Crypto Market Daily Highlights – SOL and ETH Lead the Top Ten

Key Insights:

• It was a mixed Wednesday for the crypto top ten. Solana (SOL) and ethereum (ETH) led the way, while cardano (ADA) struggled.
• US wholesale inflation and the FOMC meeting minutes delivered a choppy Wednesday session.
• The crypto market cap rose by $3.8 billion to $885.1 billion.

It was a mixed Wednesday session for the crypto top ten. Solana (SOL) and ethereum (ETH) led the top ten, with cardano (ADA) leading the way down. While avoiding sub-$19,0000, BTC fell short of $20,000 for the fifth consecutive day.

US economic indicators and the FOMC meeting minutes were the main focal points. In September, the Producer Price Index rose by 0.4%, reversing a 0.2% decline from August. Economists forecast a 0.2% rise. However, the annual wholesale inflation rate softened from 8.7% to 8.5%. Economists forecast a rate of 8.4%.

The softer numbers provided comfort ahead of today’s all-important US CPI report. From the FOMC meeting minutes, there were few surprises. The minutes reiterated the commitment to bring inflation to target. However, the minutes provided riskier assets with late support. One section of the minutes suggested that the Fed could take its foot off the gas. The minutes stated,

“Several participants noted that, particularly in the current highly uncertain global economic and financial environment, it would be important to calibrate the pace of further policy tightening with the aim of mitigating the risk of significant adverse effects on the economic outlook.”

The minutes went on to say,

“Participants observed that, as the stance of monetary policy tightened further, it would become appropriate at some point to slow the pace of policy rate increases while assessing the effects of cumulative policy adjustments on economic activity and inflation.”

Crypto market reaction to the minutes was evident (see hourly chart). However, the NASDAQ 100 slipped by 0.09%, with the US CPI report in focus. This morning, the NASDAQ Mini was up 19.5 points.

Crypto Market Avoided the Red for the Second Time in Eight Sessions

On Wednesday, the crypto market fell to an early low of $875.5 billion before rising to a late morning high of $892.5 billion. However, a bearish start to the afternoon saw the market cap fall back to $880.6 billion before ending the day up $3.8 billion to $885.1 billion.

For the week, the market cap is down $20.5 billion.

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

It was a mixed Wednesday session for the crypto top ten.

ETH and SOL led the way, with gains of 1.12% and 1.19%, respectively, with BTC (+0.51%) and XRP (+0.74%) also avoiding the red.

However, it was a bearish session for the rest of the majors.

ADA led the way down, sliding by 2.56%, with BNB (-0.18%) and DOGE (-0.69%) also seeing losses.

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

Huobi token (HT) led the way, surging by 27.93%, with OKB (OKB) and hedara (HBAR) seeing gains of 5.86% and 8.11%, respectively.

However, TerraClassicUSD (USTC) tumbled by 17.77% to lead the way down. Maker (MKR) and Lido DAO (LDO) were also among the worst performers, falling by 5.55% and 3.93%, respectively.

24-Hour Crypto Liquidations Retreat on FOMC Meeting Minutes Support

Over 24 hours, total liquidations slipped further back as investors brace themselves for today’s US CPI report. At the time of writing, 24-hour liquidations stood at $28.82 million, down from $98.62 million on Wednesday morning.

Liquidated traders over the last 24 hours also decreased. At the time of writing, liquidated traders stood at 31,684 versus 52,221 on Wednesday morning. Liquidations were down over 12 hours while up modestly over one and four hours.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations were down from $28.13 million to $15.62 million. However, four-hour liquidations increased from $3.07 million to $3.70 million, with one-hour liquidations up from $0.319 million to $0.584 million.

The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.