Market-leaders and altcoins alike fell as the U.S. Federal Reserve outlined its tightening cycle.
The total cryptocurrency market is up over 1% on the day. BTC and ETH are down about 1.4%. Meanwhile, ETC is one of the few altcoins in the green — up 10% so far.
The United States Federal Reserve released its Federal Open Market Committee minutes from yesterday’s March meeting. The summary says the committee favors a $60 billion per month roll-off for treasuries, with many Fed officials calling for one or more 50-basis-point raises later this year. With continued hawkish statements — and the next FOMC meeting coming in early May — traders fear more bearish price action as traditional and crypto markets have fallen on the news.
Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — is searching for alternative revenue streams outside of its popular social apps. These include virtual coins, social tokens and lending platforms that integrate with Meta’s current social-media ecosystem. This comes after the company rebranded late last year to reflect a new mission to build out its own metaverse.
Dubbed “Zuck Bucks” internally, the virtual currency the company plans to create will most likely not be a cryptocurrency based on a blockchain — fearing regulatory crackdown after Meta’s initial try for a token, Diem, was disbanded earlier this year. Instead, the currency will be similar to V-Bucks from videogame Fortnite, where users convert fiat to a centralized token and spend on things in-app.
Stephane Kasriel, head of Meta’s finance division, says, “We’re making changes to our product strategy and road map… so we can prioritize on building for the metaverse and on what payments and financial services will look like in this digital world.”
NFT Snapshot: ESPN launches first collection with Tom Brady
ESPN launched its first nonfungible token collection in partnership with Tom Brady’s platform, Autograph, on Wednesday. The drop included three limited-edition “Man in the Arena” magazine covers for Brady’s upcoming documentary series of the same name, as well as 50 hand-signed editions from the quarterback.
According to a statement by Kevin Lopes, the vice president of sports business development and innovation at ESPN, “Our work with ESPN Edge has led us to where we are today, exploring new, innovative ways of engaging fans, and we are thrilled to partner with Autograph for this collection and others in the future.”
The nonfungible tokens sold out immediately on DraftKings’ marketplace and are available for viewing on Autograph.io.
Top altcoin gainers and losers: Most altcoins down
- MIR/USDT +12.08%
- SPELL/USDT +9.74%
- MINA/USDT +7.73%
- SLP/USDT -1.40%
- LUNA/USDT -4.05%
- BAL/USDT -9.26%
MIR has shown strength since early yesterday, despite LUNA falling hard after reaching consecutive all-time highs.
SLP continues to struggle as the entire Axie Infinity ecosystem rebuilds following the Ronin Bridge hack in March.
BTC technical analysis: Falling lower
BTC dropped further since yesterday’s FOMC minutes were released — closely following downside in traditional markets and indexes. The market leader now firmly sits below the 200-day moving average. Buyers are looking for a final stand of support around the 42,500 USDT level, though hope is mostly dwindling.
ETH technical analysis: Looking for support
ETH fell along with the rest of the market on the day — trading now around 3,200 USDT. As an area that was once resistance, 3,200 USDT has held as support for the most part so far. Bulls will want to defend this level or the big push upward was just a mean reversion.
Altcoin technical analysis: DOGE sells off again
The memecoin darling has not had sustained bullish momentum since its blow-off top in May of last year. Since the BTC top in November, there have only been small pockets of buying — mostly at the tail-end of broader crypto market surges.
DOGE rallied a few days ago on news that Elon Musk bought a sizable position in Twitter — as nothing but tangential headlines can move the price up at this point.
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Source: https://www.okx.com/academy/en/btc-eth-trend-lower-after-hawkish-statements-from-fed-crypto-market-daily/