First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Pulls Back to $42K; Venezuela Shutters Petro Crypto Project

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Bitcoin


(BTC)

contrarian
bets
were


seemingly

proven
right
as
the
much-awaited
approval
of
a
spot
exchange-traded
fund
(ETF)
turned
out
to
be
a


“sell-the-news”
event,
one
that
analysts
previously
warned
was
possible
given
the
token’s
rapid
price
appreciation
in
the
past
months.
“Sell
the
news”
is
a
well-known
term
in
capital
markets
and
describes
how
asset
prices,
leverage
and
sentiment
run-up
in
the
lead-up
to
a
bullish
event,
only
for
prices
to
tumble
shortly
after.
BTC
pulled
back
to
as
low
as
$41,500
early
Monday
before
recovering

after
briefly
hitting
its
two-year
high
above
$49,000
as
the
first-ever
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
in
the
U.S.
started
trading
last
Thursday.
The
approval
of
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
in
the
U.S.
was
much
anticipated
and
well
priced,
so
the
event
will
likely
be
a
short-
to
mid-term
top
for
the
price,
analysts
at
Japan-based
crypto
exchange
bitBank
told
CoinDesk
in
an
email.

It’s
unclear
how
much
fresh
capital
the
new
spot
bitcoin
exchange-traded
funds
(ETF)
will
attract,
but
significant
funds
from
other
crypto
products
are
expected
to
pour
in,
J.P.
Morgan


said
in
a
Thursday
research
report.
The
market
reaction
to
the
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission’s
(SEC)
reluctant
approval
of
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
has
been
relatively
muted,
with
the
focus
now
shifting
to
how
much
capital
these
new
ETFs
will
pull
in,
the
report
said.
“We
are
skeptical
of
the
optimism
shared
by
many
market
participants
at
the
moment
that
a
lot
of
fresh
capital
will
enter
the
crypto
space
as
a
result
of
the
spot
bitcoin
ETF
approval,”
analysts
led
by
Nikolaos
Panigirtzoglou
wrote.

Venezuela
is
ending
its
Petro
cryptocurrency
on
Monday,
more
than
five
years
after
it
was
first
launched,
according
to
multiple
reports
citing
a
message
displayed
on
the
Patria
Platform,
the
only
website
where
the
Petro
was
tradeable.
President
Nicolas
Maduro

launched
the
Petro
(PTR)
in
Feb.
2018
to
support
the
nation’s
currency,
the
bolívar,
in
the
face
of
an
economic
crisis
exacerbated
by

U.S.
sanctions.
The
token,
backed
by
the
nation’s
rich
oil
reserves,
was
embroiled
in
controversy
even
before
the
launch.
The
country’s
opposition-controlled
congress
said
it
was
illegal
to
borrow
against
the
oil
reserves.
In
2019,

U.S.
authorities
sanctioned
a
Russian
bank
for
financing
the
Petro.