Morning‌‌ ‌‌Update — January ‌‌6th — Macro and Crypto Markets

While Covid cases continue to rise and countries around the world extend or impose stricter lockdowns, investors still turned risk-on yesterday.

The S&P and Nasdaq were up 0.7% and 1.2%, respectively. As you would expect, treasuries were sold, pushing the 10-year yield back to 0.95%. The dollar keeps losing value as the index falls to multi-year lows. Conversely, gold continues to rise, currently closing at $1,950.

The bullish tilt was not only felt in crypto, but also outperformed relative to traditional assets, as it often does these days.

BTC is closing the day almost 6% up at $33,945, after an intraday high of $34,500 — just inches away from the current all-time high.

Any alts holder is quite happy these days. While some coins are underperforming (BCH, DASH, LTC, DOT), we are definitely seeing enthusiasm, interest, and a healthy dose of upside volatility for others. ETH is up just 5%, decidedly above $1,000. LINK rose more than 7% and ADA is up a massive 14%. XLM was even more impressive, with a +17% session.

On a more fundamental note, plenty of positive news came through yesterday.

• JP Morgan now says BTC could reach $146,000 in the long run — read all about it on Bloomberg.
• In the aftermath of the XRP debacle, Grayscale is now delisting its XRP fund — no surprises there.
• Coinbase reported handling a transaction for One River (an asset manager who entered the crypto space not too long ago). Apparently, it was one ‘of the largest digital asset trades in history.’ Institutions aren’t messing around.
• Lastly, but more importantly, US regulators indicated that federally chartered banks can now facilitate stablecoin payments and issue their own. The importance of such a bold move favoring blockchain-based technology and the shift it could create for the crypto space cannot be overstated.

Today is one of those positive days in which any and all crypto holders will feel good. As we approach all-time highs, it will be fascinating to see whether traders hold and push higher or if the 35K resistance will be too tempting a level for profit taking.