XRP Crashes 14% As Sellers Target $0.30, Ripple-US SEC Case Coming To an End

Posted on April 15, 2024 by Dalmas Ngetich

XRP has turned around, and sellers, looking at the formation in the daily chart, are firmly in control. Even though there were hints of strength following the surge of March 11, the slip of April 12 and 13 invalidated the uptrend. As it is, price action is tilted to favor sellers. From the XRP/USD candlestick formation, every retracement towards the $0.57 resistance line may offer more entries for sellers to unload.

Currently, XRP is up 4% on the previous day but down 15% in the past week of trading. At the same time, the average trading volume in the past day is down roughly 47% to $2.4 billion. The contraction might be in double digits, but volume is notably within range, signaling the presence of sellers and possible unwinding of more long positions following the price dump.

In the coming few trading sessions, traders can watch out for the following XRP and Ripple news events:

Experts think Ripple—the blockchain company—and the United States SEC might have reached an agreement in the ongoing case. The regulator wants Ripple to pay a $2 billion fine.
The drop over the weekend saw the coin fall below a multi-month consolidation, swinging XRP bearish. Unless there is a close above $0.74, sellers, some analysts say, might push prices to $0.30.

XRP Price Analysis

[[XRP/USD]] is bearish at spot rates.

Changing hands at around $0.51, the coin is within a bearish formation following the dip below $0.57 support.

Since XRP is still within the April 12 and 13 bear bars, every high below $0.57 might offer entries for sellers targeting $0.45 and $0.30 in the short term.

Any recovery above $0.66 and $0.74 will nullify this bearish outlook; positioning the coin for $0.81 and $0.95.

Ethereum Breaks $3,200, Hong Kong Approves Spot ETH ETF

Posted on April 15, 2024April 15, 2024 by Dalmas Ngetich

Ethereum is trading up when writing. Changing hands above $3,200, the coin is recovering but technically under pressure, trending within the April 13 bear bar. From the candlestick arrangement in the daily chart, ETH is within a bear breakout formation following the weekend’s losses. However, with the bounce on Sunday and the extension in the early Asian session, prices look solid.

On the last trading day, ETH is up 5%, while it is down 8% in the past week. Although prices are steady at press time, volume is down 32%, meaning traders are still cautious and unwilling to participate. In the days to come, this might change, influenced by changes in trend direction. Losses or gains above key levels, clear in the daily chart, might see trading volume expand.

Going forward, the following news events will shape Ethereum prices in the days ahead:

Hong Kong regulators have approved spot Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs, a major boost and endorsement of crypto assets. The decision on April 15 might catalyze demand, helping ETH prices soak in the wave of selling pressure of the weekend.
The Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has been expanded to support Ethereum layer-2 platforms, including Optimism. CCIP promotes blockchain interoperability, helping make the ecosystem more fluid.

Ethereum Price Analysis

[[ETH/USD]] is firm, adding 5% on the last day, as mentioned earlier.

However, following the dump below $3,200 over the weekend, it means the coin is technically within a bear breakout formation.

Prices are still within the April 13 bear bar, a net bearish from an effort versus result perspective.

From the Ethereum candlestick arrangement in the daily chart, the primary resistance is at $3,700.

This level must be broken at the back of rising volume for buyers to take over.

Further contractions below last week’s lows of $2,860 will likely see Ethereum fall to $2,600.

Forex Signals Brief April 15: Will US Retail Sales Offer A Surprise Today?

Posted on April 15, 2024April 15, 2024 by Skerdian Meta

Last week we had three major central bank meetings, however, the US CPI inflation released on Wednesday took all the attention. It came above expectations once again, with the headline CPI increasing to 3.5% in March from 3.2% in February, sending the USD 200 pips higher across the board until the end of the week.

Increased volatility is expected in the USD after retail sales are published

Continue reading “Forex Signals Brief April 15: Will US Retail Sales Offer A Surprise Today?” →

Bitcoin Trapped In A Range, Will Halving Hopes Revive Bulls?

Posted on April 15, 2024April 15, 2024 by Dalmas Ngetich

Bitcoin is firm, trading higher after the slump over the weekend. As it is, the coin is now within a range, with support at around $61,000 and resistance at all-time highs. Even though the optimism remains, a conclusive breakout in either direction may define the short-term trend. Altogether, buyers are confident, citing upcoming fundamental events as possible triggers for more upswings.

