Cryptocurrencies support winter, virtual adidas and a bitcoin city

A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is seen in this photo illustration taken October 19, 2021. REUTERS / Edgar Su / File Photo

Nov 29 (Reuters) – Cryptocurrencies survived one of the biggest market shocks since the pandemic’s earliest days last week, with El Salvador as a notable dip buyer, while investors decided not to share Adidas’ excitement over an attempt at the busy metaverse .

El Salvador’s plans to build the world’s first “Bitcoin City” and Adidas’ entry were the bright spots for digital assets in a week that saw large cryptocurrencies gagged by fears of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

Bitcoin was down 0.5% on Monday and has lost around 17% of its value from a record high of $ 69,000 in the last 19 days. But rival currencies and tokens associated with metaverse and decentralized financial applications have fared better.

Adidas’ move created waves after German sportswear retailer said it was partnering with Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O)in a tweet, even though Adidas (ADSGn.DE) shares did not join the celebration.

The the company also bought a piece of virtual land called “adiVerse” in the blockchain-based world The Sandbox, with the German company suggesting that it would expand it to offer virtual reality products, and comes at a time it has warned of a sales hit due to supply chain hooks.

“It’s something big because it’s also a hint of what’s about to hit the fan in a couple of months in the NFT area: adidas sneakers and other branded virtual clothing, shoes and items,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote .

The price of SAND, the virtual currency used to buy real estate and other items, jumped 90% to $ 7.18 on the news, according to CoinGecko, and received a new increase since Facebook changed to Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O) late last year month. read more

MANA, the speculative currency used in the leading blockchain-based online world Decentraland, rose 36% to $ 4.90. Land and other objects on Decentraland are sold in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT).

In addition to the sales triggered by the news of Omicron, last week’s biggest headwind to bitcoin and ether came from an announcement by the Indian government of a bill that would ban most private cryptocurrency transactions by the country’s estimated 15 million to 20 million crypto investors. read more

‘SURVIVE WINTER’

Bitcoin traded around 4,376,477 Indian rupees ($ 58,296.12) on the Indian stock exchange WazirX, a light premium on prices outside the country, and reversed from a 15% discount on Tuesday after the announcement.

“If there is a general ban, in combination with China, you are talking about two centers of the world population that are effectively frozen out of crypto,” said Simon Peters, cryptanalyst at eToro.

Elsewhere, El Salvador’s president announced plans to build the world’s first “Bitcoin City”, originally funded by bitcoin bonds. El Salvador introduced bitcoin as a legal tender in September. read more

Average daily trading volume across all product types of digital assets fell by an average of 13% from the end of October to November 19, while net inflows averaged $ 203 million, half of that in October, according to data from CryptoCompare.

It showed that while assets under management in bitcoin-related products have fallen 9.5% to $ 48.7 billion during the first three weeks of November – the largest month-on-month decline since July – assets in ether products increased 5, 4%.

Decentralized finance-related token Solana (SOL) and Litecoin-based products returned 22.0% and 14.9%, respectively, during the 30 days to November 19, with daily trading volume in 21Shares Solana ETP nearly tripling to $ 6. 3 million, noted CryptoCompare.

A patch of virtual property in Decentraland sold for a record $ 2.4 million in cryptocurrency on November 23, said the buyer – cryptoinvestor Tokens.com (COIN.NLB) – and Decentraland. read more

In the meantime, the approaching December holidays may increase volatility, while the US Federal Reserve’s stimulus phase may be bearish for bitcoin, analysts said.

“There should be more agnostics focusing on the fact that we are in a bad part of the crypto cycle here – the corrections can be epic,” said Brent Donnelly, president of market insight firm Spectra Markets.

“Make sure you can survive the winter.”

($ 1 = 75.08 Indian Rupees)

Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh in Bengaluru Further reporting by Tom Westbrook in Sydney Editing Vidya Ranganathan and

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