The crypto market has sprung back in action as Bitcoin (BTC) breached $30K for the first time in the past 10 months. Ethereum (ETH) in company of the major altcoins whar also performed significantly better as investors raised bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon end its aggressive monetary tightening campaign.
It seems the cryptocurrency market has been colored in green as major coins rallied with unexpected returns. In tandem with Bitcoin (BTC), altcoins have also posted formidable gains with the second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH) marching towards $2K. This rise can be attributed to investor optimism towards this week’s U.S. inflation data, which could potentially impact the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy trajectory. Aside from optimism, various other factors are also driving the bullish momentum in the market.
In a statement, Shivam Thakral, CEO at BuyUcoin, explained that the combined effect of the Shanghai Ethereum (ETH) upgrade, Bitcoin halving, and other macroeconomic factors have impacted the current momentum in the crypto market following the banking turmoil in the US and Europe sparking worries about the conventional financial system. It is likely the collapse of these high-profile banks highlighted the importance of both digital assets, and decentralized finance (DeFI). Last week, Edul Patel, CEO of the crypto platform Mudrex said,
“With instability in the banking sector, inflation data that exceeded expectations, and renewed optimism about a dovish Federal Reserve, Bitcoin has reached levels unseen in approximately nine months.”
Ethereum Flirts With $2K
According to CoinMarketCap, the global crypto market cap jumped 4.51% in the last 24 hours. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours increased more than 61% to $47.61 billion. As Bitcoin (BTC) soared to a 10-month high, its largest peer Ethereum (ETH) also zoomed more than 3% in the last 24 hours to trade at $1,921. With the Shapella upgrade drawing closer, the second-largest cryptocurrency jumped nearly 2.84% over the past seven days.
It seems enthusiasm regarding Ether continues to run high as the crypto community awaits the hotly anticipated software upgrade, that is set to allow them to gain access to more than $33 billion of ETH. Parth Chaturvedi, crypto ecosystem lead at CoinSwitch stated,
“Ethereum will conclude its two-year transition to proof of stake with the launch of the Shapella upgrade, which is slated for Wednesday. The market’s focus remains majorly on the staked ETH withdrawals. Bullish sentiment surrounds ETH staking upgrades, potentially attracting new capital for rewards, but some fear a supply overhang from locked-up ETH being sold.”
Solana Outperforms Major coins
In the company of the crypto heavyweights, all top crypto coins also traded sharply higher on Tuesday. At the time of writing, Solana (SOL) jumped more than 10% over the past 24 hours to trade at $22.51. Touted as the “Ethereum killer”, SOL accumulated gains of nearly 8% over the past week, outperforming the rest of what is already a bullish market.
One of the major factors prompting the excitement around Solana is the release of Saga, an Android smartphone powered by the Solana blockchain, on April 13. The phone is expected to let users mint their own non-fungible tokens (NFT) from anywhere and access the wider Solana-based ecosystem of apps and projects.
Several experts have claimed that beyond the launch of Saga, the network’s fundamentals have been steady since the start of the year in addition to the recent announcement that Helium Network is planning to migrate to the Solana network. Furthermore, on March 20, the Render Network Foundation proposed building its new burn-and-mint equilibrium (BME) model on the Solana blockchain.
XRP Price Booms Despite Ongoing Legal Tussle
On the other hand, XRP is up 3.20% over the past 24 hours. XRP prices have also been breezing through over recent days as investors grow confident of a potential Ripple win in the lawsuit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Recently, pro-XRP attorney, Jeremy Hogan provided compelling arguments, explaining why digital currency cannot be a security. Hogan argued in detail to explain that XRP can only “possibly” fit under the definition of an “investment contract”.
He reiterated that XRP is neither a bond nor a stock noting that even the SEC concedes that XRP could only be deemed an “investment contract”, claiming the digital asset continues to remain an investment, similar to buying gold. Earlier this month, another lawyer, Bill Morgan chimed in favor of Ripple in the legal battle against the American regulatory agency.
The #1 reason why XRP is not a Security (a thread).
First, under the legislative definition of a security, XRP can only POSSIBLY fit under the definition of an "investment contract." It is not a stock or bond, etc..
Even the SEC concedes this: "investment contract." pic.twitter.com/n9g7ZEos2n
— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) April 9, 2023
Other Major ALTCOINS Post Strong Gains
At the same time, other digital coins such as Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Polkadot (DOT) have witnessed gains in the range between 3.44% and 4.03%. Popular meme-coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) also rallied 2.65% and 1.82%, respectively.
Moreover, metaverse tokens including Decentraland (MANA), Axie Infinity (AXS), and The Sandbox (SAND) also posted strong gains. Given the recent price surge, Tina Teng, markets analyst at CMC Markets noted,
“The reason behind the broad-based rally in crypto is traders’ optimism toward central banks’ monetary policy. Bets for a sooner Fed pivot on rate hikes have been dramatically strengthened following the bank turmoil in early March.”
