2021 was seen as one of the best years for crypto assets. Many coins made it big last year, and there was hope that this trend would carry on even in 2022. But the market has stagnated a bit and lost some of the momenta we saw at the end of 2021. But 2022 could still be a big year for crypto investment. Here is why:
The overall risk in other assets, including equities is now very high.
Crypto is likely to outperform traditional assets by a huge margin in 2022.
The crypto market has dipped slightly and should be perfect for value investing.
So, if you are thinking of adding some crypto assets into your portfolio over the coming months, here are 3 coins to consider.
Ethereum (ETH)
A lot of positive things have been happening with the Ethereum (ETH) chain over the last few months. The chain is moving towards a proof of stake consensus that will help enhance scalability and efficiency.
Data Source: Tradingview
Ethereum is also expected to report record fees this year as more and more DAPPs flock towards its ecosystem. Considering that ETH has fallen quite substantially from its 2021 highs, it could be a very decent buy.
STEPN (GMT)
Hopes about the rise of the metaverse have been quite substantive over the last few months. 2022 is seen as perhaps the breakthrough year for metaverse tokens and as such, it won’t be a surprise if coins like STEPN (GMT) surge. While there are many other metaverse tokens to watch, this one is a very promising one.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Shiba Inu (SHIB) made massive headlines last year with recording-breaking growth. It has since lost a lot of the gains it made in 2021 but this does not mean SHIB is down and out. In fact, it could deliver impeccable gains for investors in 2022 but not as much as we saw last year.
Terra (LUNA) price slid on April 11 as a broader correction across crypto assets added to the uncertainties concerning its token burning mechanism.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) led to a decline in the rest of the cryptocurrency market, with LUNA’s price dropping by over 8% to nearly $91.50, and about 30% from its record high of $120, set on April 6.
The overall drop tailed similar moves in the U.S. stock market last week after the Federal Reserve signaled its intentions to raise interest rates and shrink balance sheets sharply to curb rising inflation.
The correlation between LUNA and BTC has been largely positive in 2022. Source: TradingView
Tale of two exposés
LUNA picked additional downside cues from at least two “exposé” threads that went viral on Twitter over the weekend.
The first thread, penned by a pseudonymous analyst @DeFi_Made_Here on April 7, questioned LUNA’s capability to maintain the peg of Terra’s native stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST) since it is not backed by any tangible asset.
The second thread, published on April 9 by Jack Niewold, an analyst at the Crypto Pragmatist — a DeFi newsletter, accused Terra co-founder Do Kwon of receiving all the LUNA tokens meant to be “burned” to mint UST.
He also alleged that the Luna Foundation Guard, a nonprofit organization that backs the Terra ecosystem, has been using a percentage of burned LUNA supply to buy Bitcoin.
Kwon refuted the claims in a tweet-to-tweet response to Niewold, calling him a “made up clickbait.” The self-proclaimed “master of stablecoin” asserted that Terra burns LUNA 1:1 to mint new UST, which can be seen by testing a swap on the Anchor Protocol dashboard.
Jose Maria Macedo, head of crypto research platform Delphi Digital, also rubbished Niewold’s thread as “absolutely terrible.”
Key LUNA price support breaks
The latest LUNA selloff also led its price below its key moving average support against the U.S. dollar.
In detail, the Terra token dropped below its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave in the chart below), now near $90, almost two months after reclaiming it as support.
The latest support-to-resistance flip exposes LUNA to the possibility of extending its downtrend toward its 200-day EMA (the blue wave) around $67 (around 20% lower than April 11’s price) in April.
LUNA/USD daily price chart featuring 50-day EMA support. Source: TradingView
The 200-day EMA also coincides with the 0.382 Fib line of the Fibonacci retracement graph, drawn from the $4-swing low to the $106-swing high, thus offering LUNA double-layered support against bears.
Conversely, an early rebound from 0.236 Fib line (near $82) could have LUNA retest $106 as its interim upside target.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Last year, cryptocurrencies reached a “tipping point,” according to Gemini’s 2022 Global State of Crypto report, “evolving from what many considered a niche investment into an established asset class.”
