- Bitcoin traded at US$63,680 (AU$90,426) early on Wednesday, down 0.48% over 24 hours, for a market capitalisation of US$1.28 trillion (AU$1.82 trillion), on CoinGecko figures.
- Strategy sold 1,690 BTC for US$108.6 million (AU$154.2 million) in the week to 9 August at an average US$64,262 (AU$91,252), against an average purchase price of US$75,385 (AU$107,047).
- US inflation data landed Wednesday at 10:30 pm AEST, after a payrolls report showing the economy shed 23,000 jobs in July when economists had expected a gain.
Bitcoin traded at US$63,680 (AU$90,426) early on Wednesday, down 0.48% over the previous 24 hours for a market capitalisation of US$1.28 trillion (AU$1.82 trillion), according to CoinGecko, with US inflation figures due that night.
The consumer price index landed at 10:30 pm AEST, and arrives after a jobs report that changed the rate conversation. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on 7 August that the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, against economist estimates clustered between gains of 80,000 and 95,000. May and June were revised down by a combined 103,000.
“This was a miss, big time. And it got messier,” Swyftx lead market analyst Pav Hundal wrote.
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The Hike Being Priced Out
Market-implied odds of the Federal Reserve raising rates by its 9 December meeting fell after the payrolls release, on CME FedWatch data Hundal charted, having climbed steadily through the months into August.
“If we continue to see wobbles in the labour market, that puts growth at risk,” Hundal wrote. “And this becomes even more interesting if inflation starts coming down. If this played out, nearly all the inputs policy makers watch would be pointing toward an economic slowdown.”
He tied it to crypto directly. More uncertainty on growth pressures households, he argued, which “means less people with spare income to be able to invest and speculate in crypto. To be clear we aren’t there yet.” The same conditions, he added, “could create the conditions historically associated with rate cuts, which can help boost liquidity and growth in the longer-term.”
Strategy Keeps Selling
Strategy sold 1,690 BTC for US$108.6 million (AU$154.2 million) in the week to 9 August at an average US$64,262 (AU$91,252), a filing on Monday showed. It holds 840,447 BTC at an average purchase price of US$75,385 (AU$107,047).
The proceeds funded the buyback of 1,152,020 STRC shares, the preferred stock that slid to a record low last month.
Its board’s Bitcoin monetisation programme allows sales to raise up to US$1.25 billion (AU$1.78 billion) for a dollar reserve, to cover preferred dividends and interest, and to fund buybacks. The filings say it “does not obligate us to repurchase any securities or to sell any Bitcoin.” That reserve stood at US$4.65 billion (AU$6.6 billion) as of recently.
None of the recent selling drew on the dollar-reserve allowance, which the quarterly filing says was still untouched as of 24 July. Strategy began disclosing Bitcoin sales earlier this year.
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