Crypto Market Daily Highlights – BTC Hits $19,000 to Lead the Top Ten

Key Insights:

• It was a bullish Thursday session for the crypto top ten, with BTC leading the charge.
• US economic indicators and FTX updates were the driving force behind the Thursday breakout session.
• The crypto market cap rose by $25.57 billion to end the day at $863.60 billion.

It was a bullish session for the crypto top ten on Thursday. BTC enjoyed a rare breakout session, with ADA, DOGE, and MATIC also finding support. Notably, BTC visited $19,000 for the first time since November 8 and the collapse of FTX.

On Thursday, the market turned its attention to the US economic calendar and the all-important US CPI report. In line with forecasts, the US annual inflation rate softened from 7.1% to 6.5%, with consumer prices unexpectedly falling in December.

The numbers supported the market bets of a 25-basis point Fed interest rate hike in February and a less aggressive interest rate path ahead.

US labor market numbers added to the bullish mood. While inflationary pressures are easing, labor market conditions held steady, delivering hope of a soft landing. Initial jobless claims slipped from 206k to 205k in the week ending January 6.

The NASDAQ Index responded to the favorable numbers, rising by 0.64%, with the S&P 500 ending the day up by 0.34%.

FTX updates also delivered support. The news from mid-week of more than $5 billion in cash and cash equivalents and nonstrategic assets with a value of $4.6 billion eased contagion from the collapse of FTX.

Today, US economic indicators and FOMC member commentary will influence. US consumer sentiment figures will draw interest in the afternoon session. Following Thursday’s CPI report, a pickup in consumer sentiment would deliver more support to riskier assets.

However, the corporate earnings season kicks off today, with US bank earnings in focus. Gloomy outlooks would test the appetite for riskier assets. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Bank of America (BAC) will release earnings results.

The NASDAQ mini was down 1.75 points this morning.

Crypto Market Extends Winning Streak to Five Sessions

It was another choppy session on Thursday. After a bullish start to the day, the crypto market cap fell to an early afternoon low of $829.15 billion. However, an afternoon rally saw the crypto market cap hit a high of $874.34 billion before easing back.

Despite the pullback, the crypto market cap ended the session at $863.60 billion, marking a $25.57 billion gain for the day. Notably, the crypto market cap ended the session at $800 billion for the fourth time since December 15 and extended its winning streak to five sessions.

The Crypto Market Movers and Shakers from the Top Ten and Beyond

It was a bullish Thursday session for the crypto top ten.

BTC rallied by 5.04% to lead the way, with ADA (+2.17%), DOGE (+2.69%), and MATIC (+2.68%) also making solid gains.

However, BNB (+1.05%), ETH (+1.93%), and XRP (+0.57%) trailed the front-runners.

From the CoinMarketCap top 100, it was a mixed session.

Aptos (APT) led the way, surging by 22.26%, with frax shares (FXS) and immutableX (IMX) seeing gains of 16.08% and 9.43%, respectively.

However, nexo (NEXO) fell by 3.38%, with avalanche (AVAX) and apecoin (APE) seeing losses of 2.37% and 2.41%, respectively.

24-Hour Liquidations Spike as BTC Returns to $19,000

Over 24 hours, crypto liquidations continued to rise, with another bullish crypto session catching more investors holding short positions. At the time of writing, 24-hour liquidations stood at $262.22 million versus $134.15 million on Thursday morning.

Liquidated traders over the last 24 hours were also higher. At the time of writing, liquidated traders stood at 47,582 versus 31,423 on Thursday morning. Crypto liquidations were higher over 12 hours while down over four hours and one hour.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations stood at $183.98 million, up from $121.19 million on Thursday. However, four-hour liquidations fell from $90.80 million to $16.82 million, with one-hour liquidations down from $73.85 million to $1.09 million.

The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.