Over the past week, the cryptocurrency market has been almost flat. The altcoin market began to correlate with Bitcoin and spent the trading day in a flat dynamic. In addition to the lack of investment flow due to Fed policy and the macroeconomic situation, among the reasons for the temporary stagnation is the $2 trillion market capitalization milestone.

Cryptocurrencies have been fluctuating near the mark for more than two weeks, but have not been able to gain a strong hold above it. This also hints at uncertainty and investor apprehension over the long term. However, despite the lack or decline in direct investment, the digital industry continues to grow thanks to related areas.

JPMorgan, which is extremely cautious about cryptocurrencies, has become the first bank to open a presence in the metaverse. The investment giant opened the Onyx lounge in the metaverse Decentraland. The bank also provided a report on the current state and prospects of the metaverse market.

JPMorgan noticed that the average plot price in metaverses has risen from $6k to $12k in the past six months, indicating a growing digital real estate market. Moreover, analysts believe that in the future metaverses will become a full-fledged real estate market with its own system of loans, mortgages and rentals. At the same time, the bank believes that the projects look crude and need numerous tweaks and improvements to existing systems.

NFT, DeFi and the meta-currency market have become major safe havens for investing during a period of stagnant cryptocurrency quotations. The decentralized finance market continues to gain momentum after a strong drawdown during the two-month correction. Indirectly, this reflects investor sentiment about the crypto market. Investment flows into crypto products are continuing or resuming.

This trend is confirmed by CoinShares data, according to which crypto funds recorded inflows of $75 million. Separately, the Ethereum market stands out, which recorded its first institutional investment increase in 10 weeks at $21 million.

As for the technical picture of the main altcoin, it is worth highlighting the bullish dynamics in the price movement and the completion of the inverted Head and Shoulders pattern. A similar pattern is forming on all major currencies as well as Bitcoin, indicating that BTC is strengthening its market leadership. The potential upside of the asset could end with it crossing the $5k mark and moving further into the $5.4k-$5.6k area.

However, technical indicators show a temporary downturn in bullish activity. The price has reached a difficult resistance zone at $3.2k, where a large number of sell orders are concentrated. With this in mind, it is likely that the price will go flat to accumulate the necessary volumes.

On the four-hour timeframe, the situation is exacerbated by the downward trend in technical metrics. MACD is preparing to form a bearish crossover, while stochastic and RSI are declining towards the middle of the bullish zone, indicating that the short-term bullish momentum is declining. n addition, the price completes a bearish inverted Head and Shoulders formation, which could indicate a retest of the $2.5k support zone. However, the pattern has not yet formed, so the situation could change. However, this is a possibility worth considering and therefore going long on ETH/USD is dangerous.

Most likely the local downtrend in Ethereum and altcoin market gained after Bitcoin's failed attempt to make a bullish breakout of $44.5k. Given the increased dominance index, it is crucial to look back at Bitcoin before actively trading with altcoins.

On the daily chart, BTC/USD is trying to complete the formation of an inverted Head and Shoulders pattern. However, this requires large capital activity. With that in mind, we should expect either a rise or a prolonged consolidation in the near term. Given the current state of the stock markets, I expect a flat movement during the rest of February and early March. The altcoin market will also follow the asset.