According to the report, 41% of crypto owners surveyed globally purchased crypto for the first time in 2021, including more than half of crypto owners in Brazil at 51%, Hong Kong at 51% and India at 54%.
The study, based on a survey of 30,000 adults in 20 countries over six continents, also made a strong case that inflation and currency devaluation are powerful drivers of crypto adoption, especially in emerging market (EM) countries:
“Respondents in countries that have experienced 50% or more devaluation of their currency against the USD over the last 10 years were more than 5 times as likely to say they plan to purchase crypto in the coming year than those in countries that have experienced less than 50% currency devaluation.”
Brazil’s currency, the real, experienced a 218% devaluation — suggesting high inflation — against the United States dollar between 2011 and 2021, and 45% of Brazilians surveyed by Gemini said they planned to purchase crypto in the coming year.
South Africa’s currency, the rand, recorded a 103% devaluation in the past decade — second only to Brazil among the 20 countries in the survey — and 32% of South Africans are expected to be crypto owners in the next year. The third and fourth highest devaluation, or inflationary, countries, Mexico and India, displayed a similar pattern.
By comparison, the currencies of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom experienced no devaluation at all against the U.S. dollar over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, relatively few surveyed in those countries, 5% and 8%, respectively, professed an interest in purchasing crypto.
What conclusions can be drawn from this? Noah Perlman, chief operating officer at Gemini, sees different crypto use cases, often depending upon where one lives. He told Cointelegraph:
“In countries where the local currency has been devalued against the dollar, crypto is viewed as a ‘need to have’ investment, whereas in the developed world it is still largely seen as ‘nice to have.’”
Source: Gemini
Crypto as currency replacement
Winston Ma, former managing director and head of North America at China Investment Corporation and now adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, makes a key distinction between an asset that works as an inflation hedge and one that is used as a currency replacement.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) have yet to achieve “inflation hedge” status, unlike gold, in his view. In 2022, they have behaved more like growth stocks. “Bitcoin correlated more tightly to the S&P 500 index — and Ether to NASDAQ — than gold, which is traditionally viewed as an inflation-hedge asset,” he told Cointelegraph. But, things are different in parts of the developing world:
“In the emerging markets like Brazil, India and Mexico that are struggling with inflation, inflation may be a primary driver of cryptocurrencies’ adoption as a ‘currency replacement.’”
“There’s no denying that in early days and still now adoption has been driven by countries where currency stability and/or access to proper banking services has been an issue,” Justin d’Anethan, institutional sales director at the Amber Group — a Singapore-based digital asset firm — told Cointelegraph. Simply put, developing countries are more interested in alternatives to easily debased fiat currencies, he said, adding:
“On a USD notional basis, the larger flows might still come from institutions and more developed countries, but the growing number of actual users will probably come from places like Lebanon, Turkey, Venezuela and Indonesia, among others.”
Sean Stein Smith, assistant professor in the department of economics and business at Lehman College, told Cointelegraph that he was not particularly surprised by the survey’s findings, “since inflation is one of the factors that has and continues to drive adoption of Bitcoin and other crypto assets all over the world.”
But, it remains just one of many factors, and often different regions have separate factors that push adoption, said Stein Smith. “On a fundamental level, investors and entrepreneurs are increasingly recognizing the benefits of crypto assets” as an “instantaneously accessible,” traceable and cost-effective transaction option. In other places, “the potential capital gains and returns of crypto assets” encourage crypto adoption.
There are regulatory questions surrounding cryptocurrencies globally, particularly in the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions where 39% and 37% of survey respondents, respectively, said that “legal uncertainty around cryptocurrency,” tax questions and a general education deficit could affect adoption, the report noted. In Africa, for example, 56% of respondents said more educational resources to explain cryptocurrencies were needed.
