The crypto roundup for Wednesday could be considered modestly positive as major coins extend the previous day’s recovery, posting mild gains early morning in New York. In doing so, the digital assets pay little heed to the firmer Treasury bond yields and a corrective bounce in the U.S. dollar amid a light calendar and mixed risk news. However, the gains were short-lived as the trading session extended.
Amid these plays, Bitcoin (BTC) rises for the second straight day to $90,100, after a positive Tuesday, while the gold price (XAU) remains firmer around $4,340 within its four-day trading range. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) recovers from a 10-week low, snapping a two-day losing streak, by rising to 98.40, tracing the slightly upbeat performance of major Treasury bond yields.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications hit a four-month low of -3.8% versus 4.8% prior.
Following the data, the Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller said, “The jobs market is very soft,” while adding that current payroll growth is not positive. That said, Waller’s comments might have taken clues from Tuesday’s downbeat employment data.
Meanwhile, White House Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett, the frontrunner for the Fed Chairman position, said that there is plenty of room to cut rates.
On a different note, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Fed Chair selection news could come in early January and said U.S.–China relations remain positive.
In geopolitics, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers while calling the nation “a foreign terrorist organization.” On a positive note, optimism surrounding the Ukraine-Russia peace deal prevails after Kyiv’s readiness to ease its stance on previously problematic issues.
Notably, the UK released a slew of inflation data for November and raised concerns about the Bank of England’s (BoE) rate cut, which is very much expected for Thursday’s monetary policy meeting, which in turn fueled the UK Treasury bond yields.
Elsewhere, statistics from Europe and Germany were mostly soft and made it hard for the European Central Bank (ECB) to defend its potential rate inaction at Thursday’s monetary policy meeting, offering strength to the European Union (EU) and German Treasury bond coupons.
Crypto, Equity Update
Major cryptocurrency coins reverse the early-day loss, extending Tuesday’s gains, as Wednesday’s trading bell rings in New York.
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) each rise more than 2.0% intraday, but Binance Coin (BNB) drops 0.30% to buck the trend by press time.
Notably, Midnight (NIGHT) marked an 18% jump in the last 24 hours to gain the buyer’s attention, whereas PancakeSwap (CAKE) and Aster (ASTER) both dropped 6.0% each to attract the sellers.
On a broader front, crypto market capitalization (market cap) rose 1.31% on the day to $3.00 trillion, while Bitcoin Dominance rose to 59.1% from 58.5% during the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
That said, some of the top crypto news are as follows, while more updates like this could be traced to our Coin Bytes.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) conveyed details of its planned stablecoin laws, due in 2026, while suggesting approval only for high-quality stablecoins related to central bank currencies, ensuring that stablecoins function as “good money.”
Elsewhere, the Kingdom of Bhutan announced that it will use 10,000 Bitcoin from its reserve to support the development of the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a special administrative territory.
On Wednesday, the shares of Hong Kong’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, HashKey, went live on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX), after a $206 million IPO. With the latest IPO, HashKey becomes Asia’s first publicly listed digital asset company.
Talking about Wall Street performance, the benchmark equity indices traded mixed during the initial hour. That said, the Dow Jones rises 0.40%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both post minor intraday falls at the latest.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks closed mostly lower, led by the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500, while technology stocks helped the Nasdaq finish slightly higher.
Among the key news, major attention focused on a potential $15.0 billion fundraising by Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit, Waymo, at a valuation near $100 billion. Further, a U.S. judge ruled Tesla’s Autopilot marketing as deceptive and recommended a temporary 30-day suspension to its sales license, though regulators allowed time to revise the wording of the advertisement.
- Gold rises within a four-day trading range, posting mild gains around $4,340 by the press time.
- Bitcoin (BTC) extends recovery, up for the second consecutive day to around $90,100 at the latest.
- Ethereum (ETH) rises 2.0%, snapping a three-day losing streak to $3,011 as we write.
- U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) rebounds from a 10-week low, posting the first daily gains in three, near 98.40 as we write.
- U.S. equity benchmarks trade mixed, as the Dow Jones posts mild gains, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both remain modestly offered by press time.
- WTI Crude Oil bounces off a four-year low, snapping a four-day losing streak while rising to $56.20 at the latest.
A Potentially Sluggish Day Ahead
With a light economic calendar and a mixed batch of risk news, financial market traders, including the cryptocurrency participants, could witness an inactive day ahead.
Still, the dovish Fed bias and cautious optimism around a potential Ukraine–Russia peace deal can challenge the U.S. dollar’s latest rebound, likely favoring the recent rise in cryptocurrencies. That said, renewed concerns about China and Venezuela, coupled with a weaker performance in technology stocks, could limit risk-on sentiment.
