Crypto hour at CNBC

THU, JUN 10, 2021

YOUR AFTERNOON NEWS UPDATE AND MARKET ACTION FROM CNBC

AS OF THU, JUN 10, 2021 • 11:23 ET

DJIA		34552.10
		+0.30%	+104.96

S&P 500		4233.70
		+0.34%	+14.15

NASDAQ		13959.15
		+0.34%	+47.40

EDITOR'S NOTE

Turn on the TV, watch it on your app, set your DVRs, do whatever it is people do these days, but at 2 p.m. ET we are doing a full special "crypto" hour of "Power Lunch."

Frankly, we could have filled three or four hours with all the segments we wanted to book. There are so many areas to explore--all the different blockchains, NFTs, the monetary policy of each different coin, regulatory and ransomware issues, mining and environmental concerns, etc., etc. I'd ask for your questions, but I think we already have too many!

So we'll squeeze in what we can today. And since we're a pretty self-aware bunch, yes, we realize an hourlong special like this is typically a pretty "toppy" sign. That said, if nearly half of millennial millionaires have more than 25% of their net worth in crypto, well, there's a lot at stake in how Bitcoin and Ether and all the rest of them trade from here.

Just yesterday, J.P. Morgan warned that "the shift in Bitcoin futures into backwardation is a bearish signal echoing 2018" (this is the Panigirtzoglou team). Apparently Bitcoin and Ether haven't been in such a position (when the longer-dated futures imply a lower price than the near-term ones) since then.

"This is an unusual development and a reflection of how weak Bitcoin demand is at the moment from institutional investors" that tend to use such contracts, the team wrote. Are these investors getting cold feet? How many large institutions--including insurance companies and pension funds--will actually shift some small percentage of their portfolios into Bitcoin or other cryptos in the future?

That answer (which partly depends on the price of Bitcoin, self-fulfillingly) will help determine how high Bitcoin prices can stay from here. And if Bitcoin falls below the average $21,000 purchase price (at least among Coinbase users) that Mizuho identified in its survey a few weeks back, will the retail base continue to "hodl" or will their "diamond hands" be a thing of the past? The supply of Bitcoin may be fixed but there are plenty of other cryptos to pick from these days--and others can be created at seemingly any time. Will they all continue to rise and fall together, or not?

So many questions, so little time. See you at 1 p.m!

Kelly

Kelly Evans
Twitter: @KellyCNBC

Instagram: @realkellyevans

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