FTX's hacker, heist, and no optimismOver the past two weeks, Ethereum enjoyed much attention, with media coverage about FTX’s hacker dumping his holdings on the market.
Some of the recent activities in “FTX accounts drainers” - based on information from Etherscan.
FTX accounts drainer 1 - 0x59ABf3837Fa962d6853b4Cc0a19513AA031fd32b
19th November 2022 - Ethereum balance = 250 735 ($305 million)
21st November 2022 - Ethereum balance = 5 735 ($6.36 million)
FTX accounts drainer 2 - 0xc40aBF7E6499694ea6F965Df96e39E51305E019a
12th November 2022 - Ethereum balance = 1 287 ($1.6 million)
15th November 2022 - Ethereum balance = 0 ($0)
FTX accounts drainer 3 - 0x585ed783C9246553E8bC9f9046C80f54AfEE7765
12th November 2022 - Ethereum balance = 13 205 ($16.5 million)
15th November 2022 - Ethereum balance = 1.47 ($1844)
Ethereum dropped more than 11% from Sunday to Monday before erasing some losses. A decline stopped slightly above the support level at 1071.50$, and since then, the price action has remained choppy.
Apart from Bitcoin, ETHUSD did not constitute a new low for the year. Though it is nothing surprising if we consider how much better (seemingly) it has performed. That, however, does not change our view.
We still hold a bearish stance and believe the bottom is not set in. As we noted over the summer (and several times thereafter), the attractive price for shorting is between 1 500$ and 1 600$ (or higher); however, from the current level taking a short position represents much more risk. With that let out there, we maintain our price targets at 1 000$ and 900$.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI is neutral. Stochastic points to the upside but stays in the bearish zone. MACD is flattening. DM+ and DM- are bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily chart of ETHUSD and simple support/resistance levels.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
MACD is neutral. Stochastic is bearish. RSI is slightly bearish/neutral. DM+ and DM- are stay bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Coins
A new low, potential Genesis bankruptcy, and a new price targetYesterday, Bitcoin made a new yearly low at 15 479$. Furthermore, based on information published by various news outlets, Genesis Global Trading Inc. warned its investors about potential bankruptcy proceedings. As a result, this exchange joins our list of deeply troubled cryptocurrency institutions.
Some of the troubled financial institutions in 2022 include:
- Genesis
- Celsius Network
- FTX
- Three Arrows Capital
- Voyager
- CoinFlex
- Sky-Bridge Capital
- Zipmex
We believe this list will continue to grow in names as the FTX fallout has not been resolved yet. Accordingly, we wait for the names of the biggest creditors to be released, which could spark more fear and selling in the market.
At the same time, we pay close attention to developments with Genesis exchange. If it declares bankruptcy, then matters will worsen substantially. The same applies to the attempts of the U.S. government to regulate the cryptocurrency world more tightly. Therefore, we remain bearish and maintain our price targets of 15 000$ and 13 000$.
Illustration 1.01
The image above shows the daily chart of BTCUSD and two simple moving averages. The yellow arrow indicates the recent bearish crossover between the two moving averages.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, Stochastic, MACD, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 displays the daily chart of BTCUSD and simple support/resistance levels.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, Stochastic, MACD, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - BTCUSD stays down ≈75% from its ATHBitcoin continues to trade choppy near the 16 700$ price tag. On the daily chart, RSI, MACD, and Stochastic trend sideways, which is a sign of improvement compared to the preceding two weeks. However, we remain bearish as we do not expect fundamental factors to get better anytime soon. With the FED staying hawkish, we believe there is much more downside for the cryptocurrency market in the coming months. Indeed, we believe that the fallout with FTX has not been resolved yet, posing more obstacles for the market. In accordance with that, we stay committed to our price target of 15 000$. Momentarily, we will pay close attention to volume, which is currently very low. In order to confirm our bearish thesis, we would like to see a pick-up in volume accompanied by selling pressure.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 displays the daily chart of BTCUSD, two simple moving averages, and support/resistance levels.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic trend sideways. DM+ and DM- are bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
The image above shows a decline in selling pressure on the daily chart of BTCUSD.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic are bearish. DM+ and DM- are also bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
El Salvador's Bitcoin adoptionToday, we prepared for our audience a concise article about the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador.
