Regulatory Chatter Weighs on the Major Cryptos with the Exception of Cardano (ADA)

It was a bearish session for Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market on Monday. Chatter from DAVOS 2022 over the need for unified action on cryptocurrencies likely contributed to the broad-based pullback.

Amongst the first speakers at this year’s virtual event was Indian Prime Minister Modi. We reported this morning of the Prime Minister’s call for unified global action on cryptocurrencies. At the turn of the year, news had hit the wires of the Indian government creating a FINTECH division to keep up with cryptos.

Others have also made calls for a global regulatory framework, which would stamp out regulatory arbitrage.

Monday’s Crypto Market Movers

The total crypto market cap briefly fell back to sub-$2,000bn levels before ending the day at $2,005bn.

Chainlink (LINK) led the way down, sliding by 6.40%. Things were not much better for Binance Coin (BNB) (-4.69%), Crypto.com Coin (CRO) (-3.93%), and Ethereum (ETH) (-4.15%).

For CRO the losses could have been far more significant. On Monday, news had hit the wires of Crypto.com suspending withdrawals. The decision to suspend was in response to user claims of stolen funds.

Bitcoin saw a relatively modest 2.03% loss on the day. In spite of the Bitcoin pullback and negative sentiment, the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index currently sits at 24/100 and in the red. While up from 10/100 on 8^th January, a level in the red and close to or at zero indicates investor fear of further price declines.

Cardano (ADA) Bucks the Trend

Bucking the trend on the day were Cardano (ADA) and Litecoin (LTC). While Litecoin rose by 3.17%, ADA surged by 13.53% to end the day at $1.603.

For Cardano, there’s been plenty of news chatter and activity to support the latest breakout. On Monday, news of the first Metaverse project launching on the Cardano blockchain delivered the upside.

For the Day Ahead

It’s been a mixed start to the morning for the broader crypto market. Chatter from DAVOS 2022 will likely continue to influence, particularly if more world leaders call for unified action on cryptos. We may also see some market jitters ahead of Thursday’s U.S Congress subcommittee hearing on cryptocurrencies.

From the U.S, there are no major stats to influence market sentiment towards FED monetary policy. With the prospect of 4 rate hikes this year, however, it’s still negative for riskier assets. Support could come from the U.S equity markets, however.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) was up by 0.34% to $42,368. We continue to see a move back through to $43,500 and last week’s high $44,443 key to any run at this month’s high $47,979.

A broad-based pullback and a Bitcoin fall back to sub-$41,500 levels, however, would bring sub-$40,000 back into play. This week, much will likely depend on the outcome to Thursday’s subcommittee hearing and any concrete plans from DAVOS 2022.