2022 was a challenging year for the crypto world as values dropped and several exchanges reported bankruptcies. FTX's collapse was perhaps the top crypto headline last year.
However, the crypto market appears to be regaining a bit of its shine on Thursday, Jan. 12, after Bitcoin rose to its highest price in almost a month as traders bank on inflation cooldown and FTX lawyers revealed that they have recovered more than 5 billion worth of assets.
This photograph taken on December 7, 2022 shows the bitcoin logo on a smart phone in a greenhouse heated with bitcoin miners near Amsterdam. - A Dutch flower growing business is using Bitcoin mining machines to warm their greenhouse in order to grow tulips and other flowers for the export market. The Bitcoin machines in turn are powered by solar energy in which the farmer and the Bitcoin business owners say is better for the environment.
Bitcoin Surges, FTX Recovers Assets
According to CNBC's report, Bitcoin increased above $18,000 for the first time since December 14, 2022. It logged a 5% increase overall in the last 24 hours.
The biggest digital currency in the world was valued at $18,164.80 on Thursday morning (ET), as per CoinMetrics' report.
Attorneys for the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX also announced on Wednesday that they had discovered about $5 billion in liquid assets.
This recovery appears to be a pleasant relief for FTX clients who reportedly lost millions of dollars after the massive collapse of the once-crypto giant in November 2022.
However, FTX lawyers cautioned that the $5 billion cache was so large that trying to sell the assets could result in severe market negative pressure, which in turn could lower their worth.
Slowing of Inflation
It is anticipated that Thursday's US inflation report will indicate a slowing inflation. According to economists surveyed by Dow Jones, the consumer price index will have decreased by 0.1% from one month to the next in December 2022.
Even though this would be less than the 7.1% increase in November and much below the 9.1% peak rate in June, inflation is still predicted to increase by 6.5% year over year.
CNBC notes investors hope the decrease will encourage the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
In a bid to rein in surging inflation, the Fed and other central banks have been hiking interest rates over the past year. These actions caused equities and cryptocurrencies to fall substantially in 2022, according to CNBC.
Now, investors expect that the central bank may lower interest rates, relieving some of the pressure on risk assets.
From its all-time high of $68,990 in November 2021, Bitcoin has fallen by nearly 74%. As traders abandoned riskier assets like technology and growth stocks, the cryptocurrency market lost at least $1.4 trillion in value in 2022.
The collapse of projects and businesses like FTX and Terra, as well as other crypto problems, rocked the market last year.
However, the increase in bitcoin prices on Thursday gave other digital currencies a boost. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, increased by 5% to $1,401.18, while Binance's BNB token rose by 3% to $285.37.
Related Article: FTX Founders, SBF, Gary Wang's $455 Million Robinhood Stocks Taken by Feds from UK Company