Some facts about El Salvador
El Salvador is a South American country of 6.5 million people and a GDP of $28.73 billion. Interestingly, El Salvador is one of three Latin American countries using the U.S. dollar as their national currency. The country's population has a relatively high literacy rate of about 90%. Despite that, in 2017, Consejo Nacional de Inclusión y Educacíon Financiera (CNIEF) found that only one-third of adults in El Salvador owned a bank account at a financial institution.
Population = 6.5 million
The poverty rate ($5.5/per day) = 22.2% of the population (2019)
GDP = $27.73 billion (2021)
GDP per capita = $4 408.52 (2021)
Debt-to-GDP = 82% (2021)
Government budget value = -$1.417 billion (2021)
Government spending = $5.647 billion (2021)
Government revenues = $6.038 billion (2021)
Illustration 1.01 -
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily chart of BTCUSD. The yellow arrow points to the date of El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin adoption - Success or failure?
In September 2021, El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, being the first country in the world to do so. That was quickly met with a wave of bullish calls for a new era of institutional adoption. However, in hindsight, this decision looks like an absolute failure, with the government wasting taxpayers' money to fulfill one man's dreams.
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced his first purchase of 200 Bitcoins on 6th September 2021, when the price of one coin traded at around 52 000$. The next day, he tweeted that his government bought another 200 Bitcoins at roughly the same price, taking the overall holdings of the country to 400 coins. Over the coming months, El Salvador continued to double down on a losing position, with more purchases in late November 2021, October 2021, December 2021, January 2022, May 2022, and June 2022.
September 2021 - 700 Bitcoins near 52 000$
October 2021 - 420 Bitcoins near 58 000$
November 2021 - 100 Bitcoins near 54 000$
December 2021 - 171 Bitcoins near 48 000$
January 2022 - 410 Bitcoins near 36 500$
May 2022 - 500 Bitcoins near 30 000$
June 2022 - 80 Bitcoins near 19 000$
El Salvador has amassed 2 381 coins since September 2021. Based on Nayib Bukele's tweets, the country paid $105 million for its stash, now worth only $39.5 million, which amounts to more than a 60% loss. Nevertheless, this did not stop the president, who announced daily purchases of Bitcoins last week, starting on 18th November 2022.
Illustration 1.02 - Nayib Bukele 2022
Illustration 1.02 shows the daily chart of BTCUSD for 2022. White arrows highlight tweets of the president of El Salvador on the topic of Bitcoin.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Money Affects HappinessConventionally, we used to hear the saying, "Money can't buy happiness.". Is it really true? Let's look at some facts about happiness, money, and life.
Easy to talk about happiness and specific amounts of it, but how do we measure happiness in real life? It isn’t something we perceptibly see in a computer game. In fact, it is more like a feeling and believe it or not, there are ways to measure it.
How To Measure Happiness?
As we look at the behavioral aspect, when we feel happy our behaviors change. We smile more and feel much more energetic. Hence we might be much more patient and helpful to others. However, any external factors can affect our happiness, which simultaneously affects our behaviors such as sun, exercising, eating, etc. Other than our behaviors, there are some biological ways to assess and reveal people's happiness levels in laboratories, but these are way too scientific. Reports, on the other hand, are another helpful source of information. In Particular, we can consider self-reports of people about their emotions and the feedback from other people. For example, as a parent, brief information about their child's emotional state to another person is valuable feedback. Of course, this data is mostly based on a person's emotional well-being, but it is also helping researchers carry out certain types of studies.
Attitudes Towards Money
For most people, the relationship with money, happiness, and living standards compose complicated relationships. It isn't like something that turns off when they achieve a certain amount of wage per year. They want more. Therefore, they try to find ways to earn more, usually by advancing in their career, which results in economic growth on a societal basis. On the other hand, things may lead in a different direction. More income means more flexibility on living expenses. However, with the pandemic, things started to change dimensions. The pandemic was actually the emergence of some crises. Some people lost their jobs or gave up what they love for the sake of themselves and their loved ones. Thus, the pandemic started a new pursuit to make money in challenging times. So happiness had to be put away from people in order to survive. For some people, money might be the indicator of success. In that case, if you are not earning much from your current job, you might think, "Am I not successful enough?" That creates a twisted sense of success and affects the lives of many. For some other people, however, only the job they are performing gives their lives a purpose that brings happiness simultaneously. As you can see, "money" can be determined in many ways depending on the person.
