Altcoin prices in the red as market falls

Altcoin prices were in the red on Tuesday as cryptocurrency investors appeared to be taking a midweek vacation.

But it was just one notable, and predictable, crypto loss as the sector continued to endure the dog days of summer. Meanwhile, crypto exchange operator Coinbase ( COIN ) also saw its share price take a hit after the company’s earnings report missed analysts’ expectations.

CEL to USD

Celsius drops 21%

The beleaguered Celsius Network coin (CEL) was the hardest hit, falling 21% during typical North American trading hours. (All price figures based on CoinMarketCap data.)

But CEL’s decline was not a huge surprise. The coin has experienced extreme volatility at times since its value imploded in the wake of Celsius Network’s financial collapse and subsequent move into bankruptcy protection.

The financial problems of Celsius, Voyager and Three arrows, also known as 3AC, contributed greatly to a meltdown in cryptocurrency prices in June and July. Voyager and Three Arrows have also filed for bankruptcy.

All three companies were hammered by the collapses of related coins LUNA and TerraUSD.

Coin base down 10.6%

Coinbase’s stock closed approx. 10.6% on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. But the loss eased in the aftermarket.

Coinbase reported on Tuesday that the number of monthly transaction users (MTUs), a key metric, fell XX% quarter over quarter to nine million from 9.2 million. And MTUs are expected to decline further for the rest of the year, averaging seven million to nine billion for 2022.

Coinbase’s decline came a day after Ark Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood, a closely watched investor, disclosed that the company had sold more than 1.26 million of the exchange operator’s shares worth $75 million on July 26.

FILE to USD

Gensler takes a hard stand

Wood told Bloomberg TV that Ark made the move because of “regulatory uncertainty” in the crypto sector. The sale came after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deemed some tokens traded on Coinbase to be securities.

SEC chief Gary Gensler has taken a hard line against cryptocurrencies, making it clear that he views them as securities. The regulator and Ripple, which backs the XRP coin, are locked in a bitter lawsuit that could determine how digital assets are governed.

Bitcoin is holding around $23,000

Bitcoin (BTC) remained in the red throughout Tuesday, losing about 3.5%. But the world’s most valuable crypto asset stayed above $23,000.

On Monday, Michael Novogratz, the billionaire founder of Galaxy Digital, told Bloomberg TV that he expects bitcoin to stay within its recent price range.

“Will Bitcoin break through $30,000 on this rally? We’ll see – I doubt it,” he said. “I think we’re probably going to be in this range now. I would honestly be happy if we’re in the $20,000, $22,000 or $30,000 range for a while.”

Inflow missing

Novogratz noted that the crypto market has not received significant inflow of institutional investment capital. “We’re not seeing huge institutional flows, to be fair, but we’re not seeing any returns.”

ETH to USD

Total market down

Ether (ETH), the main coin of the Ethereum blockchain, slightly underperformed bitcoin, falling 4%

Relatively unknown filecoin (FIL) fell 10% and Stellar (XLM) was down 9% after rising by that amount on Monday. But such declines are typical of virtually any given day.

Overall, the crypto market was down around 3%, according to crypto investment and trading firm Structure. The crypto sector fared better than stocks, which were down around 4%.

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