First Mover Asia: Does anyone care anymore if Bitcoin dips below $20k?

The more blasé crypto analysts become about a bitcoin price in the $10,000s, the more it seems like the bottom is in. PLUS: The euro on Monday approached parity with the U.S. dollar.

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:

Prices: Bitcoin dips below $20K, but crypto analysts don't seem bothered.

Insights: KuCoin denies layoff rumors, while Three Arrows creditors get an emergency hearing.

Prices

• Bitcoin (BTC): $20,065 −3.2%
• Ether (ETH): $1,105 −4.9%
• S&P 500 daily close: 3,854.43 −1.2%
• Gold: $1,732 per troy ounce −0.5%
• Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.99% −0.1

Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price.

For almost a month, bitcoin (BTC) has been trading in a range between $17,000 and $23,000, and crypto analysts are wondering if the worst of this year's big sell-off might be over.

The price fell 4.4% on Monday to dip below $20,000, but drops below that crucial psychological price threshold aren't generating the same level of panic as in early June, when bitcoin seemed to be in freefall.

• "I've heard forecasts as low as $8,000 per bitcoin, but we may have seen the bottom already," wrote Mati Greenspan, founder of the crypto and foreign-exchange analysis firm Quantum Economics. "The outlook only gets better when we realize that the absolute worst-case scenario is probably not extremely likely."

• "The cleansing is happening," Kapil Rathi, CEO of the crypto trading platform CrossTower, told CoinDesk TV on Monday. "When we come on the other side, it should be healthy, and a stronger crypto market."

• "Despite all the pessimism and negative headlines for Bitcoin, the fact that it is putting up a fight at the $20,000 level is a promising sign," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

In traditional markets, the big story on Monday in foreign exchange was the euro's slide toward $1 – the so-called "parity" point. CoinDesk's Omkar Godbole wrote about the implications for crypto last week.

Crypto traders are still looking ahead to Wednesday's expected release of June’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most widely regarded measure of U.S. inflation, for clues on how aggressive the Federal Reserve will need to be to slow the pace of consumer-price rises.

Most altcoins were trading in the red today with DOGE and SHIB losing big.

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KuCoin Denies Layoff Rumors, Says It's Hiring 300 - by Shaurya Malwa

Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin pushed back against rumors of massive layoffs, saying it actually intends to hire more than 300 employees over the coming months, CEO Johnny Lyu told CoinDesk via Telegram on Monday.

“KuCoin has not reduced staff and does not plan to do so,” Lyu said. “We are one of the few crypto platforms that continue to grow by relying on an effective business strategy, focusing on releasing new products and maintaining a healthy atmosphere in our team.”

Lyu added the company was doing everything it could to “increase the productivity and motivation of employees,” while also focusing on expanding in innovation and compliance.Important events

Three Arrows Creditors Get Emergency Hearing as Founders Fail to 'Cooperate' - by Sam Reynolds

Where in the world are Su Zhu and Kyle Davies? Lawyers involved in the liquidation proceedings of Three Arrows Capital’s British Virgin Islands fund would certainly like to know because the hedge fund founders have not been cooperating in the proceedings so far and their current location is unknown.

In documents filed late Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, lawyers acting on behalf of the creditors said the founders of the fund “have not yet begun to cooperate with the [proceeding] in any meaningful manner.”

The lawyers said that persons identifying themselves as “Su Zhu” and “Kyle” were present on an initial Zoom call, but their video and audio was turned off and they would not respond to questions posed directly to them, with only their legal representatives answering questions.

Lawyers for the creditors that visited Three Arrows’s Singapore office found it abandoned, according to court documents.