“It is not only inflation, it is a bigger issue of empowering our youth to have a better life than their parents and not to have fear of failure or allegiance to the legacy financial markets or products,” Monica Singer, South Africa lead at ConsenSys, told Cointelegraph. In addition, “the issue of dependency on cash and remittances is huge in Africa and the dependency on social grants.”
The future of money?
Overall, Brazil and Indonesia were the top two countries in cryptocurrency ownership in the survey. Forty-one percent of those surveyed in each of those countries said they owned crypto. Comparatively speaking, only 20% of Americans surveyed said they owned cryptocurrency.
People living in inflation-afflicted markets are more likely to view cryptocurrencies as the future of money. According to the survey:
“The majority of respondents in Latin America (59%) and Africa (58%), where many have experienced long-term hyperinflation, say that crypto is the future of money.”
The strongest support for this view was seen in Brazil at 66%, Nigeria at 63%, Indonesia at 61% and South Africa at 57%. The fewest believers were in Europe and Australia, notably Denmark at 12%, Norway at 15% and Australia at 17%.
Will the Ukraine conflict impact adoption?
The survey was conducted before the Ukraine-Russia War. Will that devastating conflict have any long-term impact on global crypto adoption growth?
“The Ukraine-Russia war has certainly led to crypto being thrust directly into the mainstream conversation,” said Stein Smith, “especially since the Ukrainian government has directly solicited over $100 million in crypto donations since the war began,” further adding:
“This real-world demonstration of the power of decentralized money has the potential to turbocharge wider adoption, broader policy debate and increased utilization of crypto as a medium of exchange moving forward.”
But, the war may not affect all parts of the developing world. “The war in Ukraine is of no consequence to the demand for crypto in Africa,” Singer told Cointelegraph. Other factors loom larger. “Inflation, yes, but also the lack of trust in the government in many countries in Africa and the fact that we have a young demographic that is very knowledgeable in using mobile phones and the internet.”
The success of Mpesa in Kenya, for example, has had a big impact on the continent and will arguably help hasten further crypto adoption. It “is directly related to the spirit that exists in Africa of making a plan when everyone that you trust fails you,” she said.
On the other hand, Ma views the Ukraine conflict as a sort of crisis check for cryptocurrencies. “The Ukraine-Russia War has served as a stress test for the payment rail of cryptocurrencies amid global uncertainty, especially for the residents in emerging markets,” he told Cointelegraph, adding:
“We could expect the greatest future gains in crypto adoption to be found in emerging markets like these.”
Inflation along with currency devaluation are enduring concerns in many parts of the world. In such afflicted areas, Bitcoin and other crypto are now seen as candidates for currency replacement — the “future of money.” This is generally not the case in the developed world, though that could change, particularly with more regulatory clarity and education. As d’Anethan told Cointelegraph, “It seems that even Western nations are waking up to inflation and the impact it will have on cash holdings.”
Axie Infinity (AXS) price has fallen by nearly 30% two weeks after losing $625 million to a hacking incident involving its play-to-earn gaming platform’s underlying blockchain, the Ronin Network.
AXS/USD dropped to $46.69 on Monday, its lowest level since March 16, signaling a dampening buying sentiment among traders and investors following the hacking incident.
Independent market analyst TJ asserted that there is “no sign of buyers” even with the price entering areas with a history of attracting accumulators.
For instance, AXS broke below the demand zone that TJ highlighted as a potential inflection point during the weekend, a move that risked sending the price further lower towards its range support target near $45 this week.
AXS bounce back ahead?
The bearish prospects appear despite a strong assurance from Sky Mavis — the company that built Axie Infinity — that they would reimburse all the users who lost funds in the $625 million theft. Last week, the firm announced a $150 million raise, led by Binance, to honor its promise.
Additionally, AXS hints at more downside after painting a death cross between its 20-day exponential moving average (20-day EMA; the green wave) and its 50-day EMA (the red wave).
The area around the $45-level has earlier served as an accumulation zone for traders. For instance, its last retest as support in March had preceded a nearly 70% rebound move to around $75. Similar retracement moves occurred in January and February when the price fell to around $45.