Killingworth's Study
In this post, I will also talk about a study by Matthew Killingworth. This research was conducted to measure people's well-being by collecting data from them on a daily basis. Actually, it has an extremely interesting content-collecting process. At some point, he links people's happiness with their income, as I mentioned before.
According to a paper from 2010 by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, well-being stops increasing after achieving a $75,000 annual salary. In his study, Killingworth declares that the possibility of increasing well-being stops after some time. This is since money no longer means something. However, he suggests well-being continues to increase with income as it can also give some satisfaction even just to see the ability to make "more" money.
Following on the study, Killingworth highlights that people earning more are happier. This derives from their high income and the possibility of doing things without doubt and worry. Who wouldn't be pleased by not caring about money while doing things they want to do? On the other side of the story, working excessively to earn more brings problems such as depression. People who link their self-worth with their income most definitely suffer from stress and, even more, depression. So, the key is trying to keep everything at proper and healthy levels. For example, the passion of earning more or dreaming about an alternative life that comes with more money.
Bitcoin - The FTX's domino effectWith BlockFi added as another troubled company to our long list, we continue to be bearish on Bitcoin and the overall cryptocurrency market. We believe that FTX's domino effect is still underway, and more companies will start coming forward to announce damages incurred in this cryptocurrency exchange fiasco. As a result, the industry will see the rise of more regulation in parallel to the 2008 crisis and Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.
In our opinion, that will lead to the final capitulation in the market and drag the price of Bitcoin much lower from the current level. Over time, however, it might be positive as it will increase transparency and provide more safety for a consumer, potentially luring more institutional players and mass adoption. With that being said, we do not expect it to happen right away or anytime soon.
We believe Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies still have a long way to go before reversing their primary trend. Accordingly, we stick to our price target for BTCUSD at 15 000$.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 displays the daily chart of BTCUSD. The yellow arrow indicates a bearish crossover between 20-day SMA and 50-day SMA; now, these SMAs act as alternative resistance levels.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic are bearish. DM+ and DM- are also bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Quick updateOver the weekend, the price of Bitcoin slumped below 16 000$ before erasing some of its early losses. Currently, the price of one coin trades near 16 600$. So far, we have not changed our bearish view and remain committed to the price target of 15 000$.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily chart of BTCUSD and support/resistance levels.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic are bearish. DM+ and DM- are also bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Is FTX the Lehman Brothers of crypto?For weeks, we have warned investors about the unsustainable rally in the cryptocurrency market, and now, our price target of 17 500$ was finally hit. That comes to us as no surprise since we reiterated several times that no double bottom occurred and no primary trend reversal was on the horizon; already, in February 2022, we stated that no all-time high would happen this year. Instead, we made a compelling case for the bear market and have continued to do so while hitting one price target after another.
With that being said, we continue to be bearish on Bitcoin and dismiss new calls about the market bottom. In fact, we want to remind our audience of articles we published over the summer about Celsius Network's insolvency and its contingency spreading over to other cryptocurrency institutions in the coming months. Now it seems FTX joined the list of troubling companies, with Binance announcing the buyout of its distressed assets.
In our opinion, that is a particularly bearish development, further drawing a parallel between insolvencies in the banking sector in 2008 and now (but in the cryptocurrency sector). Unfortunately, though, we do not expect any improvement in the market with the FED pursuing tighter economic conditions and potential regulatory fallout (as so many cryptocurrency exchanges are going bust). Contrarily, we believe the bear market is far from over, and Bitcoin will mark new lows over time. Accordingly, we stick to our price target of 15 000$.
*In the latter part of this article, we would like to introduce a part of Bitwise Asset Management's presentation to the SEC in March 2019. (about fake volume)*
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily chart of BTCUSD, and yellow arrows indicate the latest technical developments.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic all show signs of faltering. DM+ and DM- is bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Bitwise Asset Management presentation to the SEC in March 2019
In March 2019, Bitwise Asset Management (which created the world's first crypto index fund) made a presentation to the SEC about fake volumes on major cryptocurrency exchanges. In its research, the company analyzed volume and trade orders across 81 exchanges listed on Coinmarketcap. Additionally, it argued that the data reported by the website were wrong (despite Coinmarketcap being widely referenced in media - The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, etc.).
