Crypto Market Daily Highlights: ETH and MATIC Lead the Top Ten

Key Insights:

• It was a bullish start to the month for the crypto top ten on Wednesday, with MATIC and ETH leading the way.
• Economic indicators from China delivered a breakout session, with manufacturing data fueling optimism toward a sharp economic recovery.
• The crypto market cap rose by $25.04 billion, ending the day at $1,040 billion.

It was a bullish session for the crypto top ten on Wednesday. MATIC and ETH led the top ten crypto market recovery. BTC revisited the $24,000 handle for the first time in five sessions.

Economic data from China delivered a bullish start to the month. Better-than-expected private sector PMI numbers for February drove demand for riskier assets. The all-important Caixin Manufacturing PMI rose from 49.2 to 51.6 versus a forecasted 50.2. Significantly, the manufacturing sector expanded for the first time since July 2022.

Economic data from the US and the NASDAQ Composite Index failed to reverse gains from the morning session. While the ISM Manufacturing PMI reflected a continued contraction across the manufacturing sector, the sub-components supported the more hawkish sentiment toward Fed monetary policy. The ISM Manufacturing Prices Index jumped from 44.5 to 51.3.

Hawkish Fed chatter also weighed on the NASDAQ Composite Index. Fed dove Kashkari is reportedly open to a 25-basis point or 50-basis point rate hike in March.

On Wednesday, the NASDAQ Composite Index fell by 0.66%, while the NASDAQ mini was up 4.5 points this morning.

Crypto Market News

However, crypto market news had a mixed influence on investor sentiment. Visa (V) addressed rumors of a hitting pause on its crypto plans over increased regulatory scrutiny.

Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, had this to say about the Reuters article,

“This story is inaccurate as it pertains to Visa, here’s the reality.”

Sheffield elaborated, saying,

“We continue to partner with crypto companies to improve fiat on and off ramps as well as progress on our product roadmap to build new products that can facilitate stablecoin payments in a secure, compliant, and convenient way.”

Sheffield also stated that Visa has not altered its view on the importance of fiat-backed digital currencies running on blockchains.

However, Silvergate Bank updates were market bearish. The company announced that it delayed the filing of its annual report.

The Day Ahead

Investors should continue to monitor the crypto news wires for regulatory activity and US lawmaker chatter. Binance and FTX updates need consideration together with news from the ongoing SEC v Ripple case.

Economic indicators will also draw interest. The US labor market will be in focus, with Fed chatter likely to influence.

Crypto Market Cap Starts March on a Bullish Footing

It was a bullish start to the month. A mixed start to the day saw the crypto market cap fall to an early low of $1,011 billion. However, the downside was short-lived, with the crypto market rallying to a late-morning high of $1,057 billion.

A late pullback saw the crypto market cap briefly return to sub-$1,030 billion before ending the day at $1,040 billion to mark a $25.04 billion gain on Wednesday.

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

It was a bullish session for the crypto top ten.

MATIC and ETH rallied by 4.60% and 3.72%, respectively, to lead the way.

ADA (+2.27%), BTC (+2.18%), and XRP (+1.81%) also made solid gains, while BNB (0.50%) and DOGE (+1.36%) trailed the front-runners.

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

Conflux (CFX) jumped by 23.00% to lead the way, with filecoin (FIL) and aptos (APT) seeing gains of 11.90% and 13.28%, respectively.

However, NEM (XEM) fell by 4.81%, with klaytn (KLAY) and OKB (OKB) also bucking a bullish trend, declining by 0.10% and 0.77%, respectively.

24-Hour Liquidations Rise on Bullish Mid-Week Session

Over 24 hours, crypto liquidations increased but remained below normal levels. Short positions had a higher share of liquidations, accounting for 64.66% of total crypto liquidations. This morning, 24-hour liquidations stood at $70.98 million, up from $66.69 million on Wednesday morning (UTC).

However, liquidated traders over the last 24 hours were lower. This morning, liquidated traders stood at 20,915 versus 28,953 on Wednesday morning. Crypto liquidations were lower over 12 and four hours while higher over one hour.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations stood at $34.10 million, down from $51.26 million on Wednesday morning, with four-hour liquidations falling from $30.32 million to $11.28 million. However, one-hour liquidations rose from $0.619 million to $2.86 million.

The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.