On Tuesday, the crypto market experienced a sudden surge in volatility, marked by Bitcoin (BTC) surpassing $73,000 for the first time in history, only to swiftly retreat by nearly 6% from those highs. However, the market witnessed a modest rebound thereafter. As of the latest update, Bitcoin was trading at $71,150, reflecting a 2% decrease over the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) also showed resilience with a 2% decline, while other major crypto assets such as Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin, and Litecoin (LTC) experienced sharper declines ranging from 6% to 8%. Avalanche’s native token (AVAX) emerged as the standout performer among the CoinDesk 20 constituents, registering a notable 15% gain for the day. The volatility in the market led to the liquidation of over $360 million worth of leveraged derivatives positions across all crypto assets, primarily affecting long positions on rising prices. This liquidation event marked the largest flush-out of long positions since the correction observed on March 5.
Bitcoin (BTC) saw a decline as Wall Street opened on March 14, driven by concerns over inflation following the release of United States macroeconomic data. The rapid descent from all-time highs to $71,200 happened within hours, with no immediate rebound evident at the time of this writing. This left BTC/USD down by as much as 3.3% for the day. The February U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) figures, which exceeded expectations, added to the inflation worries, further emphasising the persistent inflationary pressures. These PPI numbers, coupled with recent jobless claims and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, highlighted a challenging environment for the Federal Reserve to navigate. The ongoing volatility around all-time highs was noted as a characteristic battleground for Bitcoin, with significant fluctuations in both upward and downward directions. Such moments typically require time to stabilise before a clear trend emerges. Concurrently, on March 14, Bitcoin mining difficulty reached a new historical peak of 83.95 trillion hashes. This milestone coincided with Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high price of $73,835, reflecting heightened investor optimism leading up to the upcoming April Bitcoin halving event.
The highly anticipated Dencun Ethereum upgrade officially launched on March 13, heralding advancements geared towards bolstering the network’s cost efficiency. However, following the upgrade’s implementation, Ether’s price experienced a notable decline, plummeting from a peak of $4,082 to $3,932, as per available data. Notably, the average transaction fee on Base saw a significant reduction from approximately $1.50 to a mere $0.03, while Arbitrum’s average fee also dropped to $0.04 cents. Similar fee reductions were observed on zkSync and Zora. The Dencun upgrade brought forth several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), among which EIP-4844, dubbed proto-danksharding, aimed at curbing layer-2 transaction costs and bolstering data availability through blobs. With the implementation of Dencun this week, Ethereum (ETH) is witnessing a downward trend in its price. If additional challenges, such as waning prospects of a spot Ethereum ETF, contribute to the selling pressure, there’s a possibility that its price could further decline.
In February, the US consumer price index rose by 3.2 percent compared to the previous year, meeting expectations of a 3.1 percent increase. The Labor Department reported a 0.4 percent rise in the consumer price index from the preceding month. Additionally, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, saw a 0.4 percent increase from the previous month and a 3.8 percent increase from a year ago. In a letter dated March 11, Democratic senators Jack Reed and Laphonza Butler urged Gary Gensler to halt any further approval of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), citing significant risks to retail investors. They expressed concerns about potential exposure to thinly traded markets prone to fraud and manipulation should the Securities and Exchange Commission approve additional crypto ETFs. Currently, there are eight spot Ether ETF applications awaiting approval by the SEC, with hopes that other alternative coins could follow a similar path in the future.
Technical Outlook:
Bitcoin:
Bitcoin after taking multiple support at $40,000 resumed the up move and rallied up to $52,985. The asset was facing stiff resistance at $52,000 and started consolidating between $52,000 and $50,000. Post this move, BTC finally gave a breakout above the range and made the all time high of $73,777. Post this move, BTC witnessed profit booking at the higher levels and the prices dropped to $66,699. The asset has a strong support at $64,000 and $60,000. If it holds and sustains above the support then we may expect the bulls to resume the up move.
Ethereum:
ETH after giving a breakout above the long held resistance of $2,146 witnessed a sharp rally and the prices surged up to $4,093.9. The asset however, failed to break the resistance level of $4,150 and witnessed some correction from the recent highs. The prices fell almost by 11% and dropped to $3,623. ETH has a strong support at $3,400 whereas to further rally it needs to break, close and sustain above $4,150.
BNB:
BNB after breaking the long held resistance of $350 rallied up to $427.2. The asset saw some profit booking at these levels and the prices dropped to $356.1. BNB retested the support of $350 and witnessed a sharp rally and the prices surged up to $633.5. BNB has a strong resistance at $650 whereas 540 and $500 will act as a strong support for the asset.
Weekly Snapshot:
| USD ($) | 07 Mar 24 | 14 Mar 24 | Previous Week | Current Week | |||
| Close | Close | % Change | High | Low | High | Low | |
| BTC | $66,925 | $71,397 | 6.68% | $69,171 | $59,324 | $73,750 | $66,230 |
| ETH | $3,874 | $3,883 | 0.23% | $3,940 | $3,224 | $4,092 | $3,722 |
| BNB | $475.00 | $602.99 | 26.95% | $477.21 | $363.22 | $631.17 | $464.83 |
| crypto | 1w – % Vol. Change (Global) |
|---|---|
| BitCoin (BTC) | -7.11% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | -9.97% |
| Binance Coin (BNB) | 74.18% |
| Resistance 2 | $74,000 | $4,450 | $1.50 | $691 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resistance 1 | $70,000 | $4,150 | $1.25 | $650 |
| USD | BTC | ETH | Matic | BNB |
| Support 1 | $64,000 | $3,400 | $1 | $540 |
| Support 2 | $60,000 | $3,000 | $0.75 | $500 |
Market Updates:
- Two United States Democrat senators Jack Reed and Laphonza Butler want Gary Gensler to pull the pin on any further crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), citing “enormous risks” to retail investors.
- The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched phase two of its e-Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD) pilot program and urged industry participants to apply and submit potential use cases for its central bank digital currency (CBDC).
- Reports indicate that a United Kingdom judge has ruled that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of the Bitcoin network who disappeared in 2010.