Bitwise Asset Management demonstrated the difference between real and suspicious exchanges (ones that were likely to engage in trade washing with the purpose of inflating trading volumes) by highlighting differences in the order book and showing discrepancies within the information available in the trading interface. For example, some exchanges showed buy and sell orders with roughly the same trade sizes, the absence of round numbers in the order book (despite the natural tendency of humans to pick rounded numbers), the lack of small transactions, perfect even distribution of buy and sell orders, and so on.
However, researchers went beyond these technicalities and looked at these exchanges' footprints in the real world. Subsequently, by comparing publicly available data, they found a substantial difference between the real companies and suspicious ones (lacking media exposure, followers, number of employees, etc.). Furthermore, they analyzed trade histograms and applied several alternative data assessment methods. The 227-page presentation also touched slightly on the subject of Tether, market regulation, market surveillance tools, and market manipulation.
In its findings, the company stated that at the time, only 10 out of 81 exchanges showed the presence of real volume, including Coinbase, Bitfinex, Kraken, Bitstamp, BitFlyer, Gemini, itBit, Bittrex. In addition to that, researchers concluded that the total volume was merely 4.5% of the reported volume (by exchanges) between 4th and 8th March 2019. As if it was not enough, the study stated that nearly 30% of spot bitcoin volume was on U.S.-domiciled exchanges, compared to just 1% of reported volume.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Do not get fooled by "double bottom" forecasts Bitcoin is up more than 5% after an overnight move. Despite that, we remain unshaken by the rising volatility and stick to a bearish outlook for the rest of 2022. At the moment, however, we will pay close attention to volume, price, and sloping resistance. If the price breaks above the sloping resistance, it will further bolster a bullish case for Bitcoin in the short term. In addition to that, we speculate that many people will try to forecast double bottom and buy here, dragging price higher.
Although we do not expect relief to last and turn into recovery. Instead, we think a bounce will be very short-lived, and more downward pressure will follow. Additionally, we expect Bitcoin to mark new lows over time and reaffirm our bearish thesis.
This view is supported by economic tightening on a global scale, rising volatility, and the market progressing into the second stage of the downtrend. Because of that, we remain committed to our price targets of 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily chart of BTCUSD. The recent decline in volume suggests temporary relief in selling pressure. Ideally, to further confirm our bearish thesis, we would like to see declining volume as the price rises toward the sloping resistance.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI is bullish. Stochastic points to the upside but stays in the bearish area; the same applies to MACD. DM+ and DM- are bearish, striving for the bullish crossover. Overall, the daily time frame is neutral/slightly bullish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 displays the daily chart of BTCUSD and simple support/resistance levels.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Will the FED crush dreams and hopes today? Today, we await a much anticipated FED meeting, with central bankers expected to raise interest rates in the range between 75 bps to 100 bps. Over the past few weeks, we said that more rate hikes would put additional pressure on the U.S. economy and drag it into a deeper recession. As a result, we expect such a period to be accompanied by risk aversion, leading to a selloff in the general stock market and cryptocurrency sector.
Although we do not rule out the initial bounce up in the price of Bitcoin after the FED decision (though we expect it to be short-lived if it occurs). Our reasoning is that many investors will be (again) on the lookout for the FED pivot. However, we do not think the FED will backtrack its monetary policy in 2022; quite contrarily, we believe the FED will pursue the path of tightening throughout 2023, further deteriorating economic conditions.
The same grim story is told by volume hovering around monthly lows and by many technical indicators flashing warning signs across the board. Daily, weekly, and monthly time frames are all bearish, which is ideal for the continuation of the downtrend. Therefore, we have no reason to change our view on Bitcoin. Accordingly, we remain bearish, and our price targets stay at 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the setup with two alternative trades and the yellow arrow pointing to volume at weekly lows.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
The picture above shows the daily chart of BTCUSD. To further confirm our bearish thesis, we would like to see Bitcoin fall below the Support 1.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - The downtrend is confirmed by several developmentsRight after Jerome Powell's speech, the stock market dropped sharply, dragging cryptocurrencies with it. As a result, Bitcoin fell approximately 6%, dropping below 21 000 USD and subsequently below the immediate support. That is particularly bearish as this development constitutes a new low for BTCUSD, further confirming the downtrend. As if it was not enough, volume continues to grow while the price declines, suggesting a strengthening selling pressure.
