News
Crypto Roundup: MSCI Inclusion of MSTR; Hong Kong ETFs; COIN change in Australia
As expected, April’s recent inflation print has breathed new life into investors’ risk appetite. Assets across the board – stock indexes, gold and silver – saw gains this week. Major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and Ethereum (ETH-USD) are also in the high single digits. This optimism promises to spread throughout MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) shares with their inclusion in the MSCI index. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s ETF dreams suffered a bit this week, while Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) is seeing its fair share of hits and misses.
MSTR’s MSCI Boost
Michael Saylor MicroStrategy is now more of a cryptography company than a software company. Saylor’s religious crypto purchase drove MSTR’s BTC supply to nearly 214,300 BTC on March 31. The company’s share price is up an impressive 427% in the last year, and more gains could be in store as the stock prepares to join the MSCI World Index later this month.
COIN’s Quest for Growth
Although MSTR’s fortunes are shining, crypto exchange Coinbase appears to be facing a mixed situation. Earlier this week, the company experimented another platform outageleading many users to turn to social media to vent.
Additionally, a new competitor in the mix, in the form of none other than the CME Group (NASDAQ:CME), will certainly weigh on COIN’s fortunes in the coming periods.
COIN, however, is focusing on new demand in the form of Australia’s self-managed superannuation sector. To date, Australia’s superannuation sector has pumped almost $664 million into crypto investments, and COIN is eyeing a slice of the pie with a new service aimed at the segment.
Keep the ETFs Coming
The recent introduction of cryptocurrency-focused ETFs in the US has opened the floodgates for similar moves in major markets including the UK, Hong Kong and now Australia. The latter is expected to introduce crypto ETFs by the end of this year. Hong Kong, however, had a less-than-stellar debut for its crypto ETFs. According to Bloomberg, the six crypto ETFs introduced in Hong Kong nearly two weeks ago have largely suffered capital outflows. Still, the financial hub could see a change of tide in the coming periods, especially with crypto trading banned in mainland China.
Will BTC go up or down?
Meanwhile, BTC’s rally looks set to maintain its momentum with the TipRanks Technical Analysis tool issuing a strong buy signal on a weekly time frame.
Read full Disclosure