Latest news with #CFBenchmarks
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ether Bears Are Done and That's Fueling ETH's Surge, Crypto Benchmark Issuer Says
Ether's ETH rally, though impressive, leaves much to be desired. That's because the unwinding of shorts is said to be fueling the rally, not fresh longs or bullish leveraged bets on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). "The rally is primarily the result of short covering – traders unwinding bearish positions – rather than a surge of bullish conviction," Sui Chung, CEO of crypto index provider CF Benchmarks, told CoinDesk. CME's derivatives, preferred by institutions, track the CF Benchmarks' Bitcoin Reference Rate – New York (BRRNY) variant. When bears cover their shorts, it means they are buying back futures contracts initially sold. This action of short covering temporarily boosts demand in the market, putting upward pressure on prices. Chung pointed to the still-low CME futures premium (basis) as evidence that the rally is led by short covering. While ether's spot price has surged nearly 90% to above $2,600 since the early April sell-off, the annualized one-month basis in the CME's ether has held flat between 6% and 10%, according to data source Velo. "In more conventional setups, we would expect rising basis levels if traders were initiating fresh longs with leverage," Chung noted. "It's a reminder that not all rallies are fueled by new demand; sometimes, they reflect repositioning and risk reduction." One might argue that the basis has held steady due to sophisticated trades "arbing" away the price difference between the CME ETH futures and the spot index price by shorting futures and buying ETH spot ETFs. That argument looks weak when considering the U.S.-listed spot ETFs have seen net positive inflows on just ten trading days in the past four weeks. Besides, net inflows tallied over $100 million just once, according to the data source SoSoValue. "The lack of inflows into ETH ETFs and the muted basis paints a different picture, this latest move higher doesn't appear to be driven by new leveraged longs," Chung said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dogecoin, Cardano's ADA Lead Market Gains as Bitcoin Traders Eye Next Fed Meeting
Bitcoin (BTC) flirted with $100,000 Thursday as major cryptocurrencies including dogecoin (DOGE) and Cardano's ADA led crypto market gains, boosted by dovish signals from the Federal Reserve and a pending trade deal teased by U.S. President Donald Trump. DOGE added 5% and ADA jumped 4%, while ether (ETH), BNB Chain's BNB, xrp (XRP) and Solana's SOL gained 2%-3%. The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index tracking the largest tokens, rose 2.2%. In a social media post late Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. will unveil a 'big' trade deal with a 'highly respected country' at a press conference slated for 10 a.m. ET. Bloomberg, the Financial Times and New York Times all identified the country as the U.K. The announcement would mark the start of 'many' such deals, Trump added, raising speculation that months of tariff-fueled uncertainty is set to ease, possibly reviving risk appetite across global markets. Tariff concerns have rocked equities and commodities in recent weeks. Any resolution that improves cost dynamics for U.S. businesses could serve as a tailwind for risk assets, including crypto. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday was no surprise, though it left markets divided on when cuts might begin. The CME FedWatch Tool shows probabilities for a July cut to the 4.00%-4.25% range at 55%, even as traders priced in a cumulative 100 basis points of easing by year-end. 'Bitcoin is inching back up to $100k with the steady Fed rate decision and the topic of future rate cuts having more consideration by traders,' said Semir Gabeljic, head of Pythagoras Investments. 'Based on the current administration's pressure on the Fed chair, anything is a possibility—uncertainty is the only certainty.' Other observers warned that policymakers could be walking into a period of stagflation, which occurs when high inflation, stagnant economic growth and rising unemployment occur simultaneously — considered highly detrimental for a healthy economy. 'The Federal Reserve faces an intensifying policy dilemma that threatens both sides of its dual mandate,' said Gabe Selby, head of research at CF Benchmarks, told CoinDesk in a message. 'With businesses largely passing rising tariff costs onto consumers ... inflation is expected to reaccelerate over the next six months, while labor market indicators point to a deteriorating employment outlook,' Selby said. Selby added that while CF Benchmarks still anticipates 'around 100bps of rate cuts by year-end,' the Fed could err by acting too late, risking further economic pain. 'In this volatile macro backdrop, bitcoin has clearly emerged as a key beneficiary,' Selby noted, citing record inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock's IBIT, which has seen $4.3 billion in inflows over the past month. Meanwhile, Jupiter Zheng, a partner at HashKey Capital, said BTC's recent price moves are part of a broader structural shift. 'Bitcoin's rise is a testament to its hedge against macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility,' Zheng said. 'Investors increasingly view crypto as a core part of resilient portfolios.'Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Market Reaction to Trump's Tariffs Signals a Broader Acceptance of Bitcoin's ‘Digital Gold' Narrative
In financial markets, making assumptions based on short-term observations is a fool's errand, as significant trends develop over months and years, not days or weeks. But as investors evaluate bitcoin's role in their portfolios, the events of April are worth analyzing in order to understand the asset's emerging reputation as a store of value. Backdrop of volatility The turbulence sparked by President Trump's tariffs announcement on April 2 sent stock prices plummeting the following day, with the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 falling 4.8% and 5.4%, respectively. Bitcoin followed suit as the VIX Volatility Index hit levels not seen since the early days of COVID and fears of retaliatory trade measures prevailed. However, bitcoin's price began to recover sharply within days of the announcement, causing its correlation with both the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 to fall below 0.50, before those correlations rose again as the April 9 pause on tariffs brought back 'risk-on' mode. Bitcoin's correlations to traditional markets in April Chart: Bitcoin's correlations to traditional markets in April Source: Hashdex Research with data from CF Benchmarks and Bloomberg (April 01, 2025 to April 30, 2025). 