As for the fundamental factors, it is clear now that the FED's pivot is dead, and there is no reversal in the central bank's monetary policy. As we previously noted, this will inadvertently drag the global economy into a deeper recession, leading to even a higher risk aversion. Consequently, we expect this to pull Bitcoin below its 2022 lows.
Concerning technical factors, these are flashing warning signs across the board. We expect a heavy selloff in the short-term future. Indeed, we would not be surprised to see Bitcoin break below 20 000 USD over the weekend. Accordingly, we stick to our price target of 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily chart of Bitcoin and simple support/resistance levels. Yellow arrows indicate bearish breakouts. The green arrow indicates growing volume, which supports our bearish thesis; indeed, in our previous post, we stated that this would be an ideal picture to confirm our hypothesis.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
The picture above shows the monthly chart of BTCUSD. Again, extremely shallow volumes hint at brewing troubles for Bitcoin.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - No longer bullish, top in for the rally During the last week, we gave market participants an ultimate warning about the impending reversal in the market. Soon after we argued the top of the bear market rally might be in, Bitcoin fell more than 15%.
A change in our short-term view is mainly influenced by technical factors, which point to the return of intense selling pressure. Indeed, we believe the current selloff will soon escalate into panic mode in the cryptocurrency sector. As a result, we expect highly elevated volatility and Bitcoin to drop to a new low.
Our medium-term and long-term views remain unchanged as we expect bearish fundamental factors to stay persistent throughout 2022 and 2023. Additionally, we believe that the recession will bring risk-off sentiment, wreaking chaos in the stock market as well as the cryptocurrency market.
Because of these reasons, and the ones described in our previous ideas, we stick to our price targets at 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD.
Illustration 1.01
The picture above shows two bearish breakouts below prior support levels. Additionally, a build-up in volume accompanying a price drop is indicated on the bottom; this development is the ideal picture we wanted to see in order to confirm our bearish thesis.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI is very bearish. MACD and Stochastic are bearish. DM+ and DM- performed bearish crossover. Overall, the daily time frame is very bearish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 shows another bearish breakout below the sloping support, further bolstering the bearish case for BTCUSD.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.03
Above is the setup we introduced recently.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Professional selling to retail investors?Prior to the FED meeting, we speculated that the rally could falter with another rate hike. However, after the 2.04% decline following the FED decision, Bitcoin erased its early losses and made a new high at 21 473$. That is a bullish development, although we still remain bearish for the medium and the long term. Indeed, after a brief period of bullishness, we are slowly but surely turning bearish on BTC in the short term as well. Accordingly, we stay committed to our price targets of 17 500$ and 15 000$.
Despite that, we can not ignore the prospect of rally continuation. Therefore, we will pay close attention to the price action and volume. Ideally, we would like to see a pick-up in volume and subsequent selling pressure to confirm our bearish bias. Contrarily, to support the opposite bullish view, we would like to see the price attempt to test resistance at 22 781$.
We would like to point out different relationships between the price and volume across various exchanges displayed in the illustrations below.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the relationship between the price and volume on the exchange FTX.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 shows the relationship between the price and volume on the exchange Binance.
Illustration 1.03
Illustration 1.03 shows the relationship between the price and volume on the exchange Kraken.
Illustration 1.04
Illustration 1.04 shows the relationship between the price and volume on the exchange Bitstamp.
Illustration 1.05
Illustration 1.05 shows the relationship between the price and volume in the futures market.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
MACD flattens. RSI trends sideways, and Stochastic performed a bearish crossover. DM+ and DM- are bullish. Overall, the daily time frame is bullish but shows signs of exhaustion.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic point to the upside, although they still remain within bearish zones. DM+ and DM- are bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is neutral.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Risk appettite is not picking up muchTwo days ago, Bitcoin broke above the sloping resistance, which is bullish in the short term. However, then it quickly erased gains, and the breakout became invalidated. So far, despite the ongoing rally in the stock market, the price action in Bitcoin has remained muted. We believe that reflects a lack of risk appetite among market participants.
