Crypto Price Today Live: Bitcoin Hits $20,000; other altcoins fall up to 4%

New Delhi: Crypto tokens traded lower on Thursday, but Bitcoin held above the $20,000 threshold. Inflation worries and hawkish monetary policy comments weighed on sentiment for the digital asset class.

Crypto looks bearish for now and there is limited hope for a sharp revival. However, all eyes are on the long-awaited Ethereum software update called ‘The Merge’, which will be completed by the end of this month.

Apart from Polygone and the US dollar-pegged stablecoins, all other tokens traded lower on Thursday. BNB fell 4 percent, while Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu each fell 3 percent.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization traded lower at $980.54 billion, falling more than one percent in the past 24 hours. However, total trading volume fell around 10 percent near $67.92 billion.

Expert take
Global economic indicators, including the US Federal Reserve’s announcement of a rate hike, dampened sentiment, said Prashant Kumar, founder and CEO of weTrade.

“The much-anticipated Ethereum merge is scheduled to be rolled out next week,” he added. “As major changes take place in the crypto market and beyond, investors are encouraged to continue to exercise patience.”

Global updates

• More volatility is likely for bitcoin in the months ahead, as the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization faces decoupling from traditional markets and easing guidance from the US Federal Reserve.

• The difficulty of mining a bitcoin block rose 9 percent on Wednesday, making it the second-biggest increase of the year, which is likely to result in narrower profit margins for the industry.

• Non-fungible tokens have a licensing problem, and Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) crypto arm thinks it has an answer.

• The combined market capitalization of the two largest stablecoins, tether and USD coin, has begun to fall again, a sign that quantitative tightening in the crypto-financial system has resumed, Morgan Stanley said in a research report.

• The South Korean port city of Busan signed an agreement with crypto exchange FTX to develop blockchain-based businesses in the coming months.

Tech View of Giotto’s Crypto Exchange
Avalanche is a layer-1 blockchain that hosts decentralized applications by deploying smart contract functions. AVAX, the initial token of the blockchain, has witnessed sharp corrections in the past two weeks following allegations that the team illegally paid lawyers to harm competitors and manipulate regulatory systems. The token made a brief recovery rally after this and is currently trading at $19.4, still down 16% in the last week.

AVAX rose to a local high of $30.9 in mid-August, after which it entered a correction mode. It attempted a brief recovery after falling below its descending trendline support and bottoming out at $17.3. The rally was short-lived and it failed to clear the $20.4 resistance.

AVAX seems to have lost momentum, with RSI at 33 showing oversold signals. All other technical signals continue to show a sell signal, including moving averages. AVAX needs to break past the $23.5 psychological resistance before attempting to reverse the trend and restore confidence in the market. The previous low of $17.3 acts as the next support. In the event of further declines, the July low of $16.4 could come into play.

Great levels
Resistance: $20.45, $21.0, $23.5

Support: $17.3, $16.4

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)