Global markets acted relatively calm during the shorter week of Good Friday and Easter.
However, on Wednesday this week, the markets experienced a renewed sense of excitement following the release of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of March.
This month’s measurement showed the CPI annualized at 5%, 10 bps lower than what analysts had expected!
Inflation is clearly not at the level Jerome Powell and the rest of the Federal Reserve is aiming for, but the latest figure is the lowest read measured since May 2021!
The good news about this is obviously that this could be the first step towards concluding the rate hike that has been rambling for the last year. However, some analysts speculate that the Fed will probably hike rates again in May.
BTC Valuation Grinding Upwards!
Meanwhile, in the crypto market, Bitcoin has broken through the $30K resistance level, setting a new record high for this year. The last time Bitcoin traded at this level was in June 2022.
BTC is proving to be among the best assets to have been invested in during 2023 in the crypto scene as many other digital assets have vastly underperformed BTC:
Despite the drastic price appreciation since the beginning of the year, sentiment among investors remains moderately positive, which could be a signal that valuations are ready to march higher.
Bitcoin's Correlation with Traditional Assets Weakens
Noteworthy to observe, Bitcoin has been decoupling from traditional equities, and is now more closely correlated with the movements in gold prices.
Although it is evident that these two assets represent opposite ends of the risk spectrum, the two assets also both represent antifragility, characteristics sought in a time when recession talks and the banking crisis is on everyone's lips.
Image source: Kaiko
Industry Shakers
- Hong Kong’s largest virtual asset bank to offer crypto settlement services
Hong Kong has recently been making major strides to reclaim its glory as a digital asset hub. It seems the efforts are beginning to pay off, the city’s biggest virtual bank, ZA Bank, is now offering crypto settlement services for small-to-medium-sized local web startups. The bank announced that it will support withdrawals in the form of US dollars or the Chinese yuan, acting as a crypto-fiat settlement bank.
- Germany plans to issue electronic shares on the blockchain
According to a recent draft of legislation called the "Future Finance Act," introduced by the German finance ministry on April 5, the government is advocating for more favorable regulations for financial innovation startups in the country. The proposed legislation has several key objectives, such as the digitalization of capital markets through the use of blockchain technology to issue electronic securities and the enhanced portability of crypto assets.
- Crypto hacks jumped 192% year-over-year, Immunefi report
According to research conducted by Immunefi, the number of attacks in the crypto industry has increased by 192% year-over-year, rising from 25 to 73 this past quarter. Despite this significant increase, the total amount of money lost actually decreased by 64.4%, which is likely due to market conditions. The research also revealed that the BNB Chain was the primary target for exploits and scams, accounting for 73.3% of all rug pulls that were surveyed by the security firm.