30-day rolling correlations (considering only workdays) between bitcoin (represented by the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price Index) and TradFi indices. This short-term observation matters because it supports the changing nature of how investors perceive bitcoin. While some still categorize bitcoin as a high-beta 'risk-on' asset, institutional sentiment is beginning to reflect a more nuanced understanding. Bitcoin recovered faster than the S&P 500 in the 60 days that followed the COVID outbreak, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. banking crisis in 2023, events in which it demonstrated resilience and a profile increasingly aligned with that of gold during stress. These periods of decoupling establish a pattern where bitcoin displays its antifragile properties, allowing allocators to protect capital during systemic events, while still outpacing the performance of stocks, bonds and gold over the long haul. Bitcoin vs. traditional assets, 5-year returns Chart: Bitcoin vs. traditional assets, 5-year returns Source: CaseBitcoin, Return data from May 1, 2020 to April 30, 2025 ( The path to digital gold Maybe more compelling than bitcoin's longer-term returns are the long-term portfolio effects. Even a small allocation to bitcoin within a traditional 60% stock/40% bond portfolio would have improved risk-adjusted returns in 98% of rolling three-year periods over the last decade. And these risk-adjusted returns are markedly higher over longer time frames, suggesting that bitcoin's volatility from positive returns more than counterbalances short-term drawdowns. It might still be premature to claim that bitcoin has been universally accepted as 'digital gold,' but that narrative, supported by its response to geopolitical events, is gaining momentum. The combination of bitcoin's fixed supply, liquidity, accessibility and immunity to central bank interference gives it properties no traditional asset can replicate. This should be appealing to any investor, large or small, in search of portfolio diversification and long-term wealth preservation.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin just got a Wall Street upgrade — thanks to CF Benchmarks
Crypto markets are no longer the Wild West — and that's exactly the point, says Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks. Speaking with host Rob Nelson on TheStreet Roundtable, Chung explained how CF Benchmarks — a UK-regulated subsidiary of crypto exchange Kraken — plays a critical role in making crypto markets more transparent and institution-ready. 'We call them benchmarks — that's the regulatory term — but really they're indices,' said Chung. 'The S&P 500 or Russell 3000 for equities, the AGG for fixed income… CF Benchmarks provides those same kinds of indices, but for crypto.' One of their most important roles? Pricing the Bitcoin ETFs that have taken U.S. markets by storm. 'There are many Bitcoin ETFs now, foremost of which is IBIT from BlackRock,' Chung said. 'The Bitcoins held by that ETF are actually valued and benchmarked using the CF Benchmarks BRRNY — the Bitcoin Reference Rate New York variant.' Every day, the ETF multiplies the number of Bitcoins it holds by that benchmark price — most recently over $83,000 — to calculate its net asset value (NAV). Retail investors don't interact with CF Benchmarks directly, but their ETF shares are priced based on it. 'It's how you get a reliable, transparent dollar value for the Bitcoins you own through ETF shares,' Chung said. That kind of infrastructure is helping crypto move from fringe to mainstream. 'Ten years ago, Bitcoin was a fringe market,' said Chung. 'But that's changed. There's increased institutional participation, and products like ETFs and CME Bitcoin futures are part of that evolution. Those futures are also settled using our benchmarks.' The goal, Chung says, is to bring 'tradfi-grade' infrastructure to digital assets — making crypto look more like Wall Street, and giving investors tools they can actually trust. At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 2.6%, trading at $77,461.18, according to Kraken price feeds. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF is driving retail adoption — but is that enough?
Retail adoption is often seen as the missing piece in Bitcoin's long-term success. And while institutions and sovereign wealth funds are pouring in, some experts believe that mass retail participation remains essential. 'I do feel retail growth and adoption will be important to the long-term future of Bitcoin,' said TheStreet Roundtable host Rob Nelson in a recent conversation with Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks. 'Just having big institutions, sovereign wealth funds, strategic reserves — all good — but you kind of need a wider adoption worldwide.' Sui is the founding CEO and chairman of the board of CF Benchmarks, leading the firm since its inception in 2018. He has overseen its overall strategy and execution, shaping it into a key player in crypto index benchmarks. Before CF Benchmarks, Sui spent 16 years in the traditional financial data sector with Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. In 2019, CF Benchmarks was acquired by Kraken. Chung agreed, but offered a critical distinction. 'There's a distinction we need to make here, Rob, between adoption of physical holding of Bitcoin and sending that Bitcoin self custody, et cetera… and then there's just holding Bitcoin,' he explained. Retail might not be adopting Bitcoin the way crypto purists imagined — but they are adopting it, thanks to exchange-traded funds like BlackRock's IBIT. 'We know that about 70% of all the funds invested in IBIT in the ETF are from individual, effectively retail investors,' Chung said, citing 13F filings. 'So the ETFs are actually… one of the biggest conduits for retail investor dollars to come into and deploy into Bitcoin.' In short, ETFs have become the 'top of the funnel' for Bitcoin exposure — especially for investors who are curious but not yet ready to manage private keys or self-custody wallets. 'I agree with you that for Bitcoin to truly flourish, you do need both sides of adoption,' said Chung. 'You need the physical self-custody interaction with the crypto economy… But we also do need investors who have perhaps not as strong an opinion on the benefits of blockchain and self custody… to get their feet wet.' While crypto veterans value decentralized ownership, Chung emphasized that any exposure — even through regulated ETFs — is a step forward. 'They are both forms of exposure and they are both forms of buying and holding Bitcoin,' he concluded. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $82,313.81, down 3.1% in the last 24 hours, according to Kraken.
