Market Wrap: Bitcoin’s Powell-Induced Price Swing; Ethereum Still High on Gas

Bitcoin's price gyrated by over $450 during and after Fed Chair Powell’s comments while Ethereum’s gas congestion continues.

By Daniel Cawrey

Aug 27, 2020 at 8:34 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 9:49 a.m. UTC

cdbpiaug27 — CoinDesk 20 Bitcoin Price Index

Daniel Cawrey

Bitcoin’s rally lost power after a speech by the Federal Reserve chief; Ethereum gas usage hits another record.

Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,251 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 1.8% over the previous 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,130-$11,596
BTC below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bearish signal for market technicians.

Thursday featured a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell highlighting U.S. dollar inflation. During the hour Powell spoke, spot bitcoin hit as high as $11,596 on Coinbase. However, it lost steam and dropped $466 to $11,130 before New York traders were eating their lunch.

Singapore-based QCP Capital wrote in an investor note that Thursday’s failed bitcoin rally was a result of the substance, or lack thereof, of Powell’s comments. “Powell's backpedaling and fuzzy inflation framework has disappointed the market that was hoping for a formalization of inflation policy in this speech itself,” the firm wrote.

The Fed inflation framework, which in Powell’s words is “flexible,” is a positive sign, said Neil Van Huis, director of institutional trading at crypto liquidity provider Blockfills. “Although the market reacted to Powell's comments, I have to believe anyone really thinking hard about it knew this was a likely response by him,” said Van Huis. “One in the digital asset space might be smiling even more now, saying ‘this thing we are building might actually be working,’” he added.

The bitcoin market may see more exciting action Friday, when over 66,400 BTC in open interest options are set to expire.

William Purdy, an options trader and founder of analysis firm PurdyAlerts, expects volatility to rise as a result. “What large open interest means is that there is more money on the line by institutions and retail with strong financial incentives to move prices to or away from certain prices as we move into that expiration,” he explained.

“The two strikes with the greatest open interest are at $11,000 and $12,000,” said Purdy. He thinks spot prices could further gyrate because buyers of options would have gains minimized inside that $11,000-$12,000 range.

Options traders had a small scare when Deribit, the largest bitcoin options exchange, went offline during early European trading hours. At one point, Deribit warned it was possible it wouldn't be back online in time to handle the 2,000 or so bitcoin options that were expiring Thursday. However, the problem was resolved a few hours later.

Gas at all-time high

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was down Thursday, trading around $378 and slipping 2% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).

Total gas, a unit of account for transactions and smart contract usage on the network, used on Ethereum per day hit 79,294,223,632 units on Sunday, an all-time high. Wednesday was the second-highest gas day, with 79,255,713,214 used.

Marc Fleury, CEO of crypto asset brokerage Two Prime, says Ethereum-based DeFi could be a disruptive game changer for finance in uncertain times, if the network’s congestion problems can be solved by the community. “DeFi lending and yield creation in the crypto space has the potential to disrupt traditional banking,” said Fleury. “Let's not squander this opportunity.”

Other markets

Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are all red Thursday. Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):

qtum (QTUM) - 11.8%
0x (ZRX) - 9.9%
cardano (ADA) - 9.1%

Equities:

Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed in the red 0.35% as the index was dragged down by losses in the real estate and manufacturing sectors.
Europe’s FTSE 100 ended the day down 0.75% as traders digested the Fed’s remarks on U.S. monetary policy.
The United States’ S&P 500 gained 0.40% as investors boosted the index on the Fed's long-term view keeping interest rates low.

Commodities:

Oil is down 1%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.99.
Gold was in the red 1.2% and at $1,929 as of press time.

Treasurys:

U.S. Treasury bond yields all climbed Thursday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, in the green 8.7%.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.