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This Week’s Summary

• The cryptocurrency market looks set to end the week at a total market capitalization of $1,63 trillion.
• Bitcoin increased by over 1% to reach around $42,300.
• Ethereum moved down by almost 8% to trade at around $2,250.
• XRP lost almost 4% in value this week, reaching around $0.53.
• Almost all altcoins have been seen trading in the red, with a few exceptions.
• The DeFi sector decreased the total value of protocols (TVL) to around $56 billion.

Cryptocurrency Trends for the Week of Jan. 22-28, January 2024: Market Analysis and Performance

The cryptocurrency market looks ready to close one of its most volatile weeks in recent times. Most assets went on a roller-coaster, seesawing between red and green within hours for most of the week. Fortunately, the storm has mostly passed, and by Saturday, most cryptocurrencies were stabilizing their new positions. Meanwhile, the overall market capitalization decreased by almost $10 billion.

Bitcoin and its supporters will not forget this week anytime soon. The king of cryptocurrencies started the week on an apparent bullish run before plummeting below the $40,000 level. In fact, BTC dropped as low as $38,500 this week.

Next, it rose to regain $40,000 and advanced fast enough to convince many of a historic bull run. That wasn’t the case, and before the weekend, Bitcoin corrected its position at around $42,300, almost $1,000 higher than last week.

Ethereum received some bad news from the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The US institution decided to postpone its decision on an ETH ETF. Therefore, the second crypto in command will have to wait and see if it will earn the SEC’s favor like BTC did earlier this month. The increased wait took a toll on Ethereum’s price, which has recently been seen trading at around $2,250.

Altcoins & DeFi

Most altcoins joined Bitcoin & co. on this week’s roller-coaster. However, only a handful stepped off, still trading into the green. For example, Solana moved up by 6%, Avalanche by 9%, TRON by 2%, and Polygon by 1%. Meanwhile, the other altcoins were not this lucky. BNB and XRP moved down by 4%, Cardano by 3%, Dogecoin by 8%, Polkadot by 3%, and Chainlink by 7%.

The Metaverse sector, however, has not shared the same sentiment as the rest of the crypto market, with most projects seen trading in the green. For instance, ICP moved up by 11%, Stacks by 3%, and Render by 4%. Meanwhile, Axie Infinity moved down by 7%, The Sandbox by 8%, and Theta Network by 1%.

The DeFi sector lost almost $1 billion from the total value in locked protocols (TVL), now at $56.83 billion.

What’s in the News?

• Despite its bankruptcy, Celsius transferred $1 million worth of ETH to exchanges.
• The SEC will decide regarding BlackRock’s filing for an ETH ETF in March.

Next Week’s Crypto Market Forecast

The cryptocurrency market is known for its extreme volatility. So, this week’s back-and-forth movement should not surprise seasoned crypto enthusiasts. Nevertheless, everyone in the industry hopes such an eventful period will not repeat too often this year. Hopefully, the much-awaited bull run is just around the corner.

About the Author

Born and raised in Romania, and currently living in Spain, Iulian discovered a knack for writing from a tender age and won some minor awards for fiction that didn't pay much.

Iulian became a content writer in 2011, and he's still doing it to some degree of success today. He is currently specialized in cryptocurrencies, technology, online marketing, and social media. In his free time, Iulian likes reading, traveling, and watching sports. His dream is to see Bitcoin reach $100,000, just so he can tell his friends “I told you so!”

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