Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) traded flat Tuesday evening as the global cryptocurrency market cap decreased 0.7% to $2.1 trillion.
What Happened: The apex coin traded 0.1% higher at $42,354.43 over 24 hours. For the week, it has fallen 1%.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) traded 2% lower over 24 hours at $3,163.57 over 24 hours. Over a seven-day period, it has dropped 2.5%.
Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) was up 1.1% at $1.49 over 24 hours. It has soared 25.9% over the last seven days.
Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) dropped 4.3% to $0.165 over 24 hours. The meme cryptocurrency has gained 7.8% over a seven-day period.
DOGE-rival Shiba Inu (SHIB) declined 4% to $0.00003 over 24 hours. Over the week, it has gained 1.8%.
The top three gainers over 24 hours were Wonderland (TIME), Stacks (STX), and ECOMI (OMI), according to CoinGecko data.
TIME spiked 16.8% to $1,284.73, STX gained 14.8% to $2.38, while OMI rose 9.3% to $0.0081 in the period.
See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)
Why It Matters: Regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrencies is in the spotlight as Bitcoin retreated, noted Marcus Sotiriou, a senior analyst with United Kingdom-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock.
Sotiriou noted the restriction of cryptocurrency advertisements by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and calls from the central banks of India and Pakistan to have cryptocurrencies declared illegal as examples of tough acts by authorities.
“I think these actions from Pakistan, Singapore and India will only shift economic value to other countries who are more accepting of this revolution, like El Salvador,” wrote Sotiriou, in an emailed note.
The analyst noted the near-50% increase in prices of privacy-oriented tokens Secret (SCRT) and Dusk Network (DUSK) over the past week as regulatory rises in tempo.
While SCRT soared 59.7% over a seven-day period, DUSK was up 36.4% in the same period, according to CoinGecko data.
“I think privacy-related cryptocurrencies will be a trend in the coming years and will outperform the market at some point, as they could be a way to bypass strict regulations, due to the flow of money across their networks being obscured,” said Sotiriou.
Major stock indices fell sharply on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 declining 1.8% to 4,577.11 and Nasdaq down 2.6% to 14,506.90.
The anticipation of a more hawkish Federal Reserve buoyed yields on U.S. bonds Tuesday. The benchmark 10-year paper hovered around the 2% mark at 1.87%, which is the highest level since January 2020, according to a Reuters report.
The contrast between the equities and cryptocurrency market was on full display Tuesday. It was noted on Twitter by Blockware Solutions lead insights analyst Will Clemente.
Bitcoin in orange, Nasdaq in blue pic.twitter.com/eXS07Jw36G
— Will Clemente (@WClementeIII) January 18, 2022
Amsterdam-based cryptocurrency analyst Michaël van de Poppe tweeted that $41,300 is an “important area” for Bitcoin.
“I’m assuming we’ll see some retests taking place on the lower regions (most likely scenario before reversing),” said Van de Poppe.
The area at $41.3K is an important area for #Bitcoin, although I’m assuming we’ll see some retests taking place on the lower regions (most likely scenario before reversing). pic.twitter.com/coTJ1Flh37
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) January 18, 2022
Ethereum was under pressure on Tuesday amid diversification by cryptocurrency traders, as per Edward Moya, a senior market analyst with OANDA.
“Ethereum is also lower on the day as many crypto traders begin to diversify away from the top blockchain network and increase holdings in other altcoins that are still in their growth stage: Cardano has made a comeback, while Solana and Terra have been gaining momentum,” wrote the analyst, in a note seen by Benzinga.