Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin and Ether Dip, Tether and USD Coin Buck the Trend with Gains
Bitcoin’s Value Declines by $605 in 24 Hours, Reflecting Market Volatility
Thursday, February 22, marked a day of losses across the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin experiencing a notable decline after a period of sustained profitability. Despite recent gains, Bitcoin recorded a loss of 1.24 percent, with its value standing at $51,392 (approximately Rs. 42.6 lakh) at the time of writing. Within a 24-hour period, Bitcoin’s value plummeted by $605 (approximately Rs. 50,170), prompting concerns among market analysts regarding potential further corrections. With resistance levels hovering around $53,000 (approximately Rs. 43.9 lakh), there is apprehension that continued rejection could trigger a pullback to the $48,000 – $49,000 range (approximately Rs. 39.8 lakh – Rs. 40 lakh) before the upcoming halving event.
In tandem with Bitcoin’s decline, Ether also registered losses on Thursday, experiencing a downturn of 1.82 percent. As of the latest data available, the value of ETH stands at $2,841 (approximately Rs. 2.3 lakh), reflecting the broader market sentiment of uncertainty and volatility. Analysts attribute the overall decline in the cryptocurrency market to Bitcoin’s market oscillators signaling a potential correction, coupled with an increase in BTC market dominance.
This downward trend has not been limited to Bitcoin and Ether alone; altcoins such as Solana, Ethereum, Ripple, among others, have also faced a downturn following a period of price rally. Despite the prevailing challenges, there remains optimism that an influx of small-scale retail investors could potentially inject renewed momentum into the market, improving price actions for various tokens.
Rajagopal Menon, Vice President at WazirX, weighed in on the market dynamics, highlighting the need for caution amid the current volatility. While acknowledging the decline in the overall crypto market, Menon emphasized the importance of monitoring Bitcoin’s market dominance and its potential impact on altcoins. With ongoing fluctuations in prices and market sentiments, stakeholders remain vigilant, seeking opportunities to navigate the evolving landscape of the cryptocurrency market effectively.
The recent FOMC announcements have also suggested that there will not be any reductions in interest rates – that may have caused this loss-ridden period for most altcoins. On Thursday, Solana, Ripple, Cardano, Avalanche, Tron, and Dogecoin — all reflected losses alongside BTC and ETH.Polkadot, Polygon, Shiba Inu, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Uniswap, Leo, and Cosmos also recorded losses.
The overall crypto market cap dipped by 1.42 percent in the last 24 hours. The current crypto market valuation stands at $1.95 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,61,68,717 crore) as per CoinMarketCap.Only a few cryptocurrencies managed to see gains on Thursday. These include Tether, Binance Coin, USD Coin, Iota, and Dash.
“In parallel, AI tokens including SingularityNet (AGIX, +26.46 percent), FetchAi (FET, +3.76 percent) and Render (RNDR, +8.36 percent) have surged after Nvidia beat analyst estimates around its 4th quarter earnings. The shares of the company also rose more than seven percent in post-market trading yesterday,” Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead, CoinSwitch Ventures
