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VORTECS™ Spotlight: Fantom’s 500%+ rally was signalled by this key trading metric

This key trading metric alerted traders to FTM’s bullish outlook on each turn of the altcoin’s parabolic 500% rally.

Fantom’s FTM asset has been one of the top trending tokens of the week, and it barely noticed Bitcoin’s (BTC) midweek swoon that halted many altcoin rallies. Despite Bitcoin’s price dropping below $43,000, FTM has added 114% in U.S. dollar terms and 127% in its BTC pair over the last seven days. 

FTM’s monthly stats look even more impressive, with nearly 500% growth against both benchmarks. While it is par for the course for altcoins to rally when Bitcoin consolidates, FTM’s price movement is completely asymmetrical to most of its peers.

Let’s investigate what’s behind the record-breaking run and whether there is a way for traders to determine if the rally has the potential to continue.

Current growth drivers

Fantom is a layer-one smart-contract platform that boasts its own high-speed consensus mechanism and modular architecture that is designed to make it compatible with any distributed ledger.

The platform has seen explosive growth in its user activity over the last few months, with the number of unique wallet addresses increasing by 5,700% from May to August and the number of daily transactions rising to hundreds of thousands.

As Cointelegraph reported, decentralized finance (DeFi) activity within the Fantom ecosystem has been surging as well, spurred by a hefty incentive program that contributed to an almost 20% rise in the total value locked on the blockchain just 24 hours after launch.

These fundamental advances led FTM to rally from $0.30 a month ago to above $1.80 at the time of writing.

The early bird gets the worm

Price charts were not the only rankings that FTM dominated this week; the token also did extremely well in terms of its VORTECS™ Score, an algorithmically generated metric that compares the observed patterns of market conditions around the coin against years of historical data.

This quantitative-style metric is able to assess whether an asset’s outlook is bullish, bearish or neutral for the next 12 to 72 hours. The indicator is exclusively available to the subscribers of Cointelegraph’s data intelligence platform, Markets Pro.

It seems that the combination of market activity and social sentiment parameters that preceded FTM’s recent spikes resembled the patterns that came prior to price spikes in the past. This is why the coin posted an ultra-high VORTECS™ Score of 90 this week — a value indicating the algorithm’s tremendous confidence that in the past, the observed conditions consistently came up shortly before dramatic price increases.

FTM price vs. VORTECS™ Score. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As can be seen in the chart above, the asset’s VORTECS™ line turned dark green (corresponding to values above 80) on Sept. 6 against a price of $1.30. By that time, the asset had already made sizable gains, so traders were likely uncertain as to whether it was still a good time to invest in the altcoin.

Yet, the historically favorable conditions captured by a streak of strong VORTECS™ Scores were so robust that FTM confidently continued its upward run. As mentioned earlier, the altcoin was even relatively unfazed by the 16% dip in BTC price on Sept. 8. And by Sept. 9, FTM conquered a new all-time high above $1.80.

The data doesn't lie

Crypto assets vary in the extent to which their price rallies resemble those in the past, in terms of market and social activity metrics. FTM belongs to a group of tokens that demonstrate consistent behavior on these key indicators before their prices go up.

Since early 2021, FTM has recorded 34 days during which its VORTECS™ Score hit a value of 80 or higher, a result bested by only six other coins. When the asset scores high, it usually sees gains in the next 72 hours. Out of 34 days with a VORTECS™ Score of 80+, FTM generated a return of at least 3% on 27 occasions and at least 5% on 23 occasions. The data also shows FTM generating a return of 10% or more on 20 occasions.

On average, the coin’s price increased by 0.2% after 48 hours and by 3.6% after 72 hours of reaching a score of 80. FTM also reached the ultra-high VORTECS™ Score of 90 on multiple occasions, adding an average of 3.7% after 48 hours and 5.3% within 72 hours of hitting this threshold.

While a high VORTECS™ Score is not a prediction of price movement, it can give traders some actionable ideas regarding the health of an asset’s outlook and also alert them to opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise consider.

Cointelegraph is a publisher of financial information, not an investment adviser. We do not provide personalized or individualized investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile investments and carry significant risk including the risk of permanent and total loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Figures and charts are correct at the time of writing or as otherwise specified. Live-tested strategies are not recommendations. Consult your financial advisor before making financial decisions.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

Presearch, Frontier and Algorand book double-digit gains as altcoins soar

FRONT, ALGO and PRE rallied in excess of 40% as altcoins capitalize on Bitcoin’s range-bound price action.

