Bitcoin Stabilizes at $42K: A First Mover Americas Recap

• Bitcoin's Next Move: Set to Surge above $50,000?
• Understanding the Bullish Pattern
• Hong Kong Considers its First Bitcoin ETF
• Future Crypto Ventures in Hong Kong
• Surge in Solana-Based Trading
• Jupiter's Upcoming Token Issuance
• Chart of the Day: Ether Options

Bitcoin's Next Move: Set to Surge above $50,000?

Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64%'s price has been fluctuating around the $42,000 mark recently, with many market watchers setting $43,000 as a critical threshold for a potential surge above $50,000. Notably, Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, who previously predicted Bitcoin's drop to $38,000, has indicated that traders should consider re-engaging in long positions once Bitcoin surpasses the $43,000 mark.

Understanding the Bullish Pattern

According to Thielen, Bitcoin has been following a five-wave bullish pattern since early 2023. The recent pullback was merely wave 4 in this pattern, and he expects wave 5 to drive Bitcoin's price above $50,000. This bullish outlook aligns with the recent decrease in selling pressure from investors looking to cash in on the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) investment vehicle, contributing to the wave 4 correction following the launch of U.S.-based spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) on January 11.

Hong Kong Considers its First Bitcoin ETF

In other news, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has received its first Bitcoin ETF application from Chinese asset manager Harvest Global Investments, as reported by Tencent News. This move comes shortly after Hong Kong's regulators expressed their readiness to consider spot crypto ETF applications in December, a mere fortnight before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Bitcoin ETFs.

Future Crypto Ventures in Hong Kong

Venture Smart Financial Holdings, a Hong Kong-based firm, has signalled its intention to file a spot Bitcoin ETF application and aims to commence trading during the first quarter. Furthermore, Venture and Harvest have reportedly entered into discussions with Hong Kong's central bank regarding the development of stablecoins within the region.

Surge in Solana-Based Trading

Jupiter information" data-id="5052">Jupiter$0.0058 -4.87%, a trading aggregator based on the Solana$104 5.03% platform, settled more than $500 million in trades in the last 24 hours, surpassing Uniswap v3 to become the largest trading platform by that measure. CoinGecko data reveals that Jupiter has listed 550 tokens and over 5,550 trading pairs. The USDC/SOL pairing was most active, with a volume of $166 million.

Jupiter's Upcoming Token Issuance

On another note, the wen (WEN) meme coin, which was introduced by Jupiter developers last week, generated approximately $150 million in trading volumes across two pairs. Jupiter is planning to issue its JUP tokens on Wednesday, with nearly 1 million Solana wallets qualifying for a portion of a particularly generous airdrop. This sizeable airdrop is indicative of Jupiter's popularity among traders.

Chart of the Day: Ether Options

The chart illustrates dealer gamma exposure in the ether options market in notional terms. Gamma measures the rate of change in the option's price relative to changes in the spot market prices. Ether options dealers have built a net positive or long gamma exposure and are likely to buy low and sell high in the spot/futures market, dampening price volatility. As reported by Griffin Ardern, Blofin's Volatility Trader, ETH's positive cash gamma just hit a quarterly high, signaling more resistance in the upside path.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker