MicroStrategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, faced backlash over recent comments suggesting that Bitcoin custodianship is better handled by “too big to fail” financial institutions rather than through self-custody, a practice he previously endorsed.
In an Oct. 21 interview with financial reporter Madison Reidy, Saylor controversially argued that Bitcoin holders “have nothing to lose” by transferring their assets to institutions.
This view seemed to contradict Saylor’s earlier advocacy for self-custody, making it a contentious point within the crypto community.
When asked about the possibility of the U.S. government stripping Bitcoin holders of self-custody rights, similar to how private gold ownership was made illegal in 1933, Saylor dismissed the concern, labeling those who fear state-sanctioned seizure as “paranoid crypto-anarchists.”
He added, “It’s a myth and a trope that goes on over and over again,” and emphasized that “there’s just a lot of fear that’s unnecessary.”
Saylor suggested that instead of using hardware wallets, Bitcoin holders should rely on major banks that are “engineered to be custodians of financial assets.”
His stance sparked criticism from Bitcoin advocates.
“Saylor is on a mission to relegate Bitcoin into an investment pet rock and halt its usage as a currency,” said “Sina,” founder of Bitcoin custody firm 21st Capital.
Simon Dixon, author of “Bank to the Future,” speculated that Saylor’s shift in position could be tied to MicroStrategy’s long-term plan to become a Bitcoin bank offering collateralized loans.
“Bitcoin anarchists: keep helping people gain freedom from banks, governments & central banks,” Dixon urged.
John Carvalho, CEO of Bitcoin payments firm Synonym, also criticized Saylor’s change in tone, pointing out that Saylor used to claim “Bitcoin is hope” for everyone.
He questioned what Saylor meant by that statement if he now dismissed “paranoid crypto-anarchists” as having ulterior motives.
Following the FTX collapse in November 2022, Saylor had advocated for Bitcoin self-custody, arguing that it prevented powerful custodians from corrupting the network: “In systems where there is no self-custody, the custodians accumulate too much power and then they can abuse that power.”
He even encouraged people to remember their 12-word seed phrase and to “tell people to ‘f*** themselves’ if they come for you.”
Open interest (OI) in Bitcoin derivatives hit a record high on Oct. 21, as Bitcoin’s price approached the $70,000 level. CoinGlass reported that the open interest on Bitcoin futures reached $40.5 billion, indicating a surge in activity for BTC derivatives.
Open interest represents the value or number of outstanding futures contracts that have not yet expired. It reflects the amount of capital invested in Bitcoin derivatives, with higher OI often signaling increased leverage and potential volatility in the market.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) held the largest share of open interest, accounting for 30.7%, followed by Binance with 20.4% and Bybit at 15%.
Periods of high open interest can lead to significant market swings. If prices change rapidly, it may trigger cascading liquidations, resulting in forced selling and sharp price drops, commonly known as “flush outs.” The last major flush-out occurred in early August when Bitcoin’s price plummeted nearly 20%, or about $12,000, within two days, falling below $50,000.
On Oct. 21, Bitcoin reached a high of $69,380, according to TradingView data, but was rejected at this resistance level, pulling back to $69,033 at the time of publication. CoinGecko data indicates that Bitcoin is currently 6.4% below its all-time high of $73,738.
Cointelegraph reported on Oct. 20 that if Bitcoin surpasses the $70,000 mark, it could boost the performance of altcoins like Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL). Both assets have been outperforming Bitcoin in daily gains, with Ether climbing 3.5% to exceed $2,750, while Solana gained 6%, reaching nearly $170 in early trading on Oct. 21. However, both assets experienced slight pullbacks since then.
The record-setting open interest highlights growing market activity and suggests that traders are positioning for potential significant moves in Bitcoin’s price.
Bitcoin is poised to “regain the spotlight” as its price movements catch up with U.S. equities, according to new analysis. In an Oct. 19 blog post, Caleb Franzen, founder of Cubic Analytics, highlighted the potential for a significant Bitcoin price breakout.
Bitcoin needs to recover in order to align with the recent performance of U.S. stocks, as the S&P 500 continues to hit new all-time highs. Franzen analyzed BTC/USD relative to the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), noting that Bitcoin has not reached new highs against RSP since 2021 and has been consolidating within a regression channel.
