This week’s price movements for Bitcoin (BTC), gold, and our stock pick Visa.

BTC

Bitcoin (BTC) took a dive towards the end of last week, but has largely stabilized this week. After trading around $57,000 December 2, BTC tanked on December 3, reaching as low as $44,000 on December 4. Recovering by December 5, BTC then hit resistance at $50,000, sinking below $48,000 by December 6. Despite rising above $50,000 on December 7, BTC has fallen again and is now trading around $48,000.

BTC’s drop going into the weekend was caused by concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and inflation news from the Federal Reserve spilling over into the cryptocurrency markets. Uncertainty over these issues caused investors in traditional markets to withdraw from riskier positions, which carried over to more volatile digital assets. BTC’s fall represented a nearly 20% drop in the past fortnight, bringing Bitcoin’s price and the amount invested in Bitcoin futures down to where they were in early October.

GOLD

Despite climbs made over the week, gold is back trading where it was a week ago. December 2 began with gold trading at roughly $1,780, before falling to $1,762 later that day. Buying pressure then arrived, whose momentum on December 3 carried across the weekend, reaching nearly $1,788 by December 6. Things cooled off over the next day before revamping on December 8 to $1,792. However, since then gold has taken some hits and is now trading around $1,780.

Gold prices fell as investors squared positions in anticipation of US inflation data this week, which could set the tone for the Federal Reserve’s approach on interest rate hikes. If the Fed “enters tapering earlier than they announced at the last meeting, then of course the probability of rate hikes is increasing and that would be a negative factor (for gold),” said Quantitative Commodity Research analyst Peter Fertig. “However, gold could see fresh bids if markets become fearful once more about pandemic-related developments or a ramp-up in geopolitical tensions between major economies,” said Exinity chief market analyst Han Tan.

V

Despite a downward trend persisting since the summer time, Visa shares saw a bump this week. V achieved an all-time high of just over $250 in July, but has continuously fallen since then. One month ago it was trading around $220, but continued falling in fits and starts, dropping to $213 on November 9 and again to $210 on November 11. Despite rising back up to $215 on November 16, V gapped down on November 17 to $204, falling to $195 by November 22. V largely seesawed between $204 and $190 the following two weeks, before gapping up to $206, on December 7. It is currently trading around $210.

Visa’s bump this week can be attributed to the launch of its Global Crypto Advisory Practice. In addition to allowing clients to use its network for digital offerings, and helping manage backend operations, Visa’s services will now also include educating institutions about cryptocurrencies.  “We came to Visa to learn more about crypto and stablecoins and the use cases that are most relevant for our retail and commercial business lines,” said UMB Bank executive VP Uma Wilson. Visa decided to offer these services due to the surging interest in cryptocurrencies around the world. Based on data from its latest study, nearly one in five could switch to a bank offering crypto services next year.

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