What happened
Several altcoins and stablecoins rose today as the broader cryptocurrency market climbed along with the broader stock market.
Over the last 24 hours, the price of THORChain (RUNE +5.38%) had jumped roughly 18% as of 1:05 p.m. ET today, the price of ApeCoin (APE +1.67%) was up roughly 15%, and the price of Terra (LUNA +0.13%) had climbed about 10%.
So what
Stocks rose as investors mulled upcoming monetary decisions by the Federal Reserve, which include raising its benchmark overnight lending rate, the federal funds rate, multiple times this year and likely starting to reduce its massive balance sheet. Other broader factors include surging inflation and Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Image source: Getty Images.
While much uncertainty and fear remain in the environment, the market responded positively today after new data showed that housing starts and housing permits increased more than expected in March, even as mortgage rates have climbed significantly. The price of U.S. crude oil also dropped today. Earnings season has also gotten off to a good start, considering the uncertainty in the economy, with many companies reporting solid results in the first quarter of 2022. The major banks have reported that the consumer is healthy. Silvergate Capital, a crypto bank, saw strong interest from digital currency customers for its payments platform, despite a slow down in crypto spot trading volume in Q1.
THORChain, a liquidity protocol that facilitates cross-chain interoperability by helping move different crypto tokens across different blockchain networks, seems to be benefiting from some decent social media buzz on Twitter and Reddit. Sometimes that is all it takes to get a cryptocurrency moving.
ApeCoin, a cryptocurrency that has ties to the Bored Ape Yacht Club, a popular and expensive collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has been volatile and popular since dropping in March. ApeCoin is up more than 1,000% since dropping. Some on social media believe ApeCoin could be the next Shiba Inu, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency that has risen meteorically, although it's just speculation.
Meanwhile, Terra, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, is rising as it passes a key milestone. Recently, Terra's market cap, which is currently at $33.3 billion, surpassed that of Binance USD, making it the third-largest stablecoin by circulation. Just last month, investors also started to get more interested in Terra, as the founder of Terraform Labs, the developer of Terra, announced the company is buying $10 billion of Bitcoin for Terra's reserves.
Now what
The rise in the crypto market could just be more of the same volatility that has persisted and may not be the start of any longer-term, more sustainable run. The good news is perhaps investors are getting more comfortable in difficult market conditions and are feeling a little better with earnings season off to a decent start.
I think all of these altcoins are going to be volatile moving forward, but I am intrigued by THORChain, as cross-chain interoperability is of growing interest in the crypto world.
Terra has been on a nice run as well and stablecoins may very well find a permanent place in the payments ecosystem, although there are certainly going to be regulatory risks with this one, so make sure to do your due diligence before investing.
