Bitcoin Moves #38 — A weekly review of what’s moving Bitcoin and crypto markets.
Bitcoin’s price stayed around $58K from Wednesday to Monday, per OKCoin market data, and even got close to breaking $60K again in several attempts.
The price dropped all the way down to $53K on Tuesday, March 23, and went up again today — climbing slightly above its trading level last week — on the news that it is now possible to buy a Tesla with Bitcoin.
Amid a slew of bullish news in the United States, BTC has provoked significant moves in emerging markets such as India, Turkey and Brazil.
TL;DR
- Bitcoin dipped to $53K on Tuesday and bounced back to $56K on Wednesday.
- Tesla has officially started accepting BTC as a payment method.
- The leading cryptocurrency is attracting attention and capital in Turkey, Brazil and India.
Key Bitcoin metrics
- Current BTC price: $56,200, down 2.4% compared to last week’s price of $57,600
- 7D low / high: $53,274 / $59,516
- Total market cap: $1,053,446,980,428, up 0.8% over last week
You can now buy a Tesla with BTC
Today, Elon Musk announced that U.S. customers are now able to buy Tesla cars with Bitcoin. The offer is limited to the U.S. at the moment but Musk noted in a separate tweet that Bitcoin payments will be extended to other countries later this year. Two aspects of this announcement are worth highlighting, as they show the importance of leadership in the crypto space:
- The Tesla website makes it explicit in a dedicated support page that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency accepted as payment by the company. This choice underscores the fact that Bitcoin is the cornerstone cryptocurrency, despite criticisms of it’s functionality as a medium of exchange.
- Musk mentioned in the same Twitter thread as the announcement that Tesla runs an unspecified open-source payment processing software and operates Bitcoin nodes. He also noted that the firm will keep the Bitcoin it receives as payment on its balance sheet, rather than converting it to fiat currency. In February, Tesla announced that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of BTC as part of its updated investment strategy.
Bitcoin is making headlines in Turkey, Brazil and India
Bitcoin keeps attracting growing attention and capital in emerging markets.
- Interest in Bitcoin is surging in Turkey as fears of an inflation crisis grow: searches for Bitcoin in Turkey have gone up 566% on Google Trends over the past week after the lira’s value dropped in foreign-exchange markets.
- India is about to try banning Bitcoin, again: last week, a report emerged that a new law banning cryptocurrencies is indeed under discussion. This follows the decision of the Indian Supreme Court to break a 2018 law banning banks from working with crypto businesses. Peer-to-peer crypto trading volumes have remained strong, however.
- In Brazil, the first Bitcoin exchange-traded-fund, or ETF, in Latin America was approved on Friday, March 19, and should be listed by June. This could further encourage the approval of a Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., where one has yet to be approved.
Morgan Stanley offers access to Bitcoin (to the rich only): report
Last Wednesday, CNBC reported that the banking giant is planning to give its wealthiest clients access to three funds that invest in Bitcoin. The move comes with a bunch of caveats, however: to be able to invest in BTC with Morgan Stanley, retail investors reportedly need to have $2 million in assets managed by the bank, while investment firms need $5 million. In addition, the report states that all accounts need to be at least six months old and the exposure cannot be higher than 2.5% of total net worth.
At OKCoin, we believe anyone should be able to buy Bitcoin on their own terms. Getting started on OKCoin takes minutes and you can invest as little as ~$25 (at current market prices) in BTC. If you want to make large trades in a secure and private manner, we have you covered as well with our new OTC Desk, which lets you buy BTC, ETH and USDT for USD.
