Cryptocurrencies Trade Lower as World Markets Speculate on Potential Impact of Policies of New U.S. Government

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement regarding the launch of a crypto task force dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets supported sentiment and limited losses.

Cryptocurrencies showed a negative trend on Thursday morning as world markets assessed the potential impact of the new U.S. government's policies. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement of a crypto task force dedicated to developing a clear regulatory framework for crypto assets helped support sentiment and limit losses. Bitcoin traded above the $101K level during the past 24 hours.

Markets were also anxious ahead of the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision, with the central bank widely expected to increase rates to 0.50 percent from the current 0.25 percent.

Furthermore, prices of XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) took a hit after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange clarified that it had not yet made any official decisions about launching futures contracts linked to the two tokens.

Overall cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.52 trillion, showing an overnight decline of 2.7 percent. The 24-hour trading volume dropped 11.9 percent to $149 billion.

Out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies, only 8 showed overnight gains, while 20 traded with gains on a weekly basis and 21 alone showed gains over the 30-day period.

19th ranked UNUS SED LEO (LEO) showed the highest overnight gains, rising close to half a percent.

In the global ranking of all assets by market capitalization published by companiesmarketcap.com, Bitcoin continued to maintain the 7th rank overall. Amidst an overnight decline of 1.5 percent, Ethereum slipped to the 28th position in the overall ranking.

Bitcoin dropped 1.6 percent overnight to trade at $102,312.11, about 6 percent below the all-time high. However, BTC gained 3.2 percent in the past week and 6.9 percent over the past 30 days. The 24-hour trading range was between $105,110.68 and $101,257.80.

Data from Farside Investors showed that Bitcoin Spot ETF products in the U.S. recorded inflows of $249 million on Wednesday versus $803 million a day earlier. iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) received inflows of $344 million. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) witnessed outflows of $48 million followed by Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) that recorded outflows of $35 million. ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) also recorded outflows of $13 million.

Ethereum slipped 1.6 percent in the past 24 hours to trade at $3,233.98, about 34 percent below the previous peak recorded in November 2021. Weekly losses were close to 3 percent. Ether traded between $3,310.89 and $3,184.07 in the past 24 hours.

Latest data revealed that inflows to Ethereum Spot ETF products in the U.S. edged down to $71 million from $74 million a day earlier.

3rd ranked XRP (XRP) slipped 2.7 percent overnight to trade at $3.09, about 20 percent below the all-time high touched in January 2018. The cryptocurrency's weekly losses were close to 7 percent.

5th ranked Solana (SOL) decreased 5.7 percent overnight. With weekly gains of 17.2 percent, SOL is currently trading at $246.22, about 16 percent below its record high on January 19, 2025.

6th ranked BNB (BNB) declined 1.5 percent overnight and 3.3 percent in the past week at its current trading price of $685.34. BNB is currently trading 14 percent below the all-time high touched on December 4, 2024.

7th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE) declined 3.1 percent overnight to trade at $0.3502. Having shed 7.6 percent in the past week, DOGE is trading 53 percent below the previous peak scaled in May 2021.

9th ranked Cardano (ADA) erased 2.1 percent overnight to trade at $0.973. ADA is currently trading 69 percent below the record high touched in September 2021.

10th ranked TRON (TRX) erased 2.9 percent overnight to trade at $ 0.2467. TRX has added 3.1 percent in the past week. The trading price is 44 percent below the cryptocurrency's all