Global stock markets are rather mixed today. Asian stocks failed to hold onto their positions following several days of gains and shed by 2%. This is mainly due to investor concerns over the coronavirus, which continues to have a severe impact on the quotes. The European Union, the United States, and China have already launched a mass vaccination campaign, while most countries in Asia still cannot receive vaccines. The market is expected to rally after the first official news of the coronavirus drug comes out.

In the United States, the situation is more challenging. Market participants are not afraid of the worsening Covid-19 situation, but the market is still trading with very slight gains. Moreover, a 0.1% increase in US indices was triggered by the release of Amazon and Alphabet's financial reports. Another positive news for the American market was a rebound in US services sector activity, which accelerated to 58.7% from 57.7%.

The situation in the European stock markets is rather uncertain as well. Stocks continue to fluctuate. Despite the decline in key indices and coefficients, economic statistics remain above the expected level.

Against the backdrop of rather weak stock market dynamics, cryptocurrencies are extending gains. The main reason for their active growth is still the announcement of Visa Inc about the creation of software for digital transactions of American banks' clients. Bitcoin continues its massive rally, backed up by the news about the American investment fund that is planning to invest in the cryptocurrency market.

Apart from that, Elon Musk provided a boost to the cryptocurrency with one of his signature meme-tweets. Dogecoin skyrocketed to an all-time high after he posted a tweet. As for ether, the situation is uncertain. Ether is gaining in value, but it is likely to lose ground after the launch of futures. However, this digital asset will begin to decline only if the network activity of Ethereum miners falls rapidly. However, Grayscale in their report has already proposed a way to improve the Ethereum protocols, which will help keep the dynamics within the normal range.

Despite mixed dynamics in the stock markets, the cryptocurrency continues to extend gains, even affecting the balance of some exchanges. Taking into account all the innovations, announcements, and the beginning of mass vaccination campaigns, the markets will see an active and stable rally in the near future. This also applies to the cryptocurrency market. It is becoming clear that even fluctuations in global markets do not affect some cryptocurrencies. This means that bitcoin may soon hit $40,000, and XRP - $0.4. Ether may approach the $1,700 mark, but only if ether futures are launched correctly.