Daily News | Inflationary Concerns Continue To Haunt Global Equities and Crypto Markets

2022-12-28, 02:53

TL; DR

🥂 Good morning, today is Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

Macro: Asian equities are expected to decline today due to concerns about inflation and a global economic downturn. The 10-year Treasury benchmark yield has also risen, and global equities have lost roughly 20% of their value this year. Despite this, the outlook for oil has improved and some commodities, such as iron, copper, and gold, have gained in value.

Crypto: Crypto has experienced a range of changes over the past 24 hours, with some experiencing significant declines while others have seen modest changes, in particular, BTC and ETH were both down by over 1%. Crypto spot market trading volume has also fallen below $10 billion for the first time since December 2020. This decline follows a trend of decreasing NFT sales every month since April.

Topic of the Day: DOJ Launches Criminal Probe into $370 Million Crypto Heist at FTX Exchange

Notable Headlines: Argo Blockchain asked to suspend trading on Nasdaq as it prepares to make an announcement Wednesday; The US Justice Department has arrested Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg; The US Justice Department launches criminal probe into $400M FTX Hack…

Macro at a Glance

As we approach the end of a tumultuous year for financial markets, Asia equities are expected to decline today due to concerns that easing pandemic measures in China could lead to increased inflation and a global economic downturn. These worries have caused equity futures in Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore to drop, and tech equities in the S&P 500 to fall by 0.4% on low volume.

The US 10-year Treasury benchmark yield has also risen by 9 basis points, and its Australian counterpart has soared by 16 basis points in early Asian trading. These cautious sentiments have dampened investors’ hopes for a market rally to cap off the year.

Global equities have lost roughly 20% of their value, making this the worst annual drop since 2008. Additionally, the 10-year Treasury yield is currently above 3.80%, up from 1.5% at the start of the year, and Bitcoin has remained below $17,000 after starting the year at over $47,000.

The news that China will lift quarantine requirements for inbound visitors and begin issuing passports and Hong Kong travel permits to mainland residents has only added to these concerns about inflation. Despite this, the outlook for oil has improved due to China’s reopening, and gold has also edged higher, trading above $1,800 an ounce.

💡 Today’s Markets at Dec. 26 23:19 UTC

BTC -1.27% at $16,697; Ether -1.33% at $1,210.

Asia: Japan +0.55%; Hong Kong Closed; China +0.98%; India +0.65%.

Europe: London Closed; Paris +0.70%; Frankfurt +0.39%.

US Spot Indices: Dow +0.11%; S&P -0.40%; Nasdaq -1.38%.

US Index Futures: Dow +0.02%; S&P +0.01%; Nasdaq -0.02%.

US Two-year Treasury up 5bps at 4.383%.

US Ten-year Treasury up 9bps at 3.850%.

UK Ten-year Government unchanged at 3.640%.

US Dollar Index -0.12% at 103.82.

FX in 24hrs: GBP: -0.25%; EUR: +0.03%; JPY: -0.51%; CNY: +0.02%.

Gold +0.57% at 1,811; Light Crude +1.94% at 79.70.

🧠 There is no significant catalyst this week.

Crypto Daily Digest

The top 20 coins have seen a mix of ups and downs in the past 24 hours. While some have experienced significant declines, such as BTC falling by 1.02% to $16,700 and LTC decreasing by 3.06% to $68.33, others have had more modest changes or even increases, such as BNB rising by 1.06% to $246 and XRP increasing by 1.12% to $0.367.

Some coins, like DOGE and TONCOIN, have experienced larger drops, falling by 2.75% to $0.0734 and 4.32% to $2.18, respectively. Other coins, such as ETH, ADA, and GT, have seen more moderate declines, with ETH decreasing by 1.24% to $1,209, ADA dropping by 1.68% to $0.260, and GT falling by 2.07% to $3.37.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 saw some declines, falling by 0.4% and 1.4% respectively. Coinbase and MicroStrategy fell by over 8%, while Silvergate fell by 4%.

Meanwhile, crypto spot market trading volume has fallen below $10 billion for the first time since December 2020, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard. This decline follows a trend of decreasing NFT sales every month since April.

🌐 Top 20 Coins Performance

BTC -1.02% at 16,700; ETH -1.24% at 1,209.

BNB +1.06% at 246; XRP +1.12% at 0.367; DOGE -2.75% at 0.0734.

ADA -1.68% at 0.260; MATIC -0.56% at 0.806; DOT -1.48% at 4.47.

TRX -1.00% at 0.0541; SHIB -1.76% at 0.00000817; LTC -3.06% at 68.33.

SOL -2.34% at 11.04; UNI -0.41% at 5.16; AVAX -0.81% at 11.61.

TONCOIN -4.32% at 2.18; GT -2.07% at 3.37.

Topic of the Day: DOJ Launches Criminal Probe into $370 Million Crypto Heist at FTX Exchange

Last month, the Department of Justice launched a criminal probe into the theft of more than $370 million from FTX just hours after the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy.

The theft is separate from the fraud case against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of misusing billions of dollars while at the helm of FTX and fraudulently raising $1.8 billion from investors.

The investigation is being led by the DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which is working with Manhattan federal prosecutors to track the stolen funds and determine whether the infiltration was an inside job or the work of an opportunistic hacker.

The stolen assets have been frozen on certain platforms, but it remains unclear whether the hacker will be able to cash out the rest of the stolen funds. The conduct could result in a charge in connection with computer fraud, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

FTX Token (FTT) $0.9199 (-0.31%): 🔽 Bearish Outlook

The FTX Token (FTT) has plummeted by over 95% from its October high.

If you’d like us to cover any specific token or macro data, feel free to reach out to us by dropping a message in our Reddit community. Meanwhile, for a full analysis of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE), click here.

Notable headlines

🔹 Argo Blockchain asked to suspend trading on Nasdaq as it prepares to make an announcement Wednesday. The miner said two weeks ago that it was in “advanced negotiations with a third party” to sell certain assets in an effort to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

🔹 The Pudgy Penguins floor price jumped 25% in ether terms over the past 24 hours. The cost of the cheapest item in the collection has almost doubled in U.S. dollar terms in December. Sales have risen this month following a sold-out launch at Sotheby’s.

🔹 DEX Trader Joe has launched its mainnet on Arbitrum. This move signifies a new trend in crypto protocols launching on multiple chains in the hopes of growing their user bases.

🔹 The US Justice Department has arrested Avraham Eisenberg, who came forward as the Mango Markets exploiter back in October. Eisenberg led a team to exploit Mango Markets in October for $114 million by manipulating the price of the exchange’s native token, MNGO.

🔹 The US Justice Department launches criminal probe into $400M FTX Hack, Bloomberg reports. Some findings have suggested the digital fingerprints left by the alleged hacker point to an inside job.