Bitcoin (BTC) could be feeling the heat heading into the latter half of the week as the markets brace for another high-profile bankruptcy with Genesis, the lending platform owned by crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group teetering on the precipice.
With more than US$3bn owed to creditors, Genesis’ pending – though still not confirmed – collapse has the potential to spark a fresh round of crypto contagion, just as BTC was in the middle of a 2023 resurgence.
Bitcoin closed 2% lower at US$20,677 on Wednesday, although today saw 0.5% added to bring the BTC/USDT pair above US$20,800. Buy-side orders seem willing to support BTC at US$19,500, while the bears remain pitched at US$22,000.
Can bitcoin (BTC) shrug off fresh market contagion? – Source: currency.com
Ethereum (ETH) fell 3.5% to US$1,511 in yesterday’s session before adding a percentage point this morning. Currently changing hands at US$1,528, the ETH/USDT pair faces resistance at US$1,600 and bullish support at US$1,400.
The wider altcoin space saw a sharp drawback on Wednesday evening on news of a major international enforcement action announced by the US Justice Department. When that ended up being the arrest of the Russian head of the little-known crypto broker Bitzlato, the markets shrugged it off and sought to enter a correction.
Dogecoin (DOGE), Polygon (MATIC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Solana (SOL) all dropped over 5% in a short space of time, but have largely traded upwards this morning.
NFT-focused blockchain network Enjin gained nearly 20% in the past 24 hours following the release of Enjin Wallet 2.0, making it the top mover today.
Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell 2.3% to US$969bn overnight, while total volumes locked across all decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols dipped 1.5% to US$44.5bn.
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