Gold, Stocks, and Bitcoin: Weekly Overview — December 24

BeInCrypto takes a look at this week’s price movements for Bitcoin (BTC), gold, and our stock pick Block Inc., formerly known as Square Inc.

BTC

Despite falling during the past week, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading roughly around where it was a week ago. On Dec 16, BTC was trading just below $49,000, however it tumbled from there, falling to nearly $45,500 by Dec 18. It then picked up a bit, reaching $48,000 on Dec 19. Selling pressure then returned, taking it back below $46,000 by Dec 20.

From there, the tables turned yet again, rising to $47,000 before spiking up to $48,500. BTC was finally able to break above a descending resistance line on Dec 23 to reach a local high of $51,400.

During the past week, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced that the country had contributed more BTC to its reserves. The purchase was made on Dec 21, which saw 21 BTC bought at 21:00. The purchase made to mark the 21st day of the year of the 21st year of the 21st century was purely a symbolic gesture. Meanwhile, an on-chain indicator for BTC shows the potential for an upwards move.

BTC’s NVT (Network Value to Transaction), the ratio between the market value and the daily transaction volume, has fallen, indicating a potential bullish reversal.

GOLD

Gold picked up overall during the past week and was trading at roughly $1,785 on Dec 16. By midday, the price started rising, and after reaching nearly $1,815 by midday on Dec 17, the price fell to around $1,790 by Dec 21.

Despite a bump to nearly $1,800, gold then fell further below $1,790. But by midday December 22 gold was again on the rise, and is currently trading around $1,805.

Gold prices rose in year-end trading, although an improved risk appetite has limited its current appeal. According to AirGuide corporate advisory director Michael Langford, gold has been boosted by the rise of risk-on investments ahead of Christmas, known as a “Santa Claus rally.” He added that thin trading and Christmas buying have been keeping gold above the $1,800 level. “The main driver for gold moving again above the $1,800/ounce mark are rising U.S. inflation expectations as gauged by the breakeven,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

SQ

Block Inc., formerly known as Square Inc. has had a rough two months. After trading around $260 at the end October, SQ started trending down coming into November. By Nov 10, it seemed to be consolidating at roughly $225.

Despite bumping up to $240, by November 17, SQ continued to fall, hitting $205 by Nov 22. Trading no higher than $220 over the next week, it fell further still to $180 by Dec 6. Although SQ gapped up from there to $190 the next day, it has persisted in its decline and is now trading around $165.

CEO Jack Dorsey recently resigned as CEO of Twitter in order to focus more on blockchain solutions, changing the name of his payment business to Block Inc. to reflect that. This past week Dorsey launched a series of disparaging tweets against venture capitalists and corporations.

Over the course of two days, Dorsey remarked that “the problem” was with VCs, not end-users. Because VCs and their limited partners own Web3, rather than retail investors and users, he called it “ultimately a centralized entity with a different label” and that users should and “know what [they’re] getting into.”