MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor has posted an article by Microsoft which shares how the global IT giant is building a project to help average people protect their digital identity using Bitcoin.

#Bitcoin is the future of digital identity.https://t.co/QDNuV3W08Y

— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) July 9, 2021
Microsoft is contributing to the ION project that wants to build Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs). These identifiers would be anchor points for all activities that a person does on the Internet.

This technology would give people the right to own and protect their privacy on the Internet from government surveillance, security breaches and data leakages to prevent Internet giants from controlling users’ profiles on the Internet, their credentials, personal and financial data.

“If the goal of bitcoin is to eliminate the power of centralized institutions over money, ION is trying to do the same thing with online identities.”

The Bitcoin blockchain is being used here to achieve a high level of decentralization and security for making DIDs.



According to the white paper shared by Microsoft, the company believes that every person should use a secured cloud space to store all elements of their digital identity rather than sharing their data with numerous apps by granting them permissions.

All that will be built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain.

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Thursday, July 8, saw another bloodbath on Satoshi Street with Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins coming crashing down in the early hours. At press time, Bitcoin is trading 2.57% down at $32,556 levels with a market cap of $608.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has been showing high volatility over the last few weeks but remains range-bound between $31,000-$35,000. Citing the Fibonacci retracement levels on technical charts, Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, points out key support and resistance levels. Speaking to CNBC, Johnson noted:

“We broke out in January. A few months ago, we made this peak. I actually would go back and put the retracement levels on top of bitcoin, and when you see that, you can see that around 33,000 to 34,000 is a very important retracement level”.



However, Johnson adds that BTC has already corrected over 45% from its peak in April 2021. Thus, he believes that BTC is unlikely to correct further but at the same time, he does spot a prolonged period of consolidation. He notes that historically, these consolidation cycles have lasted for around 1000 days.

On the other hand, Blue Line Capital President Bill Baruch told CNBC that he’s waiting for the next big opportunity to add more BTC to his portfolio.

“Give me $25,000 on bitcoin, and I’d be buying more. I’ve been in the space since 2017. There’s times where I’m in it, there’s times when I’m not, I totally exited through early this year,” he added.

BTC Funding Rates Negative, Novogratz Stays Bullish
One bullish indicator for Bitcoin investors is that since the May correction, the Bitcoin funding rate on perpetual futures has remained negative. Positive funding rates usually indicate the market tops while negative funding rates are followed by price jumps.

 #Bitcoin funding rates on Perpetual Futures markets have been consistently negative since the Sell-off in May.

The last time funding rates remained negative for such an extended period of time was in Mar-Apr 2020.

Live Chart: https://t.co/pjP4J54Wwl pic.twitter.com/QTR3jKDhYN

— glassnode (@glassnode) July 9, 2021

Speaking of these recent developments, Wall Street veteran and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz spoke about how Bitcoin is at the center stage of the emerging cold war between the U.S. and China. With China declaring war on BTC and crypto, the U.S. hedge funds have continued to accumulate it in big numbers.

"We are consolidating here between $30K-$35K," says @Novogratz on. "Asia sells it off, and then the U.S. buys it back….China has declared war on as part of this broader cold war that we are getting into." pic.twitter.com/U5YuAzSJr4

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) July 8, 2021

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A survey of 30 central banks brought somewhat surprising results as some bankers showed signs of openness to cryptoassets such as bitcoin (BTC). Also, central bankers are becoming more concerned about inflation.
First, 14% of the respondents said that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) would increase pressure on these banks to invest in crypto, while 83% of the participants replied that the learning process of investing and managing this new asset class itself could be valuable for the institution they represent, according to this year’s annual survey of unspecified central bankers by Swiss investment bank UBS.

“28% of participants see benefits coming from cryptocurrencies as an uncorrelated asset, and a further 11% would consider it as an alternative to gold,” the report added.


Source: UBS
Moreover, 46% of respondents said that, in their opinion, bitcoin and other cryptoassets will not be displaced by CBDCs, while 33% presented the opposite view, and 21% had no opinion on this.