On Thursday, bulls made a strong showing as Algorand (ALGO) and Solana (SOL) each steamrolled to new highs even as Bitcoin (BTC) continues to flounder under the $47,000 mark. 

The strong performance from the altcoins gives further credence to the argument that the market is in an 'altseason', a phase that is typically characterized by surging altcoin prices when BTC is range-bound.

Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Presearch (PRE), Frontier (FRONT) and Algorand (ALGO).

Presearch integrates Wyre into its marketplace

Presearch, a blockchain-based decentralized search protocol, registered a 61.3% gain in the past 24-hours and it appears that investors reacted positively to the project's recent addition as a search engine option on Android phones.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for PRE on Sept. 5, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. PRE price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for PRE elevated into the green zone on Sept. 5 and reached a high of 71 around 84 hours before its price began to increase by 94% over the next day.

The renewed interest in PRE comes following the platform’s integration with Wyre that allows users to purchase PRE tokens directly through the marketplace with a credit card.

Frontier prepares to go mobile

The second-biggest gainer on the 24-hour chart is Frontier, a chain-agnostic decentralized finance aggregator that supports a number of blockchains, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Harmony.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for FRONT on Sept. 4, prior to the recent price rise.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. FRONT price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for FRONT began to pick up on Sept. 3 and reached a high of 72 on Sept. 4, around 48 hours before the price increased 80% over the next three days.

The surge in price on Sept. 9 comes as the project dropped a teaser video in their Twitter feed hinting at “A New Frontier” for the project and provided a screengrab of the Frontier protocol interface on a smartphone.

Related: El Salvador adoption a ‘coming of age’ for Bitcoin, says Fidelity exec

Algorand adoption on the rise

Algorand (ALGO), a permissionless pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol, is once again on the list of top performers after hitting a new multi-year high at $2.48.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for ALGO have been favorable for some time.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. ALGO price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for ALGO entered the green zone coming into the week and registered a high of 70 on Sept. 4, around 3 days before the price increased by 114%.

The continued bullishness for ALGO comes as the protocol prepares to roll out governance capabilities on Oct. 1 and the project also received a big vote of confidence from the government of El Salvador after it was chosen to help develop the country's blockchain infrastructure.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.143 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 41.1%.

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.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

Near Protocol, Algorand and PowerPool rebound while Bitcoin consolidates

NEAR, ALGO and CVP notched gains in excess of 37% while the wider market attempts to recover from Tuesday’s sharp correction.

The wider cryptocurrency market appears to be in the early stages of a recovery with many altcoins regaining their footing after correcting by 20% to 30% on Sept. 7 when Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $43,000.  

Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were NEAR Protocol (NEAR), Algorand (ALGO) and PowerPool (CVP).

NEAR Protocol gains 64%

The top gainer NEAR Protocol is a decentralized proof-of-stake protocol focused on offering faster transaction speeds at a lower cost to help facilitate the adoption of blockchain technology.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after dropping to a low of $5.44 on Sept. 7, the price of NEAR surged 100% to a new record high at $10.79 on Sept. 8 as its 24-hour trading volume surged 260% to a record $2.27 billion.

NEAR/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The spike in momentum for the project comes as it launches its METABuild hackathon event which is offering more than $1 million in prizes to participants.

Algorand takes steps toward decentralized governance

Algorand is a permissionless pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol focused on transaction speed, efficiency and the goal of becoming the base layer for the financial industry.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for ALGO on Sept. 3, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. ALGO price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for ALGO climbed into the green zone on Sept. 3 and reached a high of 73 around 42 hours before its price increased 62% over the next three days.

The uptick in interest for Algorand comes as the protocol prepares to launch decentralized governance features on Oct. 1 and the team is also building out its decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) offerings.

Related: Bitso to assist the launch of El Salvador's official Bitcoin wallet Chivo

PowerPool launches a BSC index token

PowerPool is a project that helps users accumulate governance power in Ethereum-based protocols through the creation of token pools and community voting.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for CVP have been favorable for some time.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. CVP price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for CVP first began to pick up on Sept. 4 and climbed to a high of 76 on Sept. 5, around 61 hours before the price increased 98% over the next day.

The spike in interest for PowerPool comes following its launch and promotion of the BSCDeFi index pool which contains the top DeFi tokens on the Binance Smart Chain including PancakeSwap (CAKE), Venus (XVS), Mdex (MDX) and Ellipsis (EPS).

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.068 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 41.9%.

