Crypto markets at the start of Feb 2024 – Will love and BTC age well?

As of the beginning of February 2024, the crypto market is experiencing fluctuations influenced by various factors. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rate hikes has played a pivotal role in impacting the market dynamics, causing significant shifts in crypto values since December 2023. Despite the challenges, the market continues to showcase resilience and opportunities for traders.

While the market presents challenges, predictions for the year suggest interesting opportunities for traders, emphasizing the importance of staying informed about the evolving landscape. As February progresses, traders will need to navigate these complexities to determine whether it proves to be a favorable or challenging month for cryptocurrency trade.

Crypto markets and love – a good or bad month for trade?

The month of love is here. How’s your portfolio and your love life? Try to make one work, if not both. February markets start on a downtrend after the Fed meeting. Both Bitcoin and altcoins have experienced a market slump to some level.

As of this writing, the current value of Bitcoin (BTC) is $42,113.86, reflecting a decrease of 0.1% from one hour ago and 1.3% since yesterday. As of today, BTC is 5.3% more valuable than it was seven days ago. The aggregate traded volume of Bitcoin over the preceding twenty-four hours was $25,864,008,818.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization value sits at $1.69 trillion, representing a change of -2.18% over the past twenty-four hours and 51.71% over the past year. The valuation of Bitcoin currently stands at $826 billion, signifying a market share of Bitcoin (48.79%). Stablecoins, meanwhile, have a market cap of $137 billion, or 8.07% of the total crypto market cap.

DeFi protocols lose millions in exploits

In January 2024, decentralized finance (DeFi) security startup Quantstamp discovered that Web3 initiatives suffered a combined loss of $38.9 million due to smart contract hacks, key compromises, and fraud.

In terms of the five smart contract protocols that experienced the most significant losses, Goledo Finance, Gamma Strategies, Radiant Capital, and Wise Lending are in that order.

Singapore police ask crypto users to turn to hardware wallets

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) have issued a joint advisory to raise awareness about cyberattacks using crypto drainers, a type of malware that targets crypto wallets. Phishing attacks use crypto drainers to steal funds from victims’ wallets without their permission.

According to the SPF and CSA, crypto-drainer attacks begin with phishing tactics, which typically involve hacking into famous social media accounts or sending fake emails to consumers from hijacked databases of big service providers.

Singapore officials advocated using hardware wallets to protect against wallet drainer attacks, among other steps. While recommending crypto investors conduct rigorous research, the advice also encourages Singaporeans to report any such event to authorities and crypto service providers.

Ark Invest in the spotlight again!!

A 2023 research paper from ARK Invest emphasizes Bitcoin’s historical outperformance of key assets and recommends an institutional portfolio allocation of up to 19.4% to maximize risk-adjusted returns.

On January 31, the investment management firm released its annual report, which includes numerous study findings on the technological convergence of blockchain, artificial intelligence, energy storage, and robots.

ARK gives facts showing that Bitcoin outperforms other traditional investing assets over longer periods. Bitcoin’s annualized return has averaged 44% over the last seven years, compared to 5.7% for other major assets.

New York Community Bank tanks

New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), which bought the bankrupt crypto-friendly Signature Bank in 2023, had its stock price plummet after posting a $260 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2023 and cutting its dividend. 

Signature Bank officially closed in March 2023 and was taken over by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). A week after the collapse, the NYCB bought the collapsed bank’s non-crypto deposits and loans. 

Following the acquisition of Signature Bank, NYCB stock increased to $9.19 on March 21, reaching a high of $13.87 on July 31.

However, a recent sell-off has eroded the stock’s gains from the Signature Bank acquisition. On January 31, NYCB presented its report for the last three months of 2023, which revealed a $260 million loss in the quarter, compared to a $164 million profit in the same time in 2022.