Meanwhile, as AXS tests the key support level, it would also prompt its daily relative strength index (RSI) to move lower below 30 — an “oversold” signal. This suggests Axie Infinity could be due for a bounce higher in April.
Falling wedge confirmation needed
AXS’s price is already “oversold” on its four-hour chart, according to its RSI readings near 25. Meanwhile, AXS is breaking out of its prevailing falling wedge pattern to the downside despite it being a bullish reversal pattern in theory.
The support confluence — featuring an oversold RSI and the accumulation zone near $45 — raises the AXS’s potential to re-enter the wedge range, followed by a breakout to the upside.
If this happens, AXS/USD could move toward $58, a key March 2022 resistance level, based on the falling wedge’s theoretical profit target, measured after adding the distance between its upper and lower trendlines to the breakout point.
Head-and-shoulders risk
Conversely, breaking below the key support area near $45 could trigger AXS’s head-and-shoulders (H&S) setup on longer timeframe charts.
That is primarily because the $45-level serves as the pattern’s neckline. As a rule, a break below the H&S neckline support shifts the asset’s downside target to the level at a length equal to the maximum distance between the head and the neckline, as illustrated in the chart below.
As a result, the H&S setup risks sending AXS’s price toward $12 on a decisive breakout below its neckline.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Italian professional soccer club AC Milan will be releasing its first-ever nonfungible token (NFT) project in collaboration with the BitMEX crypto exchange. Proceeds will go to Fondazione Milan, the clubs’ charity arm.
The limited-edition collection will feature 75,817 NFTs, a number representative of the capacity of the club’s home ground, San Siro stadium. It will depict a 3D image of a jersey found in South Sudan by Danish war photographer Jan Grarup who was in the country documenting widespread flooding last December.
BitMEX partnered with AC Milan to contribute to the project by providing trading discounts and “other benefits” to the first 10,000 pre-orders. BitMEX will also donate to Fondazione Milan by purchasing a “large number” of the NFTs.
As per the announcement, the club says the proceeds will contribute to funding its charitable causes around the world, specifically mentioning the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and a UNICEF project in South Sudan.
Magic Eden to accept tokens from DeGods and Aurory projects
Magic Eden, the largest marketplace by volume for Solana NFTs, according to DappRadar, has confirmed it will accept the tokens from popular Solana NFT projects “DeGods DUST” and Aurory’s “AURY” within the coming weeks.
The marketplace first teased integration of the DUST token in late March, tweeting “brb integrating $DUST” on March 31. On April 1, a drawing of a Magic Eden-themed bar with the caption “$AURY” was tweeted.
— Magic Eden Solana’s Leading NFT Marketplace (@MagicEden) April 1, 2022
“DeGods” is the most traded collection in 30 days on Magic Eden, according to its own statistics, and has an all-time trading volume on the platform of 307,121 Solana (SOL), or $33.8 million at the time of writing. “Aurory” is in third place overall in sales volume for a Solana NFT project according to DappRadar, with an all-time volume of $79.5 million.
The integration of the tokens may be the latest attempt by the platform to solidify itself as Solana’s native NFT marketplace after OpenSea announced it will integrate Solana, putting the two platforms in direct competition.
According to reports, Tiffany Huang, head of content and marketing at Magic Eden, stated that the platform was looking to integrate tokens from other “blue chip” NFT collections.
Solana NFT sales are gaining momentum
Solana NFTs are seeing a significant gain in volume. In the last 24 hours, the NFT sales volume on the Solana blockchain has hit over $9.2 million — an increase of 51.5% — according to analytics firm CryptoSlam.
It comes after a drop was seen in the trading volume of Solana NFTs following the March 30 announcement that OpenSea would integrate the blockchain when OpenSea announced the Solana integration. On April 6, the day before the integration was live, trading volume decreased by 34.4%.
Ethereum is still the top network when it comes to NFTs, with $49.4 million in sales made in the last 24 hours.
