Major coins flashed gains Tuesday evening as the global cryptocurrency market cap inched up 0.4% to $1.75 trillion.
What Happened: Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) traded 1.5% higher over 24 hours at $36,888.24. For the week, it has fallen 13%.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) was up 1.2% over 24 hours at $2,451.68. Over a seven-day trailing period, it has plummeted 22.7%.
Meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) traded 3.8% higher over 24 hours at $0.14. Over the week, it has dropped 12.9%.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) edged up 0.4% at $0.000021 over 24 hours. Over the last seven days, it has declined 25%.
The top three gainers over 24 hours were ECOMI (OMI), Loopring (LRC), and Pocket Network (POKT), according to CoinGecko data.
OMI spiked 23.8% at $0.008, LRC rose 20% to $1.03, while POKT gained 20.2% to $1.41 in the period.
See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)
Why It Matters: On Tuesday, the two-day Federal Open Markets Committee meeting convened. Investors will watch out for the conclusion of the gathering and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday.
Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET: Chair Powell hosts live #FOMC press conference: https://t.co/myTVwRJE0k pic.twitter.com/H87LUoA11q
— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) January 25, 2022
Bitcoin continues to face increased regulatory scrutiny. On Tuesday, The Bank of Thailand, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission, and the country’s Ministry of Finance issued a joint statement and said they deem it necessary to “usage of digital assets as a means of payment for goods and services, to avert potential impacts on the country's financial stability and economic system.”
Despite the headwinds, Bitcoin managed to remain relatively stable despite the fall seen in stock markets. The Nasdaq declined 2.28% to 13,539.29, while the S&P500 ended Tuesday 1.22% lower at 4,356.45.
“If Bitcoin can manage to claw its way back to $40,000 over the next several trading days, that would be a very a positive sign for the cryptoverse,” said Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA.
Moya noted that Bitcoin traded in the green despite “negative headlines” like the International Monetary Fund calling out El Salvador’s use of Bitcoin as legal tender. He said Altcoins are also rallying as “optimism is brewing” on the notion that the broad selloff in risk assets was over.
“It could be a strong altcoin season,” said Moya, in an emailed note.
Pseudonymous cryptocurrency analyst Pentoshi pointed out that the biggest winner in the downtrend could actually be El Salvador provided their Bitcoin bonds are oversubscribed.
The biggest winner in this downtrend ironically is #ElSalvador in the end *if their $BTC bonds are over-subscribed* this quarter
— Pentoshi DM'S ARE SCAMS (@Pentosh1) January 25, 2022
They get 2X the #bitcoin for the money and IF that happens we likely see a 2nd country follow suit
This is what I’m most excited to see play out
Meanwhile, data from Delphi Digital shows that investors capitulated in the latest downwards march of Bitcoin to $35,000 levels.
“As fear strikes the hearts of even seasoned crypto investors, $2.5B of net losses have been realized on the day that BTC hit $35k,” wrote the independent research firm, in an emailed note.
Delphi Digital noted that this level of net realized losses has not been seen since June 2021.
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