Bitcoin consolidates to re-rally
By Arnaud Masset
Don’t believe the talk that cryptocurrencies are on their way out. The recent sell-off was a periodic panic sparked by fears of a regulatory crackdown in China and South Korea: it has happened before, and every time it was followed by strong recovery that sent the market to new record heights. That’s what will happen again this time, and next time as well.
After dipping below US$10,000 in overnight trading, Bitcoin recovered and stabilized at around US$10,500. There might be further weakness short-term, but we believe the sell-off is over. All crypto-assets plunged since the beginning of the week. Total market capitalisation shrunk $262 billion down to $450 billion, the lowest since mid-December 2017. The sell-off was particularly acute for alt-coins, which suffered even bigger losses
Weltmeister Germany boosts Euro
By Vincent-Frédéric Mivelaz
For the second consecutive year, Germany recorded the world’s largest current account surplus. At USD 287 billion, it was USD 84 billion more than Japan and USD 152 billion more than China, and equivalent to 7.8% of German GDP. And it made Germany the number one importer from its EU colleagues: its EU imports amounted to 66% of its total imports. These whacking figures ought to put paid to criticism by the IMF and the European Commission that Germany is not doing enough to stimulate the Euro-Area. For monetary policy, this suggests that the European Central Bank will on 25 January decide not to change interest rates.