Source: https://cryptopotato.com/reddit-doubles-down-on-blockchain-partners-with-the-ethereum-foundation/

With central bank digital currencies — or CBDCs — on the agenda in many countries, the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements has weighed in on the role of the mainstream financial establishment in the emerging digital currency landscape.

Speaking at the Hoover Institution policy seminar on Jan. 27, Agustín Carstens argued for central banks to be front and center in issuing and controlling digital money:

“If digital money is to exist, the central bank must play a pivotal role, guaranteeing the stability of value, ensuring the elasticity of the aggregate supply of such money, and overseeing the overall security of the system. Such a system must not fail and cannot tolerate any serious mistakes.”

For Carstens, central banks and the existing financial architecture is better suited to ensuring trust and stability for digital currencies than a purely decentralized governance network. The BIS general manager doubled down on this line of argument, calling Bitcoin (BTC) a speculative asset and not money.

“Investors must be cognizant that Bitcoin may well break down altoget62168her. Scarcity and cryptography alone do not suffice to guarantee exchange,” Carstens added in reference to Bitcoin’s value proposition as money.

The BIS chief also described private stablecoin projects like Facebook’s Diem as being more credible than Bitcoin. Despite this assertion, Carstens argued against private stablecoins:

“Overall, private stablecoins cannot serve as the basis for a sound monetary system. There may yet be meaningful specific use cases for stablecoins. But to remain credible, they need to be heavily regulated and supervised. They need to build on the foundations and trust provided by existing central banks, and thus to be part of the existing financial system.”

Back in December 2019, Carstens expressed fears that central banks could lose their relevance amid the emergence of private cryptos. Indeed, several stakeholders in the global financial system have advocated strict regulations for stablecoins.

On the subject of CBDCs, the BIS general manager downplayed claims that sovereign digital currencies like China’s e-yuan could significantly challenge U.S. dollar hegemony. On the domestic front, Carstens declared that national CBDCs be put to a variety of uses such as monetary policy transmission and interest rate management.

As part of the address, Carstens expressed the belief that CBDCs should run complementary to the existing cash system. According to Carstens, completely replacing all bank accounts and cash with digital currencies is both undesirable and unrealistic.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, a recent BIS survey showed that 86% of major central banks are actively exploring CBDCs. Earlier in January, reports also emerged that the BIS Innovation Hub planned to embark on several CBDC-related trials in 2021.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/central-banks-must-play-pivotal-role-in-digital-money-says-bis-exec

A pseudonymous trader known as “Byzantine General” is short-term bearish as Bitcoin (BTC) continues to test the same $30,000 support area.

Although the price of Bitcoin is staying above a key support level, the trader said the price action is not bullish. He wrote:

“In the midst of all this chaos, here’s a bitcoin chart. Not much to do. It’s bearish no matter how you look at it. But we’re sitting on support, so no swing short opportunity either… It’s just waiting now. > YO needs to hold.”

“Options market is signaling a short-term bearish view”

Analysts see a similar trend from the options market and previous Bitcoin fractals. Fractals are technical candle chart patterns that analysts typically use to compare the current price action of Bitcoin to previous cycles.

According to analysts at the data analytics company Laevitas, the options market signals are short-term bearish view. They said:

“As Bitcoin consolidation continues, put/call ratio on @DeribitExchange is at 2 today. In last 24h, seeing decent buy volume on 26MAR 9000p, 13000p and 14000p. Options market is signaling a short-term bearish view.”

The options market has a larger impact on the price trend of Bitcoin now than before because the open interest is now hovering above $3 billion.

There are significantly more active options contracts and options traders compared to before. This means that if there is selling pressure coming from the options market, it would likely have a negative impact on the price of Bitcoin.

Based on the fractal that analysts at “Material Scientist” found, both historical price cycles and the options market data hint at a short-term consolidation phase. The analysts noted:

“Next fractal for #BTC – 10-day prediction: Low 30ks retest and then send it!”

Consider the high miner position index

One of the possible reasons why the price of Bitcoin continues to range and stagnate could be the high selling pressure coming from miners.

Data from CryptoQuant shows that the Miners’ Position Index is relatively high, which means miners are depositing Bitcoin to exchanges.

Since miners are one of the few external and unmatched sources of selling pressure in the Bitcoin market, a high Miners’ Position Index usually precedes a sell-off.

On Jan. 26, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said:

“BTC Miners’ Position Index hit the 8-year high. They’ve been moving an unusual amount of Bitcoins lately. It seems they’re continuously realizing profits since 42k. This is one of the reasons why I keep my bearish bias.”

As long as the options market is leaning towards a bearish short-term trend and miners continue to sell BTC, the price of Bitcoin is unlikely to break out in the near term.

However, the $34,000 resistance level remains the key area in the foreseeable future. If Bitcoin surges above it, there is a chance for a quick trend reversal to the upside.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-a-trader-says-bitcoin-is-short-term-bearish-despite-holding-30k