Ethereum Runs its 8th Losing Week as Cryptos Get Bashed by High Profile Speakers

Crypto Criticism

In the aftermath of the recent Cryptocurrency route, we have seen some high profile speakers criticizing digital assets, given their wild volatility.

The President of the European Central Bank, Ms Lagarde made some pointy remarks, speaking on Dutch TV show College Tour over the weekend. She said that cryptos are "highly speculative, very risky assets" and called for regulation. She also expressed her "very humble assessment" that crypto "is worth nothing. It is based on nothing, there is no underlying assets to act as an anchor of safety". ^[1]

Fed Vice Chair Ms Brainard is set to speak later today in the U.S. House of Representatives, regarding digital assets, with her prepared remarks having already been published. She noted that digital money such as stablecoins "could reintroduce meaningful counterparty risk into the payments system" and that the recent crypto turmoil "makes clear that the actions we take now—whether on the regulatory framework or a digital dollar—should be robust to the future evolution of the financial system". ^[2]

Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Partners who regularly appears on Bloomberg, had some harsh word around Cryptos and Bitcoin, speaking on the network at Davos yesterday. He noted that those digital currencies have "not established" themselves as credible institutional investments. ^[3]

ETH/USD Analysis

Cryptocurrencies have taken a massive beating lately and have failed to leave up to talk of them acting as a hedge to inflation as we argued last week, nor as safe havens. Furthermore, they have been under scrutiny and face a tightening regulator environment.

ETH/USD is on the back foot today and heads towards the eight straight losing week, erasing around 60% from its November record high at the time of writing. As such, it remains exposed to the June 2021 lows (1,699), although bears may need fresh impetus for a breach, that would bring 1,397 in the spotlight.

The popular altcoin had managed to stabilize after its plunge earlier in the month and a return above the 2,000 mark would not be surprising, but a significant reversal in sentiment would be required for a recovery past 2,157-62.