Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano And XRP Braced For 2021 Santa Rally After Crypto Price Crash

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Christmas canceled 

Cryptocurrency prices are trading sideways this morning as traders nervously wait and see whether Santa Claus will be coming to crypto-town. This week marks one year since bitcoin broke into fresh territory for the first time in three years but hopes are fading fast of a repeat performance. The bitcoin price is currently around $20,000 away from highs set in November.

Meanwhile, ethereum bulls are desperately hanging onto the $4,000 per ether level as ethereum’s biggest rivals, Binance’s BNB, solana, cardano and polkadot slide. Ripple’s XRP is a sole spot of green in the crypto top ten this morning, adding around 0.5% since this time yesterday.

Now watch this: Keanu Reeves is skeptical of NFTs

Modi hacked 🇮🇳

Hack attack: The Twitter
TWTR
account of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi was “very briefly compromised” over the weekend, with a tweet sent saying the country had adopted bitcoin and would be distributing the cryptocurrency. Screenshots of the quickly deleted tweet read: “India has officially accepted bitcoin as legal tender. The government has officially bought 500 BTC” and would be “distributing them to all residents of the country,” along with a link to a suspected scam site that was unavailable when Codex tried to access it.

Beast Modi: The timing of the hack couldn’t be worse for the bitcoin and crypto industry in India. Reports have emerged in recent weeks that lawmakers are preparing to heavily regulate India’s fast-growing crypto markets, with the most pessimistic reports suggesting the country could issue an outright crypto ban while the more optimistic are expecting restrictions to be placed on how cryptocurrencies can be used and traded. The hack will do little to ingratiate bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will the country’s politicians. Modi, who has more than 70 million followers on Twitter and ranks among the most followed of any world leader, himself said last month that cryptocurrencies could “spoil our youth.”

Déjà vu: In the summer of 2020, some 140 high-profile Twitter accounts were compromised and used to distribute bitcoin scams. That world leaders continue to be successfully targeted highlights how much work new Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal has to do and the scale of the problem. The likes of Tesla
TSLA
chief executive Elon Musk have repeatedly complained about the number of crypto scams on Twitter though a cursory glance at the replies to Musk’s tweets shows the problem is only getting worse.

The bottom line: This is bad news for both crypto in India and crypto on Twitter, with measures to curb such hacks and scams increasingly likely.

Now read this: Great protocol politics

Binance bows out of Singapore 

🏙️ The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance has withdrawn its application to run a cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore and said it will shut down its trading platform in the city-state by February 13.

🏢 It’s the latest setback for the embattled trading platform amid speculation that it had hoped to make Singapore its global headquarters. Binance has come under significant pressure from regulators around the world in recent months, with governments unhappy about its unconventional corporate structure and rapid expansion.

📧 Binance users in Singapore will be informed via email as to what steps they will need to take as the platform ceases its operations. Read the full story on Forbes.

The week ahead 📆

👀 Watch out for these cryptocurrency and crypto-related events this week.

🎅 This week marks one year since bitcoin’s 2020 Santa rally pushed the bitcoin price over its previous all-time high of around $20,000, sending most other cryptocurrencies sharply higher. Traders are closely watching for a repeat performance but expectations are mixed.

🏦 Inflation data dominates the economic agenda this week.

– Today, the latest U.S. consumer inflation expectations are out, alongside core producer price index figures.

– On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve will issue its latest interest rate decision with the final Fed meeting of the year set for fireworks as the U.S. grapples with soaring inflation. Fed chair Jerome Powell is under pressure to clarify when his stimulus taper plan and exactly how many rate hikes are on the cards for next year.

– On Thursday, the U.K.’s Bank of England will also make its latest interest rate decision, with traders increasingly betting it will hold off on a previously expected rate rise in the face of the surging Omicron Covid-19 variant.

Good to know: 90% of the 21 million bitcoin supply has now been mined, with the remaining 10% to be mined over the next 119 years