crypto news: Crypto Week at Glance: Bitcoin tops $23,000, highest levels since June 2022

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) rose to a seven-day high above $24,000 this week. This is the highest price level of BTC since mid-June. However, BTC has found it difficult to break higher, with a subsequent cooldown pushing it to a low of $22,600 on Friday night. Financial analysts have stated that sentiment across the market is improving as the negativity compounded by the latest turmoil dissipates.

A similar pattern was observed in the price of Ethereum (ETH). It is currently consolidating above the $1500 level. The price of ETH has faced resistance near the $1600 level. The next possible resistance is near $1700.

The June 2022 cryptocurrency market crash was spurred by a short-term risk reduction from Wall Street as more investors now feel very pessimistic about the economy due to rising inflation, a vulnerable stock market and rising interest rates. In recent months, the cryptocurrency market has increasingly followed the stock market. This makes it more intertwined with global economic factors.

Martin Hiesboeck, head of blockchain and crypto research at Uphold, says investors are fearful of the crypto industry’s long-term viability after various major cryptocurrency players halted withdrawals, cut jobs and also tried to curb losses. However, cryptocurrency prices are more vulnerable to factors contributing to the difficult economic situation than the pullback in the crypto ecosystem.

The price volatility is a big reason why financial experts have stated that crypto investors must be extremely careful when allocating a portion of their portfolio to cryptocurrency. A steady increase is evident in the price of Bitcoin over the years compared to any other cryptocurrency on the market. It’s only reasonable for Bitcoin investors to be curious about how high it might eventually go.

The UK is to regulate Stablecoins as the Treasury introduces new finance law

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, presented a new bill to Parliament entitled the ‘Financial Services and Markets Bill’. The bill will bring some changes to the current status of cryptocurrency operations in the country.

Many proposals were put forward in the new financial bill. Among the many proposals, the few that stood out are the UK Treasury’s focus on stablecoins, as well as the role of regulators in the country.

The bill focuses on regulating a set of stablecoins [Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), etc.] which is used for payment. The bill will also give the Bank of England the authority to limit the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its approach to regulating payment systems through the use of digital settlements if any of the regulatory actions affect business in the country or result in financial instability.

Tesla Sold 75% of Its Bitcoin Holdings as Profits Slump

Electric car manufacturer Tesla has sold 75% of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. The clean energy company best known for selling electric cars, battery products and vehicle powertrain components has now revealed in its new financial results report that it sold nearly $936 million worth of Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2022.

According to Tesla’s new financial statements, the company’s Bitcoin holdings were stable for three consecutive quarters. After the sale, however, the organization now has just $218 million in exposure to digital assets. This has resulted in a sharp drop from $1.261 billion in March 2022. Early last year in 2021, Tesla revealed in a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the organization used some of the available cash to invest $1.5 . billions in Bitcoin.

In April 2021, a huge profit was recorded by Tesla when it sold 10% of its Bitcoin stake, netting $128 million on those sales. At the time, CEO Elon Musk explained that the sale proved Bitcoin’s liquidity as an alternative to keeping cash on the organization’s balance sheet.

Top crypto winners and losers this week

Top winners for the week (from 6pm, 24 July 2022)

Ethereum Classic (ETC): Up 36.82%

ApeCoin (APE): Up 32.06%

Phantom (FTM): 27.72% up

Top Losers for the week (from 18:00, 24 July 2022)

TerraClassicUSD (USTC): Down 14.36%

Arweave (AR): Down 10.81%

Elrond (EGLD): down 6.68%

(Source: Coinmarketcap.com. Only top 100 tokens are considered for the study)