Crypto Trends in September 2023

The FED Pauses Interest Rate Hikes

The Federal Reserve System (FED), the central bank of the US has decided to put a pause on its interest rate hike policy that saw interest rates rising from 0.5% to 5.5% in a year and half since March 2022. However, it isn’t clear whether the FED is ending its interest rate hike cycle or if they’re just pausing to gather the means to continue with the rate hikes. Nonetheless, if the pause signifies a potential economic recovery in the following period, crypto prices might also see some increases due to the rise of the general financial market stability. It’s important to stay vigilant regarding crypto investments because the price swings can go both ways.

Crypto Regulations Are Speeding Up

During September, crypto regulators have been speeding up on a global basis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central Bank (ECB), and the European Commission (EC) have published announcements regarding the need for regulating the crypto market, with special focus on stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi). At the same time, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that they will be filing further charges against additional exchange platforms and DeFi protocols to combat non-regulated crypto services and protect users.

NFTs Have Plunged

NFTs have witnessed a major upsurge during the crypto bull market in 2021, but have been on a downward path ever since. A recent market report shows that, based on data from CoinMarketCap and NFT Scan, 95% of NFT holders are now holding worthless digital assets. Around 69,000 NFT collections out of 73,000 have a market capitalization of 0 ETH. This data shows that NFTs have proved to be a far riskier investment compared to cryptocurrencies during the last two years.