First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Drops as Traders Take Profits

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CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,004 −3.5% Bitcoin BTC$92,103.06: $62,471 −2.4% Ether ETH$3,336.33: $2,632 −4.1% S&P 500: 5,616.84 −0.3% Gold: $2,547 +1.2% Nikkei 225: 38,288.62 +0.47%

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Bitcoin slid under $63,000 as traders took profits following the crypto market's weekend rally. BTC has dropped over 2.4% in the last 24 hours to trade just below $62,500, while the broader market has fallen 2.15%. QCP Capital, a Singapore-based trading desk, noted an increase in call spread buying while noting the selling of bitcoin calls at the $100,000 level. The strategy suggests a generally bullish mood, but not an explosive move higher in the short term. "BTC and ETH vols are currently more skewed for puts than calls till Oct," QCP said in a Telegram broadcast. "This is surprising given the overwhelmingly bullish sentiment. It possibly indicates that the market was well positioned for this move and was quick to profit by selling calls."

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov could be free as soon as Wednesday, French prosecutors said. However, Polymarket isn't confident he'll be released this month, with bettors putting money on a release during September. Durov has not yet been formally charged, prosecutors said. Instead, he is being held as part of an investigation that stems as a result of crimes allegedly planned or broadcast on Telegram, including money laundering, drug trafficking, child pornography and non-cooperation with law enforcement. Bettors say there's a 72% chance he'll be out before October, with shares of the yes side trading at 72 cents. Each share pays out $1 in USDC, a stablecoin, if the prediction comes true, and $0 if it does not.

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius' administrator has distributed more than $2.53 billion to some 251,000 creditors, it said in its first status report on the payouts. The disbursements cover roughly two-thirds of all eligible creditors of the crypto lender by number and about 93% of the eligible value. Another 121,000 eligible creditors with an average distribution of around $1,500 have yet to successfully claim their distributions. "Approximately 64,000 of these remaining creditors have a distribution of less than $100, and approximately 41,000 more have a distribution of between $100 and $1,000," the filing said. "Given the small amounts at issue for many of these creditors, they may not be incentivized to take the steps needed to successfully claim a distribution."

Chart of the Day

• The charts shows BTC's returns by calendar month since 2013.
• September is historically bitcoin's worst month, with an average return of -4.78%, which could be a grim outlook for BTC bulls after a challenging August which saw a fall to a near six-month low at $54,000.
• Conversely, bitcoin's best calendar months have been October and November, with average returns of nearly 23% and 45% respectively.
• Source: Coinglass

- Jamie Crawley

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