Crypto Market Daily Highlights: BTC Hits $24,000 on Lawmaker Support

Key Insights:

• It was a bullish Wednesday session for the crypto top ten, with BTC leading the way.
• Easing regulatory risk delivered a breakout session, with US lawmakers showing crypto support this week.
• The crypto market cap surged by $78.82 billion to end the day at $1,061 billion.

It was a bullish session for the crypto top ten on Wednesday. ADA, BNB, and ETH found strong support. However, BTC led the way, wrapping up the day at $24,000 for the first time since August 2023.

Hotter-than-expected US retail sales figures failed to spook investors. The crypto market dipped briefly in response to a 3.0% surge in January retail sales. Economists forecast a 1.8% increase. Retail sales had fallen for two consecutive months before January’s marked increase in consumption.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill Delivered a Crypto Rally

Easing regulatory risk supported the bullish mid-week session. Following the SEC moves against Kraken and Binance USD (BUSD), the SEC took a different tact.

The SEC proposed amendments to their custody rules to incorporate cryptocurrencies on Wednesday. In addition to custody rules, the changes would also include amendments relating to reporting obligations, bookkeeping, and the registration of investment advisers.

SEC Gary Gensler said,

“I support this proposal because, in using important authorities Congress granted us after the financial crisis, it would help to ensure that advisers don’t inappropriately use, lose, or abuse investors’ assets.”

Gensler added,

“In particular, Congress gave us authority to expand the advisers’ custody rule to apply to all assets, not just funds or securities.”

Activity on Capitol Hill also drew attention, with lawmakers reintroducing a bill to facilitate crypto investments in retirement accounts. Former speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi tweeted,

“Sen. Tuberfille (R) plans to reintroduce the “Financial Freedoms Act.”

Adding,

“It aims to stop the Dep of Labor from restricting individuals from investing their 401ks into crypto. Every American should have the right to invest their retirement money how they see fit.”

Wednesday’s news followed lawmaker scrutiny of the SEC on Tuesday, which may have forced the SEC to take a more measured approach toward the digital asset space.

From an investor perspective, the fact that not all US lawmakers are anti-crypto was positive.

The Day Ahead

Investors should continue monitoring the crypto news wires for FTX, Genesis, and Silvergate Bank updates. However, SEC activity and US lawmaker chatter will remain the focal points.

In the afternoon session, the NASDAQ Composite Index will also influence as the markets respond to US wholesale inflation and jobless claims numbers. On Wednesday, the NASDAQ Composite Index rose by 0.92%. The NASDAQ mini was up 33 points this morning.

Crypto Market Surges as Lawmakers Rein in the SEC

It was a bullish Wednesday session. A mixed start to the day saw the crypto market fall to an early morning low of $977.40 billion. However, finding late-morning support, the crypto market cap surged to a final-hour high of $1,064 billion before easing back.

Despite the late pullback, the crypto market cap ended the session at $1,061 billion, marking a $78.82 billion gain for the day.

The Crypto Market Movers and Shakers from the Top Ten and Beyond

It was a bullish session for the crypto top ten.

BTC led the way, surging by 9.55%, with ADA (+8.27%), BNB (+7.12%), and ETH (+7.59%) close behind.

DOGE (+6.95%), MATIC (+5.59%), and XRP (+4.95%) trailed the front-runners.

From the CoinMarketCap top 100, it was a bullish session.

Render token (RNDR) rallied by 16.21% to lead the way, with optimism (OP) and mina (MINA) seeing gains of 16.16% and 15.38%, respectively.

None of the top 100 cryptos saw red on Wednesday.

24-Hour Liquidations Surged on Short Liquidations

Over 24 hours, crypto liquidations moved to above-normal levels. Short positions had a higher share of liquidations, accounting for 91.46% of total liquidations. At the time of writing, 24-hour liquidations stood at $169.81 million versus $79.35 million on Wednesday morning.

Liquidated traders over the last 24 hours were also higher. At the time of writing, liquidated traders stood at 44,349 versus 25,938 on Wednesday morning. Crypto liquidations were higher over 12 and four hours and over one hour.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations stood at $150.12 million, up from $69.48 million on Wednesday morning, with four-hour liquidations rising from $3.08 million to 82.81 million. One-hour liquidations increased from $0.918 million to $4.37 million.

The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.