The cryptocurrency market remained in a state of flux on Friday, October 13. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, saw a minor decrease of 0.09 percent, trading at $26,777 (approximately ₦27,878,800). This marked the fifth consecutive day of Bitcoin trading in the red. Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin’s value slipped by $43 (about ₦44,720). The current support level for Bitcoin stands at $26,500 (around ₦27,600,000), while the resistance level hovers at $27,000 (roughly ₦28,080,000). Market experts attributed the declining prices of Bitcoin and Ether to a cautious market sentiment, influenced by a slightly higher-than-expected inflation report. This, in turn, led to an increase in US Treasury rates and a stronger dollar.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, experienced a loss of 1.29 percent on Friday, trading at $1,540 (approximately ₦1,601,600). Over the past 24 hours, the price of Ether dropped by $20 (around ₦20,800). This places Ether at its lowest price point since March.

According to Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead at CoinSwitch Ventures, “ETH witnessed selling pressure, taking its price down to its seven-month low, before showing a slight recovery. The US Dollar Index (DXY) has climbed around 0.8 percent, pressuring ‘risk-on’ asset classes like equities and crypto.”

Several other prominent cryptocurrencies, including Binance Coin, Solana, Cardano, Dogecoin, Tron, Polygon, and Polkadot, registered losses, mirroring the trend set by BTC and ETH.

The group of loss-making cryptocurrencies also includes Shiba Inu, Chainlink, Avalanche, Stellar, Monero, Cosmos, and Uniswap.

The overall market capitalization of the cryptocurrency sector decreased by 0.50 percent over the past 24 hours, maintaining a level of $1.05 trillion (roughly ₦1,092,200,000,000) for the last three days.

Chaturvedi explained, “The dip in the markets, including crypto, is being attributed to the September CPI (Consumer Price Index) data that came out yesterday. CPI has risen 0.4 percent against a market estimate of 0.3 percent.”

On the brighter side, stablecoins such as Tether, Ripple, USD Coin, and Binance USD showed gains in trading.

Other cryptocurrencies that recorded profits include Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Leo, Elrond, EOS Coin, and Cartesi.

The market’s dynamics are complex and multifaceted. The recent announcement that the US SEC is facing a crucial decision, potentially challenging Grayscale Investments’ legal victory, has brought uncertainty to the market. This decision could significantly impact spot Bitcoin ETFs and affect Bitcoin’s price. Observers suggest that this legal challenge could slow down the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, although the prevailing sentiment is that the SEC will likely follow the court’s decision. In the coming days, the crypto market could see continued price fluctuations as it responds to these developments.

Ps: I use the Nigeria FX Parallel market rate Dollar to Naira valuation. And note that at the time of this writing Dollar to Naira Parallel market valuation stands at $1 = #1,040.