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.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

After a 273% rally, this key indicator signaled that CELO price was overextended

Trading is “easy” when the trend is upward, but remember that in a bull market, cryptocurrencies take the stairs up and the elevator down.

Now that altcoin season is upon us again, multiple tokens are witnessing illustrious price hikes every day. In a sideways market, a key skill for a trader is the ability to anticipate when an asset will break out — and when everything is green, knowing when the rallies are coming to an end becomes equally essential.

This week, CELO embarked on a flash rally that generated an almost vertical line on its price chart, but then it quickly faded without ushering in a strong second wave.

Aside from keeping a steady eye on candlestick charts, was there a better way for traders to know in advance when to hop off?

A new DeFi initiative fuels CELO’s price spike

CELO is the native asset of the Celo blockchain ecosystem, whose main goal is to introduce the convenience of decentralized finance, or DeFi, to underbanked smartphone users around the world. A utility token that utilizes a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, CELO is designed to facilitate transactions and governance processes on the platform.

On Aug. 30, a consortium of DeFi entities — including Aave, SushiSwap, Curve, 0x, PoolTogether and Celo — announced a joint educational effort aimed at raising global awareness of decentralized finance, to which they pledged up to $100 million in grants and incentives.

In terms of the immediate effect on crypto-asset prices, CELO stood to benefit the most from the news, as the Celo platform will serve as the primary infrastructure for the initiative. The coin’s price soared immediately, gaining some 170% within the next 24 hours.

Extraordinary price spikes like this one often end with hard corrections. However, there is always hope for investors that an even more powerful pump is just around the corner. In CELO’s case, however, the first peak at $9 remained the high-water mark, and the coin’s price only went down from there.

Anticipating a price decline

In addition to being one of the week’s top gainers, CELO is also one of the few assets that recorded a low VORTECS™ Score.

The VORTECS™ Score is a machine learning algorithm that compares historic and current market conditions around digital assets to aid crypto traders’ decision-making. Available exclusively to Cointelegraph Markets Pro subscribers, the indicator considers a host of variables — including price movement, trading volume, social sentiment and market outlook — to arrive at a score that assesses whether the present conditions for a given coin are historically bullish, neutral or bearish.

High scores indicate the model’s confidence that the conditions currently observed are historically favorable; low scores, which occur less frequently, appear when the algorithm sees a pattern that in the past consistently preceded significant price drops.

CELO price vs VORTECS™ Score. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As visible in the above graph, CELO’s VORTECS™ Score dipped into the red zone below 30 when the asset’s price briefly recovered from $7.03 to $7.24 on its way down from the peak value of $9. While this bounce could look like the beginning of the rally’s second leg, historical precedent suggested that the conditions around the coin were bearish.

Traders could use this insight in several ways. Those who had hoped for the price to soar again could be nudged to abandon these hopes and lock in their profits above $7. Another strategy could be to short CELO, wagering that its price would soon return to a downward slope.

As for CELO, the asset soon stabilized in the range between $5.50 and $6, which still represented considerable growth from the $4.30 region from which it exploded during the initial rally.

Cointelegraph is a publisher of financial information, not an investment adviser. We do not provide personalized or individualized investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile investments and carry significant risk including the risk of permanent and total loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Figures and charts are correct at the time of writing or as otherwise specified. Live-tested strategies are not recommendations. Consult your financial advisor before making financial decisions.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

These 2 indicators gave traders a buy signal hours before Filecoin and Near rallied

In the crypto market, it’s often the early bird that gets the worm. Here’s how two quant-style indicators flashed a bullish signal for FIL and NEAR.

In financial markets, the uneven distribution of information comes hand-in-hand with theuneven distribution of economic power. The cryptocurrency market is no exception and oftentimes those with insider knowledge or access to industry-grade data intelligence tools can put their digital assets to work in ways the everyday retail investor could never do.

Still, regular traders can profitably leverage publicly available, market-moving news if they are lucky to get to it before the rest of the pack. Research suggests that certain types of news announcements, such as those related to staking, listings, and partnerships, have the greatest potential to move crypto prices.

Last week, when word got out that two blockchain protocols had forged a partnership, the price of both related tokens soared immediately. Was there a way for main street investors to join the gains fest early?

The power of collaboration

In most cases, high-profile, market-moving partnership announcements feature a crypto protocol or associated asset on one side and an entity that is not represented by a digital token on the other – think an NFT platform partnering with a top sports club. Accordingly, there is usually only one digital asset that stands to benefit from the news.

