Market update
After a sharp drop to A$38,890 (US$25K) this time last week, Bitcoin has recovered 6% to trade around A$41,580 (US$26,740), and Ethereum is up 5% to trade at A$2,530 (US$1,630). It was a sea of green elsewhere, with gains for XRP (6%), Cardano (4%), Dogecoin (2%) and Polkadot (2%). Telegram messaging app TON surged 48% and is now in the top 10 coins according to Coinmarketcap after the app integrated TON’s self-custodial crypto wallet for its 800 million users. The Fear and Greed Index improved to 46, which is still Fear.
September continues its reputation as “Downtember”, with the markets down again this week Looming “death crosses” for Ethereum and Bitcoin sparked another debate over whether it was a portent of doom, or whether charting was merely astrology for men. Bitcoin finishes the week down 3% at A$39,128 (US$25,119), while Ethereum dropped 5% to A$2,409 (US$1,547). Both are about 13-15% down on a month ago. XRP lost 7%, Cardano fell 6%, Dogecoin (-4%) and Solana fell 9% on fears of an FTX selloff. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is steady at 40, or Fear.
Despite a short-lived sugar rush from Grayscale’s court victory against the Securities and Exchange Commission, crypto markets remain in a holding pattern and are looking for a direction. Bitcoin finishes the week at A$40,035 (US$25,965), which is essentially the same as seven days ago. Ethereum also treads water this week and ends up at A$2,519 (US$1,640). XRP (-3%), Cardano (-4%), Dogecoin (1.2%) and Solana (-5%) also barely moved. The Fear and Greed Index is at 40 or Fear.
Crypto markets traded sideways again this week, with Bitcoin flat on seven days ago and trading around A$40,550 (US$26,025). Ethereum lost 1.3% and finished the week at A$2,570 (US$1,650). XRP and Cardano were flat, Dogecoin was up 1.4%, while Solana fell 3%. There is some good news, with Bloomberg analysts arguing the recent downtrend in Bitcoin prices is weakening, and the liquidations are “largely behind us” based on a decline in open interest. “As a result, we see limited downside for crypto markets over the near term,” their report stated. However, with the war on crypto in full swing and the US Fed boss Jereme Powell indicating inflation is still too high and that “we are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate” it’s anyone’s guess where markets will go next. Analyst Michael van de Poppe says that nearing 500 days, we’re in “the longest bear market in history for Bitcoin”. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 39 or Fear.
Bitcoin’s months-long sideways action ended with a bang late last week when the price dropped about 8% in ten minutes on Friday. Around US$2.5 billion of open interest in derivatives markets was cleared out in a few hours. The likely catalyst was some reheated old news about SpaceX writing down its BTC holdings and selling, but there are also fears over the Chinese economy, speculation about potential US interest rate rises, and the possible price impact of a rise in government bond yields. Bitcoin finishes the week down 11% to trade at US$26.1K, while Ethereum fared slightly better with a 10% drop to US$1,670. Everything else lost ground significantly, including XRP (-17%), Cardano (-9%), Dogecoin (-16%) and Solana (-16%). After a few months at Neutral, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index has fallen to 38, or Fear.