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Staying updated on market developments is essential for making informed financial decisions. This week saw notable shifts across global markets and the <a href="https://coinpedia.org/news/crypto-market-today-dec-21-2024-bitcoin-price-rises-to-97k-hype-surges-34/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cryptocurrency sector</a>.   
Here’s a closer look at the highlights. One thing we can tell you - it's been a tough week across the board!   
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-us-market-weekly-update-nbsp">US Market Weekly Update&nbsp;</h2>   
The S&amp;P 500 index dropped by 2.02%, falling from $6,050.84 to $5,930.84. Other major markets followed suit, with Europe down 2.04%, China slipping 0.65%, and similar trends seen in Japan, India, South Africa, and Australia.   
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Key developments in the US include:   
<ul class="wp-block-list">
  
 <li>Interest Rate Cut: The Federal Reserve reduced the interest rate by <a href="https://coinpedia.org/news/breaking-fed-slashes-interest-rates-by-25-bps/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">25 basis points</a>, bringing it to 4.25%-4.5%.</li>   
 <li>GDP Growth: GDP growth slightly improved from 3% in Q2 to 3.1% in Q3.</li>   
 <li>Jobless Claims: Initial jobless claims dropped from 224K in early December to 220K in the second week.</li>   
 <li>Core Inflation: The Core PCE Price Index MoM fell to 0.1% in November, down from 0.3% in October.</li> 
</ul>   
Additional Indicators   
Economic data presented mixed results:   
<ul class="wp-block-list">
  
 <li>The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index plummeted from 31.2 to 0.2 points.</li>   
 <li>The S&amp;P Global Composite PMI Flash rose sharply from 54.9 to 56.6 in December.</li>   
 <li>The Retail Sales MoM Index declined to 0.7% in November from 0.5% in October.</li>   
 <li>Industrial Production MoM showed a smaller decline, improving from -0.4% to -0.1%.</li> 
</ul>   
Housing data remained weak, with the NAHB Housing Market Index steady at 46 points and Housing Starts dropping to 1.29 million units from 1.31 million.   
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TThe US dollar gained ground against major currencies, including the Euro (+0.70%), Chinese Yuan (+0.27%), Japanese Yen (+1.78%), and Indian Rupee (+0.20%).   
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crypto-market-performance-this-week">Crypto Market Performance This Week </h2>   
The cryptocurrency market cap fell by 8.2%, with the altcoin market cap dropping from $1.55T to $1.39T. Excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, the market cap declined from $1.07T to $969.31B. Cryptocurrencies outside the top ten saw a sharp drop, with their market cap falling to $348.32B from $406.93B.   
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bitcoin-market-overview-nbsp">Bitcoin Market Overview&nbsp;</h2>   
Bitcoin faced significant challenges this week:   
<ul class="wp-block-list">
  
 <li>Monday: Opened at $106,058.18.</li>   
 <li>Thursday: Dropped to a low of $97,461.38.</li>   
 <li>Friday: Briefly fell to $92,198.03 before recovering to close at $97,812.27. Bitcoin’s performance between December 16-20 marked a 7.77% decline.</li> 
</ul>   
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ethereum-market-scenario-analysis-nbsp">Ethereum Market Scenario Analysis&nbsp;</h2>   
<a href="https://coinpedia.org/price-prediction/market-price-prediction-ethereum-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ethereum </a>also struggled:   
<ul class="wp-block-list">
  
 <li>December 16: Opened at $3,988.87.</li>   
 <li>December 19: Hit a low of $3,415.69, a 14.36% drop.</li>   
 <li>December 20: Bottomed at $3,108.75 before rebounding to close at $3,471.16. Ethereum’s weekly performance fell by 12.97%.</li> 
</ul>   
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-top-cryptos-weekly-performance-highlights">Top Cryptos: Weekly Performance Highlights</h2>   
Most top cryptocurrencies posted losses:   
<ul class="wp-block-list">
  
 <li>Dogecoin: Down 19.1%.</li>   
 <li>Cardano: Fell 13.4%.</li>   
 <li>Solana: Declined 12.5%.</li>   
 <li>Ethereum: Dropped 10.8%.</li>   
 <li>Bitcoin, XRP, BNB: Fell by 3.9%, 6.0%, and 5.6%, respectively.</li> 
</ul>   
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trending-this-week-nbsp">Trending This Week&nbsp;</h2>   
Binance HODLer Airdrops, Circle Ventures Portfolio, Binance Launchpool, Binance Labs Portfolio, and Coinbase Ventures Portfolio are the top five trending categories at the time of writing. Among these categories, Binance HODLer Airdrops displays the highest seven-day change of +181.3%.&nbsp;   
Hyperliquid, LUKSO, Pudgy Penguins, Ethena, and Sui are the top five trending cryptos. Among the top five, Hyperliquid showcases the <a href="https://coinpedia.org/news/hyperliquid-token-hits-10-billion-milestone-heres-what-to-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">highest seven-day change of 54.6%</a>.&nbsp;   
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crypto-category-overview-nbsp">Crypto Category Overview&nbsp;</h2>   
In the last seven days, the Smart Contract Platform category has declined by around 6.7%, Layer 1 by 6.0%, Proof of Work by 4.4%, Proof of Stake by 11.6%, Centralised Exchange Token by 4.1%, Decentralised Finance by 9.9%, Meme by 16.9%, Liquid Staking by 11.7%, Crypto-Backed Tokens by 8.7%, Wrapped-Tokens by 8.6%, Decentralised Exchange by 3.8%, Artificial Intelligence by 14.5%, DePIN by 17.6%, NFT by 21.4%, Layer 2 by 13.1%, GameFi by 20.7%, Yield Farming by 17.4%, Real World Assets by 8.9%, Layer 0 by 19%, Metaverse by 20.7%, Internet of Things by 20.1%, Gaming Utility Tokens by 19.5%, Gaming Governance Tokens by 19.9%, Liquid Staking Governance Tokens by 22.2%, and Bridge Governance Tokens by 18.6%.&nbsp;   
Meanwhile, Stablecoins has grown by 0.8%, Perpetuals by 35.9%, Binance HODLer Airdrops by 181.3%, AI Agent Launchpad by 2.2%, and Virtuals Protocol Ecosystem by 13.9%.&nbsp;   
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-challenging-week-for-markets-can-it-bounce-back">A Challenging Week for Markets - Can It Bounce Back?</h2>   
Global markets, including the US, Europe, China, and India, experienced declines alongside an 8.2% drop in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies recorded significant losses, while the US dollar strengthened against major currencies. Despite these challenges, Stablecoins and Perpetuals showed resilience.   [article_inside_subscriber_shortcode title="Never Miss a Beat in the Crypto World!" description="Stay ahead with breaking news, expert analysis, and real-time updates on the latest trends in Bitcoin, altcoins, DeFi, NFTs, and more." category_name="News" category_id="6"]   
Market fluctuations may shake confidence, but they also fuel the persistence that drives long-term growth.

What Happened in Crypto This Week? Investors Suffer Major Losses

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