Bitcoin retreating slowed last week and the crypto major consolidated in a narrow range around $30,000. Bitcoin is currently back above $30,000 and a glance at daily chart reveals the bearish trend is about to reverse if the price breaches above $30,750. And in case the bulls keep control of the market and drive the price above $31,400 - the upper bound of the consolidation range – Bitcoin may start on a new bullish leg that will take it back into the uptrend channel that it broke out to the downside two weeks ago.
The consolidation in crypto currencies last week displayed the volatility characteristic of the digital assets with Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA losing as much as 9% last Wednesday to lead losses while Ether declined 4%. With crypto market capitalization slipping under $1.3 trillion in mid-week amid uncertainties in global financial markets after Federal Reserve rate hike, El Salvador's president promoted Bitcoin adoption by emerging countries and Portugal announced it will impose taxes on the exchange and sale of cryptocurrencies. And BNP Paribas joined other global banks in adopting blockchain technology for fixed income trading.
French banking major BNP Paribas joined JPMorgan's blockchain-based network Onyx for fixed income market trading. The Onyx Digital Assets network uses tokens for short-term trading in fixed income markets where three quarters of deals on the repurchase - or "repo" - market are backed by government bonds. Goldman Sachs is also using JPMorgan's network for repo trading. Some $300 billion of intraday repo deals have been conducted on the Onyx network since its launch in 2020.
El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele hosted financial representatives from 44 developing economies at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion's annual meeting last Tuesday. He promoted the use and adoption of Bitcoin to 32 central banks and 12 financial officials representing emerging economies. Among the countries attending were Paraguay, Haiti, Honduras, Costa Rica and Ecuador in Latin America; Angola, Ghana, Namibia and Uganda in Africa; and Bangladesh, Palestine and Pakistan in Asia.
Portuguese Minister of Finance Fernando Medina announced cryptocurrencies will be subject to taxation in the near future. Portugal was previously considered a tax haven for cryptocurrency investors, in part due to an effective capital gains rate of zero. The current capital gains tax rate for financial investment in Portugal is 28%.
