Bitcoin Stays Above $40,000

The latest moves in crypto markets, in context

March 17, 2022

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Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning:

Market Moves:
Bitcoin held above the $40,000 level on Thursday amid a broader uptick in global equities as the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) hiked rates by 0.25% on Wednesday as expected.

Fed chair Jerome Powell signaled the U.S. economy was "very strong" and could handle monetary tightening, causing a jump in equities. Meanwhile, the Bank of England holds its policy today, and is expected to raise interest rates to their pre-Covid levels.

And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today's show featured these guests:

Raghu Yarlagadda, CEO, FalconX
Robert Leshner, founder, Compound Labs
Carole House, director of cybersecurity and secure digital innovation, White House national security council

Today's newsletter was edited by Shaurya Malwa and produced by Parikshit Mishra.

Market Moves

By Shaurya Malwa

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) hiked rates by 0.25% on Wednesday as expected.

Fed chair Jerome Powell signaled the U.S. economy was "very strong" and could handle monetary tightening, causing a jump in equities. Meanwhile, the Bank of England holds its policy today, and is expected to raise interest rates to their pre-Covid levels.

U.S. futures shed 0.51% in European hours while crude oil jumped 4% to near $100. Europe's Stoxx 600 rose 0.22%, while Asian markets added a second day of gains with Hong Kong's Hang Sang index rising 7% and Japan's Nikkei 225 increasing 3.46%.

Bitcoin added nearly 4% over the past 24 hours to trade at $41,640 before traders took profits. Ether added 4.7% to weekly highs of $2,790, while Terra's LUNA lost 0.6% in 24 hours.

Investors tied ether's gains to successful testing on the Ethereum network ahead of its move to a proof of stake network.

"Ethereum showed bullish movements on the back of its successful merge on the Kiln testnet, a fundamental milestone in its path toward the transition to proof of stake in the course of the year," said Fabio Pezzotti, founder of crypto investment firm Iconium, in a Telegram message

"We expect the main assets to gain momentum amid positive developments regarding a ceasefire in Ukraine, which would likely revert the bearish trends of the last few months," he added.

Meanwhile, some analysts said strength in bitcoin was buoyed by positive sentiment for the asset among traders.

"Since the last days of February, there has been a solid support line on the declines under $38,000, "explained Alex Kuptsikevich, market analyst at FxPro, in an email to CoinDesk. "And this is bullish strength, reflecting that long-term buyer interest has migrated from $30,000 to $38,000 due to inflation and geopolitical tensions."

Goldman Sachs' U.S. Financial Conditions Index (Source: Cheap Convexity, Bloomberg)

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Crypto Prices

Bitcoin (BTC)

See the latest price here

Ether (ETH)

See the latest price here

The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours:

Biggest Gainers:

Asset	Ticker	Returns	Sector
Cosmos	ATOM	+3.9%	Smart Contract Platform
Solana	SOL	+3.7%	Smart Contract Platform
Chainlink	LINK	+3.5%	Computing

Biggest Losers:

There are no losers in CoinDesk 20 today.

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.

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Latest Headlines

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:

Investors Await Fed Interest Rate Decision Today, Crypto Industry on Defensive in Ukraine Crisis, Metta World Peace Launches NFT Collection

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise the interest rate by 25 basis points to tame soaring inflation in the U.S. Ben Emons of Medley Global Advisors joins "First Mover" to share his readings on the pulse of the U.S. economy and global markets. Rebecca Rettig of Aave weighs in on the role of crypto exchanges in the Ukraine crisis amid calls for compliance with Russia sanctions. Plus, former NBA star Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly Metta World Peace) on celebrity endorsement of NFTs.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.