Benzinga - by Mehab Qureshi, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Major cryptocurrencies continued to trade mixed on Wednesday with prevailing weakness attributed to larger macroeconomic concerns.
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 9:30 p.m. EST) |
| Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) | +0.52% | $40,012 |
| Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) | -0.49% | $2,216 |
| Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) | +0.49% | $0.078 |
What Happened: Bitcoin experienced a 17.5% correction in the 12 days, leading to a collective $385 million liquidation in long (buy) futures BTC contracts.
On a broader economic scale, 2024 saw a reversal in the DXY index, which assesses the strength of the U.S. dollar against various foreign currencies, including the euro, the British pound, and the Japanese Yen. After reaching 100.80 on Dec. 28, 2023—its lowest point in over 5 months—the U.S. dollar gained traction, with the index currently hovering near 103.32. This movement indicates that investors maintain confidence in the U.S. currency, despite fiscal challenges, at least in comparison to other currencies.
According to the FedWatch Tool from CME Group, the probability of an interest rate reduction in March has decreased to 47% from 81% in the previous week. Moreover, investors are now expecting only 5 rate reductions throughout 2024, compared to the previous estimate of 6. New York Fed President John Williams and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic have communicated that they do not feel the need to hastily decrease interest rates, even if there are no further hikes under discussion, as per CNBC.
Top Gainer (24 Hour)
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 9:30 p.m. EDT) |
| Manta Network (CRYPTO: MANTA) | +23.01% | $3.20 |
| Helium (CRYPTO: HNT) | +15.48% | $6.79 |
| Pendle (CRYPTO: PENDLE) | +14.20% | $2.40 |
The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.56 trillion, showing a 0.48% increase in the past 24 hours.
In Wednesday's session, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite concluded on a positive note. The Nasdaq achieved a 0.4% increase, buoyed by the rally of technology stocks such as Netflix. Conversely, the Dow Jones exhibited weaker performance, ending the session approximately 0.3% lower. Moving forward, traders will maintain their focus on earnings reports, particularly from Tesla, Las Vegas Sands, and IBM, all of which are due after the bell.
See More: Best Cryptocurrency Scanners
Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analyst Michael Van de Poppe suggests that Bitcoin is approaching a critical level of support at the $36-38K range, which he deems important as the range low.
"Meanwhile, sentiment is flipping towards a negative manner, as people are worried about the future perspectives. Good things. Buy the dip."
#Bitcoin approaches crucial level of support as the $36-38K is an important one, which I'd refer to as the range low.Meanwhile, sentiment is flipping towards a negative manner, as people are worried about the future perspectives.
Good things.
Buy the dip. pic.twitter.com/pt4d4k5Vdv
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) January 24, 2024
Crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen has signaled a potential downtrend for Bitcoin based on a key indicator. Cowen said that the deviation from the 20-week simple moving average (SMA) indicates a bearish outlook for Bitcoin. His analysis suggests that the indicator points towards Bitcoin possibly reaching a mid-cycle peak.
"The last three highs, the last three tops that at least marked a local top for a while, occurred around the time that the extension from the 20-week [SMA] reached this level [of about 40%]. So I still contend it's an important level to look at."
According to on-chain cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez, despite the current market correction, Bitcoin whales are showing no signs of slowing down. Martinez reported, “There has been a notable increase in major players, with 46 new entities now holding 1,000 BTC or more, marking a 3% increase in just two weeks.”
Even amidst this market correction, #Bitcoin whales are not slowing down – they're accumulating more $BTC!In fact, there's been a notable increase in major players: 46 new entities now hold 1,000 #BTC or more, marking a 3% increase in just two weeks. pic.twitter.com/GVNInKW7A2
— Ali (@ali_charts) January 24, 2024
Photo by Igor Faun on Shutterstock
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