First Mover Asia: Cryptos Hold Their Ground but Investors Remain Wary of Russia Invasion Plans, Inflation

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:

Market moves: Major altcoins largely gained ground; bitcoin dipped and then recovered later in the U.S trading day.

Technician's take: Indicators are neutral as BTC maintains gains; resistance at $46K.

Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis.

Bitcoin (BTC): $44,191 -0.4%

Ether (ETH): $3,154 0.4%

Top Gainers

Top Losers

S&P 500: 4,475 +.09

Nasdaq: 14,124 -0.1%

Gold: $1,869 +0.8%

Bitcoin dipped during the first half of Tuesday but regained most of its lost ground later in the day to reestablish its foothold above $44,000, about where it stood a day ago. A number of major altcoins rose over the same period, although ether dropped slightly.

The crypto markets' tenacity suggest there will not be another January-like dip soon.

"Bitcoin continues to look very healthy after weathering the geopolitical storm well before benefiting from the improvement in risk appetite on Tuesday," wrote Craig Erlam, senior market analyst, U.K. & EMEA for Oanda.

At the time of publication, bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading at $44,147, down slightly. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading at $3,149 and was also down slight over the past 24 hours.

Still, investors continued to look warily at Russia's next military moves along the Ukraine border and at the latest inflationary news. The U.S. Federal Reserve is continuing to track rising inflation, according to minutes from its January meeting, and is widely expected to raise interest rates several times this year. The trickle-down from rising prices is likely to affect consumer spending in the months ahead.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average were roughly flat for the trading day, while the S&P 500 rose slightly.

"Risk appetite remains important, especially that linked to inflation and interest rates, which could continue to be a drag if anxiety remains in the broader markets," Erlam wrote.

Bitcoin Rangebound; Initial Support at $40K, Resistance at $46K

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading in a tight range between $43,000 and $44,000 over the past 24 hours. Support is nearby, which could limit pullbacks over the short term.

Buyers will need to maintain a price floor above $40,000 to sustain the uptrend from $36,000 that occurred on Feb. 3. Intraday charts appear overbought, however, which could stall the upside, similar to what occurred last week.

For now, the 50-day moving average on the four-hour chart has flattened, indicating a pause in upside momentum. Resistance remains at $46,000, and if buyers fail to maintain current levels, a dip toward $35,000 seems likely.

8:30 a.m. HKT/SGT (12:30 a.m. UTC): Australia part-time/full-time employment (Jan.)

3 p.m. HKT/SGT (7 a.m. UTC): Speech by European Central Bank's executive board member Isabel Schnabel

3 p.m. HKT/SGT (7 a.m. UTC): Swiss imports/exports (Jan. MoM)

5 p.m. HKT/SGT (9 a.m. UTC): Economic bulletin

9:30 p.m. HKT/SGT (1:30 a.m. UTC): U.S. housing starts (Jan.)

In case you missed it, here is the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:

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Other voices: Some lawmakers and their families are betting thousands of dollars on crypto (CNBC)

"The Bitcoin network does what it’s supposed to do – this much is made clear by the recent fundraising effort to support a convoy of truckers in Canada, who are protesting coronavirus-related restrictions. Whatever Satoshi’s concerns were for the nascent monetary network at the time, they are now certainly resolved." (CoinDesk columnist Daniel Kuhn) ... "An invasion remains distinctly possible." (U.S. President Joe Biden) ... "The need for the about-face is partly of the Fed’s own making. Mr. Powell responded to the [coronavirus] pandemic by doubling down on strategies developed by his predecessors to combat prolonged high unemployment and very low inflation. When the labor market healed rapidly and high inflation emerged as the bigger threat, he and his colleagues were caught by surprise." (The Wall Street Journal) ...“Unfortunately there’s a difference between what Russia says and what it does. And what we’re seeing is no meaningful pullback. On the contrary, we continue to see forces — especially forces that would be in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine — continuing to be at the border, to mass at the border.” (U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken)