Tracking the cryptocurrency market

The crypto asset market has tanked by more than 10% over the last week negating the largest single day gain it had on the last day of February as risk on assets including Bitcoin (BTC) continue to bleed against macroeconomic fears. With Ukraine-Russia peace talks heading into a deadlock and the deliberation of a ban on oil imports from Russia has left investors muddling for safe havens. The rise of western sanctions have isolated Russia creating fears of supply chain disruption even as commodities such as Nickel rose by 75% with oil and wheat jumping to 14 year highs. In this article, we analyze the price actions of major crypto assets and the short term outlook for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin & Ethereum under pressure

BTC continues to get rejected at the overhead resistance zone between $44,500 and $46,000 implying bearish outlook for the short term. However, BTC has been stuck on an ascending channel forming a higher low at $34,300 and paints a neutral picture for the time being. But having lost the major support from the 20 day and 50 day moving averages near $40,000, it has a daunting task ahead if it attempts a bullish move. 

source: tradingview, Binance

Despite the pullback and trading at six month lows, data from crypto analytics service Santiment shows that the BTC weekly outflow from exchanges has been positive for more than 80% of weeks since October 2021. Higher BTC outflow from exchanges suggests investors are looking to hold for the longer term. BTC is currently trading at $38,900.

Ethereum (ETH) was quick to follow the BTC’s path as it retracted by more than 10% in the past week. Since December 2021, the 50 day exponential moving average, which is currently at $2,890, has acted as a key resistance level for ETH. $2,445 level is a must hold for ETH while breaking the resistance at $2,780 is necessary to resume an uptrend. ETH is currently trading at $2,580.

Altcoins remain highly volatile 

Among the top 20 crypto assets (excluding BTC, ETH) by market capitalization, Binance coin (BNB), Polkadot (DOT), Cosmos (ATOM), Polygon (MATIC) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have gained by a whisker from the previous day. Waves (WAVES) stole the show among the top 100 list with an impressive 25% gain in the last 24 hours despite the bearish sentiments in the market. 

Waves is a multi-purpose blockchain protocol designed to support decentralized apps and smart contracts. The price surge is believed to be caused by the news of protocol upgrade to Waves 2.0 with a new governance structure. Another development which helped boost its price is the partnership with Allbridge, a protocol focused on facilitating the transfer of assets between all blockchain networks, and an upcoming launch of a $150 million fund to expand in the US. 

Short term outlook for Bitcoin

Bitcoin bulls are bracing for tough times ahead with a prolonging war on one side, increasing prospects of a interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve on the other side. Additionally, the news that US president Biden may sign an executive order outlining the US’ strategy for crypto assets is also expected to negatively impact the prices in the near term. From a technical standpoint, the $39,600 region will be tough for BTC to reclaim. 

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Disclaimer: This article was authored by Giottus Crypto Exchange as a part of a paid partnership with The News Minute. Crypto-asset or cryptocurrency investments are subject to market risks such as volatility and have no guaranteed returns. Please do your own research before investing and seek independent legal/financial advice if you are unsure about the investments.