Market turns tumultuous
What's being bought and sold*
TOP TRENDING ASSETS
*Trading activity in the past 24 hours on the Uphold platform, as of 8 a.m. 8th January 2025.
The combined total of buy and sell percentages can exceed 100% due to customers who engage in both buying and selling the same asset within the 24-hour time frame.
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What’s up
Unexpected Economic Heatwave Sparks Sell-Off
A hotter-than-anticipated U.S. economy has dampened hopes of further interest rate cuts and helped send Bitcoin tumbling on Tuesday. It was only early yesterday morning that the largest crypto lorded above $100,000. By afternoon, BTC had sunk to about $96,000.
The mass dumping event came alongside a spike in U.S. bond yields; rising bond yields typically underscore a market that is bracing itself for Fed hawkishness.
The 10-year bond yield rose sharply toward 4.70% up from 4.63% on Monday. Coming into the year, Bloomberg asked 51 economists for forecasts regarding the coming trajectory of the 10-year in 2025. Only three respondents saw it going higher. In a testament to the sudden shift in macro sentiment, the U.S. government’s monthly auction of 10-year notes yesterday attracted the highest yield (4.68% on $39 billion worth of notes) seen in 18 years, this after two key measurements (service-sector activity and job openings) came in stronger than expected (YahooFinance).
What's down
Hyperliquid, Hit Hard, Punches Back
Total crypto assets fell 7.6% to $3.48 trillion as of 8:55 a.m. (EST), per CoinGecko. Big alts, such as Ethereum and its rival Solana, fell 7%-8% in 24 hours. Dogecoin declined 10% in that same span.
Among CoinGecko's Top 30 coins, Hyperliquid (HYPE) endured the heaviest lick, down 16%.
Hyperliquid's need for more decentralization is an issue that has risen to the fore, leading to some vocal, public scrutiny of late. The layer-1 chain, known for its derivatives exchange, has countered critics with a lengthy response on social media, essentially saying that it takes feedback seriously and indeed plans to further decentralize.
What's next
Crypto Fund Flows Will Be Closely Watched
The U.S. Labor Department's most recently published Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report, also known as the "job openings" report, showed said openings rose to 8.1 million from 7.8 million the previous month. Analysts had expected a decline.
At the same time, the latest ISM Services Purchasing Managers Index, a monthly gauge of the level of economic activity in the services sector (for December), came in at 54.1, also overshooting expectations, as CoinDesk noted.
Not only did 10-year bond yields climb but 5-year yields (and 30-year yields, for that matter) also shot higher, creating the potential for an unwelcome scenario in which the Fed skips an anticipated rate cut when policymakers meet again (Jan. 29). The minutes from the Fed's last meeting will be published later today, offering further clues as to the central planners' mindset (when it was signaling two cuts in '25).
Regardless, ETF flows, were they to continue on their recent trajectory, could turn the tide of macro negativity that has just swept over crypto. The first three days of the year proved encouraging as $585M flowed into crypto ETFs, mainly BTC and ETH products, globally, per Coinshares. Crypto ETFs set an inflow record in 2024, hauling in $44B.
"This early 2025 activity builds on the previous year’s momentum, suggesting sustained institutional appetite for digital asset exposure," MoneyCheck said.
