A new local peak in crypto?

By Alex Kuptsikevich

Market Picture

The crypto market started the weekend on a positive note but has been unable to sustain gains in recent days, losing 2.8% in the last 24 hours to reach a capitalisation of $2.04 trillion. This retreat from the $2.12 trillion area looks like a new lower local high, continuing the March series, with the potential to return below $2 trillion and consolidate there.

Bitcoin climbed above $60.5K on Saturday but failed to consolidate at this level, running into resistance in the form of the 50-day moving average. At the start of active trading in Europe, bitcoin was trading below $58.7K. It is not out of the question that the momentum of the short-term rally has run its course and that a fresh move towards the lower end of the trading range at $53K will take place. However, we do not expect the markets to make any significant moves until the Fed's rate decision on Wednesday evening.

Litecoin has technically reversed from the upper boundary of the descending range that has been in place since May and from the 50-day moving average that has been acting as resistance all along. For the past month, the coin has found support near the $60 level, not far from the current $62.8. A break below this level could accelerate the sell-off. The ability to hold above will allow for a scenario of a break in the multi-month downtrend.

News Background

According to CryptoQuant, Ethereum traders' sentiment requires a small push for the asset price to go into 'parabolic' growth. Such a scenario will become possible when the funding rate on ETH perpetual contracts exceeds 0.015%.

Coinbase attributes Ethereum's underperformance to the current market structure combined with weakening on-chain metrics.

Bitfinex notes that altcoins remain relatively strong despite Bitcoin's decline, which could be a sign that investors are reconsidering capital protection during market uncertainty.

MicroStrategy's founder, Michael Saylor, said the company acquired an additional 18,300 BTCs for $1.11 billion (at $60,408 per coin). Thus, MicroStrategy's total holdings are 244,800 BTC, acquired for approximately $9.45 billion ($38,585 per coin).

The consumer advocacy group Consumers' Research released a report accusing Tether of a lack of transparency regarding its USD reserves. The report's authors drew an analogy to the situation that led to the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research.

About the author

Alex Kuptsikevich is a financial market professional with 16-years’ experience and a senior financial analyst at FxPro. He is the author of daily reviews on the impact of economic events with comments featured in top international and Russian media. Alex covers fundamental analysis, global markets, the foreign exchange market, gold, oil, and cryptocurrencies in his analytical pieces. As the senior financial analyst at FxPro, Alex is a guest expert in 1-tier global media such as Forbes, Coindesk, Euromoney and Morning Star.