In either case, about 40% of surveyed central banks expect a wholesale CBDC to be launched within the coming three years. Some 46% of the participants confirmed their central bank was already involved in CBDC pilot projects, or was expected to do so in the next 1 to 3 years.

The majority of participants declare they “are not yet able to make predictions if reserves will be invested in CBDCs issued by other central banks in the foreseeable future,” UBS said, adding that “57% of participants see no meaningful impact for the reserve management at their institution, while 24% indicate that there might be an impact on their back-office operations.”

Also, per the survey, more than 60% of respondents do not believe that the launch of CBDC will lead to a diminished role of the USD and more than 50% do not know yet what will be the impact of a digital yuan on the internationalization of the Chinese currency.
___

Other key findings of the survey:
Macro and Economic concerns: Failure to end the pandemic is the main concern (79%), followed by soaring debt levels (71%) and fear of inflation (57%). Inflation was not mentioned at all in last year's survey.
Macro and Financial Concerns: Lower/Negative yields in fixed income markets is mentioned by 86% of respondents, in line with the survey results of the last three years. Rising interest rates & inflation is mentioned by 64% of surveyed institutions, a dramatic increase from only 6% in the previous year. 67% of participants expect the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in 2023.
Strategic Asset Allocation: The “secular” trend towards more diversification of reserves across asset classes has continued during the pandemic. Equities is an eligible asset class for over 40% of central banks and Emerging Market Debt experienced a surge in eligibility (54%). 21% of participant banks consider investing in illiquid asset classes like real estate and infrastructure. A shift towards assets that protect against inflation is also visible in 2021.
Currencies: The RMB continues its “marathon” of becoming a key reserve currency with the average long-term target allocation to the Chinese currency increasing to 5.7%. Reduced USD demand during the year and rising demand for euro-denominated assets.
Sustainability: 19% of participants considered adding sustainability as a fourth reserve management objective. 31% indicated that they have recently moved or considered to move from traditional to ESG benchmarks.

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Bitcoin (BTC) continues to face down pressure as the world’s largest cryptocurrency faced another rejection above $35,000 levels. On Sunday, July 4, BTC made a move all the way above $35,900 levels but could sustain only for a few hours.

Wiping out all its weekend gains, BTC is back under $34,000 as of now on Monday evening. Bitcoin has registered its second-worst quarterly performance in history after 2010, reports MarketWatch. After a solid rally earlier this year, BTC ended the second quarter of 2021 down 42%.

As it turns out, short-term investors have ended up booking major losses. At the same time, the long-term investors have been accumulating at dips. The on-chain data shows that BTC is showing a healthy trend with address activity picking up slowly.

Bitcoin On-Chain Metrics
As per data from Glassnode, Bitcoin’s (BTC) balance at OTC desks has been on a continuous decline. This suggests that big players have continued with their accumulation amid this recent price decline.



Bitcoin’s ‘millionaire tier’ whale addresses holding between 100 to 10K have kicked off major accumulation this month. These addresses have accumulated 60K BTC registering the highest daily spike in 2021. On-chain data provider Santiment notes that these whale addresses have added 100K BTC over the last six weeks and hold a combined 9.12 million coins in total.

Also, the recent drop from ~$36K to now under $34K comes with a very low exchange volume seen on the USA Independence weekend. The Bitcoin exchange inflow and outflow registered 2021 lows during this period. Another bullish indicator is that the Bitcoin supply at exchanges has dropped to its lowest since January 2021.



With exchange supply dropping to a 6-month low, it suggests that there’s a reduced risk of major BTC selloffs at the exchanges. However, $30,000 will be the level to watch out for on the lower side. Any dip below it can possibly trigger a further slide to $25,000.

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BeinCrypto spoke to Alexander Höptner, CEO of BitMex, about the movement to mass bitcoin adoption and where BitMEX is headed next.

Höptner took on the position of CEO at the end of 2020. With a background as CEO of other companies, including Euwax AG and 1st Order, his experience made him a great choice for the exchange, which has been making headlines, both good and bad.

He first entered the crypto space in 2013/2014. Starting with an interest in tokenization, he was led further down the rabbit hole and is now an avid hodler who doesn’t mind buying the dip.

