  The latest moves in crypto markets, in context January 21, 2022 Sponsored by  If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.
Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning:
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 will feature guests:
Market Moves The developing narrative of ether and alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, decoupling from bitcoin in an adverse macro environment went up in smoke early Friday as a sell-off in stocks and the largest cryptocurrency caused extensive damage to the broader crypto market.
Bitcoin fell to a five-month low of $38,300 during the Asian hours, an 8% slide on a 24-hour basis.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, tanked 10%, printing lows near $2,800. The convincing move under $3,000 saw some traders book bearish option strategies, Swiss-based derivatives analytics platform Laevitas said.
While binance token slipped 10%, native tokens of Looping, Yearn Finance, Compound and Aave fell between 12% and 15%, CoinDesk data show. Recent outperformers such as Fantom's FTM and Cosmos's ATOM dropped 10% and 5%, respectively.
All crypto market sectors, including gaming and metaverse, traded in the red and suffered more significant losses than bitcoin.
"It appears as though the whole market is simply correlated to equities now," Laevitas said. "So it will be interesting to see how that evolves with the Federal Reserve looking increasingly likely to raise rates faster."
The price action perhaps indicates that the market value of cryptocurrencies promising sound money and democratized finance is heavily dependent on centralized liquidity – the Fed's money printing program.
Ether and the broader crypto market had stayed relatively resilient following bitcoin's early December crash to a then two-month low of $42,000. That had several observers calling a continued ether outperformance over the near term.
What next?
Bitcoin's retreat from record highs near $69,000 reached in November appears to have cleared the froth, as evidenced by the decline in meme tokens like shiba inu (SHIB).
The self-proclaimed dogecoin-killer is down over 70% from the late October peak. The token surged 830% in October, signaling retail frenzy often observed at market tops.
However, the key to a fresh bull run is renewed institutional participation, which remains elusive.
"The awaited institutional inflows have still not returned, and with that $40,000 BTC support broken, the wider market has been pushed lower," Laurent Kssis, a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) expert and director of CEC Capital, said.
The focus will be on bitcoin's UTC close on Friday, as potential failure to rise back above $40,00 may invite more chart-driven selling.
"The loss of the $40,000 mark today will likely lead to more bearish sentiment, which in turn could push the price further down – it could even test last July's low of $30,000," Robbie Liu, a researcher at crypto financial services provider Babel Finance, said in an email.
"In addition, as we near the Lunar New Year, Chinese investors' demand to cash out is also putting the market under greater selling pressure," Liu added. China's week-long Lunar New Year holiday begins on Jan. 31. While several traditional market observers were quick to call out El Salvador's supposedly utopian decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender and invest in the top cryptocurrency as the reason for the spike in the country's CDS, the U.S. Federal Reserve's hawkish turn also appears to have played a role.
Read the full story here: Ether, Altcoins Tank With Bitcoin as Decoupling Narrative Goes Up in Smoke
A Message from CME  Step into Ether futures with a micro-sized contract
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: There are no gainers in CoinDesk 20 today. Biggest Losers:
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.
A Message from Brave  Brave Wallet is the first secure crypto wallet built natively in a web3 browser. No extensions required.
Store, manage, and grow your portfolio, get NFT & multi-chain support. Even connect other wallets and DApps. All from the security of the best privacy browser on the market.
Whether you’re new to crypto, or a seasoned pro, it’s time to ditch those risky extensions. It’s time to switch to Brave Wallet.
Latest Headlines
 New Money, a new series by CoinDesk, explores what it means to be part of the new “creator economy.” In the talk show hosted by Spencer Dinwiddie and Solo Ceesay, we hear from pro athletes, celebrities and social media influencers who are on the cutting edge of interacting directly with fans and developing new ways to generate revenue from their own celebrity. Learn more here.
Technician's Take By Omkar Godbole Bitcoin's daily UTC close pivotal  Bitcoin's monthly chart with MACD histogram (Source: TradingView) Bitcoin looks south, having found acceptance under the key 61.8% Fibonacci retracement.
A UTC close under the horizontal support at $39,600, the bullish higher low created in September, may bolster bearish sentiment.
ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:
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.
First Mover A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here. Copyright © 2021 CoinDesk, All rights reserved. 250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA Manage your newsletter subscriptions | Unsubscribe from all CoinDesk email |