This Week In Crypto: Market Turmoil Drags Crypto Lower

After a chaotic week across global financial markets, the crypto market has followed suit, with high volatility sending major coins lower as “extreme fear” characterizes investor sentiment.

Bitcoin Falls Below Key Support Level

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices have once again slipped back past the $40,000 mark. The past seven sessions didn’t turn out to be favorable for BTC, with its overall value dropping nearly 8%. Currently, BTC is trading near its lowest level since March – when U.S. President Joe Biden first signed the executive order on crypto regulations.

Earlier this week, BTC dropped to ~$38,000 after retail giant Amazon denied all speculation about the platform planning to accept BTC payments. Since then, BTC has rebounded a bit, only to face steep resistance at the $40,000 mark.

In the meantime, BTC Futures are near one-year lows, and BTC trading volume continues to be unusually low, with the 24-hour volume dropping over 16%. The latest data from Arcane Research shows that despite a slight increase from the previous week, trading volume remains very low compared to 2021.

As BTC continues to trend beneath key support, whales are leaving no stone unturned to scoop up as much BTC as possible. Since BTC dipped to $38,000 on April 25th, whale wallets (those holding 10,000 to 100,000 BTC) increased holdings by 2%, acquiring more than 40,000 BTC in just two days.

Low-Cap Altcoins Are Sole Outperformers

While the broader market continues to bleed out, low-capitalization altcoins like ApeCoin (APE) and STEPN (GMT) are some of the only tokens that have successfully defied the overall market dip.

STEPN (GMT), the Web3 lifestyle app built on Solana, has gained significant traction this week. The value of GMT has increased by roughly 32% over the past seven sessions, while the 24-hour trading volume of GMT has climbed a staggering 220%, pushing GMT into the top 50 cryptocurrencies amid this promising upward trend.

GMT’s fresh rally was sparked by speculation that STEPN is partnering with a major sports brand later this year. While an official statement hasn’t been released, the hype around the possibility boosted the token’s value. Coinbase’s recent announcement of giving an “experimental asset” label to STEPN’s GMT and GST tokens and OpenSea’s decision to support trading in STEPN’s sneaker NFTs have also played crucial roles in helping GMT token’s value surge to new highs.

ApeCoin (APE) continues its promising run, with the token registering roughly 43% gains over the past seven sessions. Following its upward rally since launch, APE has now edged past popular play-to-earn game Axie Infinity (AXS), The Sandbox (SAND), and Decentraland (MANA) to position itself as the largest metaverse token.

Furthermore, the recent $2.4 million BAYC NFT robbery didn’t significantly impact the APE token, with investors now preparing for fresh highs amid sustained buying momentum.

Popular Coins Struggle to Recover from Losses

Investor interest, especially in well-known altcoins, has declined over the last seven sessions. The majority of the altcoins have lost double-digit values over the past seven sessions, leading to a sharp decline in the aggregate crypto market capitalization. 

Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, is stuck below the $3,000 mark. Likewise, Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Polkadot (DOT), and Polygon (MATIC) also saw valuations tumble. After a sparkling performance the previous week, EOS and WAVES have dropped 16% and 23% this week, respectively. 

That said, the NEAR token was the biggest loser of the week, with the token sliding nearly 22%. Although the price of NEAR was moving steadily, it fell sharply beneath the $15 mark, shifting the token’s long-term outlook. However, investors are optimistic about a potential breakout with Near Protocol’s new algorithmic stablecoin, USN, now live.

Crypto Adoption Accelerates, New ETFs, and More

Mexico’s Senator and outspoken crypto proponent Indira Kempis took to Twitter to share the news that a new Bitcoin ATM has been installed in Mexico’s Senate building. With this new installation, Mexico now has a total of 14 Bitcoin ATMs, spanning Tijuana, Culiacán, Mexico City, Guadalajara, San Miguel de Cozumel, Cancún, and Aguascalientes.

In another welcome development, the Central African Republic (CAR) will soon adopt BTC as legal tender. Agence France-Presse reported that President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic signed legislation creating a framework for cryptocurrency use in the country and a legal tender law for Bitcoin (BTC). 

Finally, institutional offerings continue to gain momentum, with several leading brands expanding their offerings. BlackRock launched a $4.7 million blockchain-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) that provides exposure to the crypto and blockchain industry without needing direct digital asset ownership. Switzerland-based 21Shares has launched its new ETP tracking a mix of Bitcoin (BTC) and gold to hedge against inflation.

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