“On a relative basis, Bitcoin failed to produce new ATH’s vs. the equal-weight S&P 500,” Franzen wrote, pointing out that BTC/RSP is now starting to break above the regression channel. He suggested traders might consider a strategy of going short on RSP while going long on Bitcoin.
“Based on this structure, the ongoing breakout implies a return back to the blue zone,” he added, identifying this area as potential resistance but also a price target.
Franzen’s optimism was supported by the Williams%R Oscillator, a trend strength indicator. The 120-day version of this tool suggests further upside, having rebounded from macro lows in the oversold zone back in July. He noted that similar signals in January 2024 and October 2023 resulted in BTC/USD gains of 48% and 123%, respectively, over the next three months.
“With Bitcoin currently trading at its highest prices since July 2024, investors are regaining confidence in the potential for continued upside, particularly with stocks at all-time highs,” Franzen explained.
As Bitcoin hovers near $69,000, attention is focused on whether it can break above its final resistance level, which has held since March. The first daily closes above the descending channel since then have fueled a bullish outlook.
Popular analyst Rekt Capital emphasized the importance of recent price moves, noting, “History has been made as Bitcoin has registered its first Daily Candle Close above the red resistance area.” He added that maintaining support above $66,400 could ensure a bullish weekly close for BTC.
A recent paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis suggests that assets like Bitcoin may need to be taxed or banned for governments to sustain ongoing budget deficits. The study, published on Oct. 17, argues that Bitcoin creates challenges for policy implementation in economies where governments rely on permanent deficits funded by nominal debt.
The report describes Bitcoin as contributing to a “balanced budget trap,” a situation where the government is forced to balance its budget. The researchers used Bitcoin as an example of a fixed-supply private asset that lacks real resource claims. To resolve this issue, they proposed banning or taxing Bitcoin, stating, “A legal prohibition against Bitcoin can restore unique implementation of permanent primary deficits, and so can a tax on Bitcoin.”
A primary deficit occurs when a government’s spending exceeds its revenue, excluding interest payments on debt. The term “permanent” implies that the government plans to continue spending more than it collects indefinitely. Currently, the U.S. national debt stands at $35.7 trillion, with the primary deficit— the annual gap between spending and revenue— around $1.8 trillion. Reuters reported on Oct. 19 that a 29% increase in interest costs for Treasury debt was the main contributor to this year’s deficit, the largest outside of the COVID-19 period.
Commenting on the paper, Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, noted on Oct. 21 that the Minneapolis Fed has joined the European Central Bank in targeting Bitcoin, suggesting that the Fed “fantasizes about ‘legal prohibition’ and extra taxes on BTC to ensure govt debt remains the ‘only risk-free security.’”
Messari co-founder Dan McArdle highlighted a 1996 Minneapolis Fed paper titled “Money is Memory,” which interestingly made arguments aligned with Bitcoin’s characteristics, defining money as an object that does not “enter production,” has a “fixed supply,” and functions as a form of memory.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has also recently scrutinized Bitcoin. On Oct. 12, the ECB released a paper alleging that older Bitcoin holders profit at the expense of newer ones and suggested regulating or banning Bitcoin to prevent its price from rising. ECB adviser Jürgen Schaaf echoed these sentiments on Oct. 20, advocating for policies to curb Bitcoin’s growth or eliminate it entirely.
On Oct. 19, Bitcoin (BTC) hovered near a crucial breakout level after a “FOMO liquidity grab” saw it rejected at $69,000.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicated that BTC’s price action tightened following the last Wall Street trading session of the week.
On the previous day, BTC/USD reached new three-month highs, nearly touching $69,000 on Bitstamp before losing its sudden gains.
“Low volume + bear divs on this breakout,” popular trader Roman commented on X, adding, “Still think we come back down and consolidate before moving higher. This seems like a fomo liquidity grab before the real breakout.”
Data from CoinGlass showed thick liquidity barriers forming around the spot price, with significant sell orders capping Bitcoin’s upward movement.
Roman highlighted a key area of interest at $68,400, describing it as a breakout zone of significant importance since the March all-time high. “Everyone is watching 68.4k to break the macro range,” he stated.