On Aug. 10, however, something quite unusual transpired. A collaboration between Filecoin and NEAR Protocol, which enabled decentralized applications built on NEAR to integrate Filecoin-based storage, was announced and the development resulted in considerable gains for both assets.

FIL price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

The announcement first appeared on Filecoin’s blog on Aug. 10 at 17:32 UTC. and the news took roughly three hours to reach NEAR’s Twitter account. Most of those who are not in the habit of refreshing Filecoin’s blog at least every hour would have to wait for the announcement to spread through Twitter feeds to learn of the collaboration.

FIL price took off immediately after the first announcement went public (first golden circle in the graph). At the time of the first post, FIL had been changing hands for $65.50 and by the time the second notification landed (second golden circle), the altcoin has already rallied to $69. The next day, it reached $75, making for a peak return of 12%.

NEAR price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

NEAR was trading at $2.73 when the news broke and by the time the announcement had reached Twitter, the token had risen to $2.84. Roughly 48 hours after the initial post, NEAR had hit $3.42, which was an overall increase of more than 20%.

Golden circles in the graph represent time points when subscribers of CT Markets Pro, Cointelegraph’s data intelligence platform, received automated alerts of potentially price-moving news announcements, known as NewsQuakes™. The first alert came in under a minute from the original post on Filecoin’s blog, giving its recipients a three-hour head start before the news hit the Crypto Twitter.

NewsQuakes™ is an artificial intelligence-driven system that automatically sifts through thousands of websites and social feeds to detect potentially market-moving developments moments after they are publicized by primary sources.

CT Markets Pro users receive an alert at a speed that often beats most other social and media sources where traders normally discover actionable news. In fact, NewsQuakes™ is the same service that writers at Cointelegraph (as well as those at our major competitors) use to track breaking stories to cover.

Capitalizing on the rise of FIL and NEAR required a solid understanding of what synergies can emerge from the two protocols’ collaboration and whether the market will ascribe value to them. 

Yet, it was equally important to learn the news quickly and have the time to act on it. While no algorithmic tool can replace sound judgement, NewsQuakes™ can assist with the second part of the equation.

Cointelegraph is a publisher of financial information, not an investment adviser. We do not provide personalized or individualized investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile investments and carry significant risk including the risk of permanent and total loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Figures and charts are correct at the time of writing or as otherwise specified. Live-tested strategies are not recommendations. Consult your financial advisor before making financial decisions. Full terms and conditions.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

Powered by the people: 3 altcoins whose tweet volume spiked before a strong rally

In some cases, unusually high tweet volume can signal that an asset is about to soar, but traders should mind the context.

On Crypto Twitter, a surge of attention directed at a coin often comes in response to dramatic price action. Quite naturally, rallying assets attract the attention of traders and take over Twitter conversations, which can also create positive feedback loops that further prop up the momentum.

This is exactly what happened with some of the coins that saw a greater increase in average daily tweet volume this month, compared with the last. KuCoin Shares (KCS), which went up from $7.40 on July 4 to $14.20 on July 14, generated a staggering increase in average tweet volume, totaling more than 1,100% month-to-month.

Another big winner in terms of price, Axie Infinity (AXS), added 456% in tweet volume over the same period. In both cases, tweets mirrored the rallies’ dynamics, with the tweet volume curve closely following the price chart.

In other cases, however, the relationship can be reversed. Sometimes, the Twitter crowd picks up the news or emerging narratives that the wider market has yet to absorb, producing tweet volume spikes that come before price increases. Is there a way for traders to spot these dynamics early enough to gain an edge over the rest of the pack?

Data intelligence for early birds

Tweet volume is one of several metrics used to calculate the VORTECS™ score, an algorithmic indicator that compares complex patterns of market and social activity of an individual digital asset to years’ worth of historical data.

Exclusively available to Cointelegraph Markets Pro (CTMP) subscribers, the algorithm assesses parameters such as the market outlook, price movement, social sentiment and trading activity to generate a score that shows how suitable conditions of the observed combinations are for any coin at any given time.

On top of that, there is a dedicated space on the Markets Pro dashboard featuring assets that see abnormal tweet volume in real-time. Once they are alerted that something is brewing around a coin on Twitter, traders can be incentivized to take a closer look at the asset and make a judgment as to whether its price is likely to go up soon.

Here are three examples from the last thirty days where Twitter activity foreshadowed price action.

