Bitcoin price today: Crypto Price Today Live: Bitcoin holds $24,000; Solana and Uniswap drop 8% each

New Delhi: Bitcoin breathed below $24,000, whereas Ethereum held at the $1,900 mark ahead of its much-awaited merge buzz on Tuesday.

The crypto industry’s latest indignities included a report that India regulators were investigating at least 10 crypto exchanges for allegedly assisting foreign firms launder money via crypto.

Top crypto tokens were trading mixed on Tuesday afternoon. Meme Tokens like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu rose up to 6 per cent, whereas Uniswap plunged 5 per cent. Avalanche and Polygon dropped 2 per cent each.

The global cryptocurrency market cap was trading marginally down at the $1.14 trillion mark, dropping as much as one per cent in the last 24 hours. However, the total trading volume tumbled almost 6 per cent, close to $68.95 billion.

What’s cooking in India
The ED probe into alleged money laundering by crypto exchange WazirX and the subsequent squabbling among its promoters has revealed the ‘darker side’ of cryptocurrencies, a government source said.

Over seven per cent of Indians owned digital currency in the form of cryptocurrency in 2021, the United Nations trade and development body UNCTAD revealed.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that it has attached assets worth Rs 370 crore belonging to a Bengaluru-based company linked to the instant loan apps case.

Expert take

Bitcoin tried to break above the $25,000 resistance but failed. It declined to the $24,200 level, said Edul Patel, CEO and co-founder, Mudrex. “The immediate support level is near the $23,500 zone, below which is the bearish momentum,” he said.

Ethereum prices failed to remain above the $2,000 level and started a downside correction to the $1,880 level, he added. “The immediate key resistances are at $1,940 and $1,960 levels,” he said.

Global updates

Celsius Network, the crypto lender that filed for bankruptcy in July, appears to be in even worse financial straits than previously signaled.

Polkadot-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Acala’s native stablecoin, a USD, depegged on Sunday, plummeting 99 per cent after hackers exploited a bug in a newly deployed liquidity pool to mint 1.28 billion tokens.

A 29-year-old developer suspected of being involved in the Tornado Cash protocol that’s been sanctioned by the US was arrested in Amsterdam on Friday, according to a statement from the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD).

Ethereum miners are facing an abrupt change after the network moves to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism from a proof-of-work system and their role effectively ends, forcing them to seek alternative income streams, JP Morgan said.

Tech View by Giottus Crypto Platform

Ethereum (ETH), the smart contract-based platform for dApps, has been riding high on the anticipation of its Merge upgrade in September. ETH’s crypto market share has crossed 20 per cent, with high gains of over 90 per cent in the last 30 days. ETH is trading at $1,900 today, down by five per cent in the last 24 hours.

After successfully testing its horizontal resistance in mid-July, ETH has created several higher lows while charting an upward course towards $2,000. However, attempts to cross over the coveted mark have failed. It has, so far, successfully remained above its ascending trendline support, now nearing early-June levels.

ETH needs to successfully test the $2,000 psychological resistance to attempt another stint at a price rally. Its RSI stands at a robust 63, and all technical signals indicate a ‘buy’ signal. In case of a downturn, $1,870 is the immediate support, followed by $1,770 (.382 fib level).

ETH/BTC pair has also created new local highs, recently crossing 0.08, surpassing the crucial resistance at 0.075. The pair is now trading at 0.078. Investors need to be wary of a ‘sell the news’ possibility once the Merge is confirmed in mid-September.

Major Levels

Support: $2,000, $2,089, $2,150

Resistance: $1,870, $1,770

(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts’ own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the asset/s mentioned.)