Blue chip cryptocurrency prices are on the front foot on Wednesday as US yields and the US dollar fall and US equity prices rise on a raft of weaker-than-expected US survey data.
Bitcoin (BTC) recovered to trade in the $26,300s and Ether (ETH) to the upper $1,600s, both up in the region of 2% over the last 24 hours after flash US PMI Survey data for August showed the dominant US service sector stagnating, raising concerns that the US economy might not be quite as strong as data in recent weeks has suggested.
That has eased fears about more interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve later this year.
As per the CME’s Fed Watch Tool which monitors US interest rate futures market pricing, the implied probability of another 25-bps rate hike by the November meeting fell to under 40% on Wednesday from above 45% one day ago.
Crypto prices tend to perform well when markets are lowering their bets as to how high US interest rates will go, and vice versa.
While the recovery will be reassuring to the crypto bulls, traders need to not get carried away.
That’s because remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell later in the week could put a dampener on the rally.
The Fed Chair is speaking at an annual consortium of central bankers at Jackson Hole and is expected to 1) keep the door open to additional interest hikes and 2) push back against the idea of premature rate cuts given the battle against inflation in the US is still not won.
If markets interpret this message hawkishly, the US dollar and yields could once again rise, sending blue chip cryptos lower.
Until then, major cryptocurrencies are unlikely to explode too much higher.
Traders looking for quick gains will probably continue to flock to the illiquid shitcoin/meme coin markets, where coins routinely post double, triple or even up to 10x gains in a single day.
Of course, these types of highly risky coins can also shed almost their entire value in a single day, so traders should exercise extreme caution.
That being said, here are some of the top performers as per DEXTools.
SP500 ($SP500)
SP500 ($SP500), whose name and ticker is based on the commonly used ticker for S&P 500 contract for difference (CFDs) derivatives and markets itself as “the bridge between traditional finance and crypto”, has been pumping on Wednesday, up 160% in the past 24 hours as per DEXTools.
$SP500 last had a market cap of around $140,000 and just over $160,000 in liquidity, with over $350,000 in 24-hour trading volumes and now close to 250 holders.
DEXTools’ security audit doesn’t reveal any concerning aspects to the token contract, but given that liquidity isn’t locked, there is still a risk the token could be a rug pull.
Traders should exercise extreme caution.
Salt Token ($SALT)
A shitcoin called Salt Token ($SALT) that was launched last week hit new all-time highs on Wednesday, having gained 100% in the last 24 hours as per DEXTools.
Its market cap was last just under $300,000, with nearly $170,000 in locked liquidity, 24-hour trading volumes of $150,000 and over 700 holders.
DEXTools’ GoPlus security audit identifies a 2% buy and sell tax, plus an anti-whale mechanism.
XDoge ($XD)
XDoge ($XD), a meme coin themed on the “rebirth” of Dogecoin and Twitter, has pumped back into life on Wednesday, gaining 70% on the day, as per DEXTools.
XDoge’s market cap was last close to $350,000, with $70,000 in liquidity, $220,000 in 24 hour trading volumes and now close to 1,500 holders.
The shitcoin has been around for a little while now (just under one month), which should ease concerns about it being a rug pull/scam.
DEXTools’ GoPlus security audit only identifies one concerning aspect to the token’s contract, an antiwhale mechanism.
Alternatives to Consider
For crypto investors looking to diversify, an alternative high-risk-high-reward investment strategy to consider is getting involved in crypto presales.
This is where investors buy the tokens of up-start crypto projects to help fund their development.
These tokens are nearly always sold very cheap and there is a long history of presales delivering huge exponential gains to early investors.
Many of these projects have fantastic teams behind them and a great vision to deliver a revolutionary crypto application/platform.
If an investor can identify such projects, the risk/reward of their presale investment is very good.
The team at Cryptonews spends a lot of time combing through presale projects to help investors out.
Here is a list of 15 of what the project deems as the best crypto presales of 2023.
Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