Fellow trader and analyst Rekt Capital noted that while Bitcoin was attempting to push past the top of the resistance area, bulls needed to establish the zone above $68,000 as solid support.
“Bitcoin is once again pressing beyond the very top of the resistance area (red),” Rekt Capital explained, adding, “Bitcoin just needs one Daily Close beyond the red resistance to position itself for a confirmed breakout from here. Daily Close is essential to confirm lack of upside wicks beyond resistance.”
The Oct. 18 daily close finished slightly above $68,400, marking Bitcoin’s highest closing price since June 10.
Looking ahead, trading firm QCP Capital pointed to favorable macroeconomic trends for Bitcoin bulls, indicating positive momentum could continue.
On Oct. 19, Bitcoin (BTC) hovered near a crucial breakout level after a “FOMO liquidity grab” saw it rejected at $69,000.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicated that BTC’s price action tightened following the last Wall Street trading session of the week.
On the previous day, BTC/USD reached new three-month highs, nearly touching $69,000 on Bitstamp before losing its sudden gains.
“Low volume + bear divs on this breakout,” popular trader Roman commented on X, adding, “Still think we come back down and consolidate before moving higher. This seems like a fomo liquidity grab before the real breakout.”
Data from CoinGlass showed thick liquidity barriers forming around the spot price, with significant sell orders capping Bitcoin’s upward movement.
Roman highlighted a key area of interest at $68,400, describing it as a breakout zone of significant importance since the March all-time high. “Everyone is watching 68.4k to break the macro range,” he stated.
Fellow trader and analyst Rekt Capital noted that while Bitcoin was attempting to push past the top of the resistance area, bulls needed to establish the zone above $68,000 as solid support.
“Bitcoin is once again pressing beyond the very top of the resistance area (red),” Rekt Capital explained, adding, “Bitcoin just needs one Daily Close beyond the red resistance to position itself for a confirmed breakout from here. Daily Close is essential to confirm lack of upside wicks beyond resistance.”
The Oct. 18 daily close finished slightly above $68,400, marking Bitcoin’s highest closing price since June 10.
Looking ahead, trading firm QCP Capital pointed to favorable macroeconomic trends for Bitcoin bulls, indicating positive momentum could continue.
On Oct. 19, Bitcoin (BTC) remained near a key breakout level, briefly touching $69,000 before pulling back. With BTC trading just above $68,000, its market capitalization has surged to $1.35 trillion, now exceeding Ethereum’s market cap by over $1 trillion.
The 8.9% increase in Bitcoin’s market cap since Oct. 12 has fueled speculation about continued upward momentum. “Bitcoin now has a $1 Trillion market cap lead over Ethereum, a new all-time high for the spread,” Glassnode lead analyst James Check noted in an Oct. 19 post on X.
While Bitcoin’s market cap has reached $1.35 trillion, Ethereum’s stands at $318.32 billion. This development follows Bitcoin hitting $67,000 for the first time since July 28, when its market cap was last at $1.34 trillion.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $68,152, slightly down by 0.30% since Oct. 19. Bitcoin’s all-time high market cap was $1.41 trillion on May 21. Currently, Bitcoin ranks tenth among global assets by market cap, just behind Meta Platforms (Facebook) with $1.48 trillion.
Gold remains the largest asset by market cap, valued at $18.38 trillion, according to CompaniesMarketCap.
Bitcoin maximalist Fred Krueger highlighted Bitcoin’s potential, saying, “The market is currently $50 trillion. Let’s estimate $100 trillion by 2040. That’s 76 times Bitcoin’s $1.3 trillion market cap. In other words, Bitcoin is going to $5 million.”
Other analysts echo this optimism. Kyle Chasse urged his followers to “do the math,” citing BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s comparison of Bitcoin to the “early days” of the mortgage market. Similarly, crypto analyst Dylan LeClair referred to Bitcoin as a “$100 trillion idea” during an Oct. 15 Fox Business interview.
Some traders argue that Bitcoin still shows no signs of excessive speculation. “The Fed printed $16T during the pandemic. That’s 12.4 times the current Bitcoin market cap. We are very early,” stated pseudonymous crypto investor Bitcoin for Freedom in a recent post.
