Bitcoin now looks less attractive than altcoins
In recent weeks, bitcoin has been stuck in the $48-58 thousand range, although it has doubled in price since the beginning of the year.
At present, the first cryptocurrency looks less attractive for investment relative to major competitors because of significant overbought. Bitcoin growth is held back by a high concentration of long positions in the futures market, writes RBC.
In addition, purchases of less capitalized altcoins put pressure on the BTC exchange rate. The altcoin season itself and bitcoin's falling share of the crypto market is an important signal that the bulls are not yet ready for new records, experts say. However, bitcoin's long-term outlook looks positive.
Meanwhile, hundreds of U.S. banks are preparing to give customers access to bitcoin. Within the next few months, customers of some U.S. banks will be able to buy, sell and store bitcoin using existing accounts, writes forklog. Most of these will be small banks with multiple branches.
To do so, cryptocurrency firm NYDIG (New York Digital Investment Group) partnered with fintech giant Fidelity National Information Services (FIS).
FIS, which is a service provider for banks with nearly 300 million current accounts, will handle communications with financial institutions, while NYDIG will provide cryptocurrency storage and trading.
"It will make it easier for everyday Americans and corporations to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency through their mobile apps," said Patrick Sells, head of banking solutions at NYDIG.
NYDIG President Yang Zhao said banks themselves began taking an interest in bitcoin after seeing their customers send money to Coinbase and other exchanges.
In its own survey, NYDIG found that more people would be willing to hold onto bitcoin if they could buy it from a bank without having to register and transfer money to third-party platforms.
In recent months, plans to launch bitcoin-related products by large financial corporations such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have been reported. But at the time, they were talking about cryptocurrency access solutions for big players, not retail investors.