Indeed, at the current stock market value, we would expect BTCUSD to trade much higher from the current level; yet, it merely continues the choppy price action near the 19 300 USD price tag. That tells us something is not exactly right. Therefore, we are very cautious. As for the price targets, they remain unchanged at 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD due to the persistence of macroeconomic factors.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily chart of BTCUSD and simple support/resistance levels. The yellow arrow points to the bullish breakout above the sloping resistance; volume is declining throughout the rise, which is not particularly bullish.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
Stochastic is bullish. MACD is rising but still below the 0 points; if it breaks above, it will be a bullish sign. RSI is neutral. DM+ and DM- are causing whipsaws, with the ADX hinting at the neutral trend. Overall, the daily time frame is neutral.
Illustration 1.02
Simple moving averages on the daily chart of BTCUSD reflect the neutral nature of the prevailing short-term trend that is currently in place.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI and Stochastic are trending sideways in the lower bound of the bearish zone. MACD points to the upside but stays in the bearish zone as well. DM+ and DM- are bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Correlation with the stock market represents a hurdleWith the market, Bitcoin saw a sharp reversal yesterday and retraced back into the proximity of the 20 000 USD pricetag. In our opinion, this price action, once again, represents merely a short-lived bounce predestined to falter later. However, we can not ignore the odds of this price action continuing a little bit further.
Therefore, for more clues about the continuation, we will watch the price's ability to break above the sloping and short-term resistance. These developments will bolster the bullish case in the short term. However, in the face of another rate hike, worsening economic data, and progressing recession, we have difficulty believing that this recent move represents any significant change in the primary trend.
In fact, we believe that the current bounce in cryptocurrencies provides a great opportunity for repositioning on the short side. Therefore, we have no reason to change our bearish stance and stay committed to our price targets of 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows support and resistance levels for BTCUSD.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
MACD points to the upside; if it breaks above 0 points, it will be very bullish. Stochastic and RSI are rising. DM+ and DM- are bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is neutral/slightly bullish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 portrays the daily chart of BTCUSD. The yellow arrow hints at the retracement from yesterday. The high correlation between the stock market and cryptocurrencies suggests that no primary trend reversal will happen.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic are rising slightly. DM+ and DM- are bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin (BTC/USD) - Potential Support Zone - Daily chartBitcoin (BTC/USD) has temporarily found a Support zone price level above $18,000.
If price can hold above the $18,000 for a significant period of time (e.g. weeks and months), then a bull rally reversal could possibly occur.
However, if support is broken to the downside, price could continue a price downtrend.
Support zone price levels: $18000, $17000, $16000, $13000, $12000.
Resistance zone price levels: $20000, $22000, $24000, $30000, $35000.
note: global events such as stock market earnings, government policy changes, and social sentiment can affect cryptocurrency volatility.
Bitcoin - Do not get ahead of the marketWith Bitcoin jumping above 20 000 USD, we again see a rise in bullish ideas all over the place, claiming bottoms, new all-time highs, and even trend reversal in spite of bearish macroeconomic factors. Despite that, however, elevated volatility and wild swings in the price do not concern us. Quite the contrary, they give us confidence as the market sentiment reflects what it should be in the bear market - constant swings in the mood of market participants, people trying to get ahead of the market, and tremendous moves in single stock/cryptocurrency titles.
As grim as it sounds, we believe these signs will grow more apparent in the coming weeks as the volatility is set to continue higher, sparking more risk-aversion and another leg down in the market. Our thesis comes from the premise that the FED will increase interest rates in November 2022, further crashing the market in order to beat high inflation.
In our opinion, these macroeconomic factors, combined with technical ones, foreshadow a new low for Bitcoin in 2022 and a continuation lower in 2023. Additionally, the lack of liquidity reflected in low monthly volumes suggests Bitcoin is not gaining any interest among new investors, which is an obstacle for the trend to reverse; meanwhile, this lack of liquidity has been responsible for wild moves up and down in the past months.
At the moment, we pay close attention to the resistance level at 20 381 USD, which is the 27th September 2022 high. For the short-term, it would be bullish if the price managed to break above this level and stay there. However, a failure of the price to hold above the resistance will suggest a return to the lower end of the range, in which Bitcoin has been trading for the past few weeks.
