I’ve written about why most people don’t need bitcoin, about why the evidence is overwhelming that bitcoin trades as a speculative asset, but I’ve always left room for the possibility of the seemingly impossible: that bitcoin will one day make a miraculous metamorphosis from a get-rich-quick trade to an inflationary hedge.
Bitcoin’s been billed by its biggest proponents as a store of value in a hyperinflationary environment produced by excessive stimulus from policymakers.
Bitcoiners have never been more convinced that destiny is manifest, and many believe crypto canon calls for an extension of gains after last year’s block “halving.” Gold is finally rallying, but bitcoin’s hit a wall.
The gyrations in financial markets underscored concerns among some investors that the Federal Reserve could be wrong in its prediction that inflation pressures in the United States are “transitory”, and that the central bank may have to raise rates sooner than it currently expects.
The Consumer Price Index data led to “a very fast sell reaction in gold market along with anticipation the will have to do something to stem inflation tide in near term as part of their mandate for price stability along with full employment,” said Jeff Wright, chief investment officer at Wolfpack Capital.
That last set showed consumer prices growing at an average annual pace of just 1.4% in 2023, far less than the ECB’s goal of below, but close to, 2% — and not yet back on the pre-pandemic track.While business surveys signal a sharp pickup in price pressures amid surging commodities and logistical logjams, the underlying trend has weakened again.
Still, interest rate expectations have been pulled forward slightly – the eurodollar is now fully pricing in a Fed hike between March and June of 2023.
-Billionaire Elon Musk and cryptocurrency aficionado on Tuesday asked https://bit.ly/33xrDHR his 54 million followers on Twitter “Do you want Tesla to accept Doge?,” referring to a digital currency worth roughly 48 cents with no real-world use.
The old adage says to buy low and sell high, and while it’s tempting just to discount cliches like that, they’ve passed into common currency because they embody a fundamental truth.
Traders snapped up bearish contracts even as dozens of short-term options expired, with the price of one put surging as much as 7,757%.KGI Securities’ trader Kevin Lee, who has been a local stocks trader for a decade, said clients started to panic as the morning wore on.“There were non-stop orders coming in,” Lee said.