Market Wrap: Cryptos Rise as Russia Mulls Bitcoin for Oil Payments; Dogecoin Rallies

Most cryptocurrencies traded higher on Thursday after Russia's Duma committee chairman suggested during a news conference that bitcoin (BTC) could be accepted as payment for the nation's oil and other resource exports.

Russia's announcement contributed to a spike in BTC above $44,000, although cryptos were already tracking upside moves in equities earlier in the New York trading day. Still, traditional safe-haven assets, such as gold and the U.S. dollar, also rose on Thursday, suggesting some caution among global investors.

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Alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) remain in the lead, evidenced by a decline in bitcoin's market cap relative to the total crypto market cap over the past two weeks.

Dogecoin (DOGE), the popular dog-themed meme token, rallied as much as 6% in the past 24 hours, compared with a 4% rise in BTC over the same period. Meanwhile, Solana's SOL token was up 10% and Axie Infinity's gaming token AXS surged by 20% on Thursday.

Typically, a rally in altcoins signals a turnaround in the overall crypto market as investors increase their appetite for risk.

Latest prices

●Bitcoin (BTC): $43,877, +3.86%

●Ether ETH$3,904.64: $3,106, +4.75%

●S&P 500 daily close: $4,520, +1.43%

●Gold: $1,962 per troy ounce, +1.33%

●Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.34%

Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Meme stocks pump ahead of bitcoin

Elsewhere, meme stocks tend to lead traditional equities higher, similar to the risk-on nature of altcoins in the crypto market.

Meme stocks are popular among retail investors who exchange trading ideas through social media. In 2020, internet memes were created to symbolize periods of sky-high prices.

The chart below shows a recent uptick in the correlation between bitcoin and an index of meme stocks, created by Lev Borodovsky, editor of The Daily Shot newsletter. Several meme stocks, such as AMC Entertainment (AMC), rallied as much as 30% over the past week.

DeFi still lagging

Decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, however, continue to lag behind large market cap cryptos.

The chart below plots CoinDesk's DeFi Index (DFX) versus CoinDesk's Large Cap Index (DLCX). Over the past few months, the gap between DLCX and DFX has widened, which could indicate less appetite for risk among crypto investors.

Still, recent rallies in DeFi tokens could lead to outperformance versus large-cap tokens, similar to what occurred in mid-2021. For example, DeFi tokens such as AAVE and AMP have rallied as much as 9% over the past week, compared with a 7% rise in BTC over the same period.

Altcoin roundup

• Dogecoin leaps to 1-month high as ATM operator adds to crypto lineup: DOGE$0.1875 touched a one-month high Thursday, a day after Bitcoin of America announced plans to add support for the doggy-themed cryptocurrency to its network of more than 1,800 ATMs across 31 U.S. states. DOGE’s price rose as much as 6% in the past 24 hours, touching $0.141 at one point during the day, the highest since Feb. 21. Read more here.
• Diplo joins Nas with NFT drop on tokenized royalties platform Royal: Crypto music startup Royal has nabbed Diplo as its latest star, announcing Thursday the DJ and electronic musician will be releasing one of his new songs on the tokenized royalties platform. The single, “Don’t Forget My Love,” will have its royalty rights embedded in what the platform calls “Limited Digital Assets (LDAs),” which are essentially Polygon-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to CoinDesk’s Eli Tan. Read more here.
• South Korea's SK Square will launch crypto token this year: SK Square, an affiliate of SK Group, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate by revenue, plans to launch a cryptocurrency by the end of the year. The token will be the first of its kind launched by any company under the purview of South Korea's top 10 conglomerates. The cryptocurrency is aimed at integrating virtual economies across the group's businesses, the Korea Economic Daily reported. It will be used in SK Telecom's metaverse platform Ifland, SK Planet’s membership program and 11ST's e-commerce services according to CoinDesk’s Eliza Gkritsi. Read more here.

Relevant news

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs Could See Approvals by 2023: Bloomberg Intelligence
• Russian Lawmaker Suggests Nation Could Accept Bitcoin for Oil Payments
• Securities Regulators Cast Doubt on DeFi's Decentralization Claims
• ‘Correctly’ Was Wrong: Circle’s Accountant Tweaks Fine Print of USDC Attestation
• CME Bitcoin Futures Premium Hits Highest Level Since Early January
• Qualcomm Sets Up $100M Fund for Metaverse Investments

Other markets

Digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day higher.

Largest winners:

Asset Ticker Returns Sector Ethereum Classic ETC +15.0% Smart Contract Platform Cardano ADA +10.7% Smart Contract Platform Solana SOL +10.6% Smart Contract Platform

Largest losers:

There are no losers in CoinDesk 20 today.

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.