Crypto.com Coin

CRO's Price vs VORTECS™ chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

In the case of Crypto.com Coin (CRO), the source of Twitter users’ excitement is crystal clear: A few hours before the coin flashed on Markets Pro’s Unusual Twitter Volume box (red circle in the chart), it emerged that CRO became the first digital asset platform to partner with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. The announcement was also delivered to Markets Pro users seconds after the original source published it, thanks to the platform’s instantaneous NewsQuakes™ functionality.

Unsurprisingly, the big news triggered a sprawling Twitter conversation. If traders had not been convinced by NewsQuake™ and coin’s rising VORTECS™ score, the skyrocketing tweet volume could be the final argument in favor of opening a CRO position. The coin had been valued at $0.113 when tweet volume peaked on July 8, and it kept climbing in the next four days, eventually hitting $0.132 before the price began to decline.

Quantstamp

QSP's Price vs VORTECS™ chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

Establishing what had triggered the surge of tweets referencing Quantstamp (QSP) around June 1 is less straightforward. One potential reason could be the launch of oneFIL, a stablecoin for the Filecoin community, around that time.

The protocol behind oneFIL is audited by Quantstamp. While QSP generates just a handful of Twitter mentions per day, on July 1 it got over 150 tweets, immediately putting it on the Markets Pro radar (red circle in the graph). While the peak tweet volume corresponded to the QSP price of $0.030, the coin pulled off a strong performance in the following days, reaching $0.034 on July 4, continuing to push further.

Flow Dapper Labs

FLOW's Price vs VORTECS™ chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

Flow Dapper Lab’s (FLOW’s) peak tweet volume came late on July 10 (red circle in the graph) in response to a highly successful week that the asset had, more than doubling its price from $9 to over $18.

A high VORTECS™ score that FLOW received some 50 hours earlier indicated that in the past, such rallies unfolded in several rounds and that historical precedent suggested a possibility of the second leg. Sure enough, the price kept climbing even after the wave of tweets began to recede, eventually hitting $21.20

These examples demonstrate that, while an onslaught of tweets alone is not always a harbinger of an impending rally, spotting abnormal Twitter activity early on can lead to a profitable trade. It can be especially useful when combined with other metrics and a robust understanding of the coin-specific context.

Disclaimer. Cointelegraph is a publisher of financial information, not an investment adviser. We do not provide personalized or individualized investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile investments and carry significant risk including the risk of permanent and total loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Figures and charts are correct at the time of writing or as otherwise specified. Live-tested strategies are not recommendations. Consult your financial advisor before making financial decisions. Full terms and conditions.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

Bitcoin bounces after weeklong ‘capitulation event’ results in $14.2B in losses

Bitcoin price briefly tops $40,000 and Ether climbs above $2,600 as traders gain their composure following last week's "historic deleveraging event".

Crypto traders were greeted by green markets on May 24 as the majority of altcoins saw their prices bounce back following last week's downturn that was the “largest deleveraging event since the March 2020 sell-off” according to an on-chain report from Glassnode. 

After suffering the biggest monthly price drop in Bitcoin (BTC) history, bulls now look to stage a comeback with a significant amount of support forming near the $37,000 level and within the last hour Bitcoin price pushed back to the $40,000 level.

Bitcoin price pullback. Source: Glassnode

The capitulation experienced last week was “one for the history books” with data from Glassnode showing that the magnitude of realized losses on-chain “eclipsed all previous capitulation events” with a new all-time high of $4.53 billion in losses recorded on May 19 and $14.2 billion recorded for the week as a whole.

Bitcoin realized loss. Source: Glassnode

The $2.56 billion in net on-chain losses seen on May 19th was 185% larger than the March 2020 COVID sell-off with data indicating that a:

“Large cross section of the market was taken by surprise by this event.”

Not all traders were caught off guard by the move however as BTC holders with coins 1 year to 3 years old managed to spend their coins earlier in the cycle, “likely rotating capital to capture the price out-performance of ETH at that time.” These entities then stopped selling during the capitulation, while newer hands were seen panic selling as they sprinted for the exits.

Overall, last week's “historical capitulation event” resulted in roughly 9% to 9.5% of the current market cap registering as unrealized losses, which is actually quite small when compared to previous losses seen in March 2020 and Nov. 2018.

Relative unrealized loss for Bitcoin. Source: Glassnode

Short term holders have borne the brunt of the market turndown and “currently hold aggregate unrealized loss of -33.8% of the Market Cap on their coins”

Hard hit altcoins bounce back

Monday’s price turnaround was a welcome sight for the altcoin market which was hit especially hard during last week's sell-off.

