Crypto: Has The FUD Around Fed Faded?

Come Wednesday and the Federal Reserve would have delivered its verdict on the stance of monetary policy, the decision on interest rates and perhaps also throw a hint on how fast the Fed would be shrinking its $9 trillion Balance Sheet! Feelings of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) have been lingering in crypto markets recently as the Fed’s decision is feared to impact not just global interest rates, but also impact global liquidity and global valuations. But early on Monday, markets appear to have shrugged off these fears and forced some momentum into the $1.7 trillion cryptocurrency market. Overall crypto market capitalization has recovered almost 1.3 percent in the past 24 hours.

Market supremo Bitcoin has rallied 1.5 percent in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $38,760.75. The rally comes amidst Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffet’s stinging criticism of Bitcoin and Wikimedia Foundation’s announcement that it would no longer accept crypto donations, hitting the headlines. Bitcoin’s dominance has surged to 42.5 percent.

Ether too is trading 1.4 percent higher and is currently near $2,820 levels. ETH now dominates around 19.6 percent of the overall crypto market. Ethereum gas fees again dominated headlines, after a metaverse frenzy on the NFT collective Bored Apes Yacht Club disrupted the Ethereum blockchain, causing a large spike in the gas fees.

4th ranked BNB(BNB) has edged up 0.25 percent, to trade near $389. The most valuable Centralized Exchange coin traded between $383.27 and $392.22 in the past 24 hours.

6th ranked XRP has outperformed the overall market with an overnight rally of 2.25 percent. Markets are perhaps buoyed by reports that the prolonged lawsuit between Ripple Labs and the U.S. SEC could be headed for an ending in 2022 itself.

Solana is down more than 2 percent on an overnight basis and dropped to the 7th rank according to market capitalization, after the PoS blockchain suffered a network outage for the seventh time in 2022. SOL is currently trading near $87.5.

8th ranked Terra (LUNA) has charged more than 3.5 percent higher but is still down more than 10 percent on a weekly basis.

9th ranked Cardano (ADA) is down 0.25 percent on an overnight basis and 10 percent on a weekly basis.

Meme cryptos Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) are trading at a discount of close to 2 percent to Sunday’s prices.

30th ranked ApeCoin (APE), the governance token of the Bored Apes Yacht Club is trading 8 percent lower after its metaverse mint disrupted the Ethereum blockchain.

49th ranked Fantom (FTM) has added more than 9 percent in the past 24 hours. FTM had fallen to an 8-month low on Saturday.

Inflation is at a 40-year high and more than anyone else, Jerome Powell, the Fed’s Chair, knows the challenges in maintaining price stability without jeopardizing economic growth. The delicate balancing act between runaway inflation and a painful recession could perhaps goad the Fed into a soft transition to a tight monetary policy regime. Nevertheless, the ride could be bumpy and crypto markets would have to brace for the monetary policy regime change.

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