Several factors have contributed to the decline of cryptocurrencies in the last few months. The crypto crackdown, which accelerated last year, is the main factor, while the reversal in monetary policies by central banks has also had a negative impact. Recently certain governments across the globe have begun pushing to regulate cryptocurrencies, although the crypto market is not sure right now whether this is a positive or negative thing.

The government of India intends to introduce a 30% tax on revenue from crypto transactions, and they plan to introduce the digital Rupee as well. Crypto regulation is on course in Russia, after the submission of a proposal to the government by the Finance Ministry, while in the US, regulation is likely to be dependent on the outcome of the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit.

Fantom Daily Chart – FTM Pushing Below the 200 SMA

The support zone below $2 has been broken 

Fantom has been showing buying pressure, having held out better than most of the major coins in the crypto market during these bearish times. Moving averages and support/resistance levels that have formed on the way up have been supporting FTM during these times, and in January, we saw an attempt to reach the previous highs again, after the reversal off the 200 daily SMA (purple). The support zone below $2 held well for some time, but it was broken over the weekend, as the market turned bearish.

Fantom has good reason to turn bullish once the market sentiment improves, since it is a prominent competitor of Ethereum. It is much more scalable, with transactions exceeding 1.2 million, and it is also compatible with Ethereum, which means developers are familiar with the Fantom network. This is attracting interest from large investors, such as Grayscale. But at the moment the sentiment remains bearish, and we are following the price action to see if it will reach the next support, where we would be tempted to buy.

Bitcoin Daily Chart – BTC Falling Below the 50 SMA Again

BTC has slipped below the $40,000 level as well

Bitcoin has also gone through a steep bullish reversal since November, losing more than half its value by January, but in the previous weeks, it has made a promising reversal higher, pushing above the 50 daily SMA (yellow). Buyers pushed above $40,000, reaching $46,000, but failed to reach $50,000, and BTC reversed lower late last week.

Last week, Bitcoin holdings by miners turned negative for the first time since November, which is a negative sign for BTC. The tensions in Ukraine have turned the risk sentiment off, with stock markets and cryptocurrencies declining, while safe havens, such as gold and silver, are rallying. So, for the moment, we are just following the price of Bitcoin, to get a feel for the general market sentiment.

Bitcoin Live Chart