Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to end the year with a loss of about 65%. This would mark the third negative year for Bitcoin with the other two being 2014 and 2018. In comparison, the S&P 500 has fared much better but that is also down close to 20% in 2022.

Although cryptocurrency prices have seen deep cuts this year, traders have continued to plow money into the space. An online survey conducted by Blockchain.com shows that 41% of the respondents bought crypto this year and 40% plan to purchase crypto in the next year.

However, a sustained recovery in risk-assets may happen only after inflation shows signs of cooling. That would raise expectations of a pivot by the United States Federal Reserve from its aggressive monetary tightening to an expansionary policy.

In the short term, markets may remain volatile as the volumes are likely to remain thin during the holiday season. Could Bitcoin and altcoins start a recovery? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin is trying to cling to the 20-day exponential moving average ($16,955). The bears tried to pull the price lower on Dec. 22 but the long tail on the candlestick shows strong buying on dips.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw a flicker of volatility around the Dec. 23 Wall Street open as the latest United States inflation data came in line with expectations.

Bitcoin sees "crumb" of volatility on PCE

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD briefly decoupling from solid sideways action to dip to $16,750 on Bitstamp.

The impact of the November U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index print was notably muted, this despite the data forming a key component of Federal Reserve policy.

Even in the low-volume, low-volatility environment Bitcoin continues to trade in, PCE barely moved markets as traders began to accept that Christmas 2022 may be an underwhelming one.

“Hope you enjoyed that little crumb of vol, it's probably the last,” popular Twitter account Byzantine General responded.

Cryptocurrencies have suffered immensely in 2022 from the onslaught of a hawkish Federal Reserve and the implosions of crypto platforms FTX, Terra, Celsius Network, and others.

What were the most-searched cryptocurrencies in 2022?

Notably, the market valuation of all the cryptocurrencies combined has dropped 70% year-to-date (YTD) to nearly $770 billion, signifying massive capitulations by traders and investors alike.

The waning demand has also pushed the internet requests fo6r the keyword "buy cryptocurrency" to their lowest since February 2020, according to Google Trends.

Nonetheless, the latest Accenture's 2022 Global Consumer Payments report shows that retail interest in cryptocurrencies remains high despite 2022's market crash. The reasons given by responders include long-term investments (28%), curiosity (22%), short-term speculation (21%), and others.

Meanwhile, separate research by personal finance portal DollarGeek dwells into 2022's most-searched cryptocurrencies worldwide, thus presenting a rough outlook on what retail players may invest in heading into 2023.