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The cryptocurrency market witnessed a volatile week, with Bitcoin trading in the range of $40,500 to $44,500. Ethereum traded in the range of $2,150 to $2,370. According to experts, the volatility was due to the US Federal Reserve's commentary that it could cut key interest rates three times in 2024, the introduction of an "anti-crypto" bill in the US Senate and the sell-off due to a bull run in the previous week.
"At the outset of the week, Bitcoin commenced trading at the $42,000 level but experienced a decline to $40,000 due to heightened liquidations. However, on Thursday, Bitcoin swiftly rebounded to the $43,000 mark, buoyed by the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain stable interest rates and signal potential rate cuts in the forthcoming year," said Edul Patel, chief executive officer at Mudrex.
"The market responded to the Federal Reserve's projection of potential rate cuts in the coming year, as outlined in their recent announcements. On December 12, Bitcoin temporarily paused at $41,000, with traders closely monitoring the Federal Reserve's rate decision," added Rajagopal Menon, vice president at WazirX.
"The week has been marked by a steep fall in prices after US Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced her 'anti-crypto' bill to put stringent checks on several crypto industry participants," added Parth Chaturvedi, investments lead at CoinSwitch Ventures.
The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act aims to bring the crypto ecosystem into greater compliance with anti-money laundering frameworks governing the traditional financial system in the US.
Chaturvedi added that the market recovered after the US Fed's commentary, in which it also kept the interest rates unchanged.
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Another factor that kept the fight between bears and bulls alive in the market was the sell-off of tokens by investors.
On Friday, Bitcoin was trading at $42,850 and Ethereum was trading at around $2,280. In the last 24 hours, both the tokens fell steeply by 1.39 per cent and 3.48 per cent, respectively.
According to the research team of CoinDCX, this was linked to Ledger's revelation that a former employee fell victim to a phishing attack, enabling the attacker to access the Ledger Connectkit Library and introduce a malicious bug.
The outlook for 2024 continues to remain positive, mainly on the back of Bitcoin ETFs.
"We can expect an impressive start of 2024 from Bitcoin and other crypto assets as events like Bitcoin ETF approval are lined up for early 2024. The market is expected to sustain the momentum owing to the macroeconomic factors," said Shivam Thakral, chief executive officer at BuyUcoin.
