Crypto prices continued their bullish trend today. The current upswing in market momentum is attributed to the potential approval of a Bitcoin Spot ETF. Several market experts anticipate that the SEC will give the green light to a BTC ETF in early January 2024, contributing to positive market sentiment. The global crypto market cap has also seen an uptick during the recent rally of major crypto prices. At the time of writing, the overall crypto market cap has increased by 2.17% to reach $1.66 trillion, while the trading volume has slightly decreased by 4.93% to $68.19 billion. The fear and greed index stands at 75, indicating a “greed” sentiment in the market, reflecting a tendency toward buying. Looking at the broader perspective, Bitcoin has demonstrated an impressive year-to-date gain of 164%, significantly surpassing the stock market’s 23.2% increase, as measured by the S&P 500 index. This substantial outperformance has triggered some profit-taking.
The price of BTC surged above $40,000 about two weeks ago, on Dec. 4, marking a significant breakthrough since April 2022. In a rapid rally within less than 48 hours, the price reached approximately $44,000. However, this level has proven to be a robust resistance, prompting traders to speculate whether a correction down to $41,000 is the most probable scenario. Over the last 16 days, there have been multiple rejections at the $44,000 mark, followed by subsequent retests of the $41,000 support level. Notably, these price movements coincided with increased chances of approval for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by January. Bloomberg ETF analysts observed heightened probabilities after multiple issuers adjusted their filings to align with the cash redemption model required by securities regulators. On a positive note, despite the recent rejection and profit-taking, Bitcoin whales, as indicated by BTC derivatives metrics, do not seem overly concerned. This sentiment suggests that there is room for further gains before the actual approval of a spot ETF, indicating a level of confidence and optimism among Bitcoin holders.
Ethereum (ETH) is currently navigating a contentious struggle between bullish and bearish forces around the robust support level of $2,200. The bears’ inability to sustain the price below $2,200 implies significant buying interest at lower levels. The relatively flat 20-day EMA at $2,210 and the RSI hovering near the midpoint suggest a period of range-bound action in the near term. Recent observations highlight Solana’s remarkable performance, surpassing Ethereum in DEX, stablecoin, and NFT trading volumes over both 24-hour and seven-day intervals. Some voices even speculate on the potential for Solana to “flip” Ethereum in the future. However, it’s essential to note that Ethereum maintains the highest TVL on its network at $28 billion, while Solana ranks fifth with a TVL of $1.15 billion, according to DefiLlama. Moreover, comparing Ethereum’s market cap to TVL (Mcap/TVL) ratio of 9.4 with Solana’s 30.45 reveals interesting insights. The Mcap/TVL ratio is a widely used metric to gauge a blockchain’s intrinsic value. With Ethereum’s lower ratio, currently at 9.4, some analysts suggest it could be indicative of undervaluation relative to Solana.
Technical Outlook:
Bitcoin:
BITCOIN after giving the breakout above the range started moving up by forming a ‘Higher High Higher Low’ pattern and the prices surged up to $44,700. Post this move, The asset saw some profit booking and dropped to $40,222. Currently, BTC is consolidating between $40,500 to $44,500. The asset has a strong support at $40,000 whereas $48,000 will act as a strong resistance for the asset.
Ethereum:
ETH was facing stiff resistance at the previous high of $2,146. However, the bulls finally were able to break the long-held resistance and the prices surged up to $2,403. The asset resisted at the key resistance level of $2,400 (Horizontal Trendline) and witnessed some profit booking. The prices corrected almost by 12% and dropped to $2,116. Currently, ETH is taking good support at $2,125 and if it holds and sustains above the support then we may expect the bulls to resume the up move. To further rally, ETH needs to break, close and sustain above $2,400.
BNB:
BNB was trading in a range from $205 to $220 with low volumes. The asset finally gave a breakout above the range and surged up to $258. BNB was facing stiff resistance at $255 (Horizontal Trendline). The bulls managed to break the resistance and made the weekly high of $276.5. BNB has a strong resistance at $285 and $300. If it breaks, closes and sustains above this resistance then we may expect it to further rally.
Weekly Snapshot:
| USD ($) | 14 Dec 23 | 21 Dec 23 | Previous Week | Current Week | |||
| Close | Close | % Change | High | Low | High | Low | |
| BTC | $43,293 | $43,869 | 1.33% | $44,409 | $37,629 | $44,276 | $40,530 |
| ETH | $2,317 | $2,240 | -3.32% | $2,402 | $2,151 | $2,317 | $2,120 |
| BNB | $253.54 | $271.25 | 6.99% | $256.71 | $230.53 | $274.44 | $232.75 |
| Crypto | 1w – % Vol. Change (Global) |
| BitCoin (BTC) | -8.69% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | -13.95% |
| Binance Coin (BNB) | 28.79% |
| Resistance 2 | $48,000 | $2,750 | $1.15 | $300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resistance 1 | $44,500 | $2,400 | $1 | $285 |
| USD | BTC | ETH | Matic | BNB |
| Support 1 | $40,000 | $2,150 | $0.75 | $255 |
| Support 2 | $36,000 | $1,900 | $0.55 | $220 |
Market Updates:
- El Salvador’s Congress has reportedly approved a migration law granting expedited citizenship to foreigners who make Bitcoin (BTC) “donations” toward government social and economic development programs.
- The Ethereum “Dencun” upgrade will be implemented on the Goerli testnet on Jan. 17th, followed by the Sepolia and Holesky testnets in the following weeks.
- Worldcoin has shut off its offline orb verification function for users in three markets: India, Brazil, and France, a report says.
- On Dec. 21, the FSRA officially announced revisions to its AML and sanctions rules and guidance, or the AML Rulebook, adding some changes to the provisions related to digital assets within the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Travel Rule.
