Altcoins Drive Crypto Market Up 2.5%, Ethereum Gains 6%

The global crypto market grew by 2.5 per cent today with a market cap at $1.58 trillion as of 9 am IST driven by key altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Solana (SOL).

Trade volumes continued to lose steam with a 11 per cent drop as investors remain cautious of short-term prospects of this bull run.

ETH broke out of its correlation with Bitcoin (BTC) with a substantial gain of 6 per cent to regain the $2,400 level indicating signs of an extended rally towards $2,500-$2,600. ETH closed at $2,430 in the 24 hours testing its first resistance at $2,350 in the early morning hours on Friday. Its support levels stand at $2,250 currently.

After a marginal dip yesterday, BTC regained half a per cent to close above the $40,000 mark where it continues to face resistance. The recent rally is being attributed to capital inflows diverted from precious metals such as Gold. BTC is yet to touch its first resistance level at $41,230 with a support level forming at $38,370.

All major cryptocurrencies were in the green today. Solana (SOL) was the top gainer with a 18 per cent increase in the last 24 hours. Coins such as Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), Polygon (MATIC), Chainlink (LINK) and Uniswap (UNI) gained by 4 to 8 per cent.

BTC crossed its 200-day moving average twice during this week to successfully test its resistance and consolidate near the $40,000 mark despite increasing selling pressures from the bears. With over 42,850 BTC options contracts set to expire today, a total of $105 million put options will be worthless if bears can’t suppress the price level below $39,000. On the contrary, sustaining above the $40,000 level will put the bulls in the lead by $140 million.

BTC getting close to 50 per cent share of market cap could be another boost to push the prices above the $42,000 level.

Top Gainers today:

1. Quant (QNT): 19.1%
2. Solana (SOL): 18.2%
3. Ontology (ONT): 17.1%

Top Loser today:

1. UNUS SED LEO (LEO): -6.0%
2. Axie Infinity (AXS): -3.5%
3. Terra (LUNA): -3.1%

The analysis includes the top 100 coins only as of 9 am IST

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at a Glance:

1. Microstrategy, a strong institutional advocate of Bitcoin, has pledged to buy more BTC despite reporting losses of over $424 million in Q2. As of June 30, 2021, Microstrategy held an approximate 105,085 BTC with a book value of $2.1 billion.
2. According to an analysis by global exchange Crypto.com, the number of cryptocurrency users has doubled globally in the first half of 2021. Much of the growth came during the February to May period bringing the total number of users to 220 million by the end of June.
3. US based cryptocurrency exchange Okcoin has acquired regulatory approvals to provide crypto trading services in the Netherlands and Malta as a part of its global growth plans.
4. Asia’s newest unicorn Amber Group, a crypto trading and tech firm, has announced that it will dedicate significant resources towards its geographic expansion across 140 countries.

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