US central bank chair Jerome Powell dampened the mood of investors with a reminder that the Fed was not finished with its monetary hawkishness even after lowering its latest interest rate hike.
Bitcoin was above the $17,500 level after a long consolidation, whereas Ethereum dropped more than 2% to slip below the $1,300 mark.
Barring a few altcoins, all major top crypto tokens were trading in the red. Litecoin plunged 5%, while BNB and Dogecoin dropped 4% each. Solana and Tron gained 2% each.
The global cryptocurrency market cap was trading lower around $861.21 billion, slipping more than a per cent in the last 24 hours. The total trading volume dropped about 13% to $46.29 billion.
What’s cooking in India
The government of India has received a total amount of Rs 60.46 crore in the form of tax deducted at source (TDS) from the trading of crypto assets, a statement from the Finance Ministry submitted in the Rajya Sabha said.
Indians have lost interest in trading on local crypto exchanges since the government began imposing taxes on profits and transactions, data from AppTweak and SimilarWeb shows.
Global updates
Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has warned his staff to expect turbulent times ahead as the giant crypto exchange sees a wave of crypto outflows amid concerns about its financial health.
The past year in the digital asset market has been characterized by a series of negative shocks, triggered initially by the collapse of Terra/LUNA, Citi said in a research report looking back on the year.
US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall are introducing a bill to crack down on money laundering and financing of terrorists and rogue nations via cryptocurrency.
The crypto industry is calling for US regulations as the epic failure of FTX drags on the sector. Most regulators say they can’t do the job without more powers from Congress.
Tech View by Giottus Crypto Platform
Solana (SOL) was trading at $14, down by 61% since last month, when it took a sharp dive amidst the FTX blow-up, going from $38 to $13 virtually overnight. Since then, it has traded in a tight range – forming what may be a bear flag. A full confirmation of this pattern should arrive once SOL’s low of $10 is broken, which may lead to much deeper lows.
Despite breaking out of a resistance trendline and rallying 7% yesterday, SOL has now dropped from the $14.95 level – a strong resistance level that has delivered rejection more than 6 times in the past month.
Yesterday’s rejection indicates that the downtrend may continue. Fortunately, bulls may have some reason to cheer as multiple support levels remain below – such as $14, $13.4 and $12.8. Its 50-day and 200-day moving averages are also well above its current price (at $19 and $31, respectively), indicating that SOL may be oversold and perform a return to the mean.
Given the macro market conditions though, on the upside, unless the $17.5 resistance is claimed with a daily close, it may be prudent to adopt a wait-and-watch approach, the expert suggested.
Major levels
Resistance: $14.95, $17.5
Support: $14, $13.4, $12.8
(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts’ own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the asset/s mentioned.)
