Ether Nears $1.7K as Bitcoin Drops Below $30K

BTC's next support level at $27K

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets July 20, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) -4.9%  $29,693 Ether (ETH)  -5.5%  $1,756 (Price data as of July 20 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning: Market Moves: Bitcoin Struggles Below $30K; Next Support at $27K $27,000 is a 60% retracement of the March 2020 low.   Technician's Take: Ether Falls Toward $1.7K as Bitcoin's Price Drop Weighs On Broader Market One analyst said markets priced in Ethereum's impending EIP upgrade earlier this year. And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and me at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests: William Quigley, Tether & WAX Co-Founder Mukaya (Tai) Panich, SCB 10x Chief Venture & Investment Officer Bill Ottman, Minds CEO & Co-Founder  – Lawrence Lewitinn Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: None of the CoinDesk 20 digital assets is up today.  Losers: Alogrand (ALGO): -12.5% NuCypher (NU): -11.6% Cardano (ADA): -11.5% Aave (AAVE): -11.1% Polkadot (DOT): -10.9% The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges. A message from ByBit Earn up to $600 in rewards when you sign up with Bybit!    Top crypto exchange featured on Bloomberg. Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Doge, and more!   Check out all our exciting promotions just for you! Lots of attractive bonuses available when you sign up with us.    Spot, derivatives trading and other options available.    Sign Up Now!    Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Ether Falls Toward $1.7K as Bitcoin's Price Drop Weighs On Broader Market Ether (ETH) and other alternative cryptocurrencies, popularly known as altcoins, are taking a hit alongside bitcoin (BTC)'s price drop, as the dour macro mood overshadows bullish idiosyncratic narratives.    The native token of Ethereum's blockchain is trading near $1,758 at press time, down 6% on a 24-hour basis. The cryptocurrency touched a three-week low of $1,721 early today, having peaked above $4,000 in May, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Other prominent altcoins like XRP, cardano (ADA), uniswap (UNI), chainlink (LINK), and stellar (XLM) are nursing declines around 10%. Bitcoin, the crypto market leader, is down 5% at $29,700.   "We're seeing risk-off moves in equity, FX, and commodities," said Edmond G., head of trading at B2C2. "Crypto isn't immune from traditional market sentiment and is also caught up in the legs lower. So far, we're seeing very little movement [higher in ETH] while heading into the Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP) 1559 upgrade proposed [for] Aug. 4."  Ether and bitcoin daily charts (Source: TradingView) Global equity markets faced selling pressure on Monday, while the dollar rose on concerns a rebound in coronavirus cases would derail the global economy. As a result, bitcoin and crypto, being at the far end of the risk curve, are suffering losses.    According to some analysts, Ethereum's impending upgrade aims to burn part of the transaction fees and make ether less inflationary.   "The ether supply burn would be significant even with the growth of the layer 2 scaling solutions," Noelle Acheson, head of markets insights at Genesis Trading, said. " Whatever amount ends up being burned, it will be more than what's currently being burned, so the upgrade does reduce the supply growth."    Acheson said that while the upgrade wouldn't directly reduce ether transaction fees, a sour spot for DeFi protocols and traders, it will "make them more transparent and manageable."   However, Delta Exchange CEO Pankaj Balani said markets priced in the bullish EIP narrative earlier this year.    Ether nearly doubled to $4,000 in the four weeks to mid-May even as bitcoin traded between $50,000 and $60,000. Ether's decoupling was mainly powered by the optimism surrounding the EIP upgrade.   "Crypto markets are now in a slow grind lower and vulnerable to negative macro news," Balani said in a WhatsApp call. "Ether and other altcoins will see a bloodbath if bitcoin slides toward $20,000."    The probability of bitcoin falling that low and nuking the broader market has increased, with the cryptocurrency looking to establish a foothold under $30,000. "When a price dumps and stays flatlined at the lows, forming a ledge," that says the market is doomed, trader and analyst Alex Kruger said. "You can see that in most charts in the past 24 hours."   According to Patrick Heusser, head of trading at Crypto Finance, $29,000 and $1,700 are crucial supports for bitcoin and ether, respectively. "How low can it go? Probably down to $20k," he said. "If you look at the liquidity pool structure, there was not much trading on the way up, except a bit around $23,000."   Ether could run into stronger selling pressure, as blockchain data shows an increased flow of coins onto exchanges. "We are seeing lending platforms like BlockFi sending large amounts of ETH to Coinbase, possibly to liquidate," Alex Svanevik, CEO of blockchain data company Nansen, said.    The only positive news for crypto bulls is that the market is seeing low volumes while grinding lower. "It potentially signals that sellers are exhausted and that the market is waiting for some positive news," Heusser said.  Ether daily chart shows low-volume sell-off (Source: Messari) Further, equity markets are showing signs of stability at press time. The European markets are trading higher, and the futures tied to the S&P 500 are pointing to a positive open with a 0.60% gain. "It could be a bounce time for crypto, as equity market panic looks to be over," Kruger said. "It makes sense to move stop loses on bitcoin shorts higher to $31,000." Read the original story here: Ether Falls Toward $1.7K as Bitcoin's Price Drop Weighs On Broader Market The CoinDesk Quarterly Review 2021 Q2 After two consecutive quarters of strong price gains for most of the top crypto assets, Q2 2021 finally brought an end to market euphoria with a resounding crash. Most CoinDesk 20 assets, which constitute 99% of the crypto market by verifiable volume, ended the quarter with negative returns. Meanwhile, protocol development for the world's largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin and Ethereum, reached new milestones. CoinDesk Research's latest Quarterly Review dives into the trends, developments and technological progress that shaped the crypto markets from April to June 2021. The full report is now available from the CoinDesk Research Hub. Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes, CMT Bitcoin Struggles Below $30K; Next Support at $27K Bitcoin (BTC) sellers were active during Asia hours as the world's largest cryptocurrency dipped below $30,000 for the first time in four weeks. The next level of support is seen at $27,000, which is a 60% retracement of the March 2020 low.   Intraday charts appear oversold, which could stabilize some selling pressure. However, upside appears limited below $34,000 given strong overhead resistance.     Bitcoin was trading around $29,600 at press time and is down 5% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin four-hour price chart shows short-term support and resistance levels with RSI (Source: TradingView) The relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart is approaching oversold levels. The bullish divergence, defined by higher lows in the RSI from May 19, failed to encourage buying beyond the $36,000 resistance level.     Bitcoin remains in an intermediate-term downtrend which began in April and is seen by the downward sloping 50-day moving average. The weekly chart is not yet oversold, which means sellers are in control as upside momentum fades.      Read the original story here: Bitcoin Struggles Below $30K; Next Support at $27K A message from zkTube Introduction: PayTube is a secure and user-friendly decentralized wallet building on zkTube Protocol by using ZK-Rollup technology. It supports multi-crypto and cross-chain in Layer1 & Layer2 securely store and transfer. It enables cryptocurrency payment instantly, low-cost to anyone in the world. With Ethereum mainnet-level security performance and completely self-custodial wallet，it's suitable for enterprise-level high-performance needs and ordinary users. PayTube is a novel solution that provides one-stop decentralized financial applications and reliable connections for blockchain value transmission. BOLO Be on the look out for some of these upcoming events: Before U.S. market open quarterly reports: Singature Bank (SBNY). EPS Est.: $3.14 Silvergate Capital (SI). EPS Est.: $0.51 Ethereum Community Conference 4, July 20-22, 2021 Maison de la Mutualité, Paris, France The Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) is the largest annual European Ethereum event focused on technology and community. Three intense days of conferences, networking and learning. Mining Disrupt Conference, Miami 7/20-7/21 Mining Disrupt Conference, the world's largest mining conference. The conference will be held in Miami at the Miami Airport Convention Center on July 20th and 21st. The cryptocurrency movement has never been so sprawling, reaching every corner of the planet. Crypto State by CoinDesk aims to connect with local communities to explore this movement of financial disruption and how it trickles down to every corner of the globe, from DeFi investment opportunities to alternative ways to transact and store wealth. We're making virtual stops with audiences in Nigeria, the Middle East and Southeast Asia this year. Register for the Crypto State virtual tour. ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Grayscale CEO on New DeFi Fund, EQIFI Founder and CEO on Risks and Opportunities in DeFi Lending and Borrowing Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, joins "First Mover" to discuss the launch of a new DeFi (decentralized finance) fund providing investors with exposure to a portfolio of DeFi protocols. The portfolio is designed to track the new CoinDesk DeFi Index. Other guests include Brad Yasar of EQIFI, giving his perspective on stablecoins, and Matthew Le Merle of Fifth Era shares his blockchain industry predictions. Latest Headlines Bitcoin Drops Below $30K for First Time in 4 Weeks Wall Street is seeing "too much froth" and current virus jitters are triggering widespread panic selling of every top performing asset, including bitcoin, said one analyst. BlockFi Receives Cease and Desist Order From New Jersey Attorney General BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said his platform remains "fully operational" for its existing client base in New Jersey. Port of Buenos Aires to Modernize Maritime System Using Blockchain The Port of Buenos Aires in Argentina is about to receive a technological facelift with the help of blockchain technology in a bid to increase the speed and efficiency of the port's processes. Most Institutional Investors Expect to Buy Digital Assets in Future: Report Over half of those surveyed by financial industry analytics firm Coalition Greenwich said they had digital asset investments already. NFT Marketplace OpenSea Valued at $1.5B in $100M Funding Round Led by A16z The NFT venue has crossed into the rarefied air of crypto unicorns. Signature Bank Adds $6.14B in Non-Interest Bearing Deposits The figure compares with growth of $3.77 billion in the first quarter. Mastercard to Test USDC for Payments as Stablecoin Scrutiny Intensifies Mastercard will use the USDC stablecoin as a bridge asset for cardholders who want to pay for goods using cryptocurrencies.   Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.  ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. If you are in doubt about a link, type https://www.coindesk.com directly into your browser; do not copy and paste. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. 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