It’s a beautiful green day in the crypto markets, all thanks to a sudden, unexpected (and very welcome) pump that took bitcoin above and beyond US$43k.
As for why?
Well, the answer has implications beyond the charts themselves.
TL;DR:
- Terra buys US$125m worth of BTC.
- Mysterious 500 BTC buy order shortly after.
- US$120m+ shorts market closed just before the buy orders.
- Malaysia may make BTC legal tender.
Market movers
It all began with a US$125 million bitcoin purchase from Do Kwon and the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) team, marking the first installment in their new BTC-backed LUNA reserve aimed at defending the UST/USD peg (to the point of invincibility!).
US$125m is no small order, but it represents only a tiny portion of Do’s ultimate goal, namely, to create a US$3 billion bitcoin reserve. So, there’s plenty to look forward to: We could well be seeing a few more Do Kwon-backed pumps in the weeks and months ahead as he executes his plan.
But that wasn’t the only purchase worth noting.
Approximately nine minutes after the order was filled, a mysterious buyer took to Coinbase to make a limit order worth 500 BTC.
To add to the intrigue, moments before any of the above took place, a US$120-million BTC short position was closed, suggesting that whoever it was (be it an institution or individual) had prior knowledge of the incoming buy and decided to make a quick exit.
Macro movers
So, we’ve established what moved the market late last night, but it’s worth mentioning the macro context too, because the past 24 hours has seen some pretty significant developments:
Malaysia is looking to embrace crypto, with the progressive political party “Parti Bangsa Malaysia” (PBM) setting forward a proposal to make bitcoin legal tender within the country.
The domino effect is beginning to play out before our eyes.
Banter’s take
Do Kwon is driving an exciting cross-pollination between the hardcore Bitcoin community and the LUNAtic community. The idea of a bitcoin-backed UST has huge implications for the sustainability (and adoption) of the latter, while bringing attention to the Luna ecosystem, and also pumping the bitcoin price too!
Do Kwon really is the hero we need, but probably don’t deserve!
Do you think there were any other reasons behind this last bitcoin pump?
Who do you think bought the 500 BTC?
