- "The cryptocurrency market is not yet completely healthy, however, the healing process has already begun." This conclusion was reached by JPMorgan analysts in their new report, Bloomberg writes. Although bitcoin is still far from highs, cryptocurrencies are gradually recovering from the collapse. For example, the lack of activity in the bitcoin futures market was described by JPMorgan strategists as a “positive factor.” However, the short-term outlook, in their opinion, is "extremely difficult." Analysts also believe that there are still "submarine positions" in the market, that the market should get rid of. However, it is unclear from the report what level bitcoin should reach for full “healing.”
- Former CEO of Gyft and co-founder of the Civic project, Vinnie Lingham, was once nicknamed the "oracle" because he was able to predict the future value of the oldest cryptocurrency. Lingham's predictions for BTC are not always optimistic, and his calls are traditionally more conservative than those of people with fantastic ideas. However, like many others, he believes there is a possibility that BTC could hit six figures as early as this year. Oracle wrote in his Twitter account that if the price continues to hold at $30,000, then we will probably see bitcoin at $100,000 by the end of the year.
- Owners of small hydropower plants in China are forced to sell equipment due to government restrictive measures against bitcoin miners. These are small hydroelectric power plants generating about 50 MW, some of which are located in the Sichuan province. Local authorities demanded a halt to the activities of “key” miners until June 20 and banned energy companies from supplying power to them.
- The President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law providing for the introduction of additional mining fees. The National Association of Blockchain and Data Center Industry of Kazakhstan said the decision will “very negatively affect the investment attractiveness of the industry.” According to the president of the association, miners from China, who see Kazakhstan as a possible jurisdiction for migration, are also “embarrassed by this initiative.” As for the authorities, they see no “critical consequences” from the adoption of the law. In their view, the introduction of an additional electricity charge when mining cryptocurrencies will allow "to bring out of the shadow those miners who are now in the grey zone."
- Former Cramer & Co hedge fund manager and host of the Mad Money show on CNBC Jim Cramer cut his positions at Ethereum in May, after the coin hit the historic high at $4,350. And now he has again increased his savings in the second most capitalized cryptocurrency. Surprisingly, it was the positive dynamics of... bitcoin that pushed him to buy Ethereum. “I went back to Ethereum because bitcoin held above $30,000,” he claimed. And he added, "I love Ethereum because people are really using it a lot more."
- Billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who is one of the top three richest people in Mexico according to Forbes, said that when choosing an asset for the next 30 years, “would I never choose the stinking fiat”, and preferred bitcoin. “Fiat is a fraud,” Pliego stated. “See: I started my career in 1981. The Mexican peso was then quoted against the dollar at a rate of 20 to 1. But after 10 years, the rate became 20,000 to 1. And that's just in Mexico. But look at Venezuela, Argentina or Zimbabwe. The numbers have grown so much that this has led to a violation of all proportions. Therefore, no pesos, no paper money!" Salinas believes that bitcoin should be part of every investor's portfolio. 'It's an asset that has international value and is trading with incredible liquidity globally. That's enough for it to be part of every portfolio, period." The key advantage of bitcoin, according to the billionaire, is its limited emission. For the same reason, he does not believe in Ethereum, explaining that unlimited emission leads to the depreciation of existing assets.
- One of the markets where the competition between bitcoin and gold is most pronounced is India - a country where people used to traditionally invest in the precious metal. It is believed that Indian households own more than 25,000 tons of gold, although bitcoin has recently entered the country as well. According to the analytical service Chainalysis, investments in cryptocurrency in the country have grown from about $200 million to almost $40 billion in the last year alone, which means an increase of 20,000%. This is despite numerous efforts by the country's government and central bank to prevent, if not totally ban, investment in cryptocurrencies. There are now more than 15 million crypto investors in the country, which is less than 23 million in the US, but more than 2.3 million in the UK. However, for a country with a population of over 1.3 billion people, the share of those involved in cryptocurrency transactions is still very low: 1.15%. Of the 15 million named, the largest proportion are millennials under 35, who are less attracted to gold than previous generations, according to the World Gold Council.
- Veteran of the crypto market and one of the largest BTC holders, 41-year-old Mircea Popescu died in Costa Rica. He was also known as a blogger and self-proclaimed "greatest erotic writer in the world." According to local media reports, Popescu was carried off by a current near the Tramonto Hotel when he went to swim in a prohibited place. His body was found on the beach on the morning of June 23. A medical team arrived at the scene, but resuscitation measures did not bring results. Remembering Popescu, members of the crypto community call him "the evil genius of bitcoin maximalism", "the father of toxicity around bitcoin" and "sleeping giant". He was one of bitcoin's most conservative supporters and objected to any changes to the cryptocurrency protocol. “The guy had enough bitcoins to do whatever he wanted in life. Popescu could drop bitcoin almost to zero at one moment and hold the price for some time. He aroused little sympathy but laid the foundations for what we have today." Some believe that by naming 1 million coins, Popescu exaggerated the number of bitcoins at his disposal. The real figure could be between 50,000 and 300,000 BTC. However, it made him one of the largest cryptocurrency holders in the world. Now this huge number of bitcoins has disappeared, apparently forever.
- Paraguay could become the next country after El Salvador to recognize bitcoin as legal tender. The corresponding bill will be presented in the country's parliament on July 14. According to a representative of the Congress, the initiative has already found support among "a number of very important enterprises in Paraguay." On June 22, Paraguay's Universidad Americana University announced that it will accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple as tuition fees from August 2021.
- Jason Urban, Co-Head of Trading at Galaxy Digital, noted that negative news should exhaust itself by autumn, and bitcoin will continue its upward movement. He believes quotes could reach $70,000 by the end of this year. “We will soon see an update to the historical high,” he declared. Urban believes that many institutional investors have not yet entered the crypto market due to regulatory uncertainty, however, they will sooner or later, creating an increased demand for BTC.
- Sam Trabucco, a trader at Alameda Research, also believes that the bitcoin market is already preparing for an upswing. In his opinion, a few negative news that have been released recently have no fundamental value and is only aimed at creating short-term negative sentiments. Trabucco writes that negative news from China, Elon Musk's concerns about the environmental friendliness of bitcoin and the likely insolvency of MicroStrategy associated with the fall in BTC are causing an overly negative reaction. Previously, the price reacted in the same way to the Tesla purchase for BTC and Musk's optimistic messages. “But none of this news in any way affects the value of bitcoin and how people should evaluate it in the medium term,” the expert said. Trabucco also added that it was all exacerbated by a bloated derivatives market and massive liquidations of positions. “No one wanted to sell at $30,000, however many were forced to do so. This means that the $30,000 price should be taken as a buy signal,” he said.
