Crypto gloom: Investors use dips for gains, seek clarity from govt

moneycontrol.com:

In the hope of long-term gains, some brave investors are buying cryptcurrencies on dips in the market that has been under immense selling pressure in recent weeks.

After being hammered over the weekend, the top two virtual currencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), pared some of their losses and were trading above $20,000 and $1,000, respectively.

After making a low of $17,772 on Sunday, BTC recovered around 9 percent and was trading at $20,010 on Monday. ETH nosedived to $898 on Sunday; it was up by over 12 percent, and trading at $1,077.

The total market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies currently stands at 902.1 billion, a far cry from an all-time high of $3.1 trillion in November 2021.

After a blockbuster year for crypto trading as Indian crypto exchanges enlisted millions of buyers by the end of 2021, there has been a dip in volumes since the first week of April, after the government implemented a 30 percent tax on virtual assets.

Cryptos are now taxed on par with gains from speculative activity such as gambling, and lotteries, putting digital assets in the highest tax band.

Even so, Aliasgar Merchant, an investor based in Mumbai, believes the bear market in cryoptocurrencies is a phase that will pass soon. Yet, he has only invested in projects he thinks are absolutely worth it and will survive the bear phase.

“I have totally refrained from buying worthless tokens that have low potential. Quick money is a big scam. That said, there are a few things that are concerning me as well. The recent fall of Terra is an indicator that even good-looking projects may not survive the bear market,” he said. 

Bracing for losses 

TerraUSD was the third most popular stablecoin, with a market capitalisation of nearly $20 billion in early