However, this doesn’t mean he isn’t for bitcoin as a viable currency.

“At the moment there are simply too few options for paying. This is particularly difficult in Germany. It looks different in Switzerland and Asia. But as soon as there are a few real use cases, I will also use bitcoin in everyday life. I believe.”

Bitcoin on the moon
This belief in bitcoin is echoed by BitMEX itself. Its latest plans include literally taking bitcoin to the moon. Höptner and his team are taking on Elon Musk who has said he would like to take dogecoin to the moon.

“We are strong believers in bitcoin and then we had the chance to send the bitcoin to the moon. That is actually exactly our affair of the heart, to support bitcoin and with it the basic movement.”

While these kinds of stunts gain a lot of attention, the interest in them speaks to the growth in participation overall.

For Höptner, while there will be changes for crypto into the future, fundamentally, bitcoin and cryptos’ purposes will stay the same.

“I think the protocols will look different and we will have different forms of tokens and cryptos, because technically this is also evolving. But the fundamental issue will always be there and it will completely change the entire world of work.”

BitMEX moves into research
A key part of the future of cryptocurrencies and their development is research. BitMEX is invested in this, supporting the development and education.

“There are only a few properly structured research fields on this topic. In other words, it is not yet set up by all of the research and development in the same way as other industries or technologies. That is why we said we have to support this within our modest framework.”

To do this, BitMEX supports developers so they can devote themselves to their research “and don’t go into any start-up driven by money to ensure financial survival,” Höptner says.

In addition to developers, BitMEX supports education on crypto through its Academy.

“Among other things, the focus here is on the differences between crypto and classic trading, spot and derivatives, hot wallets and cold wallets, right up to training programs for crypto traders.”

Comparing apples and pears
For Höptner, it’s not just about understanding how bitcoin or crypto works. He also sees a need for education around the bias and assumptions made about BTC.

“Everyone is always talking about volatility, here apples are being compared to pears. Even when the topic of bitcoin and crime came up at the beginning, nobody was interested in the fact that terrorism was previously financed with the US dollar. Nobody said let’s get rid of the dollar. As soon as it’s the bitcoin, oh god, that’s used to finance terrorism. I think you have to try to take the discussion to another level.”

He especially considers the backlash against the move by El Salvador to be a particularly good argument for improving understanding.

“These are exactly the right steps. You need real use cases. They are just given when you get large countries, companies, institutions to accept it as a means of payment. There has to be constant discussion and educational work. Even if we celebrate how big the crypto market is – it is negligibly small compared to the traditional market. Unfortunately, it is also influenced by populist statements.”

Sustainability and growth
While supporting the growth and adoption of cryptocurrencies, how this growth occurs is important to Höptner.

He explains that climate-neutral energy is becoming increasingly important for BitMEX. However, he doesn’t place the issue squarely on the cryptocurrency. Rather he sees sustainability as a development issue.

“The energy discussion has long proven, I believe, that bitcoin is not the greatest energy guzzler. When you introduce a substituting industry or technology, the balance is negative as long as what it is replacing is still there.”

“The blockchain is supposed to replace large parts of the financial system. The classic ones still exist. So that’s an artificial discussion for me. Let’s look at industrialization. It wasn’t climate neutral in the beginning, and it got better over time. Technologically, we are still at the very beginning. And with every further iteration of the protocols and also the way in which the algorithms are calculated, the energy consumption also changes,” he explains.

BitMEX is attempting to become as environmentally friendly as possible. However, Höptner does not pretend that this is straightforward.

“Which is of course not easy with an exchange, which by definition consumes energy by trading. But I think that must be the goal.”

“We have only just announced the goal, and now we have to see how we can best implement it. You can do it in the short term by donating something per kWh. But I think we have to take a closer look at how we can do it differently.”

“You have to learn to walk before you can run”
For Höptner it isn’t just about improving on what already exists. He believes that building the mainstream and moving forward also has to do with bringing what works with you.

“I firmly believe in bitcoin and the blockchain. But I also always say, ‘you have to learn to walk before you can run.’ For this to become a mass movement, you have to act differently. In principle, you have to take some of the established positions with you.”

