Gold, Stocks, and Bitcoin: Weekly Overview — July 14

Be[In]Crypto analyzes this week’s price movements for Bitcoin (BTC), gold, and our wildcard pick—the Ark Invest Innovation ETF.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin has struggled to maintain a price level above $20,000 over the past two weeks. On July 1, BTC spiked up to nearly $21,000, before dropping back just above $19,000 by the next day. BTC rose from this point on July 4 reaching nearly $20,500 on July 5. Apart from a dip later that day BTC continued rising the following day and reached $22,000 by July 8. Sinking a bit the next day, BTC proceeded to fall below $21,000 on July 10 and then $20,000 on July 12. Apart from a brief bump over the past day, BTC is currently trading just below $20,000.

Bitcoin was able to reclaim the key psychological level of $20,000 despite red hot US inflation data. This will push the Federal Reserve to get more aggressive in tightening monetary conditions to slow the consumer-price increases. Bitcoin prices dropped following the release of the CPI data, according to Charles Tan, CMO, Atato. “In an interesting but much-anticipated development, US inflation soared to a 41-year high as suggested by the latest CPI day,” he said.

Gold

Gold has dropped a bit over the past two weeks. On July 1 the price of gold was roughly $1,805. Despite dipping from there, it hit $1,810 by July 4, which it maintained until the next day.

However, gold proceeded to see two midday drops in a row to $1,770, then $1,740 on July 6. There, it traded almost continuously until dipping to $1,730 on July 12. After a bump back to $1,740 on July 13 gold dropped again and is currently trading around $1,705.

Gold prices are hovering near a one-year low, as the dollar extended its rally after a hot U.S. inflation report affirmed expectations around an aggressive Federal Reserve rate hike. Gold tends to be pressured when interest rates rise as this increases the opportunity cost of holding bullion since it yields no interest. “Gold is lower amid fresh attempts to send the dollar higher, especially against the yen while EUR/USD is holding above parity,” said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.

ARKK

Similar to the cryptocurrency markets, the Ark Invest Innovation ETF has taken a hit over the past few months. At the beginning of April ARKK was trading at around $70. From there it proceeded to fall in a linear fashion over the course of the rest of the month, hitting around $47 on May 1. Despite a small recovery, it fell even further during a period of greater volume to a low of $35 on May 12. From there it pumped back up to around $45, where it largely continued into June. On June 13, ARKK gapped down to $37, then ramped back up to $46 by June 27. After another dip to $40 and rise to $46, ARKK is currently trading around $43.

Earlier this week The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed making a decision on the ARK 21Shares spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application, adopting the same playbook it used before rejecting Grayscale last month. The SEC has extended the window for it to decide whether to approve the ARK 21Shares spot Bitcoin ETF application, pushing back the date for a decision by 45 days to Aug. 30.

According to a filing, the SEC through Matthew DeLesDernier, its assistant secretary, stated that postponing its decision was appropriate to “earn sufficient time to consider” the proposals before it.