Rajagopal Menon News

cryptocurrency tokens was mixed. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Toncoin, and Tron saw gains of up to 1.5%. Meanwhile, BNB, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Cardano, Avalanche, Uniswap, and Chainlink experienced losses of up to 4%. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap declined by 0.09% to around $2.42 trillion in the last 24 hours.

«2024 is expected to be a golden year for cryptos. As an election year in many countries, government spending is likely to skyrocket, compelling central banks to reduce interest rates. The US Federal Reserve is most likely to cut interest rates by 25bps in September. The markets will be awash with liquidity and most asset prices including Bitcoin will go to the moon,» says Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX in an interview with Economictimes.com. Edited excerpts With Bitcoin's momentum gaining traction post-halving, what factors do you believe are driving this upward trend? Rajagopal Menon: The upward trend in Bitcoin's price after the recent halving event can be attributed to several factors such as Institutional demand from entities like ETFs and banks such as JPMorgan. A wall of money from Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) is expected to hit the markets later this year. Additionally, the expected lower interest rates and increased liquidity due to increased government spending have also contributed to the bullish sentiment. Furthermore, Bitcoin has historically exhibited a cyclical pattern, with a parabolic rise occurring approximately 60 days after each of the last three halvings, following a period of sideways movement.

Bitcoin, Solana, and Avalanche. Meanwhile, blue chip crypto token BTC fell over 0.6% to $69,466 in early trade on Thursday, while Ethereum rose over 0.3% to $3,778.

Bitcoin surged over 6% to reach $71,178 during Tuesday's trading session, fueled by a surge in buying activity and renewed inflows of capital into spot BTC ETFs. According to the latest data from SoSoValue, Bitcoin ETFs experienced total net inflows exceeding $241 million on May 20. Among them, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, attracted over $66 million in total net inflows, while Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF, FBTC, recorded net inflows of $64 million.

trading session as investors turned risk-averse amid the current global environment. The global cryptocurrency market cap fell by 1% to approximately $2.41 trillion within the last 24 hours.

Cryptocurrency markets witnessed a downturn in Monday's trading session, with Ethereum, Solana, and XRP leading the decline. The global cryptocurrency market cap also decreased by 1.1% to approximately $2.23 trillion within the last 24 hours. As of 11:50 a.m., Bitcoin was trading marginally higher at $61,150, while Ethereum experienced a 1.15% drop to $2,889. Additionally, altcoins like Solana (-5.2%), XRP (-2.6%), Dogecoin (-3.9%), Shiba Inu (-3.6%), Cardano (-2.7%), and Avalanche (-4%) followed suit in the downward trend.

Cryptocurrency markets witnessed a downturn in Wednesday's trading session, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Dogecoin leading the decline. The global cryptocurrency market cap also decreased by 1.8% to approximately $2.3 trillion within the last 24 hours. As of 12:25 p.m., Bitcoin was trading 1.6% lower at $62,490, while Ethereum experienced a 1.7% drop to $3,017. Additionally, altcoins like Solana (-4.8%), XRP (-3%), Dogecoin (-4,.4%), Shiba Inu (-3%), Avalanche (-5.7%), and Internet Computer (-3.5%) followed suit in the downward trend.

cryptocurrency market cap surged 3.1% to approximately $2.22 trillion over the last 24 hours. As of 12:13 pm IST, Bitcoin was trading 3.2% higher at $59,383. Meanwhile, Ethereum (2.5%), Solana (6.8%), XRP (2.7%), Dogecoin (5.3%), Toncoin (11.5%), Shiba Inu (5.2%), and Polkadot (4.8%) were also trading higher.

Bitcoin's value plummeted by 5.2% to $59,950 during Wednesday's trading session as investors braced for crucial economic data and awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the day. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee gathers on Tuesday for its monetary policy meeting, which is expected to culminate on Wednesday with a decision to leave the Fed funds target rate in the 5.25% to 5.50% range.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Shiba Inu, Tron, and Chainlink recorded gains, trading up to 3% higher.

cryptocurrency, also saw a decline of over 3% to $3,156. Other major cryptocurrencies also experienced declines, with Solana (-6.8%), XRP (-4%), Dogecoin (-6.4%), Toncoin (-6.5%), Cardano (-6%), Shiba Inu (-7.7%), and Avalanche (-9.1%) all registering losses.

