Total notional volume at LMAX Digital was up in the previous week. Total notional volume from Monday through Friday came in at $2.97 billion, 12% higher than the week earlier.

Breaking it down per coin, Bitcoin volume came in at $1.44 billion in the previous week, off 7% from a week earlier. Ether volume rocketed, coming in at $1.18 billion, up 69% from the week earlier.

Total notional volume over the past 30 days comes in at $15.53 billion.

Looking at average position size over the past 30 days, we’re seeing average bitcoin position size at $11,944 and average position size for ether at $6,274.

Volatility has cooled off in 2022 after topping out in December. We’re now looking at average daily ranges in bitcoin and ether of $1,613 and $133 respectively.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about our worry of deeper setbacks in the US equities market in 2022 and what this could mean for crypto assets in the short-term. Clearly we’re seeing this play out, with bitcoin and ether coming under added pressure in recent sessions.

Our core view is that while correlations with risk off in traditional markets may not be relevant to the medium and longer term outlook for cryptocurrencies, these correlations are certainly quite relevant in the here and now.

The logic is the following. To many investors out there, crypto is still seen as a maturing asset class. This means it is viewed as an emerging market, which exposes it to risk correlations as a consequence. Simple as that.

Of course, the real value proposition of crypto assets is something that represents a formidable new portfolio play; in technology and currencies that are limited in supply and therefore deflationary.

While bitcoin may be seen as a risk correlated emerging market to many out there, the reality is that bitcoin is the opposite of a risk correlated play, with the cryptocurrency acting as an extremely scarce, store of value.

And so, while we may see additional downside pressure in crypto over the coming days and perhaps weeks, we believe these markets will be very well supported on a medium and longer-term basis for fresh record highs, with that risk off correlation fading away.

Interestingly enough, if we break down the analysis, ether volume was up strong on a relative basis last week, getting very close to matching bitcoin volume for the week. We believe this reflects an environment that is ultimately supportive of deeper crypto adoption beyond bitcoin in 2022.