Crypto Market Daily Highlights: MATIC Bucks a Bearish Top Ten Trend

Key Insights:

• It is a mixed Thursday session for the crypto top ten, with MATIC bucking a bearish crypto market trend.
• Fed Fear resurfaced on Thursday, with US economic indicators sending the NASDAQ Composite Index and the crypto market into the red.
• The crypto market cap is down by $24.48 billion to $1,037 billion, with 30 minutes of the session remaining.

It is a mixed session for the crypto top ten on Thursday. MATIC bucks a bearish top-ten trend, while ADA leads the way down. Despite the bearish session, BTC looks set to hold onto the $24,000 handle for the second time since August.

Hotter-than-expected US wholesale inflation figures and FOMC member commentary spooked investors on Thursday. In January, the US wholesale annual inflation rate softened from 6.5% to 6.0% versus a forecasted 5.4%. Sticky inflation remains a problem for investors. While inflationary pressures have eased, inflation remains well above the Fed’s target.

Jobless claims also supported a more hawkish Fed policy outlook. Initial jobless claims slipped from 195k to 194k versus a forecasted rise to 200k. Sub-200k claims reflect a tight labor market.

FOMC members Loretta Mester and James Bullard added to the bearish mood. Mester reportedly said she is open to more aggressive rate hikes than her colleagues had proposed in February, noting that inflation remained too high. Bullard spoke of continued rate increases to maintain the softer inflation trend.

In response to the Thursday stats and hawkish Fed chatter, the NASDAQ Composite Index fell by 1.78%, with the S&P 500 ending the day with a 1.38% loss. The Dow declined by 1.26%.

SEC Hits the Crypto News Wires with another Lawsuit

On Wednesday, news hit the wires of the SEC suing Terraform Labs and founder Do Kwan for defrauding investors.

According to the press release,

“The SEC’s complaint alleges that Terraform and Kwon marketed crypto asset securities to investors seeking to earn a profit, repeatedly claiming that the tokens would increase in value. For example, they touted and marketed UST as a ‘yield bearing’ stablecoin, which they advertised as paying as much as 20% interest through the Anchor Protocol.”

The press release went on to say,

“The SEC’s complaint also alleges that, while marketing the LUNA token, Terraform and Kwon repeatedly misled and deceived investors that a popular Korean mobile payment application used the Terra blockchain to settle transactions that would accrue value to LUNA.”

Whereabouts unknown, Do Kwon remains on the run, with the Terra Labs founder also facing charges in South Korea.

The Day Ahead

Investors should continue monitoring the crypto news wires for FTX, Genesis, and Silvergate Bank updates. However, SEC activity and US lawmaker chatter will remain the focal points.

In the afternoon session, the NASDAQ Composite Index will also influence as the markets consider the latest round of US stats and Fed chatter. However, there are no US economic indicators to move the dial.

Crypto Market Slides as Fed Fear Resurfaces

It has been a choppy Thursday session. After a mixed morning session, the crypto market cap rose to a late afternoon high of $1,096 billion before hitting reverse. The reversal saw the crypto market cap slide to a final-hour low of $1.032 billion.

With 30 minutes of the session remaining, the crypto market cap stands at $1,037 billion, down $24.48 billion on the day.

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

It is a mixed session for the crypto top ten.

With 30 minutes of the Thursday session remaining, MATIC bucked the top-ten trend, rising by 4.06%.

However, ADA was down by 6.44%, with BNB (-3.09%), DOGE (-4.37%), and XRP (-3.44%) struggling.

BTC (-1.64%) and ETH (-1.42%) have seen relatively modest losses.

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

OKB (OKB) leads the way, rising by 6.14%, with MATIC and filecoin (FIL) also front-runners. FIL is up 1.64%.

However, mina (MINA) and singularityNET (AGIX) are down by 12.27% and 12.12%, respectively, with render token (RNDR) sliding by 14.09%.

24-Hour Liquidations Jump on a Bearish Afternoon Session

Over 24 hours, crypto liquidations moved higher on Thursday. Long positions had a higher share of liquidations, accounting for 56.37% of total liquidations. At the time of writing, 24-hour liquidations stood at $197.91 million versus $169.81 million on Thursday morning (UTC).

Liquidated traders over the last 24 hours were also higher. At the time of writing, liquidated traders stood at 61,698 versus 44,349 on Thursday morning. Crypto liquidations were lower over 12 and four hours while higher over one hour.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations stood at $144.62 million, down from $150.12 million on Thursday morning, with four-hour liquidations falling from $82.81 million to $75.05 million. However, one-hour liquidations increased from $4.37 million to $18.50 million.

The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.