Cryptocurrency markets were trading marginally higher in Monday's trade after a moderation in a key U.S. inflation reading heightened hopes of a Federal Reserve rate cut in June. The latest U.S. inflation data was «along the lines of what we would like to see,» Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, keeping alive hopes that the central bank will start cutting interest rates in June.

Bitcoin fell 6.4% to $60,969 on Wednesday, hitting its two-week low ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision and commentary later in the day. Concurrently, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also saw a decline of 9%, falling to $3,075. A sell-off in Bitcoin was also accompanied by record outflows from Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, accelerating the asset losses by the fund since it converted into an exchange-traded fund this year.

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high on Tuesday, surpassing the $72,500 mark, boosted by a flood of inflows into new spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds as well as hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates. In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin jumped to an intraday high of $72,850. Bitcoin has gained over 70% this year and most of the gains have come over the last few weeks. «The catalyst behind this surge is the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs,» said Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX.

Bitcoin hit a high of $69,170, topping November 2021's all-time peak of $68,999.99. Investor interest has increased since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs in late January. It then reversed course and was recently down around 2% at $65,694 at 10:57 am.

The recent surge in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has injected fresh life into Indian cryptocurrency exchanges, as trading volumes on the top platforms reached a ten-month high in February. 

Budget 2024 looms on the horizon, the Indian crypto industry is buzzing with expectations, eager to witness how the Central Government will shape the regulatory landscape for virtual digital assets (VDAs). A focal point for industry experts is the pressing need for changes in the classification and taxation of these assets. One prominent demand from experts is the abolition of the 1% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), a measure currently in place. Analysts argue that this TDS rate hampers investor participation by causing capital losses with each trade, discouraging potential investors from entering the crypto market. Leading voices in the industry have articulated their hopes for Budget 2024:

Bitcoin did not move much but clutched near the $42,800 mark, whereas Ethereum was comfortable above $2,550 levels amid the jittered sentiment for the digital token market. «On the last day, traders opted for profit booking, causing Bitcoin to come close to the $42,000 mark. However, a rapid bullish phase took over, pushing the price up to $43,500 before settling just below $43,000. Bitcoin's next challenge is at the $43,918 resistance level, while the preceding support level stands at $42,510,» said Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex. Other top crypto tokens were trading mixed, with minor changes, on Wednesday. Solana, XRP, Cardano, Dogecoin, and Chainlink were trading in the green, while BNB, Polkadot, Tron, Toncoin, Polygon, and Internet Computer were in the red.

cryptocurrency market cap declined 0.43% to around $1.74 trillion in the last 24 hours. At 11:17 a.m., BTC was trading 0.07% lower at $45,237, while Ethereum was down 0.12% at $2,377. «BTC saw its highest level in 21 months as Bitcoin started the new year by breaking out of its consolidation zone and moving past the resistance at 45k USD as the market potential sees a Bitcoin ETF approval in the first week of January,» said Coinswitch markets desk. Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex, said, «BTC's resistance is now identified at the US$46,100 level, while support holds steady at US$44,800. In tandem, Ethereum mirrors Bitcoin's trajectory, presently trading at US$2,300. To sustain momentum, Ethereum must breach the US$2,500 barrier for further gains.»

Apart from the world's top two cryptocurrencies, other popular crypto tokens like Solana remained on top with 965% returns. Avalanche (266%), Cardano (147%), Polkadot (96%), Tron (95%), XRP (82%), BNB (31%), Dogecoin (30%), and Shiba Inu (30%) were other top tokens. Meanwhile, as far as the top 100 cryptocurrencies are concerned, BONK remained the top crypto gainer in 2023 with an increase of over 9600%. Injective (2,923%), Tellor Tributes (2200%), Kaspa (2,198%), Render (1,051%), and Marinade staked SOL (1,038%) were among the other top 100 cryptocurrencies, according to data available on CoinGecko. On the other hand, EOS, TrueUSD, Dai, and Tether remained the top losers in 2023.

XRP, Avalanche, Dogecoin and Polkadot were trading in the red, while BNB, Polygon, Tron, Litecoin, and Chainlink were in the green. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap declined 0.21% to around $1.65 trillion in the last 24 hours. At 12:23 pm, bluechip crypto token BTC was trading 0.6% lower at $42,450, while Ethereum was down 0.2% at $2,227. Altcoins, such as BNB, and Polygon (MATIC) jumped 10.4%, and 20.3%, respectively. On the other hand, Polkadot, Avalanche, Chainlink, and Shiba Inu declined 1-5%.