Despite the short-term bullish potential in Bitcoin, we have no reason to backtrack on our bearish views. Accordingly, we stick to our price targets at 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD. We will update our thoughts as time progresses.
Illustration 1.01
Yesterday, we showed several signs of exhaustion accompanying the price rise and subsequent breakout above the resistance level. We said that the breakout would be bullish; however, it became quickly invalidated when the price fell back below the resistance level. That is yet another sign of exhaustion. Despite that, the short-term trend is neutral/slightly bullish; therefore, we will remain very cautious today and closely monitor the price action and volume levels.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI is slightly bullish; however, it is showing signs of exhaustion already. MACD is neutral; if it breaks above the mid-point, it will be bullish. Stochastic is bullish. DM+ and DM- are bullish. The daily time frame is slightly bullish, with a very weak trend.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 displays the daily chart of BTCUSD and particular levels of interest.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI is neutral. Stochastic is also neutral. MACD points to the upside but stays in the bearish zone. DM+ and DM- are bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish; but the trend grew substantially weaker over the past few weeks.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Committed to the bearish narrative Over the past few days, Bitcoin has continued to be choppy, oscillating mainly between 19 000 USD and 20 000 USD. Currently, it trades near the 19 200 USD price tag. We believe the recent volatile movements reflect rising anxiety among market participants. Additionally, lower troughs and lower peaks, constituted since 15th August 2022, suggest the downtrend continuation.
Furthermore, fundamental factors weighing on risk appetite will continue to persist throughout 2022 and 2023, putting aside the bullish potential of the cryptocurrency market. In addition to fundamental factors, technical factors also support the bearish case for BTCUSD.
Therefore, we have no reason to change our bearish bias and stick to our price targets at 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD. We expect our price targets to be reached within Q4 2022.
Illustration 1.01
The picture above shows the daily chart of BTCUSD. Again, we pay close attention to the sloping resistance; the breakout above it will be bullish, while the failure of the price to break above it will be bearish.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
MACD and RSI are neutral. Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 displays the daily chart of BTCUSD and simple support/resistance levels.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - BTCUSD to mark new lows by the end of Q4 2022Just hours after our last post, in which we warned about the unsustainability of the up move, Bitcoin erased all of its early gains and retraced below 19 000 USD. This development aligns with what we highlighted as a bear market behavior, characteristic of wild swings from one side to another and market participants trying to fish for a bottom.
That and a looming decrease in corporate earnings and a slowdown in the global economy will further reinforce our narrative about the progression into the second stage of the bear market. As a result, we think the risk aversion will rise, causing more weakness in the stock and cryptocurrency markets over time.
Indeed, we think what market participants have seen up until now, regarding erratic moves and elevated volatility, is just a pretext for what will unravel over the coming months. We believe we will see a dramatic increase in volatility, which will cause even more people to jump back and forth between bullish and bearish narratives.
However, as we did for the past year, we plan to stay unshaken by the high volatility and focus on the market's primary trend. Therefore, we remain bearish and committed to our price targets at 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD. Technical and fundamental factors support our view.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows simple support and resistance levels. To confirm our bearish thesis, we want to see the price break below the Support 1.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 displays the weekly chart of BTCUSD and two SMAs in a bearish constellation.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - BTCUSD eyes 2022 lowsDuring the weekend, the price of Bitcoin traded mainly flat. For that matter, we have no reason to change our bearish bias. Just like over the past months, fundamental factors will continue to slow down the global economy, resulting in the declining economic performance of the stock market and companies slashing their economic projections.
In accordance with the Dow Theory, that will reflect the market transitioning from the 1st stage of the bear market into the 2nd stage. In our opinion, the cryptocurrency market will continue to drift to new lows, with many speculative coins going bust and never returning to the market.
We believe the persistence of bullish sentiment does not signal a market capitulation. Quite the contrary, we think it perfectly illustrates the vicious nature of the bear market, with retail investors addicted to buying dips and subsequently causing volatile movements up and down.
