Market picture
The
cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell 1.8% to $1.1 trillion over the last
24 hours as risky assets lost traction, dragging the Nasdaq lower. Markets were
surprised by interest rate hikes in Australia and Canada, raising the chances
of a similar move from the Fed next week.
Bitcoin is
trading near $26.4K, down 1.5% in 24 hours, a level that has acted as support
over the past three months. On Wednesday, the price reversed as it approached
its 50-day moving average. This was triggered by a sell-off in the Nasdaq 100,
which lost 1.75% on the day. The technical picture remains quite bearish, with
Bitcoin remaining within a two-month downtrend channel, setting up an imminent
drop towards $25K to test more significant support.
Interestingly,
Ethereum feels more confident and continues to find support on dips below 1800,
although the 50-day average still acts as resistance.
According to
CoinGecko, median trading volume on decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges
(DEX) has more than quadrupled in the past two days amid an SEC lawsuit against
Binance and Coinbase. The outflow from Binance was nearly $800 million, while
Coinbase’s outflow was around $600 million.
News background
The SEC has
issued a regulatory order to freeze the accounts of Binance.US. Representatives
of the site insist that all user funds are safe.
Bank of
America downgraded Coinbase shares to “underperform” following the
SEC lawsuit, which could threaten the exchange’s business model.
Timothy
Massad, the former CFTC chairman, believes the future of the crypto industry
hinges on the outcome of the SEC’s case against exchanges Binance and Coinbase.
The number
of cryptocurrency companies on Forbes’ Fintech 50 list fell from nine to five
last year. The market value of cryptocurrencies has fallen by $1.4 trillion
over the year amid the collapse of FTX, Genesis, BlockFi, Three Arrows Capital
and other cryptocurrency companies.
This article was written by FxPro’s Senior Market Analyst Alex
Kuptsikevich.