By Jacob Pouncey | Saxo Bank Analyst | Crypto Current Contributor

Date Published: April 3, 2019

This week the entire crypto market cap rose by 21%, thereby bringing the market cap to just under USD 175 bn. Bitcoin and Ethereum rose by 22% and 19% respectively. Most of the rally happened on the 2nd of April in a two-hour window, with Bitcoin smashing through previous resistance levels. Some are calling for the end of the bear market while others are calling it a false breakout. Whatever it is, the fact remains that Bitcoin has posted its first two consecutive months of gains since late 2017.

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• BTC whale makes waves

Many believe that the recent price increase in BTC was due to algorithmically controlled buy orders across several exchanges to the tune of USD 100 mn. These buy orders quickly cleared through the order books and squeezed margin traders who were short Bitcoin. Over USD 500 mn shorts were liquidated on Bitmex over the last 48hrs. Since the OTC markets have maintained volume over the previous several months, some speculate that large traders who have built up substantial positions over the past several months with little slippage are now looking to increase their holdings through buying on-the-spot exchange and creating slippage to the upside.

• Binance is rumoured to add margin trading 
  A look at the API of the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, suggests that it will begin to allow margin trading on its platform. If Binance were to implement this, it would mean that a majority of the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges offer leverage. The others who do not offer margin are all under US jurisdiction. The introduction of margin trading on the platform will undoubtedly benefit the revenue stream of Binance and its proprietary token BNB. Binance has promised to use 20% of their quarterly profits to buy back outstanding BNB tokens until half the supply is gone. This mechanism acts as a dividend to all remaining holders of BNB.

• GBP stable coin on the way
  The Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup TrustToken recently launched a stable coin-backed 1:1 with the British pound. TrueGBP trades under the ticker TGBP on several OTC crypto trading desks, and the firm is working on getting the Ethereum based token to trade on several spot exchanges. This stable coin now gives GBP owners the ability to hedge their cryptocurrency exposure in GBP and vice versa. This stable coin could be an interesting bellwether for capital flight from the UK to the cryptocurrency market as funds are held in escrow in US accounts.

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