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Market Wrap: Cryptos Mixed as Global Uncertainty Lingers; Dogecoin Pumps

source-logo  coindesk.com 25 April 2022 21:29, UTC

Performance across cryptocurrencies were mixed on Monday as investors braced for additional market risk.

Concerns about geopolitical conflicts emanating from Russia and Ukraine, China’s latest COVID-19 outbreak, signs of an upcoming U.S. or European recession and global inflation have kept some buyers on the sidelines.

Typically, investors reduce their exposure to speculative assets, such as stocks and cryptos, when faced with high uncertainty. So far this year, the S&P 500 is down about 12%, compared with a 17% decline in bitcoin (BTC). Meanwhile, gold, a traditional safe haven asset, is up 3% over the same period, albeit down 8% from its recent peak in March.

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The recent jump in equity market volatility occurred alongside a decline in gold prices. That could signal a neutral stance among market participants, especially as the rally in Treasury yields begins to cool.

Meanwhile, dogecoin (DOGE) rose by as much as 26% on Monday after Twitter (TWTR) accepted a takeover bid from Tesla's (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.

Some analysts are waiting for signs of stabilization in the crypto market, which has tracked moves in equities over the past year. So far, speculative traders are starting to return as BTC settles around $40,000. For example, in March, derivatives volumes increased after six straight months of decreased volumes. That could signal a rise in trading activity if BTC is able to break above or below its current trading range.

Latest prices

Bitcoin (BTC): $40,294, +1.48%

Ether (ETH): $3,022, +2.00%

S&P 500 daily close: $4,296, +0.57%

Gold: $1,899 per troy ounce, −1.64%

Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.83%


Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm 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 about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Liquidation zones

There was a slight uptick in long bitcoin liquidations over the past 24 hours, although not as extreme compared with last week.

Liquidations occur when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position as a safety mechanism due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. Price moves in the spot market tend to accelerate as futures traders liquidate positions.

Analysts monitor liquidation levels to determine where prices will gravitate in order for buyers/sellers to absorb large pockets of order flow (supply/demand). Over the past three months, BTC has traded around a midpoint of $40,000, albeit with 20% price swings. That suggests a breakout or breakdown below the current trading range could trigger volatile liquidations on the long or short side.

Short-term levels to watch:

  • Short liquidation zone (forced buy to close): Above $42,000-$43,000.
  • Long liquidation zone (forced sell to close): Below $38,000-$39,000.

"Currently, about 30% of long-term and short-term bitcoin holders are underwater on their positions, split roughly 50-50 between the two groups," Delphi Digital, a crypto research firm, wrote in a report. And the average cost basis among short-term bitcoin holders is roughly $45,900, according to blockchain data compiled by Glassnode.

Typically, short-term holders are more sensitive to price movements, which means they take profits and/or realize losses quickly. Major turning points occur when long-term holders absorb excess supply from short-term sellers.

The chart below shows the long-term bitcoin holder net unrealized profit/loss (NUPL). Excessive optimism among long-term holders occurred around BTC's all-time high near $69,000 in March of last year. Since then, some profit taking has occurred among traders, possibly in anticipation of long-term losses, similar to 2015 and 2019.

For now, there are no signs of capitulation, which points to flat/negative price action until a significant liquidation (or prolonged period of realized losses) occurs.

Long-term bitcoin holder net unrealized profit/loss (Glassnode)

Altcoin roundup

  • OpenSea eyes ‘Pro Experience’ with acquisition of NFT aggregator Gem: OpenSea has acquired non-fungible token (NFT) aggregator service Gem, the leading NFT marketplace said in a Monday blog post. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Gem offers a range of NFT-related services, including analytics tools, rarity rankings and bundled purchasing to save on Ethereum gas fees. Read more here.
  • NFTs stolen after Bored Ape Yacht Club Instagram, Discord hacked: Bored Ape Yacht Club's Instagram account and Discord server were both hacked on Monday, with an unofficial "mint" link being sent out to followers. "There is no mint going on today. It looks like BAYC Instagram was hacked. Do not mint anything, click links or link your wallet to anything," the NFT project wrote on Twitter. Read more here.
  • Dogecoin surges amid reports that Twitter will accept Musk's takeover offer: Dogecoin (DOGE) surged by as much as 26% today after Twitter (TWTR) accepted a takeover bid from Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. DOGE surged to as much as $0.16 from a low point of $0.12 earlier today. Twitter (TWTR) rose by 5% on Monday. Read more here.

Relevant reads

  • Listen:CoinDesk's Markets Daily podcast is back with the latest news roundup, including a shadow banker's ordeal.
  • Two Europeans Charged With Conspiracy in Virgil Griffith's North Korea Crypto Sanctions Case: Earlier this month, Griffith, an Ethereum developer, was sentenced to five years in prison for helping North Korea evade sanctions with crypto.
  • Binance Extended Crypto Exchange Dominance in March: The exchange captured 30% of spot volume market share last month, extending its lead over competitors including Coinbase and OKX.
  • ECB's Panetta Blasts Crypto as ‘Ponzi Scheme’ Fueled by Greed: The central banker compared crypto market dynamics to the 2008 financial crisis and called for additional regulation and taxes.
  • Shiba Inu Owners Flock to Burn Portal With 11B Tokens Removed: SHIB valued about $251,000 have been burned in the first 24 hours of operation, data shows.
  • GPUs Get Cheaper as Ethereum’s Switch to Proof-of-Stake Gets Closer: The network's planned switch to PoS has been pushing prices for graphics cards down.

Other markets

Most digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day lower.

Top Gainers

Asset Ticker Returns Sector
Dogecoin DOGE +23.8% Currency
Ethereum ETH +2.1% Smart Contract Platform
Bitcoin BTC +1.5% Currency

Top Losers

Asset Ticker Returns Sector
Cosmos ATOM −2.5% Smart Contract Platform
Ethereum Classic ETC −2.3% Smart Contract Platform
Filecoin FIL −2.0% Computing

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), 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.

coindesk.com