Bears Seen Smirking

The News From Planet Ruby—Friday, September 15, 2023

Some of our smol frens from the nearby planet Ruby II have been causing problems again. The little dudes crashed their craft in Mexico while on a burrito run 1,000 Earth years ago and holed up in a cave. We're not yet ready to reveal our existence to the Apes, who tend to get touchy when faced with the reality that they might not be the only sentient species in the galaxy.

Our plan was to plant evidence that it's a hoax, or perhaps just crash their markets again as a distraction, but it looks like it won't be necessary.

CPI Leaves Markets In No-Man's Land

After an unexpectedly hot jobless print last week, all eyes were on CPI this Wednesday. In the event, it came in just a touch over expectations, at 3.7%, with core inflation bang on forecasts at 4.3%. Thursday's PPI print followed the same pattern.

That doesn't change the underlying picture that the Fed is still worried about inflation, and will inform the FOMC in its meeting next week. Very likely the committee will hold rates where they are for now, but increase them at least one more time before the end of the year.

In short, markets were keenly awaiting this CPI print but come out with little new information.

Doom Incoming Or Double Bottom?

Bitcoin put in a Death Cross on the daily chart. This technical signal occurs when the 50-day simple moving average crosses down over the 200 DMA, indicating that short-term sentiment is worsening compared to longer-term price action. Historically, though, golden and death crosses have had mixed success in predicting near-term future moves for BTC.

Following a loss of support, bitcoin abruptly fell almost $1,000, but quickly bounced from $24,900. Was this a double bottom, or a sign of what's to come? Both are valid scenarios.

Right now, bitcoin has ground higher and is trading at around $26,600.

Sentiment Turns [More] Bearish

Last week, United States Representative Tom Emmer sponsored an appropriations amendment designed to limit the SEC's crypto oversight. This week, SEC Chair Gary Gensler testified to the Senate Banking Committee, taking the opportunity to reiterate his view that the crypto sector is "rife with abuses". He avoided a question about what his agency would need to see before Grayscale's ETF was approved.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says "it would help" to have a new head of the SEC, adding his voice to the growing number of influential figures who, like Warren Davidson, have called for Gensler to be fired.

A judge has ruled that $3 billion in crypto assets held by FTX can be sold—something the community has proven anxious about in recent days. Big money hasn't been scared off, though. Franklin Templeton has thrown their hat into the ring with another spot Bitcoin ETF proposal.

Ethereum has turned inflationary once again, as network activity and gas fees drop.

Finally, once again, there are vague rumors swirling about just what hot water Binance and CZ might be in, at least if you listen to blockchain analyst and commentator Adam Cochran. Cochran, who is a respected figure in the crypto space and has waged a long-running campaign against Binance, claims to have received a tip that things at the exchange could be much, much worse than he previously thought.

What's New In The SKALEVERSE?

If you were at Token2049 this week in Singapore, you might have seen SKALE founder Jack O'Holleran discussing the platform's role in onboarding the next 100 million users to DeFi.

On the technical front, the SKALE partnership with Meson will facilitate low-cost cross-chain bridging, aiding the flow of liquidity between the SKALEVERSE and the wider DeFi ecosystem.

That's all for this week!

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