Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were struggling to hold their ground on Monday after rallying higher over the weekend.
smaller companion
Ether
similarly declined, down 1% to under $2,900. The token that underpins the Ethereum blockchain network jumped from under $2,800 on Friday to approach the $3,000 mark over the weekend.
Bitcoin and Ether remain off the all-time highs of $68,990 and $4,865, respectively, reached in early November.
"After so many financial market-moving events, Bitcoin still appears to be stuck in no man's land," Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda, wrote late last week. "Bitcoin's key trading range remains the $37,000 and $45,000 zone."
Moon,
The token that underpins the Terra blockchain network of stablecoins, which are digital tokens tied to assets such as commodities or currencies, saw a notable rise, rising 3% to just $96. It remains slightly below its all-time high. historical of 104.69 dollars, reached at the beginning of this month.
Smaller cryptocurrencies or "altcoins", such as
Solarium,
Cardano,
and
litecoin
exhibited similar price patterns to Bitcoin, slightly higher in the last 24 hours, higher than Friday's levels but below the peaks reached in weekend trading.
Crypto "memes"
doecoin
and
Shiba Inu
— so called because they are based primarily on internet jokes rather than significant blockchain projects — were lower, with Dogecoin falling close to 1% and Shiba Inu more than 2% in the red.
In theory, Bitcoin and its peers should trade independently of the major financial markets. However, cryptocurrencies have shown this year to be correlated to other risk-sensitive assets such as stocks, with the largest digital assets falling on Monday. online with actions. Investors were worried about the latest developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Cryptocurrencies have enjoyed a recent surge after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Anonymous assets have returned to the spotlight, as both Ukrainians and Russians turn to Bitcoin and other tokens to navigate the economic crisis that has hit their countries, wracked by war and sanctions, respectively.
What Barron's reportedUkraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law last week to create a legal framework for cryptocurrencies, which have arrived in the country amid a broader surge in donations. Meanwhile, the demand for cryptocurrencies appears to be increasing in Russia based on Ruble/Bitcoin trading volumes.
“Cryptocurrency traders should be impressed that Bitcoin is still hovering around the $40,000 level despite the rising dollar, declining Bitcoin mining, and falling NFT interest,” Moya added. "Bitcoin's next major move will depend on whether Wall Street can still throw billions of dollars into the space, which seemed like a foregone conclusion two months ago."
Write Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com
