Decentral Block Post

Crypto markets threw a nice head fake this week by rallying into resistance on a “positive” Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, before retracing the majority of those gains right after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell took on a surprisingly hawkish tone during his post-rate-hike presser. 

The Fed hiked interest rates by 0.50%, which was well within the expectation of most market participants, but the eyebrow-raiser was the Federal Open Market Committee consensus that rates would need to reach the 5%–5.5%+ range in order to hopefully achieve the Fed’s 2% inflation target.

This basically threw cold water on traders’ lusty dreams of a Fed policy pivot taking place in the first half of 2023, and the damper on sentiment was felt throughout crypto and equities markets.

As the charts below show, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) reversed course right as Powell began his presser on Dec. 14.

How do you like them apples?

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped 8.1% in the past two days after failing to break the $880 billion resistance on Dec. 14. 

The rejection did not invalidate the 4-week-long ascending channel, but a weekly close below $825 billion will confirm a shift to the lower band and reduce the support level to $790 billion.

The overall investor sentiment toward the market remains bearish, and year-to-date losses amount to 66%. Despite this, Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped a mere 2% on the week, down to the $16,800 level at 17:00 UTC on Dec. 16.

A far different scenario emerged for altcoins which are being pressured by pending regulation and fears that major exchanges and miners could be insolvent . This explains why the total market capitalization had dropped by 4.7% since Dec. 9.

According to court documents filed on Dec. 15, a United States Trustee announced the committee responsible for part of FTX's bankruptcy proceedings. Among those is Wintermute Asia, a leading market maker and GGC International, an affiliate of the troubled lending platform Genesis. Investors remain in the dark about who the biggest creditors from the failed FTX exchange group are and this is fueling speculation that contagion could continue to spread.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped 8.1% in the past two days after failing to break the $880 billion resistance on Dec. 14. 

The rejection did not invalidate the 4-week-long ascending channel, but a weekly close below $825 billion will confirm a shift to the lower band and reduce the support level to $790 billion.

The overall investor sentiment toward the market remains bearish, and year-to-date losses amount to 66%. Despite this, Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped a mere 2% on the week, down to the $16,800 level at 17:00 UTC on Dec. 16.

A far different scenario emerged for altcoins which are being pressured by pending regulation and fears that major exchanges and miners could be insolvent . This explains why the total market capitalization had dropped by 4.7% since Dec. 9.

According to court documents filed on Dec. 15, a United States Trustee announced the committee responsible for part of FTX's bankruptcy proceedings. Among those is Wintermute Asia, a leading market maker and GGC International, an affiliate of the troubled lending platform Genesis. Investors remain in the dark about who the biggest creditors from the failed FTX exchange group are and this is fueling speculation that contagion could continue to spread.

Ether (ETH) price is down on Dec. 16 and the pre-FOMC rally to $1,350 was obliterated after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell issued hawkish statements following a 0.50% hike in interest rates.

The Ether sell-off follows a market-wide decline that has sent Ethereum network fees plummeting by 39.90% in the past 30-days.

The total value locked in Ethereum-based smart contracts also decreased by decentralized finance by 4.49% in 24-hours.

Following the FTX exchange scandal, regulators are attempting to fast-track new regulations on the cryptocurrency sector.

While some analysts believe Ethereum still possesses multiple bullish catalysts that warrant investing in the asset, on-chain data paints a grim picture of its short-term price prospects.

Ether (ETH) price is down on Dec. 16 and the pre-FOMC rally to $1,350 was obliterated after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell issued hawkish statements following a 0.50% hike in interest rates.

The Ether sell-off follows a market-wide decline that has sent Ethereum network fees plummeting by 39.90% in the past 30-days.

The total value locked in Ethereum-based smart contracts also decreased by decentralized finance by 4.49% in 24-hours.

Following the FTX exchange scandal, regulators are attempting to fast-track new regulations on the cryptocurrency sector.

While some analysts believe Ethereum still possesses multiple bullish catalysts that warrant investing in the asset, on-chain data paints a grim picture of its short-term price prospects.

Bitcoin (BTC) looked set to ditch $17,000 after the Dec. 16 Wall Street open as United States equities continued to fall.

Analyst: $240BNB "has nothing but air below it"

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked new intraday lows of $16,743 for BTC/USD on Bitstamp.

The pair had abruptly dived nearly 3% earlier in the day, compounding losses, which immediately followed one-month highs.

Ongoing concerns over largest global exchange Binance pervaded the mood, these coming despite the best efforts of CEO, Changpeng Zhao, to dispel what he called “FUD.” As Cointelegraph reported, longtime crypto traders were similarly skeptical of the credibility of the “craziest rumors” about the crypto exchange sector.

Nonetheless, markets refused to give them a break, and beyond Bitcoin, warnings increased over the fate of Binance’s in-house token, Binance Coin (BNB).

Bitcoin (BTC) looked set to ditch $17,000 after the Dec. 16 Wall Street open as United States equities continued to fall.

Analyst: $240BNB "has nothing but air below it"

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked new intraday lows of $16,743 for BTC/USD on Bitstamp.

The pair had abruptly dived nearly 3% earlier in the day, compounding losses, which immediately followed one-month highs.

Ongoing concerns over largest global exchange Binance pervaded the mood, these coming despite the best efforts of CEO, Changpeng Zhao, to dispel what he called “FUD.” As Cointelegraph reported, longtime crypto traders were similarly skeptical of the credibility of the “craziest rumors” about the crypto exchange sector.

Nonetheless, markets refused to give them a break, and beyond Bitcoin, warnings increased over the fate of Binance’s in-house token, Binance Coin (BNB).