Riding The Wave News Summary 127
Bitcoin Climbs Above $22K as Powell Softens Tone on Day 2 of Congressional Testimony, Cathie Wood’s ARK ignores Silvergate, buys Coinbase stock for 6th straight month, & more.
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Bitcoin Climbs Above $22K as Powell Softens Tone on Day 2 of Congressional Testimony
Cathie Wood’s ARK ignores Silvergate, buys Coinbase stock for 6th straight month
Russian crypto advocates urge Putin to stop regulatory hostility
Tweets
Bitcoin Climbs Above $22K as Powell Softens Tone on Day 2 of Congressional Testimony
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell "stressed" that the central bank has yet to make a decision on the size of the rate hike when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets later in March.
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee for his semi-annual monetary policy report on Wednesday, Powell made a notable change (from Tuesday's Senate testimony) in his prepared remarks. "I stress that no decision has been made on this," Powell added Wednesday when talking about the pace of rate hikes.
Markets on Tuesday took Powell's prepared remarks as suggesting the Fed was likely to hike rates 50 basis points at the FOMC's March meeting instead of the previously assumed 25. Bitcoin and stocks both saw sizable declines and the dollar a powerful rally following the testimony. The insertion of the "no decision" wording Wednesday could be an attempt to soothe those hawkish fears.
Bitcoin (BTC) bounced more than $200 on the news, now back above $22,000 at $22,200, and the S&P 500 moved from a modest loss to a modest gain. The dollar is giving back some of Tuesday's sizable advance.
While crypto came up during Wednesday's hearing, it was not a major issue even among lawmakers who tend to be outspoken on the sector.
Powell did say the Fed had yet to make any decisions on issuing a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) in response to a lawmaker's questions.
Cathie Wood’s ARK ignores Silvergate, buys Coinbase stock for 6th straight month
Bitcoin exchange Coinbase has remained a firm “buy” for ARK Invest throughout its recent price drop.
The latest data shows ARK continuing to buy Coinbase shares despite bankruptcy concerns over Silvergate Bank — a major Coinbase partner.
In the latest demonstration of its fearless approach to the crypto space, ARK purchased another 47,568 shares of Coinbase on March 7.
This adds to the roughly 6 million shares already held in ARK’s ARKK exchange-traded fund (ETF) at the start of the month, and is already its third purchase of the week.
Also benefiting this week is the largest Bitcoin institutional investment vehicle, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
Amid crunchtime for owner Grayscale in its long-running battle to convert and launch GBTC as an ETF in the United States, the trust saw a modest uptick in value as the week began.
A court is currently deciding whether U.S. regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, has the right to continue denying the launch of the market’s first Bitcoin spot price ETF.
ARK meanwhile owns 5.53 million GBTC shares, having most recently increased exposure in November 2022, immediately after the FTX debacle broke. In January, it reduced its holdings by 500,000 shares.
Russian crypto advocates urge Putin to stop regulatory hostility
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