Several recent indicators portend a potential thaw in the crypto winter of the past year as the Fed tames inflation.
The first sign has been a rise in the price of Bitcoin, the overall bellwether of the cryptocurrency markets. Over the course of Jan., the original cryptocurrency rose 30% in value against the U.S. dollar. It rose to settle around $21,000 from $17,000, where it had been stagnating since FTX’s collapse in Nov.
Crypto markets and NFTs
In line with Bitcoin, cryptocurrency markets overall have also shown signs of revival recently. The second-largest crypto Ethereum has also risen some 31% since the beginning of the month. From similarly stagnating, albeit around $1,200, Ethereum is now up to around $1,600.
While still down from its peak of $3.2 trillion in Nov. 2021, total crypto market capitalization has also recovered. From roughly $830 billion at the end of last year, total crypto market cap has risen back above $1 trillion.
Although similarly down from their peak, sales of non-fungible tokens have also seen a rebound in recent weeks. Following a multiple month trend of dwindling NFT sales, volumes actually increased on a monthly basis in Dec.
The deviation can be attributed to the launch of NFT marketplace Blur. In Dec., the “NFT marketplace for pro traders,” saw trading volumes of $484 million. This was nearly double the volume of usual market leader OpenSea during the same period.
Putting Faith in the Fed
Similar to traditional financial markets, cryptocurrencies have started rallying due to investors’ confidence in the policies of the Federal Reserve. Over the past year, it has consistently raised interest rates at an aggressive pace in order to address rampant inflation.
However, the Fed eased the amount it raised rates during its last meeting, amidst reasonable indicators its policies were working. Their guess was proven correct, as the Consumer Price Index actually declined 0.1% in Dec., according to the latest data. Although year-on-year inflation remained at 6.5%, it still represented the sixth consecutive month of decline.
Markets have thus become increasingly hopeful of a “soft landing” to a potential recession that an aggressive Fed could trigger. One expert pointed out that that overall market rally had once again included riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies.
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