The latest moves in crypto markets, in context Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. |
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Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here’s what’s happening this morning: - Market Moves: Bitcoin breaks bullish trendline ahead of the U.S. non-farm payrolls report.
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. - Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, VaynerMedia
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Today’s newsletter was edited by Omkar Godbole and produced by Parikshit Mishra. Let us know what you think by replying to this email. |
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Market Moves By Omkar Godbole |
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Bitcoin's daily chart is leaning bearish ahead of U.S. April payrolls and wage-growth data that could influence market expectations about the pace of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary tightening. On Thursday, the leading cryptocurrency fell nearly 8%, printing a UTC close under an ascending trendline that connected bullish higher lows from Jan. 24 and Feb. 24. The breakdown of the three-month rising trendline perhaps implies the resumption of the broader decline from November highs. Popular indicators like the relative strength index (RSI) and the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) histogram are also biased bearish. Support is seen at $34,322, the Feb. 24 low, followed by the Jan. 24 low of $32,933, according to the charting platform TradingView. The non-farm payrolls report scheduled for release on Friday at 12:30 UTC is likely to show the economy gained 391,000 jobs last month after adding 431,000 in March, according to FXStreet. The unemployment rate is likely to have dropped to 3.5% in April from 3.6% in March. Wages probably grew 0.4%, or 5.5% on a year-over-year basis, the same pace as the preceding month. With the Fed focused on bringing down inflation, the jobless rate and wage-growth numbers are likely to overshadow the payrolls figure. A tight labor market and wage increases cause inflation, so an above-consensus wage growth figure and a drop in the jobless rate may bolster inflation worries and increase the odds of a 75 basis point rate increase next month. That might bring additional downside pressure for risk assets, including bitcoin. |
Bitcoin's daily chart (TradingView, CoinDesk) |
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The Fed on May 4 raised the benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points and suggested that large increases are likely in the coming months. The central bank also said it would start reducing its near $9 trillion balance sheet. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers aren't actively considering a 75 basis point hike, that guidance may have been based on expectations the labor market will cool and inflation will peak. Powell made it clear the central bank is open to tolerating an economic recession to bring down inflation, leaving the door open for renewed repricing of even bigger increases. Memecoins outperformed in April By Shaurya Malwa April fared relatively well for memecoins such as dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB), but marked big losses for decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens like aave (AAVE) and thorchain (RUNE), research by crypto exchange Kraken noted this week. Considering bitcoin’s (BTC) 17% loss as a benchmark, the broader DeFi sector lost 34% on average, closely followed by tokens of layer 1, or base blockchains at 33%. DeFi relies on smart contracts instead of third parties to provide financial services, such as trading, lending, and borrowing, to users. DeFi-centric RUNE slumped 51%, the most in that sector, while the minimum loss was 22%. Among layer 1s, Solana’s SOL, Avalanche’s AVAX, and Near Protocol’s NEAR slumped at least 34% in the past month. DeFi projects also saw a drop in revenues, which are earned each time a user conducts financial activity on the protocol with the protocol a small cut of volumes as fees. The drop likely occurred as token prices fell and interest among investors took a hit. Read the Full Story |
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The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours: |
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Biggest Gainers There are no gainers in CoinDesk 20 today. Biggest Losers |
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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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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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