So far, Bitcoin is up 3% in the last trading day, down 6% in the past week. On the last trading day, volume is down 27% to $43.5 billion. Even with prices recovering, the failure of buyers to follow through and breach $73,800 is a dent in confidence.

The following Bitcoin news events might influence prices in the coming days:

Iran’s surprise attack on Israel was a cause of concern, negatively impacting the global markets. As of April 13, prices plunged across the board before recovering on Sunday. Iran decided not to continue with their military action against Israel, relieving market pressures across the board.
Optimism is high as traders expect regulators in Hong Kong to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs. The product will complement a similar one in the United States. Experts allow the ETF to permit institutions in Southeast Asia and even those in China to find a regulated vehicle for BTC exposure.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

Bitcoin is trapped within a range, though the uptrend of Q1 2024 is still valid.

So far, and as mentioned earlier, support is around the $61,000 level. On the other hand, resistance is at $73,800—or all-time highs.

For trend continuation above the current broad range, buyers must conclusively break above $73,800 with rising volume.

However, should bears take charge, losses below $61,000 with rising volume might force [[BTC/USD]] prices to $59,000 or lower.

Ethereum and Bitcoin Price Fall 7-10%, After Forming A Top

Posted on April 13, 2024April 12, 2024 by Skerdian Meta

Ethereum and the Bitcoin price saw some strong demand early this year, with BTC pushing above $73,000 while ETH climbed above $4,000 in early March. However, they haven’t had new highs for about a month and in fact, the highs have been getting lower, which means that there is a top in place in both cryptocurrencies. Continue reading “Ethereum and Bitcoin Price Fall 7-10%, After Forming A Top” →

Crypto quake hit 298,239 traders, about $1 billion lost

Posted on April 13, 2024 by Olumide Adesina

The crypto market, which includes well-known digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, is severely down as about $1 billion got liquidated in the past 24 hours 298,239 traders were liquidated, for a total liquidation value of $935.43 million.

The OKX ETH-USD-SWAP liquidation order, valued at $7.19 million, was the highest single liquidation order. Most of those holdings were long bets taken aback by the abrupt drop and were wagered on rising prices. Crypto derivative contracts known as “longs” enable investors to wager on the increase in the value of an asset. A trader has lost the wager and the position gets closed involuntarily if a long is liquidated.

As risk aversion in traditional markets due to escalating geopolitical uncertainties extended to digital assets on Friday, the appetite for cryptocurrency assets moderately declined.

Bitcoin’s Price action

Bitcoin (BTC) fell sharply throughout the afternoon during U.S. trading, breaking below $66,000 after having just hours before tested the $71,000 mark. As of the time of writing, bitcoin had fallen more than 5% in the previous day but had since recovered to $66,700.

Most recent price action before the publication shows that the price of a Bitcoin is a little less than $67,000. That is a decrease of more than 2.5% in a single day and a reasonable decline from its all-time high price of $73,737 in March.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has been rangebound for a few weeks now, staying within that range. This could result in significant liquidation on both sides before the establishment of a direction. Although there is still hope for Bitcoin in the long run, market fluctuations may cause it to decline before the next halving.

Sell-offs in Altcoins

Ethereum’s price, meanwhile, has dropped more than 5% in a day; it is currently trading at $3,215.

The fifth-largest cryptocurrency, Solana, has plummeted by about 12%, while Dogwifhat, which has been trending higher this week, has lost at least 5% of its value.

As traders flocked to safe-haven assets, gold—long seen as a haven asset—soared above $2,400 to a new all-time high before reducing its gains, while oil saw a 1% increase. Meanwhile, Treasury bonds and the U.S. dollar index (DXY) gained.

This abrupt change in the market is in stark contrast to the recent upswing, which was partially driven by interest in the upcoming Bitcoin halving event—a significant modification to the cryptocurrency’s code intended to reduce its supply.

Even with the current cryptocurrency liquidations, Bitcoin is still much higher for the year—it has increased by almost 60%.

Forex Signals Brief April 12: UK February GDP Closing the Week

Posted on April 12, 2024April 11, 2024 by Skerdian Meta

The European Central Bank (ECB) maintained its interest rates unchanged but hinted at potential future decreases. Despite this announcement, there was remarkably minimal price response in the euro. The currency fluctuated within a narrow range between 1.0700 and 1.0750.

