Bitcoin formally closed last week
lower, ending it near $21,100. At the time of writing, the upside momentum has
built up, taking the price to 21,800, the upper end of last month's consolidation
range.
Ethereum jumped 14.1% last week and is adding another 6.7% since the start of
the day on Monday, rising to $1430. Finding itself one step ahead of BTC this
time, ETH broke the upper bound of last month's trading range on Friday. The second
cryptocurrency's steady rise underscores the heightened demand for risk among
crypto enthusiasts.
Leading altcoins have gained in the last 24 hours, ranging from 1.8% (Dogecoin)
to 16% (Polygon).
The total capitalisation of the crypto market, according to CoinMarketCap, rose
9.5% over the week to $998bn. Bitcoin's dominance index fell by 1.1 percentage
points to 41.7% over the same period.
The Crypto Fear-and-Greed Index was unchanged for the week, returning after
falling to 24 points (extreme fear). By Monday, the index was down to 20, but
recent market dynamics suggest the market is set to leave "extreme
fear" territory.
Bitcoin rebounded in the second half of the week from all its early declines.
BTC has been consolidating below its 200-week moving average for almost a
month, now running around $22,550. The first cryptocurrency cannot yet move
significantly away from the $20,000 level (the high of the previous cycle).
Optimists can look for a sequence of higher local lows over the past four weeks.
Ethereum showed notable gains after ETH developers approved the blockchain
migration to PoS for September 19, 2022. Ethereum broke above its 200-week
average late last week, which could spur early buyers to trade on technical
signals.
And we also draw attention to increased investor interest in blockchain
networks, as seen in the outperformance of Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and
Avalanche during the past week. In parallel, the NFT market continues to fade.
This can be described as investors betting on long-term projects instead of
collecting short-term speculation.
Bloomberg draws attention to the weakening correlation between bitcoin and US
stock indices, which has fallen to its lowest levels since January. If BTC's
dependence on the stock market weakens in the coming weeks, the expert
community will discuss bitcoin as "digital gold" again.
According to CryptoCompare, cryptocurrency spot trading volume fell to its
lowest since June 2020. Fairlead Strategies estimates that the bearish phase of
the market could drag on for several more months.
The UN has recommended that developing countries ban cryptocurrency advertising
and require all cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges to register with
regulators.
This article was written by FxPro’s Senior Market Analyst Alex Kuptsikevich.
