Most cryptocurrencies traded higher on Tuesday as tensions between Russia and Ukraine eased.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a news conference on Tuesday he is “ready to work further” with the West to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine. Russia also decided to partially pull back troops from military districts bordering Ukraine.
Equities and cryptocurrencies rose, while traditional safe havens such as gold and the U.S. dollar declined over the past 24 hours.
Alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) led the rally on Tuesday, indicating a renewed appetite for risk among crypto traders. ETH was up 8% over the past 24 hours, compared with a 4% rise in BTC over the same period.
Still, trading volume in the bitcoin spot market remained weak relative to previous price jumps on Feb. 4 and Feb. 10. That could point to limited gains around $46,000-$50,000 BTC according to some technical indicators.
Bullish sentiment wanes
The bitcoin Fear & Greed Index dipped back into "fear" territory as traders reacted to macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. The current reading of 46 is neutral, however, which means there is no strong bullish or bearish bias among market participants.
The Fear & Greed Index can oscillate between extreme lows and highs for many months, similar to the erratic signals during the 2018 crypto bear market. Frequent shifts in sentiment could signal short-term opportunities for buyers and sellers, while those who are more committed to a trading position would rely on smoother indicators such as cycles and trends.
Altcoin roundup
GALA jumps 20%, leads metaverse index gains: GALA, the eponymous token of blockchain-based gaming platform Gala Games, surged as much as 20% in the last 24 hours, outpacing other major metaverse tokens as well as Meta’s stock. The move came after Gala Games said it plans to deploy $5 billion within the next year to bolster its non-fungible token (NFT) offerings by buying intellectual property rights and building a theme park, according to CoinDesk’s Sam Reynolds. Read more here.
JPMorgan is the first bank Into the metaverse: JPMorgan, the largest bank in the U.S., said it has become the first lender to arrive in the metaverse, having opened a lounge in Decentraland, a virtual world based on blockchain technology. As well as the unveiling of the Onyx lounge (the name refers to the bank’s suite of permissioned Ethereum-based services), JPMorgan also released a paper exploring how businesses can find opportunities in the metaverse, according to CoinDesk’s Ian Allison. Read more here.