Other Nifty News
Starbucks has announced its foray into NFTs, with CEO Howard Schultz stating that ”sometime before the end of the calendar year, we are going to be in the NFT business.”
Autograph, the NFT platform co-founded by Tom Brady, has signed a multi-year partnership with ESPN to create a docuseries and NFT collection titled “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady,” which details the career of the NFL legend.
Solana (SOL) price reached $143.50 on April 2 after an incredible 82% rally over a 20 day period. This positive performance can be attributed to recent NFT markets-related news and a marketwide bounce, but the current 22.7% decline could have investors confused.
Solana/USDT at FTX. Source: TradingView
The rally started after Coinbase Wallet added support for SOL and other Solana-based blockchain tokens on March 18. The crypto exchange also outlined plans to “further integrate” with Solana by connecting the Coinbase Wallet with the decentralized applications (DApps) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) hosted on the network.
The expectation of OpenSea’s integration of the Solana network also excited investors. This means Solana will join Ethereum, Polygon and Klaytn as the payment options visible in the drop-down “all chains” tab on OpenSea’s “rankings” page.
Solana’s strategy to focus on NFT markets seems to have paid off because the layer-1 blockchain network has risen to third place all-time in total NFT sales on April 6. Moreover, the latest 30-day accumulated data shows Solana amassing $216 million worth of NFT sales.
Solana’s DApp deposits are on the decline
Solana’s primary decentralized application (DApp) metric started to display weakness in late March after the network’s total value locked (TVL) dropped below SOL 50 million.
Solana network Total Value Locked, SOL. Source: DefiLlama
The chart above shows how Solana’s DApp deposits saw a 30% decrease in three weeks as the indicator reached its lowest level since Sept. 20, 2021. As a comparison, Terra’s TVL increased by 34% year-to-date, while Fantom network deposits grew by 30%.
As shown by DappRadar data on April 8, the number of Solana network addresses interacting with decentralized applications increased by 11% on average. Orca, a user-friendly decentralized exchange (DEX), was the absolute highlight, amassing 153,290 users.
Even though Solana’s TVL has been hit the hardest compared to similar smart contract platforms, there is solid network use on DeFi and NFT marketplaces, as measured by Magic Eden’s 212,230 active addresses in the last 30 days.
The data above suggests that Solana investors should not worry about the most recent correction. The Solana ecosystem is fueled by the delivery of important milestones toward Ethereum compatibility and NFT market integrations and as long as this happens the potential for further price appreciation seems likely.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped from a high of $47,200 on April 5 to a low of $42,107 on April 8, indicating possible selling by short-term traders who may have preferred to lock in their profits. However, the price action is still stuck in a tight range during the weekend, indicating that supply and demand are in balance.
Interestingly, one large investor continued to buy $1 million of Bitcoin every day, without attempting to time the market, using the strategy of dollar-cost averaging.
Another whale that utilized the dip to add more Bitcoin to its existing stockpile was Terra. This week, the wallet associated with the Luna Foundation Guard added 4,130 Bitcoin, taking its total holding to 39,897.98 BTC.
Could Bitcoin bounce back sharply due to whale buying? Will select altcoins also turn higher in the short term? Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that may outperform if the sentiment improves.
BTC/USDT
Bitcoin bounced off the support at $42,594 on April 7 but the bulls could not clear the barrier at the 20-day EMA ($43,922) on April 8. This may have attracted selling by traders, which pulled the price below the $42,594 support.
BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
A minor positive is that the bulls are attempting to defend the 50-day simple moving average ($42,620). If bulls push and sustain the price above the 20-day exponential moving average ($43,923), it will increase the possibility of range-bound action in the short term. The BTC/USDT pair may then oscillate between the 50-day SMA and the 200-day SMA ($48,219) for a few days.
On the contrary, a weak bounce off the 50-day SMA will suggest a lack of aggressive buying at the current levels. The bears will then try to capitalize on this opportunity and sink the pair below the 50-day SMA. If they succeed, the pair could drop to the psychological level at $40,000 and if this level also cracks, the next stop may be the support line of the ascending channel.
BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The 4-hour chart shows that the rebound off the $42,594 support fizzled out at the 20-EMA. This indicates selling by the bears at higher levels.
The 20-EMA is sloping down and the relative strength index (RSI) is in the negative zone, indicating advantage to sellers.
If the price turns down and breaks below $42,000, the selling could intensify. The pair could then drop to $40,000 where the buyers may again attempt to arrest the decline.
Alternatively, a break and close above the 20-EMA could open the doors for a possible recovery to the 50-SMA. The bulls will have to push and sustain the price above $45,400 to gain the upper hand.
NEAR/USDT
Near Protocol (NEAR) turned down sharply from the stiff overhead resistance at $20 on April 8 and the long wick on the day’s candlestick suggests that bears are aggressively defending the overhead resistance.
NEAR/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The NEAR/USDT pair could drop to the 20-day EMA ($15), which could act as a strong support. If the price rebounds off this level, it will suggest that bulls continue to buy on dips. The bulls will then make one more attempt to push the pair to a new all-time high. The rising 20-day EMA and the RSI in the positive territory suggest advantage to buyers.
Contrary to this assumption, if the price plummets below the 20-day EMA, it will suggest that traders may be booking profits aggressively. That could open the doors for a possible drop to the 50-day SMA ($12).
NEAR/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The 4-hour chart shows that the price has repeatedly bounced from just below the 50-SMA. This indicates that buyers continue to accumulate on dips. If the price turns up from the current level and rises above the 20-EMA, the bulls will again try to push the price toward $20.
Conversely, if the price turns down and sustains below $16, the short-term traders may rush to the exit. That could pull the pair toward $14.50. If this level cracks, it will suggest that bears are back in the driver’s seat.
FTT/USDT
FTX Token (FTT) broke and closed above $49 on March 24 but the bulls could not flip the level into support during the retest. The price slipped below the 200-day SMA ($47) and has reached the 50-day SMA ($45).
FTT/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
A minor positive is that the buyers are attempting to defend the 50-day SMA. If the bulls push the price back above the 200-day SMA and the overhead resistance at $49, it will suggest strong buying at lower levels.
The bullish momentum could pick up on a break and close above $54. The FTT/USDT pair could then rally to the pattern target at $66.
Conversely, if the price fails to break above the 200-day SMA, the possibility of a break below the uptrend line of the triangle increases. If that happens, the pair could drop to $40 and later to $37.
FTT/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The 4-hour chart shows that the pair has been falling inside a descending channel pattern. Although the bears pulled the price below the support line of the channel, they could not sustain the lower levels. This suggests that the break below the channel may have been a bear trap.
If bulls push and sustain the price above the 20-EMA, the pair could rise to the 50-SMA. This level could again act as a resistance but if the bulls overcome it, the next stop could be the downtrend line. A break and close above this barrier could signal a possible change in trend.
This positive view will invalidate if the price turns down from the current level and plummets below $44.
Ethereum Classic (ETC) formed a double bottom pattern when it broke and closed above the overhead resistance at $38. The price then rallied to the pattern target at $52 on March 29 where profit-booking set in. This pulled the price to the breakout level at $38.
ETC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The buyers will try to flip the breakout level at $38 into support. If they succeed, it will suggest a change in sentiment from selling on rallies to buying on dips.
If the price rises from the current level or rebounds off $38 and breaks above $45, it will suggest that the correction may be over. The buyers will then again try to push the ETC/USDT pair to $53. A break and close above this level will signal the resumption of the up-move.
This positive view will invalidate if the price continues lower and plummets below the 50-day SMA ($35).
ETC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The 4-hour chart shows that the pair rebounded off the $38 level with strength but the bulls are struggling to sustain the price above the 20-EMA. This indicates that bears are selling at higher levels.
A minor positive has been that the bulls have not given up much ground from the 20-EMA. This increases the possibility of a break above this resistance. If that happens, the price could rise to the 50-SMA. A break and close above this resistance could open the doors for a possible up-move to $48 and then to $53.
