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After a short-lived recovery from the new year slump, most leading cryptocurrencies have now once again flipped red, with BTC falling below the $40k handle for the first time since August of last year in the early hours of Tuesday. BTC's dramatic price decline below the $40k psychological support has caused many leveraged traders to bleed, as more than 100k traders were unfortunately liquidated by this event. Thankfully, the number one cryptocurrency by market cap has since bounced back to the $41k range, where it is currently trading at as of the time of writing. ETH seems to be moving in a similar trajectory to BTC, as the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap also briefly dipped below the $3,000 level in the early hours of Tuesday, shedding 2% of its market value in the process, before rebounding back above the $3,100 level that it is currently trading at as of the time of writing. It appears that this price volatility is here to stay, at least for the near to mid-term, as leveraged positions in the derivatives market have been building up at an accelerated pace, pointing toward an outsized interest in speculative bets on BTC's price action against the lack of enthusiasm in the spot market. In addition, the futures open interest leverage ratio is fast approaching the 2% threshold, directly indicating a growing risk of short-term high volatility.
Another day, another new (big) player's entry into the metaverse. On Monday, it was revealed that one of the most well-known entertainment and media conglomerates, Disney, has received a "virtual-world" simulator patent endorsed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This should not come as a surprise to anyone, as Bob Chapek, Disney's CEO, did mention last November during an earnings call that Disney would be creating its own metaverse. Disney's virtual world simulator features a computer protocol that will map the geometry of real-world Disney venues and project them onto a virtual landscape that people can enter into to virtually experience and enjoy Disney's famous theme parks for themselves. With the COVID-19 pandemic looking like it is here to stay for the foreseeable future, Disney's foray into the metaverse is an extremely timely one indeed.