1inch, Celsius (CEL) and PancakeSwap (CAKE) rally as traders return to DeFi

Lucrative staking pools and reduced transaction fees are luring DeFi investors to 1inch, Celsius and PancakeSwap.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) range-bound action since its breakdown at the $61,000 level has confused analysts. Some are projecting that a sharper correction could be in development while others remain steadfast in their belief that the uptrend will resume shortly.

According to data from Ecoinometrics, history suggests that Bitcoin price breaks out between 300 and 350 days following a supply halving. Currently, 329 days have passed since the latest halving, and if history repeats itself Bitcoin could soon witness a breakout.

An encouraging sign from this most recent market-wide sell-off is traders are viewing this as an opportunity to buy rather than panicking. This suggests that the sentiment remains bullish. Data from Glassnode shows that $476 million worth of stablecoins were deposited to exchanges, possibly with the intent to buy the dip.

While Bitcoin’s next move hangs in flux, several altcoins have been trending upward. Let’s have a look at three tokens that could outperform the markets in the short term.

1INCH/USDT

The decentralized finance boom has produced a nearly uncountable number of projects and for investors, it can be difficult to check each one before jumping in.

This is where a DEX aggregator like 1inch (1INCH) comes in handy because the platform sources the lowest available swap (transaction costs) for investors. The team claims that the third iteration of its Aggregation Protocol has made it cheaper to use 1inch when compared to using Uniswap or 0x directly.

The protocol’s expansion to Binance Smart Chain on Feb. 25 was another positive as it reduced transaction costs for its users and added the BSC-based DEXes to the aggregation protocol.

In the past few days, 1inch launched liquidity programs with ARCx, Ren, Vesper, and Opium. All these steps seem to have paid out as 1inch reported that it had surpassed $30 billion in total trading volume.

Additionally, Coinbase announced support for 1INCH on April 7 and that has given a further boost to the token.

1INCH has risen from an intraday low at $3.56 on March 25 to an intraday high at $6.56 today, a gain of 84% in 15 days. The bulls pushed the price above the overhead resistance at $6.33 today but have not been able to sustain the breakout, which shows the bears are defending this level aggressively.

However, the 20-day exponential moving average ($4.75) has started to turn up and the relative strength index (RSI) is near the overbought zone, indicating the path of least resistance is to the upside.

If the bulls do not give up much ground from the current levels, it will indicate strength. That will increase the possibility of a break and close above $6.33. If that happens, the 1INCH/USDT pair could resume the uptrend with the next target objective at $8.42.

This positive view will invalidate if the bears pull the price back below $5. Such a move will point to a possible range-bound action for a few more days.

CEL/USD

Celsius (CEL) is attempting to disrupt the traditional banking industry. Some of the loans on the protocol charge interest rates as low as 1%, which is much lesser than the banks. Low rates of lending and high interest rates on deposits have boosted its growth to 500,000 users. In a tweet on March 11, the Celsius team said that it handles more than $10 billion worth of digital assets.

In November 2020, Celsius had paid over $80 million to its depositors and that figure surged to more than $250 million in February. The protocol claims this has been possible because it shares 80% of the revenue generated with the community.

Celsius was recently awarded the “best cryptocurrency wallet” at the fifth-annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards. This could further boost the confidence in the protocol. The team has also teased the upcoming soft launch of their Webapp.

CEL price soared from an intraday low at $4.70 on April 2 to an intraday high at $7.71 today, a 64% increase within seven days. The token picked up momentum after the price broke above the resistance line of the symmetrical triangle. This setup has a pattern target at $8.47.

However, the one-way rally has pushed the RSI above 84, indicating the CEL/USD pair could be overbought in the near term. If the price turns down from the current level or the target objective, it could drop to $6.80.

If the bulls can flip this level into support, it may act as a launchpad for the next leg of the uptrend. If that happens, the pair could rally to $10.

Contrary to this assumption, if the price plummets below $6.80, the drop could extend to the 20-day EMA ($5.74). Such a deep fall could delay the start of the next leg of the uptrend.

CAKE/USDT

With most banks and bonds offering negligible returns to the investors, it is no surprise that DeFi has been a major hit among investors who are not afraid of risk. However, skyrocketing gas fees on the Ethereum network can eat a major portion of the gains accrued by the small investors.

Therefore, several investors migrated to projects on competing blockchains that offered low transaction costs. This helped PancakeSwap (CAKE) as it is on the Binance Smart Chain.

A recent report from Delphi Digital found a correlation between higher gas fees on the Ethereum network and the increase in activity on PancakeSwap. Additionally, the protocol could have also benefited from the vast network effect of Binance, which is one of the largest crypto exchanges.

According to DeFi Llama, PancakeSwap’s total value locked has surged to $6.15 billion, just below Uniswap’s TVL of $7.43 billion.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for CAKE on March 22, just as the rally was getting started.

The VORTECS™ score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity. A recent test of the system found that investment returns as high as 1,497% were generated using specific strategies outlined in the report.

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for CAKE flipped green on March 22, when the price was $10.13.

From there, the VORTECS™ Score consistently remained in the green and CAKE rallied to a high at $19 on March 31, resulting in an 87.5% gain within 10 days.

CAKE rallied from an intraday low at $9.68 on March 21 to an intraday high at $21.25 today, a 119% rally in 19 days. The bulls are currently attempting to sustain the breakout above the overhead resistance at $19.

If they manage to do that, it will suggest the start of a new uptrend that has a target objective at $28.50. The upsloping 20-day EMA ($16) and the RSI above 66 suggest the bulls are still in control.

However. If the bulls fail to sustain the breakout, the CAKE/USDT pair could drop to the 20-day EMA. A strong rebound off this support will suggest that investor sentiment has turned bullish and it will increase the chance that the uptrend will continue.

On the contrary, if the bears sink the price below the 20-day EMA, the pair could extend its stay inside the current range for a few more 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.