Daily News | Crypto Red Monday, TradFi Still Holds Greater Influence

🥂 Good morning, today is Tuesday, Dec. 20 2022.

Macro at a Glance

Asian equities are expected to decline for a fourth consecutive day, following a drop in US shares and a decline in Treasury bond prices. This comes as investors consider the potential for future inflation and interest rate changes. The S&P 500 closed at its lowest level in over a month, driven down by tech giants including Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. Longer-term Treasury securities led the retreat in prices.

Investors will closely watch the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision later on Tuesday, as speculation grows that the central bank may pivot away from ultra-loose monetary policy, which would strengthen the yen. Meanwhile, stocks in China have fallen due to reports of increasing disruption caused by Covid-19 outbreaks, with a gauge of US-listed Chinese companies down 0.6%. However, Beijing's promise of growth support has boosted metals traders, with iron ore and copper prices rising.

Global sentiment remains negative following comments from former New York Fed President William Dudley, who said that optimistic markets could lead the central bank to tighten further. The 10-year Treasury yield experienced its largest increase since October, and the dollar fluctuated as investors anticipated economic data and the Fed's interest rate outlook.

There are also concerns about a potential slowdown in the US economy, as homebuilder sentiment reached a level not seen in over a decade outside of the pandemic, due to high mortgage rates and construction costs. Major US companies including FedEx and Nike will report earnings in the coming days, and investors will closely monitor executive statements about industry outlooks in the current challenging economic environment.

💡 Today's Markets at Dec. 20 00:16 UTC

BTC -2.23% at $16,430; Ether -2.07% at $1,167.

Asia: Japan +0.20%; Hong Kong -0.50%; China -1.92%; India +0.83%.

Europe: London +0.10%; Paris +0.32%; Frankfurt +0.36%.

US Spot Indices: Dow -0.49%; S&P -0.90%; Nasdaq -1.49%.

US Index Futures: Dow +0.11%; S&P +0.12%; Nasdaq +0.16%.

US Two-year Treasury up 6bps at 4.262%.

US Ten-year Treasury up 14bps at 3.592%.

UK Ten-year Government up 23bps at 3.474%.

US Dollar Index +0.20% at 104.25.

FX in 24hrs: GBP: -0.09%; EUR: +0.17%; JPY: -0.87%; CNY: -0.11%.

Gold -0.37% at 1,785; Brent Crude -1.87% at 79.8.

🧠 Catalysts this week

• Monday: Germany Ifo Business Climate,
• Tuesday: Australia RBA Meeting Minutes, Japan BoJ Interest Rate Decision, US Building Permits
• Wednesday: Germany GfK Consumer Confidence, Canada Inflation Rate
• Friday: Japan Inflation Rate, US Personal Income & Personal Spending, US Durable Goods Orders

Crypto Daily Digest

The Federal Reserve's efforts to curb inflation by tightening monetary conditions have once again become a concern for cryptocurrency traders. Last week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other top officials indicated that the pressure may continue into 2023. Crypto trading firm QCP Capital commented that markets will likely react negatively, either with a slow decline towards the end of the year or a sell-off in January or Q1, similar to what was seen this year.

Crypto prices started the week mixed, with bitcoin and ether down more than 1% and fluctuating around $16,450 and $1,170, respectively. Traditional markets were also slightly lower, with the S&P 500 off 0.3% and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.5%.

Binance's BNB token was down 3% in the past 24 hours. Earlier in the day, the company agreed to acquire the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager and the remaining 40% stake in Indonesian exchange Tokocrypto that it didn't already own. Coinbase saw a 5% drop, while shares of Silvergate traded 3.8% lower. MicroStrategy's shares dipped 0.9%.

Grayscale announced that it is considering ways to return up to 20% of its Grayscale bitcoin Trust's capital to shareholders in the event that it is unable to turn the product into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Grayscale's GBTC was trading at a 48.7% discount on Friday, according to The Block's data dashboard.

Former President Donald Trump's new NFT collection, which launched last week with a $99 price tag, had a floor price of around $290 on Monday morning. It reached a peak of 0.839 ETH on Saturday afternoon, and the total volume has reached 6,492 ETH.

Data and analysis firm Glassnode noted that supply and demand dynamics show a lack of activity as investors remain cautious following the events of the past six to nine months. Glassnode also commented that the outlook for bitcoin is uncertain for the end of the year due to resistance above $18,000, despite seller exhaustion.

News of the Day: Yuga Labs Sues Copycats

NFT developers Yuga Labs and artist Ryder Ripps are locked in a legal battle that shows no signs of slowing down.

Yuga Labs filed a lawsuit against Ripps and Jeremy Cahen, the founder of NFT marketplace Not Larva Labs, in June, accusing them of copying and selling NFT collections and devaluing the original Bored Ape products.

In response, Ripps and Cahen filed a motion to dismiss the case and an anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) motion, but the District Court of Central California has denied these motions. This means that the lawsuit will proceed as planned, with Yuga Labs accusing Ripps and Cahen of profiting off of their intellectual property.

Ripps, on the other hand, has described the lawsuit as an attack on his freedom of speech and has said he will only settle the case for a payout of at least $100 billion. The court did grant the defendants the possibility to refile a motion in the future against Yuga Lab's claim that the duo was benefiting at Yuga's expense, so it looks like this legal tiff is far from over.

In related news, Daniel Alegre is now the new CEO of Yuga Labs. His new gig was revealed yesterday, less than 72 hours after it was announced that he was stepping down from his position as President and COO of Activision Blizzard.

🔽 ApeCoin (APE): $3.42 (-2.88%)

APE Daily Timeframe:

• Closest support zone: 3.2567 - 3.1703
• Closest resistance zone: 3.5566 - 3.8145
• Key Level: 3.0664 (Monthly Low of Jun. 2022)

APE Daily Resistance zones

1. 3.5566 - 3.8145
2. 3.8765 - 4.1230
3. 4.5803 - 4.6346

APE Daily Support zones

1. 3.2567 - 3.1703
2. 3.1135 - 3.0664
3. 2.9207 - 2.8000