🚨 Breaking News: Top Stories and Trends in Crypto

Author

CoinGape Media
December 19, 2024

News

For the third time this year, the United States Federal Reserve, under Jerome Powell’s leadership, has implemented an interest rate cut. With the US economy showing relative stability, Powell indicated that the risks to meeting employment and inflation targets are now balanced. The rate cut brings the Fed funds rate to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

El Salvador, the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender has finally reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.4 billion loan. It comes at a condition of scaling down its “Bitcoin Project”. As a result, the Latin American nation has also agreed to adopt measures that will improve the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio along with improving its balance. The deal comes following four years of rigorous negotiations between the two parties.

In a filing to the SEC, MARA said the acquisition was financed with proceeds from its recently completed zero-coupon convertible notes offerings. The firm also said it had repurchased about $263 million in aggregate principal amount of its existing convertible notes due 2026. It intends to use the remaining proceeds of the notes to acquire more Bitcoin.

Pepeto is a memecoin project built to enhance cross-chain functionality while fostering community engagement.

Markets

The cryptocurrency market faced a steep decline as Bitcoin (BTC) slipped under the $100,000 mark following the Federal Reserve’s 25 basis points rate cut announcement. Contrary to expectations of a favorable market response, the news sparked widespread sell-offs, heavily impacting major altcoins. Ethereum (ETH) fell by 6%, and XRP experienced a notable 10% drop, with most cryptocurrencies trending negatively.

An exception to the downturn was USUAL, which surged by 23% in the last 24 hours. The overall market capitalization fell by 5% to $3.44 trillion. However, trading volumes spiked by 40%, reaching $251 billion, indicating active market participation. The Fear and Greed Index remained at 69, reflecting a greedy sentiment despite the dip.

After the US Federal Reserve announced a 25 bps rate cut on Wednesday, the Bitcoin price came crashing under the $100K level to trigger the broader crypto market crash. The selling pressure was a reaction to the Fed’s future monetary policy guidance for 2025 and coming years.

Along with Bitcoin, altcoins also faced strong pullback correcting to the tune of 10% and more. Top altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), XRP, Solana (SOL), and others corrected 5-10% triggering more than $860 million in liquidations.

The crypto market recorded massive selling pressure today, with Bitcoin price facing a major setback. The leading crypto by market cap has recently slipped below the $100K level, amid massive selling pressure noted in the broader financial market, let alone the digital assets space. Notably, this BTC retreat, which has recovered from its 24-hour hour low, came just after the decision to cut the Fed rate and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech.