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Avalanche (AVAX) in ‘overbought’ zone after 100% gains in a week — Correction ahead?

The AVAX/USD exchange rate slips more than 16% after testing its May resistance level.

The Avalanche blockchain platform's native asset, AVAX, fell on Aug. 19 as traders decided to secure their profits from its 100% upside move.

The AVAX/USD exchange rate plunged more than 16% after hitting a three-month high of $36.64, putting the brakes on a seven-day upside boom that saw its price rise by 111%. It appears that traders felt uneasy about entering AVAX markets near $36 because of its historical reference as a sell-off level, capping AVAX's previous recovery attempts from March to May.

Overvaluation risks

AVAX also dropped on interim overvaluation fears. The daily relative strength index (RSI) of Avalanche's token crossed above 70 during its upside boom. Essentially, markets consider an RSI reading above 70 as overbought for the underlying asset, noting that the price has climbed excessively higher and, therefore, should undergo a correction.

Avalanche (AVAX/USD) daily price chart. Source: TradingView

More evidence for AVAX's interim overvaluation appeared when looking at the Bollinger Bands. The indicator consists of a middle band (a 20-period simple moving average) and two outer bands set at two standard deviations below and above the middle band.

When the price overreaches its valuation in the short term, it tends to jump above the upper band. Similarly, slipping below the lower band suggests that the asset is trading below its current valuation. AVAX crossed above the upper Bollinger Band following the latest price rally.

The two indicators were instrumental in predicting recent AVAX price corrections. For instance, during the February rally where AVAX surged over 500% in just two weeks, its RSI and Bollinger Bands both alerted t its excessive interim valuation.

AVAX momentum indicators alert overbought risks. Source: TradingView

The price wiped off 65% of its gains in the next three weeks to neutralize its overbought status. Its next interim support came at the 23.6% Fibonacci line ($22.29) of the Fibonacci retracement graph drawn between the $63.3 swing high and $9.62 swing low.

The same 23.6% Fibonacci level now serves as the next line of support should the price of AVAX correct following its RSI and Bollinger Bands alerts.

Fundamentals

The latest bout of AVAX's price boom appeared in the wake of the launch of its $180 million “liquidity mining incentive program” to bring decentralized finance (DeFi) services to its blockchain platform, including lending platform Aave and automated market protocol Curve Finance.

Related: Avalanche Rush to give out more than 180M in DeFi incentives

AVAX's bounce also appeared as a rally in the market of its top rival, Ether (ETH), flattened out. This is because traders tend to rotate capital out of overvalued markets to bet on assets they deem undervalued.

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, and you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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XRP chart triggers sell-off warning after price explodes by 54% in one week

XRP price has bounced back from its July lows but some indicators are starting to suggest that the rally is due for a pullback.

XRP price almost surged to its three-month high following a strong uptrend continuation on Aug. 14. Nevertheless, its wild weekly run-up triggered overvaluation risks, thus raising possibilities of an imminent price pullback.

In detail, the XRP/USD exchange popped 11.78% higher to reach $1.20 for the first time since May 22. The pair's gains appeared as a part of a prevailing bullish trend that started July 20 when it was trading for as low as $0.154—a 134% upside retracement on the whole.

On a week-to-date timeframe, the XRP/USD rates were up circa 54%.

XRP overbought

The latest bullish moves in the XRP market prompted two classic indicators to forecast imminent price corrections.

The first indicator is the relative strength indicator (RSI). It represents a magnitude of price changes to evaluate overbought or oversold conditions. In detail, the RSI oscillates between zero and 100, with a reading above 70 showing overbought and a reading below 30 showing oversold conditions.

If the asset's RSI stays above 70, it typically prompts traders to sell it at higher prices to secure maximum available profits. Similarly, if the RSI dips below 30, it creates opportunities for traders to buy the asset at a seemingly lower rate.

