Nomura’s Bitcoin Fund, Citigroup blockchain move fail to lift Bitcoin above US$27,000
Bitcoin made a modest gain of 0.77% from September 15 to September 22, reaching a price of US$26,647 as of 8:30 p.m. Friday in Hong Kong. This marked the first time since August 9 that the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization traded above US$30,000, according to CoinMarketCap data. Meanwhile, Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, experienced a decline of 1.48% over the week, reaching a price of US$1,598.
In banking news, Citigroup, the third-largest banking institution in the U.S., announced on Monday the launch of a blockchain-based cross-border payments solution called Citi Token Services. This solution is aimed at institutional clients and will utilize tokenized deposits and smart contracts to provide real-time cross-border settlements and liquidity. Additionally, Nomura, Japan’s largest investment bank, launched a Bitcoin adoption fund for institutional investors on Tuesday. The US$500 billion investment bank plans to introduce a range of digital asset investment solutions in the future.
Following Nomura’s announcement, Bitcoin experienced a surge and reached a weekly high of US$27,475 on Tuesday. However, it later fell to US$26,413 on Thursday, losing its support level of US$27,000. The market is closely watching Bitcoin’s price movements, with some analysts noting that while the long-term pattern is bearish, there are short-term bullish signs.
Bitcoin also achieved a significant milestone by surpassing Visa’s annual transaction volume. This demonstrates the growing dominance of Bitcoin in the financial space and could lead to increased demand and higher valuations for the cryptocurrency.
In other news, bankrupt crypto exchange FTX received court approval to sell its crypto holdings worth around US$3.4 billion. This could create additional sell pressure in the crypto market, especially for Solana, which is the largest holding of the bankrupt exchange. However, analysts believe that the market will absorb most of the sell pressure from FTX.
In the macroeconomy, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark borrowing rate unchanged but signaled that another interest rate increase is likely before the end of the year. This led to a decline in major U.S. stock futures on Thursday.
Looking ahead, Bitcoin’s price action will likely remain subdued due to larger economic concerns. The market will closely watch a speech from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, scheduled for Thursday, to gain insights into the central bank’s monetary policy.
Overall, the cryptocurrency market continues to experience fluctuations, with various factors influencing prices. Investors and analysts are closely monitoring developments in the industry to assess the future direction of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.
