Most cryptocurrencies traded lower on Thursday, briefly decoupling from the rise in stock prices.
Bitcoin (BTC) continued to struggle below $30,000 and is down 2% over the past week. The cryptocurrency has been in a choppy trading range for the past two weeks, indicating a slight stabilization after a sharp sell-off earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 trimmed earlier losses and rose from oversold levels. Despite short-term fluctuations, the 90-day correlation between bitcoin and stocks remains at an all-time high.
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Alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) underperformed Bitcoin on Thursday, indicating a lower risk appetite among crypto traders. For example, Ether (ETH) fell 6% in the last 24 hours, while BTC was unchanged in the same period. Avalanche's AVAX token and Cosmos' ATOM token fell 10% on Thursday.
Usually, altcoins fall more than bitcoin in down markets due to their higher risk profile.
Latest prices
●Bitcoin (BTC): $29,363, -0.91%.
Ether (ETH): $1,826, -6.48%
●S&P 500 daily close: 4.058, +1.99%
●Gold: $1,851 per troy ounce, +0.25%
●Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.76%.
Bitcoin, ether, and gold prices are determined at approximately 4 p.m. 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. Information on the CoinDesk indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.
Upswing in Long LiquidationsThe
last 24 hours saw a slight upswing in BTC long liquidations after the cryptocurrency fell towards $28,000 at the start of the New York trading day
.Still, the increase in long liquidations on Thursday was small compared to the recent peak earlier this month. Sometimes traders are forced to exit their positions during periods of high volatility, which can accelerate spot price movements.
Liquidations occur when an exchange forcibly closes a trader's leveraged position as a safety mechanism because some or all of the trader's initial margin has been lost. This happens primarily in futures tradingEtherunderperformsEther
, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, continued its downward slide against Bitcoin on Thursday
.The weekly chart below shows the ETH/BTC price ratio falling below its 40-week moving average. The ratio may continue to decline, similar to what happened during the 2018 crypto bear market, with the next support level at 0.043.
Similarly, Bitcoin's market cap to total crypto market cap ratio (dominance ratio) accelerated its upward movement. The ratio broke out above a one-year downtrend earlier this month, which was a sign of a risk-free situation in the crypto market.
Altcoin Overview
- SOL and DOGE fall: The tokens of the Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGE) protocols fell the most among major cryptocurrencies, while Bitcoin (BTC) remained unchanged for most of the New York trading day. SOL lost as much as 8% over the past 24 hours amid continued "risk-off" sentiment for major cryptocurrencies, while DOGE fell as much as 5% over the same period. Read more here.
- Tether enters Latin America: Tether expanded its stablecoin offering on Thursday, launching its MXNT token pegged to the Mexican peso. The token will initially be supported on Ethereum, Tron and Polyong blockchains, the company said. MXNT is Tether's first foray into Latin America and joins the company's other peso-linked coins - USDT (U.S. dollar), EURT (euro) and CNHT (Chinese yuan). Mexico is "a prime location for the next Latin American crypto center," Tether said. Read more here.
- The latest DAO governance dispute: Two prominent names in play-to-earn scholarship are at odds after members of the Merit Circle DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) submitted a proposal to recoup an investment from Yield Guild Games because they believe YGG did not add sufficient value. Read more here.
Relevant Insights
- Coinbase has 'structural advantage' over competitors, Cowen analyst says: Stephen Glagola gave the crypto exchange an Outperform rating and $85 price target.
- Fed Vice President Lael Brainard says CBDC could coexist with stablecoins: A well-designed central bank digital currency could complement stablecoins and cash, Brainard told the House Committee on Financial Services on Thursday.
- Binance's Bahrain license extended for more crypto services: Binance Bahrain received a provisional license in December and a full license in March.
- Portuguese Congress Rejects Two Bills to Tax Cryptocurrencies: The proposals were submitted by two left-wing parties. The government, which is also seeking taxation, has yet to submit a proposal.
- Paraguayan bill to regulate crypto mining and trading moves closer to becoming law: the bill was approved with amendments in the Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies and will now return to the Senate, which passed it in December.
Other MarketsMostdigital
assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day
down.Biggest winnersThere
are no winners in CoinDesk 20 today.Biggest losers
.| Asset | Ticker | Earnings | DACS Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmos | ATOM | -11.3% | Smart contracts platform |
| Solana | SOL | -8.9% | Platform for smart contracts |
| Polkadot | DOT | -7.9% | Smart contracts platform |
Sector classifications are provided through the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), which was developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.