Crypto looks bearish for now and there is limited hope for any sharp revival. However, all eyes are set on the much-awaited software update of Ethereum named ‘The Merge,’ which will be completed by the end of this month.
Barring Polygone and the US dollar-pegged stablecoins, all other tokens were trading lower on Thursday. BNB tanked 4 per cent, whereas Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu declined 3 per cent each.
The global cryptocurrency market cap was trading lower at the $980.54 billion mark, dropping more than a per cent in the last 24 hours. However, the total trading volume tanked about 10 per cent close to $67.92 billion.
Expert Take
Global economic indicators including the US Federal Reserve chief’s statement on an interest rate hike dented the sentiments, said Prashant Kumar Founder and CEO at weTrade.
“The much awaited Ethereum Merge is scheduled to be rolled out next week,” he added. “As major changes take place in the crypto market and outside, investors are urged to continue having patience.”
Global updates
- More volatility is likely for bitcoin in the months ahead as the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization faces decoupling from traditional markets and decreasing forward guidance from the US Federal Reserve.
- The difficulty of mining a bitcoin block increased by 9 per cent on Wednesday, making it this year’s second-biggest increase, which is likely to result in narrower profit margins for the industry.
- Non-fungible tokens have a licensing problem, and Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) crypto arm thinks it has an answer.
- The combined market capitalization of the two largest stablecoins, tether and USD coin, has begun to fall again, a sign that quantitative tightening in the crypto financial system has resumed, Morgan Stanley said in a research report.
- South Korean port city Busan signed an agreement with crypto exchange FTX to develop blockchain-based businesses in the coming months.
Tech View by Giottus Crypto Exchange
Avalanche is a layer-1 blockchain hosting decentralized applications by deploying smart contract functionalities. AVAX, the native token of the blockchain, has witnessed steep correction during the past two weeks post allegations of the team illegally paying lawyers to hurt competitors and manipulate regulatory systems. The token did a brief recovery rally post this and is currently trading at $19.4, still down 16% in the past week.
AVAX rallied to a local high of $30.9 by mid-August, after which it entered a correction mode. It attempted a short recovery after it fell below its descending trendline support and bottomed at $17.3. The rally was short-lived, and it failed to clear the resistance at $20.4.
AVAX seems to have lost its momentum, with its RSI at 33 showing oversold signals. All other technical signals continue to display a sell signal, including the moving averages. AVAX needs to break past the psychological resistance of $23.5 before it attempts a trend reversal and restores market confidence. The previous bottom of $17.3 is acting as the next support. In case of further downfall, July lows of $16.4 may come into play.
Major levels
Resistance: $20.45, $21.0, $23.5
Support: $17.3, $16.4
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
