Crypto market remains positive, Bitcoin gains while Ethereum trades flat

Crypto market overview: Crypto markets continue to rise for another day. As per the market data, the global crypto market cap continues to inch towards the $1.12 trillion mark. 

The crypto fear and greed index re-entered the neutral zone for the first time in September, as it stands at a score of 47/100. 

Crypto Fear and Greed Index | Image credit: Alternative.me

Shubham Hudda, Senior Manager, CoinSwitch Markets Desk, said, “We can expect some volatility in the markets as the US Federal Reserve is expected to announce its interest rate decision today. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting has been ongoing since yesterday, and the interest rates are expected to remain the same. However, any rise in interest rates will lead to a sell-off for risky assets while a rate cut can induce a rally.”

Talking about the buying signals in Bitcoin charts, Sudeep Saxena, Co-Founder, CoinGabbar said, “Investors are eagerly boosting Bitcoin's recovery in anticipation of the imminent Federal Reserve interest rate announcement. The prevailing consensus suggests that the Federal Reserve is likely to maintain interest rates at the 5.50 per cent level. Additionally, a "golden cross" buy signal has recently materialised as the 50 SMA crossed above the 200 SMA, adding to the positive sentiment.”

Rajagopal Menon, VP, WazirX talked to Republic about the impact of Nomura’s Bitcoin Adoption Fund on the crypto market, promoting a buying sentiment. Menon said, “Japan's preeminent investment bank, Nomura, reinforced the crypto market with the Bitcoin Adoption Fund through its digital asset subsidiary, Laser Digital. This move will further fuel institutional crypto adoption. The Hull Moving Average at 27,160 signals a 'buy' sentiment, with major market moving averages, indicating a strong buy sentiment.”

Shivam Thakral, CEO, BuyUcoin, said, “BTC registered its best performance in 2 weeks to breach the $27,000 mark while ETH changed hands above the $1600 level. Market gurus are suggesting that the US Fed may pause the rate hike but didn’t rule out the future rate hikes. If the borrowing cost remains unchanged, it may prove beneficial for the market in the long term.”

Edul Patel, CEO & Co-Founder, Mudrex said, “With market sentiment ranging from neutral to bullish, market participants await the imminent Federal Reserve's FOMC decision regarding interest rates. Meanwhile, Ethereum is maintaining its position above the $1,600 threshold.”

In other news, Ethereum’s major Layer-2 Optimism, OP, has announced its third round of airdrop where people who have participated in Optimism governance will be rewarded in OP tokens. Other than that, the bankrupt exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against the parents of its founder, Sam Bankman Fried for stealing millions from the crypto exchange. 

Prices listed were last checked at 11:30 am today according to Coinmarketcap.com

Crypto market in last 24 hours

The cryptocurrency market continues to rise following some major updates in the industry. Bitcoin has gained 0.98 per cent in the last 24 hours and has been able to move above the mark of $27,000. Ethereum on the other hand remained relatively flat and marked a minute 0.08 per cent decline. 

Apart from these two leading cryptos, XRP, Toncoin, Polygon, and Wrapped Bitcoin registered significant gains with XRP gaining more than 2.22 per cent and Toncoin recording 3.91 per cent gains. While BNB, Cardano, Dogecoin, Solana, Tron, and Litecoin traded in negative. 

In a recent update, Balancer, an ETH-based DeFi protocol has warned its users to stay away from its website as it's under a frontend attack, with the estimates of losing more than $238,000 so far. However, the firm has said that Balancer’s vault is 100 per cent safe.