Contrary to this assumption, if the price breaks below $38, the selling could intensify and the pair could drop to $32.
XMR/USDT
Monero (XMR) signaled a potential trend change when it broke and closed above the downtrend line. Although the bears tried to pull the price back below the downtrend line, the bulls did not relent.
XMR/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The bears are attempting to stall the rally at the immediate resistance at $239 but the long tail on today’s candlestick shows buying at lower levels. The upsloping 20-day EMA ($216) and the RSI in the positive territory indicate advantage to buyers.
If buyers sustain the price above $239, the XMR/USDT could further pick up momentum and rally to $255.
On the other hand, if the price turns down from the current level, it will suggest that bears are aggressively defending the overhead resistance at $239. A break and close below the 20-day EMA will be the first sign that the bullish momentum may be weakening. The pair could then drop to the 50-day SMA ($190).
XMR/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The pair has been in a gradual uptrend for the past few days. The failure by the bulls to sustain the price above $239 attracted profit-booking from short-term traders but the bears could not pull the pair below the 20-EMA. This suggests strong buying at lower levels.
If buyers drive and sustain the price above $239, the up-move may accelerate. Alternatively, if the price once again turns down from $239, the pair may drop to $209 and remain range-bound between these two levels for a few days.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD circling $42,700 Sunday with a matter of hours to go until the conclusion of the weekly candle.
The pair had fallen into the end of Wall Street trading Friday, while the weekend provided some nervous calm as $42,000 support remained intact.
For popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital, there was still cause for optimism despite the past seven days seeing losses of nearly 10%.
This #BTC pullback is a second chance for a lot of people
If you promised yourself that you’ll buy $BTC when it goes lower
Rekt Capital highlighted three key moving averages currently being tested as support, noting that historically, bouncing off them had preceded “strong bullish momentum.”
“Technically speaking, anything above ~$38000 is a macro Higher Low for BTC,” he had said Saturday.
Macro pressure had formed the backdrop to the gloomy mood throughout the week, as Cointelegraph reported, and concerns over U.S. dollar strength remained on the day.
“The moment the DXY is topped out (which could be soon), the next bull run will start. And that one is going to be an epic one,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe forecast, likewise adopting a more hopeful perspective.
In what was becoming a perennial source of optimism, Blockchain protocol Terra continued its BTC buys Sunday, with associated nonprofit the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) adding 4,130 BTC to its wallet.
According to on-chain monitoring resource BitInfoCharts, the given wallet was the 19th largest in existence with a balance of 39,897.98 BTC ($1.7 billion).
LFG Bitcoin wallet data summary (screenshot). Source: BitInfoCharts
Dogecoin cleans up among major altcoins
Altcoins were similarly flat on the day, with the top-ten cryptocurrencies by market cap moving no more than 1% up or down.
DOGE/USD reached $0.158, marking its highest since April 6 on the back of continued publicity from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Among Musk’s suggestions over the weekend was Twitter, shares of which he purchaseden masse last week, accepting payments in DOGE.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!
This week, our 6 Questions go to Michelle Legge, head of crypto tax education at Koinly — a cryptocurrency tax calculator and portfolio tracker for traders, investors and accountants.
Alongside her work at Koinly, Michelle is passionate about closing the financial literacy gap for women. Before crossing into the crypto space, she looked after consumer education for an Australian fintech startup, where she launched a world-first gender-pay-gap insurance product.
Today, Michelle is back in her homeland of South Africa, living the digital nomad life and managing a remote team of content and social media wizards from plant-based cafes across Cape Town. As for her crypto curiosity, Michelle is cautiously optimistic, betting on altcoins with unconventional use cases. Blame it on her day job, but while Michelle knows that crypto is the future, crypto tax appears to be the dark side of the moon. Helping crypto investors to be tax-strategic seems a worthy cause in light of ever-tightening regulations.
1 — From smart contracts to DApps, NFTs and DeFi, we have seen so many of the next “killer apps” for crypto, but none have really taken off quite yet. What will stick?
