The largest token is up 39 per cent since the turn of the year, a first-month gain bettered only twice before when crypto was in its infancy. Smaller coins like Solana, Axie Infinity and Decentraland have doubled in value, part of a US$280 billion January climb in digital assets overall, CoinGecko figures show. Bitcoin retreated 2.9 per cent to US$23,111 as of 10:44 a.m. in New York on Monday amid broad declines in risk assets.
The rally in virtual coins has weathered ongoing fallout from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange — such as the bankruptcy of crypto lender Genesis Global Holdco LLC and a spate of layoffs across the industry. Still, there are plenty of skeptics who doubt if the rebound in the likes of crypto and tech stocks will last. One risk is that the soft economic landing markets are hoping for is fanciful because rates must stay higher for longer.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell may also remind investors that officials plan to keep rates elevated for some time. He's due to speak after an expected downshift by the Fed to a quarter-percentage-point hike this week.