Because of that, we will continue to filter these movements and focus on the primary trend to the downside (as we do since November 2021). More details are described below in the text and the attached articles.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 displays the hourly chart of BTCUSD. Two yellow arrows indicate bearish breakouts, which constitute new lows for Bitcoin since the end of the bear market rally.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 shows the simple support and resistance levels for BTCUSD. If the price breaks below the immediate support level and stays there, it will further bolster the bearish case for Bitcoin.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Ripple - "Buy the rumor, sell the fact"In our previous idea on Ripple, we stated that it was one of a few cryptocurrencies that failed to reach a new all-time high during the latest bull cycle. Additionally, we expressed our bearish views on it over the coming months, set price targets at 0.30 USD (medium-term) and 0.28 USD (long-term), and presented a conservative setup with two possible scenarios.
Since then, the price of XRPUSD has shot to the upside through the short-term resistance, which is a bullish development we previously outlined. Typically, such price action would invalidate our price targets on the downside for the short-term price target. However, fundamental factors (increasing interest rates and economic tightening) driving the primary trend have not changed, which allows us to stick to our price targets.
Indeed, the abrupt move accompanied news that came out regarding the legal case between RippleLab and the SEC. It took merely a few hours, and we are already noticing a wall of bullish posts forecasting the reversal of the primary trend and the beginning of a new bullish era. However, we have little faith in this thesis because of the slowing global economy and growing geopolitical problems coupled with risk aversion.
We acknowledge that thin volume can lead to a higher price in the short term. However, we think the rally will not sustain in the medium and long term. Furthermore, we believe the recent price action is just a short-lived hype like in the case of other cryptocurrencies that already underwent breakouts to the upside (which were dampened in XRP) from a wide range (in July and August).
As for the short-term, we do not know how much higher XRPUSD can go. However, we are already seeing several warning signs. Because of that, we will pay close attention to volume and price action. Other details are described below.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the conservative setup we showed on 8th September 2022. Since its introduction, the breakout to the upside took place, hitting a bullish trigger. Subsequently, the price ripped up more than 40%.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI is overbought. MACD and Stochastic are bullish. DM+ and DM- are bullish. Overall, the daily time frame is bullish.
Illustration 1.02
The picture above shows the price action that followed since the introduction of our setup. Declining volume after the breakout serves as a warning sign, hinting at the evaporation of buyers after the steep climb in price.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, and Stochastic are also bullish. DM+ and DM- are bullish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bullish.
Illustration 1.03
Illustration 1.03 shows a similar decline in volume on the hourly chart of XRPUSD (this time on Binance instead of Bitstamp).
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Ethereum - Pump and dump, or just dump?Like in the case of Bitcoin, we are also bearish on Ethereum. We will pay close attention to it today as the FED is set to increase interest rates and worsen economic conditions. We expect such action to drag the stock market and cryptocurrencies lower over time. Though we do not rule out an initial bounce up in the price of ETHUSD after the FED decision; however, we do not expect it to last. Due to that, we have no reason to change our bearish bias. Accordingly, we stick to our price targets of 1000 USD and 900 USD.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the weekly chart of ETHUSD. It also portrays two simple moving averages, 20-week SMA and 50-week SMA. It can be observed how Ethereum naturally retraced toward its 20-week SMA (which acted as a correction of the downtrend), and now it deviates from it again.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 displays the daily chart of ETHUSD, two simple moving averages, and support/resistance levels.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. Overall, the weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Bitcoin - Expect more pain aheadUnsurprisingly, Bitcoin fell below 20 000 USD, confirming our bearish bias. During the week, we will be on high alert as the FED is poised to increase interest rates and worsen economic conditions (and potentially spark another massive selloff). Other fundamental and technical factors also make up for the bearish consensus. Therefore, we have no reason to change our view and stick to price targets of 17 500 USD and 15 000 USD.
Illustration 1.01
The picture above shows the daily chart of BTCUSD. White horizontal lines indicate simple support and resistance levels. The yellow arrow indicates the bearish breakout below the immediate support, followed by the bullish retracement. We want the price to stay below the immediate support level to confirm our bearish view further.
Technical analysis - daily time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. The daily time frame is bearish.
Illustration 1.02
The illustration above shows the increase in volume that accompanies the declining price. That is positive for the bearish scenario; ideally, we would like to see volume grow more.
Technical analysis - weekly time frame
RSI, MACD, Stochastic, DM+, and DM- are all bearish. The weekly time frame is bearish.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.