Bitcoin is down 2.3% over the past week, ending at around $39.5K. Ethereum lost 3.9%, while other leading altcoins in the top 10 fell from 2.2% (Solana) to 10.5% (XRP). The exception was Terra (+12.9%). On Monday, the pressure on cryptocurrencies continued, knocking bitcoin another 1.3% down to 38.9k, sending it testing March lows.
The total crypto market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap, was little changed for the week, remaining at 1.8 trillion, as a wave of buying in the first half of the week turned into a sharp sell-off in the second. The bitcoin dominance index rose 0.2% to 41.2% over the same period.
Crypto Fear and Greed Index rose from 24 to 27 and returned to its starting point during the week. By Monday, the index had lost another point to 23, remaining in the territory of extreme fear. Bitcoin has declined for the third week in a row, along with stock indices.
BTC tried to rally, renewing its week-and-a-half highs around $43,000
Thursday and Friday saw a sharp pullback along with the stock market, with Bitcoin dipping below the $40,000 circular level. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, said that cryptocurrency adoption would increase as geopolitical tensions rise and the use of the dollar as a sanctions tool grows. He believes the US will lose out to the rest of the world if it continues to suppress bitcoin.
A group of US congressmen have spoken out against cryptocurrency mining using the environmentally damaging Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm. They said cryptocurrencies of particular concern are BTC, ETH, XMR, and ZEC. The EU has discussed a ban on BTC trading due to its energy and environmental impact. Bitcoin’s energy consumption continues to increase and is attracting the attention of environmental organizations and regulators.