The latest moves in crypto markets, in context

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

• Market Moves: Bitcoin hovered above pivotal support at $40,000 in European hours, though traders appeared to grow more fearful of market conditions. 

First Mover Editor Omkar Godbole is off today along with much of the CoinDesk staff for various holidays around the world. Today’s newsletter was edited and produced by Bradley Keoun, with contributions from reporter Shaurya Malwa.

Please let us know what you think by replying to this email.

Market Moves

By Shaurya Malwa

Crypto markets continued a second day of slide on Friday as bitcoin hovered above pivotal support at $40,000 in European hours, data show.

Bitcoin (BTC) bounced to $40,100 early Friday, after losing 2.9% Thursday.

Bitcoin is trading near the $40,000 support level, which runs through the lows of the first three months of the year. Current price action is, however, a sign of alarm among some traders.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency markets, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, a popular sentiment indicator that's hosted on the website Alternative.me, suggested “extreme fear” among crypto investors on Friday, with a reading at 22. That's down from last week’s “fear” reading of 37.

But XRP and dogecoin (DOGE) were higher.

XRP 

XRP’s rise came amid positive sentiment for the payments tokens as Ripple founder Brad Garlinghouse said Thursday its ongoing defense against a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was going “much better than expected.”

Ripple, which uses XRP in its payments protocol, disputes the SEC's contention that the XRP token was issued and sold as an unregistered security to U.S. investors.

DOGE 

DOGE’s rise came as Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered to take over the entirety of the popular social media platform Twitter. Musk holds a 9.2% stake and has offered to take Twitter private at a valuation of $54.20 per share.

Some analysts speculate that Musk, who has publicly backed dogecoin's growth and development, could integrate the token in some capacity on Twitter.

“The speculation is that advertisers could be able to pay DOGE for ads and for other uses on Twitter,” explained Kryptomon Chief Marketing Officer Tomer Nuni in a note to CoinDesk last week.

 Read more: Bitcoin Regains $40K as Sentiment Turns to 'Extreme Fear'

 Also: XRP, Dogecoin Outperform as Crypto Markets Continue Slide

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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:

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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Consensus 2022, the must-attend crypto and blockchain experience of the year, is heading to Austin, Texas, from June 9-12. This is the only festival showcasing and celebrating all sides of the blockchain and crypto ecosystems and their wide-reaching effect on commerce, culture and communities. Register now for the lowest price.

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. 

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