Cryptos Weak Amidst Anxious Wait For SEC's ETF Nod

Cryptocurrencies traded lackluster in the past 24 hours amidst an anxious wait for clues on the SEC’s decision regarding approval for a Bitcoin Spot ETF.

Reports of a compromise in Ledger, a popular self-custody solution also dampened sentiment. According to reports, an attack on Ledger ConnectKit, a popular software library that decentralized applications use to connect with Ledger hardware wallets has exposed popular dApps to wallet-draining attacks.

The dollar’s rebound after a massive slide following the Fed’s announcement also caused cryptos to trade on a weak note. The Dollar Index, a measure of the Dollar’s strength against a basket of 6 currencies is currently trading at 102.51, after touching a low of 101.84 earlier in the day’s trade.

The recent dovish tilt in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance and the renewed rate cut expectations however helped limit losses. The CME FedWatch tool, which tracks the expectations of interest rate traders currently shows rate cut possibility at above 12 percent in the January 2024 Fed review, versus 4 percent a week earlier. Likewise, current data reveals a 68-percent probability for rate cuts in the March 2024 Fed review. The same was 45 percent a week earlier. For the May 2024 Fed Review, markets have assigned a close to 95 percent probability for rate cuts, way above the 77-percent that the markets had expected a week earlier. Markets expect a 99 percent probability for rate cuts in June, versus 93 percent that the markets had factored in a week earlier.

Market capitalization of cryptocurrencies ranged between $1.63 trillion and $1.6 trillion in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) traded between $43,390.86 and $41,767.09 in the past 24 hours. It is currently trading at $42,305.83, recording overnight loss of 0.10 percent, weekly loss of 3 percent and year-to-date gains of 156 percent. BTC currently commands 51.8 percent of the overall crypto market.

Ethereum, the leading alternate coin which accounts for a 16.9-percent share of the overall crypto market, traded between $2,331.60 and $2,239.37 in the past 24 hours. It is currently trading at $2,246.70, recording overnight losses of 1.1 percent, weekly losses of 4.4 percent and year-to-date gains of close to 88 percent.

Among the other top cryptocurrencies, Solana (SOL) jumped 6.3 percent followed by Avalanche (AVAX) that added 4.3 percent. XRP (XRP) edged up 0.2 percent. BNB (BNB), Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped close to 1 percent.

Among the top-100 cryptocurrencies, 43rd ranked Bonk (BONK) topped overnight gains with a surge of almost 97 percent. 45th ranked SATS (1000SATS) added 28 percent in the past 24 hours. 59th ranked Helium (HNT) and 44th ranked Aave (AAVE) have both gained more than 20 percent.

Meme coin BONK gained 120 percent in the past week amidst announcement of Binance’s decision to list BONK under the Seed Tag Section. Earlier, the Solana-based coin was listed by Coinbase. BONK ranked 43rd overall is currently ranked third among meme-coins, behind 10th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE) and 16th ranked Shiba Inu (SHIB). Market cap is close to $1.7 billion.

66th ranked KuCoin Token (KCS) is the biggest laggard, suffering an overnight decline of more than 15 percent. 51st ranked FTX Token (FTT) slipped 10.6 percent, whereas 62nd ranked BitTorrent(New) (BTT) slipped 7.6 percent in the past 24 hours.

Bonk (BONK) also tops weekly gains with a surge of 113 percent. 67th ranked Terra Classic (LUNC) which shed 15 percent is the biggest laggard among the top 100 cryptocurrencies in the past week.

Meanwhile, The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, has issued a consultation document regarding amendments proposed to its standard on bank’s exposure to crypto assets. The adjustments tighten the criteria for stablecoins to receive a preferential regulatory treatment. The amendments are related to composition of reserve assets that back stablecoins and puts in place a due diligence requirement to ensure that banks have an adequate understanding of their stabilization mechanisms. Comments regarding the same are to be published by March 2024.

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