Major coins were in the green on Wednesday evening as the global cryptocurrency market cap rose 2.7% to $814.4 billion at 7:28 p.m. EST.

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Why It Matters: Bitcoin and Ethereum tracked risk assets higher on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.3% each at the time of writing. 

On Tuesday, The Bank of Japan surprised markets by adjusting its yield curve control policy by expanding the trading on its 10-year yield target (plus or minus) 0.25% to 0.5% — a move that will have potential ramifications across the world.

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of six global currencies, fell 0.7% to 103.97 at the time of writing. 

On the other hand, the Japanese Yen rose to a four-month high against the dollar. The U.S. unit lost 3.9% against the Yen intraday, according to Reuters.

“Bitcoin is rallying as the dollar tumbles following the Bank of Japan yield pivot,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst with OANDA.

“Given the reaction across other asset classes, bitcoin’s rally is somewhat unimpressive as crypto traders continue to remain in wait-and-see mode over what will be the next big crypto domino to fall or if we get any clearer guidance over the regulatory front,” said the analyst, in a note seen by Benzinga.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, will be extradited to the United States on Wednesday, an official of the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services has confirmed.

Michaël van de Poppe said that markets have been in bear territory for 19 months already. The trader pointed out that altcoins have been crashing since May 2021 despite the Solana (SOL) and Polygon (MATIC) cycle.

“The first HF [high low] confirmed on HTF [higher-time frame] will be a massive trigger for a relief run,” said Van de Poppe on Twitter.

Technically speaking, the markets are in a bear market for 19 months already.

Especially #altcoins, those have been collectively crashing since May '21, despite the $SOL and $MATIC cycle.

The first HL confirmed on HTF will be a massive trigger for a relief run.

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) December 20, 2022

On Ethereum, he said the $1,190 would be a “good level” for longs as traders would get a higher low after a higher high. 

Well, $1,190 would be a good level for longs on $ETH as, then, we get a HL after a HH.

Overall, waiting for more confirmation (and got $1,200 as another level too). pic.twitter.com/MPuzUd078D

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) December 20, 2022

Trader Justin Bennett said it might be “time to squeeze” some Bitcoin shorts on Wednesday. 

GM fam.

Might be time to squeeze some $BTC shorts. #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/qefsOwuMyf

— Justin Bennett (@JustinBennettFX) December 20, 2022

Santiment said coins in Barry Silbert-owned Digital Currency Group (DCG) have fallen hard in recent days. The market intelligence platform gave the example of Ethereum Classic (ETC), Flow (FLOW), and Polkadot (DOT) as examples of such digital assets.

The platform cited analyst Will Clemente who asked recently if the aggressive selling of certain coins has left speculators wondering if the selling is “derived” from DCG itself. 

Coins in #DigitalCurrencyGroup, owned by #BarrySilbert, have plummeted hard in recent days. $ETC, $FLOW, $MASK, $FIL, $OCEAN, $YGG, $RSR , $DOT, $LPT, $MANA, $BAT, & $NEAR are all part of this group. Read our quick take! https://t.co/tUlvwSNl5I pic.twitter.com/ZYg9BT8OMP

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 20, 2022

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