“That’s why I believe that the issue of licenses will become important. The regulator says. ‘I don’t care what technology you use. You can use racing pigeons, or you do it all yourself, but if you fulfill a certain role, then I expect that you have the license to do so.’ So our direction is not just brokerage but also licensed brokerage. We are now preparing the company to be licensed in a recognized jurisdiction. And we will then also manage to bring many into the space who have nothing to do with the topic yet.”

BitMEX going forward
Like the crypto space, BitMEX is also evolving. In the future, it plans to expand not only in its products but also in reclaiming its spot among the crypto greats.

“We have a very ambitious plan and are in a massive hiring process. In order to actually regain the position we once had – innovation driver. “

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Bitcoin (BTC) selling continued during Asia hours as buyers failed to hold initial support at $34,000. Lower support is seen at $30,000 which could stabilize the current sell-off.

The downtrend since April has limited price recoveries and kept bitcoin in a tight range between $30,000 and $40,000 over the past month. However, momentum signals suggest selling pressure has weakened since the May correction which could keep buyers active at support.

Bitcoin was trading around $32,000 at press time and is up about 4% over the past week.


The relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart registered a series of higher lows since May 19. This indicates a bullish divergence which could stabilize the intermediate term downtrend in price.
Typically, a bullish divergence precedes a price bounce. It’s possible that bitcoin’s 20% price rise from the June 22 shakeout low around $29,000 completed the divergence signal.
Bitcoin will need to break above the 50-day moving average around $37,000 to encourage further upside beyond $40,000.
For now, buyers continue to take profits given strong overhead resistance on the chart.

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Bitcoin price is trading at around 50% down from 2021 highs set around the Coinbase stock market debut. According to data, the rally fueled by institutions finally getting into crypto came to an end by the same entities who drove up prices in the first place.

Here’s why institutions left the crypto market and retail investors with a bloody aftermath, even though they helped drive prices up in the first place.

Crypto No Longer A Fad, Institutions Buying Causes Bullish Breakout
Up until the last couple of years, the cryptocurrency market was considered a fad, or a sector segregated from traditional finance that’s more associated with ransomware, the dark web, and tax evasion.

Over the years, retail investors adopted Bitcoin with the hope of disrupting traditional finance, and today it is starting to work. Institutions and even big banks and governments can no longer ignore the technology, and many are taking the plunge in their own way.



Data shows institutions took profit at local highs | Source: Arcane Research: The Weekly Report

PayPal and other payments brands now support crypto; national governments are considering central-bank issued digital currencies; and institutions are finally buying, selling, and trading Bitcoin.

These high wealth players with decades of market experience and all kinds of tactics on their side were paramount to driving prices up to $60,000 per coin. Unfortunately, the data above suggests they were also instrumental to the selloff that left retail traders with a bloody aftermath.

Other Side Of The Bitcoin: Institutions Selling Can Be Devastating
Institutional investors are sometimes referred to as “smart money” due to their ability to spot trend changes early, or perhaps due to their size they’re the ones behind the trends themselves.

Institutions aren’t typical traders behind a three-monitor setup filled with altcoin charts galore. The likes of hedge funds and more all have teams dedicated to technical analysis, fundamental analysis, macroeconomics, and much more. Using their combined intel, strategies are devised.

They buy assets they expect to do well, and they take profit when there’s profits to secure. Institutions don’t “HODL” hoping for hundreds of thousands of dollars per coin. Instead, they recognize they’re up by a few hundred percent in only a handful of months, and took profits before retail investors realized what was going on.



CME gaps could potentially be targets for where BTC goes next | Source: CME-BTC1! on TradingView.com

Bitcoin might have made it to $1 trillion but crypto is still speculative, sensitive to sentiment changes, and can be extremely volatile. Institutions know all these things and took some risk off the table before the market collapsed – and it did.

Realized losses were the highest in history according to on-chain data, and as the rest of this info shows, institutions weren’t the one suffering in the red.

Retail crypto investors dreamt of the days when institutions would drive up prices of the low supply asset, and its here. What they didn’t realize was the nightmare that would result when these big players begin to sell their coins.

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