Crypto Market Loses 1%; Bitcoin Trades Below $40,000

The global crypto market continued its decline today to close at $1.56 trillion, a 1 per cent drop, as of 9 am IST. Investor confidence sustained the overall market sentiment with a strong trade volume.

Bitcoin (BTC) is in a correction phase, amidst regulatory concerns in the US and China, and is trading below the psychological resistance level of $40,000. The bears intensified their attack on BTC during the day and pulled it down further though it bounced back from the support level of $37,600 to close near $38,000 as the day ended. The current pullback might bring into play the support zone between $37,300 and $36,500. Trade volumes across exchanges dipped marginally by 1.2 per cent.

Ethereum (ETH) remained above the $2,500 mark registering a slight dip of 1.7 per cent from the previous day. Its support levels are forming at $2,410 and $2,330. ETH's anticipated hard fork, which is expected to go live tomorrow, will change its fee structure that will incentivise a strong rally in the medium term. Price action in the shorter time frame may be varied.

Major altcoins continue to be correlated with BTC and have declined 2-3 per cent today, with the exceptions of Cardano (ADA), Terra (LUNA) and Solana (SOL). LUNA, a blockchain protocol that backs the fiat-pegged TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin, stole the show today with a 20 per cent gain on the back of strong demand for the stablecoin.

 Consolidation in BTC prices is expected to sustain in the coming days though a strong support exists at the 50-day moving average (around $34,000).

Top Gainers today:

Terra (LUNA): 19.7%

KuCoin Token (KCS): 16.3%

Perpetual Protocol (PERP): 12.9%

Top Losers today:

Stacks (STX): -11.1%

Xinfin Network (XDC): -7.8%

Telcoin (TEL): -7.7%

The analysis includes the top 100 coins only as of 9 am IST

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at a Glance:

• Wells Fargo, one of the largest wealth managers in the US, has started offering cryptocurrency exposure to its wealth management clients. Wells Fargo currently oversees nearly $2 trillion in assets.
• Digital payments firm Square, which allows Bitcoin trading, is acquiring an Australian fintech firm Afterpay in a $29 billion deal. This acquisition enables Square to enable a 'buy now, pay later' service.
• Quiznos, a fast-food chain in the US, will start testing Bitcoin payments using Bakkt, a digital asset platform. Bakkt users will receive $15 worth BTC as reward on purchasing a meal using Bitcoin.
• US SEC chairman Gary Gensler has said that crypto will become mainstream only if it introduces clear regulations to protect investors from fraud. Gensler has requested the US Congress to grant SEC the legal authority to oversee crypto exchanges.
• Bitcoin SV (BSV), a cryptocurrency created by the hard fork of Bitcoin Cash blockchain, suffered a severe 51 per cent attack on Tuesday as perpetrators altered transactions to create three shadow chains.

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