On October 18, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved applications from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to list options for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
This approval allows options trading for 11 ETF providers on the NYSE, including Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, ARK21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, Franklin Bitcoin ETF, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, WisdomTree’s Bitcoin Fund, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, and the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund.
The CBOE had filed an application in August 2024 to list options for the spot Bitcoin ETF providers through a proposed rule change. The SEC’s decision places Bitcoin ETF options in the same category as other commodity-based ETFs listed on the CBOE, except for Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust.
The approval is expected to bring significant changes to the Bitcoin market by increasing liquidity and potentially impacting price movements.
Jeff Park, an executive at Bitwise, described the approval as a major upgrade over existing platforms like LedgerX and Deribit, which do not have central guarantors. Park also suggested that the introduction of options could lead to short squeezes, where overleveraged short traders are forced to buy Bitcoin to cover their positions. He remarked, “Saying you can’t short squeeze a trillion-dollar asset is like saying you can’t make an elephant dance. Sure, it’s huge, but if you tie enough ropes to its legs and pull hard enough, even the biggest creature can be moved in ways it doesn’t want.”
Tom Dunleavy, managing partner at investment firm MV Global, noted that the introduction of options could also help reduce Bitcoin’s high volatility and lead to more stable market conditions over time.
Bitcoin is approaching a crucial weekly close as bulls aim to break a seven-month downtrend.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows Bitcoin attempting to overcome a resistance level that has held firm since March’s all-time high. Bitcoin (BTC), currently trading around $67,686, has spent over six months consolidating within a downward-sloping channel, following its record high of $73,800.
Despite multiple attempts to push into new price discovery, BTC/USD has remained within this range. Now, traders are hopeful that this time may be different.
Analyzing the weekly chart, trader and analyst Rekt Capital noted that Bitcoin has repeatedly tested the upper edge of the channel, with the latest attempt coming this week. He explained, “Bitcoin has experienced a rejection from the top of the Downtrending Channel (red) just like in the past (blue circles). It’s essential Bitcoin Weekly Closes inside the red resistance to avoid a deeper rejection from here.”
The current channel top is around $68,000, and with buyers continuing to apply pressure, a close beyond this level is within reach, leaving bears with limited options.
Rekt Capital added, “Still early on in the week. Generally, we need to observe this Downtrending Channel resistance (red) for signs of weakening compared to previous rejections.”
On shorter timeframes, there is more reason for optimism as daily closes have already occurred outside the channel. Daan Crypto Trades, another trader and analyst, noted that “With the recent move, it has finally broken out of the channel it traded in for most of 2024.”
Daan’s accompanying chart indicated that BTC/USD has also surpassed its 200-day simple moving average (SMA) and exponential moving average (EMA) cloud, which had posed challenges since the summer. He concluded, “Short-Mid timeframe trend is also up.”
Bitcoin (BTC) hovered around $68,000 on October 16 after reaching new 11-week highs as the Wall Street session began.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed Bitcoin’s price surge continuing, surpassing the previous day’s peak, which was driven by leveraged trades.
While volatility was apparent, popular trader and analyst Skew cautioned about potential market manipulation. “Very active spoofing going on here today,” he noted on X regarding the Binance spot market. He pointed out that a gap of 1% to 2.5% between ask and bid liquidity could lead to volatility in the absence of passive flows.
Skew also warned that if BTC fell below $67,000, it could trigger a liquidation cascade for late-long positions in the derivatives market.
Meanwhile, most of the buying pressure came from spot buyers on Binance and Bitfinex, particularly around the Wall Street open, mirroring the prior day’s activity.
Monitoring resource Material Indicators observed increased exposure among both large and small investors. “FireCharts binned CVD once again shows all order classes buying Bitcoin,” the platform shared with its X followers, noting that bid liquidity was stacking above $66,000, with $70,000 in sight.
Some traders were confident that sellers would capitulate, marking the return of a bull market. Crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe predicted that Bitcoin would hit a new all-time high within the next few weeks, stating, “The trend has switched… likely $90K before EOY.”
Interestingly, BTC gained alongside the U.S. dollar, breaking their usual inverse correlation. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) climbed to 103.45, its highest level since August 8, a day when Bitcoin also saw a major upside of nearly 12%.