Market Wrap: Recession Fears Halt Crypto Bounce

Analysts see few positive signs to sustain a crypto rally.

AccessTimeIconJun 27, 2022 at 8:35 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:56 p.m. UTC
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Hi, I'm Krisztian Sandor, here to take you through the day's crypto market highlights and news.

Bitcoin (BTC) traded at about $20,800 Monday afternoon, paring some of its gains from last week.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is holding ground above the key $20,000 level, but analysts aren't optimistic about the prospects for a sustained rally, Jimmy He reported today.

EToro’s crypto analyst Simon Peters said that crypto has suffered from the same toxic mix of poor company earnings, inflation and central bank rate hikes that have hurt stocks and other assets this year. Crypto prices have correlated increasingly to equity indexes, particularly those with a heavy technology component. Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam said that fizzling bitcoin rallies reflect an overall downbeat sentiments about riskier assets.

On Monday, however, panic over troubled crypto lender Celsius Network and insolvent crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital seemed to ease. Howard Greenberg, cryptocurrency educator at Prosper Trading Academy, told CoinDesk that the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index is easing.

Greenberg said that he was "watching the 200-week SMA (simple moving average) at $22,650 as the key price we need to regain and hold to see a return to higher trading ranges across the crypto sector.”

Most other cryptocurrencies slid on Monday. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, was recently changing hands at just below $1,200, down 2.3% during the last 24 hours. Polygon’s MATIC token, which was one of last week's biggest gainers, led the declines among altcoins, falling 9.8%.

In traditional markets, the fear of a recession curbed the optimism that fueled last week’s bounce, as bearish sentiment among investors increased 11.4 percentage points to 58.3%, while bullish sentiment dropped to 19.4%, according to the AAII short-term investor optimism survey that market research firm Macro Hive cited in a note.

The S&P 500 traded fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq index was down 0.8%.

Industrial metals such as copper and tin are on track to have their worst quarter since the financial crisis in 2008, Bloomberg reported, underscoring the looming prospect of a recession.

“We are in a bear market, and it is a bear that will probably keep growling," Bilal Hafeez, CEO and research head at Macro Hive, wrote in a newsletter.

Latest prices

Bitcoin (BTC): $20,865 −1.9%

Ether (ETH): $1,199 −2.3%

S&P 500 daily close: 3,902.99 −0.2%

Gold: $1,824 per troy ounce −0.2%

Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 3.2% +0.07


Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Grayscale Lines Up Jane Street and Virtu as 'Authorized Participants' if GBTC Converts to ETF

By Michael Bellusci

Grayscale Investments said Monday it would work with market-making heavyweights Jane Street and Virtu Financial as authorized participants should its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) gain Securities and Exchange Commission approval to be converted into an ETF.

"Authorized participants" are specialized traders who can create and redeem shares of an ETF.

A decision on Grayscale's ETF application is due on or before July 6, and the heavy betting is that the SEC will deny the proposal. Nevertheless, CEO Michael Sonnenshein reiterated his company's "unequivocal" commitment to converting GBTC from a trust to a spot ETF.

The owner of the $13.5 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust awaits an imminent decision from the SEC on its spot Bitcoin ETF proposal. GBTC trades at a nearly 30% discount to net asset value – an amount that would be quickly erased were the trust to become an ETF. (Grayscale’s parent company is Digital Currency Group, which also owns CoinDesk.)

Altcoin roundup

  • XCarnival loses $3.8M in an exploit, recovers 50%: The Ethereum-based platform that acts as a lending aggregator for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) lost $3.8 million after a hacker exploited a smart contract flaw. XCarnival managed to get back $1.9 million from the hack. Read more here.
  • FTX token raises $7 million: A community dedicated to FTT, the native token of crypto exchange FTX, has raised $7 million (250,000 FTT). The money will be converted into an ecosystem fund that will contribute to community-led projects across decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto education. Read more here.
  • Crypto hedge funds are shorting USDT: Crypto-focused hedge funds are increasingly shorting tether (USDT), a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, nearly a month after the implosion of the terraUSD (UST) stablecoin, the Wall Street Journal said in a report on Monday. One trader says the positions are worth at least “hundreds of millions” of dollars in notional value. Read more here.

Relevant insight

Other markets

Most digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day higher.

Biggest Gainers

Asset Ticker Returns DACS Sector
Terra LUNA +30.1% Smart Contract Platform

Biggest Losers

Asset Ticker Returns DACS Sector
Polygon MATIC −9.6% Smart Contract Platform
Chainlink LINK −6.8% Computing
Cosmos ATOM −6.1% Smart Contract Platform


Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.

UPDATE (Jun. 28, 18:02 UTC): corrects Howard Greenberg's position to cryptocurrency educator at Prosper Trading Academy.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Krisztian  Sandor

Krisztian Sandor is a reporter on the U.S. markets team focusing on stablecoins and institutional investment. He holds BTC and ETH.

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Jimmy is a CoinDesk markets reporter.


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