Crypto Market Daily Highlights: Fed Fear and the NASDAQ Index Weigh

Key Insights:

• It was a bearish Tuesday session for the crypto top ten, with MATIC seeing a heavy loss.
• Fed Fear delivered the NASDAQ Composite Index its worst session of 2023, sending the crypto market into negative territory.
• The crypto market cap slid by $18.80 billion, ending the day at $1,065 billion.

It was a bearish session for the crypto top ten on Tuesday. MATIC led the way down. Despite the bearish session, BTC revisited the $25,000 handle for the fifth time in six sessions.

Fed Fear resurfaced on Tuesday as investors turned their attention to the FOMC meeting minutes due later today. Market fears of higher for longer weighed on riskier assets. The NASDAQ Composite Index slid by 2.50%, its worst session of 2023, with the Dow and the S&P 500 seeing losses of 2.06% and 2.00%, respectively.

On Tuesday, US economic indicators added fuel to the Fed fire. The services PMI jumped from 46.8 to 50.5 versus a forecasted rise to 47.2, giving the Fed hawks further reason to deliver an aggressive interest rate trajectory to bring inflation to target.

News of Polygon Network laying off staff was bearish, while plans to offer crypto trading to retail customers in HK and FTX Japan resuming withdrawals were market positives. However, Coinbase (COIN) quarterly earnings highlighted the effects of the long-lasting crypto winter and reminded the markets of the long road ahead amidst increased regulatory scrutiny.

The Day Ahead

Investors should continue monitoring the crypto news wires for events that could move the dial. Binance will remain a focal point, with FTX, Genesis, and Silvergate Bank updates needing consideration. However, regulatory activity and US lawmaker chatter will remain the key drivers.

FOMC meeting minutes, Fed chatter, and the NASDAQ Composite Index will influence the afternoon session. Following the Tuesday sell-off, the FOMC meeting minutes could highlight how high and for how long, which will likely test investor sentiment.

The NASDAQ mini was up 6.5 points this morning, signaling a flat start to the US session.

Crypto Market Slides as Fed Fear Resurfaces

It was a choppy Tuesday session. A bullish start to the day saw the crypto market cap rise to a mid-morning high of $1,100 billion before hitting reverse. The reversal saw the crypto market cap slide to a late low of $1,048 billion.

However, finding late support, the crypto market cap ended the day at $1,065 billion, reducing the loss from the session to $18.80 billion.

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

It is a bearish session for the crypto top ten.

MATIC led the way down, sliding by 5.92%, with ADA (-2.72%), DOGE (-3.51%), and ETH (-2.58%) also struggling.

BNB (-1.20%), BTC (-1.49%), and XRP (-1.73%) saw relatively modest losses.

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

Ankr (ANKR) rallied by 33.40% to lead the way, with klaytn (KLAY) and 1inch network (1INCH) seeing gains of 11.48% and 18.81%, respectively.

However, mina (MINA) slid by 9.81%, with neo (NEO) and huobi token (HT) seeing losses of 8.27% and 9.08%, respectively.

24-Hour Liquidations Climbed Higher on Market Sell-Off

Over 24 hours, crypto liquidations rose to above-normal levels on Wednesday. Long positions had a higher share of liquidations, accounting for 75.92% of total crypto liquidations. At the time of writing, 24-hour liquidations stood at $123.54 million, up from $100.12 million on Tuesday morning (UTC).

Liquidated traders over the last 24 hours were also higher. This morning, liquidated traders stood at 51,085 versus 37,358 on Tuesday morning. Crypto liquidations were higher over 12 and four hours and over one hour.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations stood at $72.53 million, up from $30.22 million on Tuesday morning, with four-hour liquidations rising from $4.17 million to $30.55 million. One-hour liquidations increased from $0.648 million to $0.652 million.

The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.