Cryptocurrencies dropped more than half a percent in the past 24 hours amidst renewed concerns about inflation, interest rate hikes and recession. Sentiment also weakened as cryptos brace for a tougher regulatory environment, with the European parliament passing MiCA, the first comprehensive rules for digital crypto asset service providers that encompasses all sorts of crypto assets and stablecoins.
Hopes of a dovish pivot by the Fed that had emerged with the recent banking crisis appeared to vanish as markets brace for further tightening by the Fed and other central banks worldwide.
Anxiety triggered by hawkish comments from Fed officials intensified after inflation readings from the U.K revealed price rise persisting in double digits. Data released on Wednesday showed annual inflation in the U.K falling to 10.1 percent from 10.4 percent in the previous month. Markets were expecting it to fall to 9.8 percent. Core inflation remained stubborn at 6.2 percent against expectations of a fall to 6 percent. Monthly inflation dropped to 0.8 percent in March, from 1.1 percent earlier, whilst markets had expected it to fall to as low as 0.5 percent.
The Fed's Beige Book released on Wednesday hinted at reduced access to credit in the light of the recent banking crisis.
The Dollar Index which measures the strength of the Dollar against a basket of 6 currencies and a proxy for the Fed's hawkish tone is currently at 101.81 versus 101.99 a day earlier and 101.01 a week earlier.
Wall Street Futures are currently trading in the red amidst weak corporate earnings. European equity benchmarks are also trading in deep negative territory amidst fears of further monetary tightening by the ECB.
SEC chair Gary Gensler's recent testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services also swayed crypto market sentiment. The SEC chair had noted in his testimony that nothing about the crypto markets was incompatible with the securities laws. He argued that the investing public generally was buying crypto tokens anticipating a profit and reiterated that the vast majority of crypto tokens were securities. He also stated that the many crypto intermediaries transacting in securities had to therefore register with the SEC. The Chair also stated that there was a commingling of the various functions within crypto intermediaries that was not there in other marketplaces. The SEC chair also categorically stated that unfortunately, the crypto market was rife with noncompliance.
Overall crypto market capitalization dropped to $1.22 trillion versus $1.23 trillion a day earlier and $1.25 trillion a week earlier. More than 80 percent of the top 100 cryptocurrencies are trading with overnight losses.
Bitcoin is trading at $28,833.54, down 1.5 percent in the past 24 hours and 4.8 percent in the past week. Year-to-date gains have fallen to 73 percent.
Ethereum is trading at $1,971.67, down0.50 percent on an overnight basis and 1.6 percent on a weekly basis. Ether has gained 63 percent in 2023.
74th ranked BitTorrentNew (BTT) gained 9.3 percent overnight. 64th ranked RenderToken (RNDR) added more than 6 percent overnight. 8th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE) also gained more than 2 percent.
73rd ranked Injective (INJ) dropped 8.9 percent. 88th ranked Zilliqa (ZIL) shed 7.7 percent overnight. 55th ranked Rocket Pool (RPL), 75th ranked Frax Share (FXS), and 84th ranked Casper (CSPR) all declined more than 5 percent.
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April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.