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Bitcoin saw its price surge above $28,000 early last week but quickly fell away to around $27,000 before climbing back to where it is trading now around $27,600. 

Ether saw significant declines last week however, falling around 5.8%. It began last week trading around $1,700 but saw a retreat across the seven days and is now moving around $1,610 on eToro. 

Bitcoin saw a short term price fall on the back of the US Labor market report on Friday which showed far more new jobs than expected, despite cooling wages and rising unemployment. But this was short-lived and the price quickly bounced back higher. 

This comes despite a tough situation in the bond market which appears to be showing signs of concern over ‘higher for longer’ rate narratives. US 10-year yields have spiked higher in the past month but this doesn’t seem to have worried the bitcoin market much. 

Coming up this week we’ve got Fed Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting notes from September, published on Wednesday, which could draw the attention of markets. The latest US CPI figures are also out on Thursday which will draw similar attention. 

Both are of particular interest with rate concerns rippling through sentiment, while earnings season begins on Friday with major financial institutions once again giving us insight into the financial health of the global economy. 

Bitcoin seems to be taking the latest macro events in its stride at the moment but other cryptoassets in the market aren’t holding up as strongly.  

Ethereum becomes more centralised

The arrival of the Merge and Shanghai upgrades to the Ethereum network have come at the cost of centralisation and inferior staking yields according to a report from JPMorgan.

The increased centralisation poses a problem for users as it increases the likelihood of liquidity issues or attacks, according to the report. It’s difficult to judge the effects of what is essentially an ongoing development process though, particularly as fresh upgrades are slated in the coming months.

The report also notes that the yield has deteriorated in the wake of both developments. Again this is disappointing for investors but purely reflects market conditions as they exist. Staking is a developing area of the crypto market with Ethereum leading the way. It’s essential instead for investors to weigh up the benefits of the process against the potential risks. 

Bitcoin miners gearing up for halving

Bitcoin miners have had a tricky few years navigating surging energy prices and choppy markets which have made the economics of mining the world’s largest cryptoasset a puzzle. 

But signs are there that miners are making plans for the next halving which looks set to come through next year. Canadian miner Iris Energy for example, has just announced a 25% mining capacity increase as it makes preparations for the halving. 

The firm has already increased its hashrate by 25% thanks to additional capacity. Other miners that don’t lay the groundwork will struggle to turn a profit as less efficient equipment means less earnings on what will already be tighter outcomes thanks to the process of halving the bitcoin block reward. 

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