Projects that attract the warm embrace of Joe Public are the ones that stick. We’ve gotten a lot closer to a retail use case with DeFi’s many yield farming products, and that shows no signs of slowing down. But will it go fully mainstream? Possibly, in time — provided the space doesn’t get taxed into oblivion. On the other hand, NFTs have seen massive adoption from all walks of life, creating a sense that this blockchain use case has cracked a very tough nut.
While the NFT arena might be dominated by the glitz and glam of the celebrity art scene today, I imagine NFTs will come into their own in a rather mundane way. If the public can interface with “the blockchain” via pictures, then it’s logical to assume that anything we’re used to seeing on paper will go the way of a digitized, ownable NFT. What could this look like at the most basic level? Share certificates, graduation diplomas, medical records, insurance policies, birth certificates, passports, etc.
The creation, distribution and management of proof-of-ownership NFT administration could spawn an industry of its own, much like it already has in the gaming industry. However, for NFTs to work like this, we need to remember that the NFT art we’re just getting our heads around is a taxable asset. That’s fine when we’re thinking about art, music, movies and domain names, but no one wants to face a tax bill for erroneously “profiting” from the “disposal” of a health insurance policy. It will need to be clear to all, the taxman included, that NFTs used in this way have a zero-dollar value.
2 — If the world is getting a new currency, will it be led by CBDCs, a permissionless blockchain like Bitcoin, or a permissioned chain such as Diem?
It pains me to say, but central bank digital currencies are waiting in the wings. Everything we’ve seen, from Biden’s executive order to the much-hyped inflation curse throttling the global economy, tells us that governments are hungry for CBDCs. Even without the regulation headlines, we need only consider the power and control that CBDCs offer. Rishi Sunak’s Britcoin appears in the works, with disturbing undercurrents of programmability — leaning into the likes of China’s social credit system. CBDCs will be, but unlike the disruptive and empowering future presented by Bitcoin and friends, CBDCs seem a different blockchain beast altogether.
3 — Which is sillier: $500,000 Bitcoin or $0 Bitcoin? Why?
Don’t call me negative, but I work in crypto tax. It’s my opinion that the bulk of the Bitcoin “mooning” happened behind the curtains, in the good old days when governments and tax agencies were none the wiser. Can stratospheric growth happen under the iron fist of rampant regulations and scrutiny? I fear not.
4 — Tell us about a hidden talent, and give us a link to prove it!
A talent so hidden it might not even exist? I guess I don’t have “bedroom DJ” in my Twitter bio for nothing, but if being good at Spotify playlists makes me gifted, then so be it. “Le Crush” is the name of my pet playlist, and a homage to my heady nights (perhaps seven in total?) steering the decks in Melbourne’s noughties club scene.
5 — What talent do you lack and wish you had? How would you use it if you had it?
Is it because women are coded for multitasking, or because we live in a high-octane, caffeine-fuelled society? Either way, the talent I lack is the laser-beam focus of a border collie and its tennis ball.
If focus is the house, then the foundation is Buffett’s famous “Say no to almost everything.” The key, it would appear, is to limit open tabs to five max — a great step down from the 39 currently calling my attention. Hyperfocus in a crazy world? I think it’s a talent, or rather a superpower, that most of us wish for.
6 — What’s the silliest conspiracy theory out there… and which one makes you pause for a moment?
This question — and its loaded gun — is just the kind of thing to get a woman canceled! The fact is, I’m rather a reasonable conspiracy theorist, but there’s a spot for a tinfoil hat in my closet, nonetheless.
I think, like many people drawn to cryptocurrency, our sort comes bearing gifts of distrust — and who could blame us? Some of the rabbit hole’s biggest targets — let’s mention Big Pharma here — do have priors. It’s right to question everything, and it’s good to remember that no chapter on WWII is complete without an entry on the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. I will say this though: A flat earth could be a great solution to the rising tides, right?
A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:
To the women of blockchain, we need your voices. Be the reason and balance that keeps us moving in the right direction.
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