.1090-1.1110.

The upcoming week brings a whole package of US consumer inflation data that could have the most significant impact on the Federal Reserve's future monetary policy. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) values, including the core, will be published on Wednesday, July 12. The next day, on Thursday, July 13, we'll get information on key indicators such as the number of initial jobless claims and the US Producer Price Index (PPI). On Friday, as a 'cherry on top', we'll be presented with the University of Michigan's Consumer Confidence Index. As for important European statistics, the German Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be published on Tuesday.

GBP/USD: Prospects for a Bullish Trend

In the past week, the pound clearly became the beneficiary in GBP/USD. As of June 29, the British currency was trading at the 1.2600 level, and by July 7, it had already reached a high of 1.2848.

The pound was buoyed by weak manufacturing activity and labor market data in the US, and doubts about the continuation of the Fed's hawkish stance. It was also helped by the fact that the UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 46.5 in June, which, although lower than the previous figure of 47.1, was above the market expectation of 46.2. Against this backdrop, the likelihood of further active tightening of monetary policy by the Bank of England (BoE) is practically beyond doubt. Following its meetings in May and June, the BoE raised interest rates by 25 basis points and 50 basis points to 5.00%. Many analysts believe that the regulator could push it up to 5.50% in the next two meetings, and then even up to 6.25%, despite the threat of an economic recession. In such a situation, the British currency has a significant advantage. For example, at Credit Suisse, they believe that GBP/USD still has potential to grow to 1.3000.

The pair ended the past week at the 1.2838 level. "The trend momentum remains confidently bullish across short-term, medium-term, and long-term oscillators, suggesting that the push to 1.2850 (and beyond) is still in play," Scotiabank economists write. In theory, with the current volatility, GBP/USD could cover the remaining distance to 1.3000 in just a few weeks or even days. However, at this point, only 25% of experts support this scenario. The opposite position was taken by 45%, and neutrality was maintained by 30%.

As for technical analysis, 90% of the oscillators on D1 point to the north (a quarter are in the overbought zone), and 10% are looking to the east. 100% of the trend indicators recommend buying. In case of the pair's movement to the south, it will find support levels and zones at 1.2755, 1.2680-1.2700, 1.2590-1.2625, 1.2480-1.2510, 1.2330-1.2350, 1.2275, 1.2200-1.2210. In case of the pair's growth, it will meet resistance at the levels of 1.2850, 1.2940, 1.3000, 1.3050 and 1.3185-1.321.

Notable events for the upcoming week include a speech by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Monday, July 10, and the release of the UK's labour market data on Tuesday, July 11.

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