Continue reading “Forex Signals Brief April 12: UK February GDP Closing the Week” →

Bitcoin gets harder to mine as Halving is a week away

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Olumide Adesina

The difficulty of mining bitcoin has increased significantly ahead of the much-anticipated halving event. The block subsidy will be halved later this month, a crucial step towards achieving Bitcoin’s ultimate 21-million-coin supply cap. Furthermore, users attach transaction fees to their transactions, which miners collect to incentivize miners to include those transactions in the next block.

As a result, miners frequently get paid more in bitcoin than just the subsidy for processing a block. The next Bitcoin halving, which will lower the block reward from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC, is scheduled for April 19, 2024.

The supply will rise by 164,250 bitcoins (from 19,687,500 to 20,671,875) during this halving period, also known as an epoch. This is just 328,124 bitcoins more than the maximum supply limit of 21 million

The largest Wall Street institutions have accepted Bitcoin, and it never fails to pique the interest of regular investors. Crypto market observers, ranging from the jubilant to the bewildered to the unimpressed, are aware that this halving is imminent and that it must portend well for Bitcoin.

This technical event, which occurs on the Bitcoin network approximately every four years, divides the cryptocurrency’s supply in half and produces a scarcity effect that elevates it to the status of “digital gold.”. Usually, it heralds the beginning of a fresh cycle and bull run, but this one is a little unique.

Halving, however, differs from flipping an on/off switch at a set moment. It makes sense to believe that there won’t be much movement in the market on this day. Undoubtedly, speculators who may be betting on the event could likely cause volatility. According to CoinWarz’s most recent statistics, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty reached a record-breaking 86.39 trillion at its peak. It has risen by 3 points92 percent this past week and 8 points87 percent this past month. From the previous peak of 83 trillion, reached on March 28, this suggests a 3.4 percent increase.

The hash rate of the Bitcoin network was discovered to be 626.56 EH/s, staying reasonably near its all-time high of 762 EH/s. The next adjustment to the Bitcoin difficulty is predicted to occur on April 24th, when the difficulty of mining Bitcoin is expected to increase from 86.39 trillion to 89.21 trillion at 1,919 blocks, according to CoinWarz data.

Forex Signals Brief April 11: Shifting Attention to the ECB Meeting and US PPI

Posted on April 11, 2024April 10, 2024 by Skerdian Meta

Yesterday’s economic events have certainly stirred the financial markets. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand opened the day, holding interest rates unchanged at 5.50%, but sounding less dovish than expected, which gave the NZD a boost. However, the best was still to come in the US session. Let’s break down some of the key events:

Continue reading “Forex Signals Brief April 11: Shifting Attention to the ECB Meeting and US PPI” →

XRP Bullish But Choppy, RippleX Developers Release Key XRPL Update

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Dalmas Ngetich

XRP is moving within a tight range at spot rates, though prices are firm despite slipping in the early trading sessions of April 10. When writing, prices are choppy in lower time frames. The long upper wick on April 9, pointing to intense selling pressure, has been neutralized by the long lower wick of April 10, suggesting buying pressure. Even so, gains of April 4 and 10 define the short-term formation, placing bulls on top.

Already, XRP is stable in the past trading day but up 8% in the last week. It remains at sixth, ahead of USDC and Cardano but trading volume is down 38% in the previous 24 hours. The contraction in activity only saw $1.5 billion worth of the coin traded.

In the coming hours, these Ripple and XRP news events might impact prices:

RippleX, the development wing of Ripple, is urging XRP Ledger (XRPL) validators to upgrade their nodes to version 2.1.1. By upgrading, node operators will be helping fix the current bug facing XRPL’s automated market maker (AMM).
Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton is adamant that decentralized networks should remain as they are. They retain multiple advantages over centralized systems, meaning no one can control them. Deaton was responding to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s allegations when she appeared before a Senate Banking Committee.

XRP Price Analysis

[[XRP/USD]] is within a bullish formation but choppy.

Even with the uptrend defined at spot rates, the path of least resistance can swing in either direction.

The short to medium-term bias remains bullish above the $0.57 to $0.60 support zone.

In the short term, a close above $0.61 and $0.66 will cement this bullish outlook. In that case, traders can buy the dips, targeting $0.74.

Any dump below $0.57 with rising volumes will cancel this bullish outlook.