Bitcoin, created in 2009, was the first decentralized cryptocurrency. It is transferred using a distributed ledger referred to as the blockchain.
Bitcoin put up its best showing since February last week, as it rose 17 percent to $8,200. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is down 60 percent from December’s highs but remains one of the hottest topics for investment amateurs and professionals alike. One reason for bitcoin’s current strength is, according to analysts, the entrance […]
Little has been felt in foreign exchange markets from the UK’s recent political entanglement with Russia, which escalated last week with a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats. The pound gained last week against both the dollar and euro and will remain steady for the foreseeable future, according to the collective opinion of FX analysts surveyed by […]
Among the world’s ten most actively traded currencies, it was the Chinese yuan that was leading the pack approaching the end of the Asian business week. Last week: majors all down Aussie dollar (AUD) was down last week, retreating from US0.80 cents, on Australia’s disappointing rise in private sector wages, their massive contraction […]
Last week’s much-improved US inflation data had the desired effect on US rate expectations which have adjusted to indicate a 100% probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in March. Ordinarily, such a revision to expectations would fuel a transfer of hot money into US dollars, yet dollar traders continue to chart their own […]
During a week which saw global equity markets suffer their largest losses in two years and broader market volatility pick up, foreign exchange markets were surprisingly calm. A flight to safety benefitted the US dollar, which finished higher against a basket of currencies for the second consecutive week; and the Japanese yen, which at one […]
Bitcoin’s tumble continued on Friday, with the cryptocurrency falling at one stage by fifteen percent to just $7,960 – sixty percent lower than December’s high just shy of $20,000 ($19,891). An afternoon rebound saw bitcoin end the day close to $8,600 but that did little to improve sentiment in the face of scrutiny from regulators […]
Bitcoin was back below $14,000 on Friday ($13,995) in the wake of new measures from the South Korean government to better regulate the cryptocurrency and warnings from the Indian finance ministry, who likened bitcoin to a “Ponzi scheme.” On Thursday, bitcoin had tumbled more than $1,000 on a statement from the South Korean government in […]
The Philippine peso was best in Asia last week and continues to defy pessimistic forecasts from earlier in the year. USD/PHP’s move to 49.99 on Friday was the pair’s first journey through the psychologically important rate of 50 since June, and a 3.2% appreciation in the peso’s value since November 1st places it second only […]
Bitcoin looks “remarkably like a bubble” to the Acting Governor of New Zealand’s central bank, Grant Spencer. Speaking to TVNZ this weekend, Spencer – who will lead the RBNZ’s Monetary Policy Committee until March – said that bitcoin appears to be a “classic case” of a financial bubble. “Over the centuries we’ve seen bubbles and […]
A better-than-expected US payrolls number on Friday affirmed investor expectations for a hike in US interest rates next week and supported the US dollar, which rose against a basket of currencies for a fourth consecutive day. Futures markets are now pricing in a 90.2% probability of the Federal Reserve raising the target range for the […]