Fading crypto market enthusiasm

Market picture

The crypto market lost ground late in the day on Tuesday, falling to $3.08 trillion, but managed to recoup the losses and get back to $3.15, where we saw it 24 hours ago. The market has traded mostly in the $3.10-3.30 range for the past two weeks. This sluggish trading pattern has had a negative impact on trading volumes and can be frustrating for cryptocurrency speculators in general.

The Crypto Market Sentiment Index has fallen from 47 to 44 (Fear), its lowest level in the past 10 days. This is an indirect sign that even the market's relative stability is dampening sentiment. Most worryingly, at current sentiment and capitalization levels, the markets have yet to attract sell-off hunters and counter-trend traders.

Bitcoin plunged towards 93,000 on Tuesday night but quickly returned to familiar levels above 95,000. Notably, it is off its highs and even below its 50-day moving average, while U.S. stock indices have already returned to renew their rallies.

Litecoin is up about 10% in 24 hours, crossing the $135 level and returning to the area of active resistance since December. The dynamics in early February showed that this altcoin is still interesting to buy on dips, which increases its chances of storming the recent highs. Its upside potential is quite extensive: at the highs in 2017 and 2021, this old altcoin was above $350.

News background

Bitcoin's dominance has risen to 60% from 55% in early December, driven by institutional investors and low confidence in the rest of the cryptocurrencies.

Standard Chartered expects more sovereign wealth funds to start investing in Bitcoin. The Abu Dhabi sovereign fund's investment in BlackRock's Spot Bitcoin ETF is one of the first signals of the new trend. The bank's forecast for BTC is still the same—$500,000 by 2028.

According to Santiment, the amount of available Ethereum supply on centralized crypto exchanges has fallen to a historic low of 6.38%, which usually shows that investors prefer a hold strategy and avoid a large-scale sell-off soon.

Jeffrey Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, says government interest in cryptocurrency is becoming more visible. He says the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund's investment in BlackRock's Spot Bitcoin ETF is one of the first signals of the new trend.

Binance CEO Richard Teng reported a "new scam" aimed at stealing users' cryptocurrency. Attackers send fake wallet compromise notifications. The message suggests "securing" funds by transferring them to another wallet they control.

Former customers of the bankrupt FTX platform with assets of up to $50,000 have begun receiving their first payouts on the Kraken exchange and through the BitGo service at November 2022 rates. Many market participants may reinvest the funds received, affecting market liquidity and prices.