The XRP/USD's daily RSI triggered warnings of excessive valuations after its readings crossed above 70. As a result, the pair experienced a modest sell-off near its local high of $1.20, dipping to $1.14 at the press time.

XRP/USD daily price chart featuring RSI indicator. Source: TradingView.com

The second indicator is Bollinger Bands.

They are envelopes plotted at a standard deviation level above and below the price's simple moving average. They tend to measure an asset's volatility based on the distance between the upper and lower band. When the price moves out of the band, it tends to immediately move back inside the band area.

XRP/USD daily price chart featuring Bollinger Bands indicator. Source: TradingView.com

XRP/USD's latest volatile move upside pushed its rates outside the upper band resistance, signaling overvaluation. As a result, its probability of correcting back below the upper band level appears high, which may later follow up with an extended move towards the 20-day simple moving average (orange wave) near $0.80.

Additional gains anticipated

Despite overvaluation risks, other traders believe XRP is poised to continue its bull run. For instance, independent market analyst DonAlt thinks XRP could sprint towards its all-time high merely because it has broken above a so-called resistance area, as shown in the chart below.

XRP/USD daily chart BitFinex. Source: TradingView.com, DonAlt

"Close above red ($1) this week and I don't see a reason for XRP to not make new ATHs," the analyst said, adding:

"But, at the same time, if it ATHS the end of the run is near."

Kevin Cage, another popular chart analyst, added a dose of fundamentals to the bullish outlook, noting that XRP at its all-time high would mean that Ripple has reached a settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The U.S. securities regulator filed a lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, alleging that the latter engaged in this illegal securities offering via the sale of XRP tokens in 2013 and afterward. Ripple denied the allegations.

Related: SEC wants ‘terabytes’ of Slack communications from Ripple

On Aug. 16, Ripple will respond to the motion filed by the SEC for the discovery of "terabytes" of Slack communication data. The documents, if filed, may shed more light on whether or not Ripple sold XRP to its investors as securities.

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.

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Famous analyst calls $43K Bitcoin price ‘logical’

Current BTC price action is no surprise given recent support and resistance focuses, says Bollinger bands creator John Bollinger.

Bitcoin may have lost 35% since its all-time highs of $64,500, but its current price is actually “logical.”

That’s according to veteran analyst John Bollinger, creator of the Bollinger bands trading indicator.

Bollinger: Current price action "can tell a lot"

In a tweet on May 18, Bollinger, who is well known as a source of Bitcoin (BTC) analysis despite decades in the market, called for calm following fresh volatility.

“~43,000 is what we call a logical level for $BTCUSD. It is defined by the January peak and the March trough,” he explained.

“Price action at logical levels can tell the smart trader/analyst who is paying attention a lot.”

Bollinger referred to Bitcoin’s previous all-time high at around $42,000, which is also a level at which it bounced in early March during another retracement.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp) with Bollinger bands. Source: TradingView

As Cointelegraph also reported on May 18, the focal level is something of a natural support line in the sand — it represents the average 35% correction from a high, which Bitcoin has seen throughout its history.

Even for more bearish voices, the significance of the $42,000 level cannot be discounted. Among them was CNBC regular Carter Worth, who has predicted that a further downward move for BTC/USD could send the pair as low as $29,000.

No bears to see here

Meanwhile, the Bollinger bands indicator itself continues to track BTC/USD with precision. Its constricting and widening bands have successfully called episodes of price volatility up and down, including the past week’s moves. The bands are fixed around a 20-day simple moving average using a single standard deviation.

Bollinger himself has also had his moments of Bitcoin price clairvoyance.

With the exception of trader concerns over China adding to selling pressure, Bitcoin is broadly in a resilient mood — and multiple other indicators and analysts alike remain bullish on the future.

"Bitcoin still on track as always. We could see an incredibly bullish month or 2 ahead," Danny Scott, CEO of exchange CoinCorner, added on May 18, comparing 2021 to previous bull cycles.

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