Cryptos weekly market analysis
Bitcoin started a downside correction, after a further rejection of $10,500 level. The 10,350 and 10,200 support levels were broken and the coin is currently consolidating losses, with signs of a corrective decrease towards 9,850. Similarly, there was a minor decline in most major altcoins in the past three trading sessions of the last week, including ethereum, XRP, litecoin, bitcoin cash, BNB, EOS, TRX, ADA, and XLM. ETHUSD started a downside correction from the $ 275 high and declined below 268. XRPUSD corrected from above $ 0.335 and it is currently (Feb. 15, 3:17 PM GMT) consolidating above the 0.320 support.
As for Bitcoin, after its price fell below the $ 10,350 and $ 10,200 support levels, the next key supports are near 10,050 and 10,000. On the downside, should BTCUSD fail to stay above 10,000, the next major uptrend support is close to 9,850. On the upside, an initial resistance is set to 10,200. In order to have a fresh restart of the upward trend, the price must move back above 10,350. The main resistances are still near 10,450 and 10,500.
Ethereum ended the trading week near $ 275 and then started a downside correction. ETHUSD broke the 270 and 268 levels. It is currently trading near the 265 support, below which it could correct lower towards 258. On the upside, the 270 level might act as an initial resistance area. The next key resistance is near 275, above which it could start a steady rise towards the 292 and 295 resistance levels.
Bitcoin cash kept in a range below the $ 480 and 485 resistance levels. On the upside, should BCHUSD rise above 485, it could even rise above the 500 resistance area. On the downside, the next important support is seen near the 435 level.
Litecoin corrected a few points from above 84. However, LTCUSD found support above 78.50 and it is currently consolidating near 80. To start a fresh increase, the price must surpass the 82.50 resistance area. The main resistance levels are 84.50 and 85.00.
XRP started a downside correction from the $0.340 resistance area. It corrected below 0.330, but it found support above 0.310. It is currently trading in a range above 0.320 and facing sellers near the 0.328 and 0.330 levels.
Many small-cap altcoins rose by more than +5.0%, including THETA, STEEM, ELF, SC, CENNZ, SNT, KNC, RVN, BCN, ZRX, BTS, CHZ, XTZ, and GNT. Otherwise, HBAR, DX, ICX, ALGO, LSK, SEELE, and REP fell by more than -5.0%.
Bitcoin’s golden cross could add fuel to price rally
Despite the last week’s decline there is good news for bitcoiners. The coin’s short-term and long-term daily moving averages look likely to converge soon, opening up the potential for a daily golden cross, a bullish pattern not seen for nearly 10 months. On this possibility, Sebastian Sinclair (Coindesk.com) thinks that “the 14-day relative strength index is registering near overbought conditions, a possible sign of buyer exhaustion that may see a short-term pullback. The weekly chart indicates strong buyer momentum after breaking out of a 203-day descending channel on Jan. 20. Bull bias would be aborted with a firm close below $9,706, an area of major bullish gains previously. Bitcoin may see a move higher in coming weeks, courtesy of two major daily moving averages heading for a collision dubbed a golden cross”, Sinclair writes.
“The cross occurs when a short-term moving average crosses above a longer-term one, typically the 50-day and 200-day MAs, hinting at strong upward momentum in an assets price. The last time such an instance occurred was back in April 2019, when the price of Bitcoin rose +175,0% to create a yearly high of around $13,880 after a temporary pullback to $4,995, Bitstamp data shows. Therefore, if history repeats, Bitcoin could be in for a short-term drop before making its way to a new high for 2020”, Sinclair concludes. We will see if this cross really occurs, over the next days.
Binance adds payment support for 15 fiat currencies
Paddy Baker (Coindesk.com) reports that the Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced on February 14th “that users can now purchase cryptocurrencies with a longer list of supported fiat currencies through its integration with Israeli fiat payments processor Simplex. The new integration provides gateways for currencies including the Swiss franc, Korean won and Australian dollar, as well as the Polish zloty and South African rand. Currencies that have already been made available through Binance’s fiat-to-crypto tradin g facility, such as pound sterling and Russian ruble, are also now supported through Simplex.
Developers confirmed the integration was fully operational by Thursday afternoon. Supported fiat currencies will be paired with Binance’s base cryptocurrencies – the assets the exchange uses for its default trading pairs. These currently include bitcoin, ether, XRP, as well as some selected fiat currencies, including the U.S. dollar and the Nigerian naira. Data collected for CoinDesk suggests fiat volumes only make up a tiny fraction of Binance’s trading activity. With 30-day average daily volumes at around $3.55 billion, only $3.5 million of that was in fiat. The vast majority of the volume has been in U.S. dollars since a gateway for the currency was opened up”, Baker concludes.