One of the biggest gainers on the day has been Polygon (MATIC), which continues to receive extra attention from the cryptocurrency community as it emerges as the preferred layer-two solution for the Ethereum (ETH) network.

The added focus has led to a 100% increase in the price of MATIC on May 24 from a low of $0.837 on May 23 to an intraday high at $1.67, while the Maker (MKR) token has likewise seen its token price rally more than 100% to a high of $4,174.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Today's market turnaround also resulted in a 30% gain in the price of Ether back to the $2,500 support level while Binance Coin (BNB) managed to gain 39% and now trades near $320.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.68 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 44.2%.

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.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

Bitcoin price drops below $34,000, pulling altcoins to multi-month lows

Another round of FUD helped to push Bitcoin price back below $34,000, placing further pressure on altcoins which now trade below multi-month lows.

On May 21 the crypto market was hit with a fresh round of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) which sparked another, albeit more muted, sell-off in Bitcoin (BTC) price and a majority of the altcoins. 

For the second time in less than 3-weeks, China was again the culprit as rumors that regulators were looking to crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading. Media also reported that authorities in Hong Kong proposed banning retail traders from cryptocurrency trading.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that Bitcoin (BTC) bulls were holding the $40,000 support level prior to the announcement from China but quickly lost it and had to regroup at the $36,000 support before further downside ensued.

BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

While the turnaround seen across the market on Thursday helped assuage fears of the return to a crypto winter, some analysts, including Jarvis Labs co-founder Ben Lilly, correctly assessed that “we are not out of the woods” prior to Friday’s drawdown. 

Still, there is room for hope that the price of BTC could manage to hold its ground and climb higher as activity seen in whale wallets showed heavy inflows at $39,931, indicating a new possible level of support. 

Exchange activity spikes during sell-off

Cryptocurrency exchanges played a big part in Wednesday’s price action as highlighted in the recent Delphi Daily report by Ashwath Balakrishnan. 

According to Balakrishnan, Binance was responsible for:

“Facilitating nearly $100 billion worth of spot trades” and decentralized exchanges on the Ethereum (ETH) network “recording over $10 billion in volume.”
Ethereum DEX daily volume. Source: Delphi Digital

This marked the “single highest day of volume for all DEXes” on record led by Uniswap (UNI) which saw “nearly $6 billion of volume” transacted as retail traders ran for the exits.

According to Micah Spruill, managing partner and chief investment officer at S2F Capital, approximately $9 billion in value was liquidated during this week’s correction in a similar washout to what was experienced in March 2020.

All coins liquidations across centralized exchanges. Source: Coinalyze

Spruill also pointed to the “historic levels of Bitcoin being moved off the exchange on May 19 when compared to the net exchange outflows over the last several years,” highlighting the fact that this was the highest dollar denominated amount of net outflows in history and is “extremely bullish.”

To get a better grasp on the current sentiment of traders in the market, Spruill pointed out that retail wallets have continued to grow in numbers despite the market turmoil with the dip being quickly bought by retail investors, which is “a sign of continued growth and adoption.”

Spruill said:

"The number of new entities has been increasing this entire pullback as well, further pointing to the fact we have not experienced a bull cycle top but rather a local top within a large bull cycle."

Altcoins crushed, again 

The continued pressure on Bitcoin spilled over into the altcoin market causing the majority of tokens in the top 100 to drop deeper into the red.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.4 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 44.3%.

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.

Indian Official Expresses Doubts About Crypto: ‘I Am Very Skeptical’

EOS and YFI lead altcoins higher as Bitcoin and Ether bounce from swing lows

YFI, EOS and REV notched double-digit rallies as altcoins capitalized on the oversold bounce in Bitcoin and Ethereum price.

The markets were mixed on May 11 as Bitcoin (BTC) recovered from Monday's drop to $53,000 by bouncing to $56,862 but the digital asset is still finding resistance at the $57,000 level.

Ether (ETH) also worked its way back above $4,100 but according to Cointelegraph analyst Marcel Pechman, the bullish sentiment for Ether seen in recent weeks has begun to fade as traders question whether new all-time highs will be sustainable in the short term.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that Bitcoin bulls defended a late-night sell-off on May 10 that briefly dropped the price of BTC below $54,000 before dip buyers gobbled up sell orders and lifted the price back above $56,000.

BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

blue-chipWhile the blue chip cryptocurrencies have been stuck in a sideways market, canine-themed meme coins including Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogelon Mars (ELON) have followed Dogecoin’s (DOGE) lead and seen their prices explode for triple-digit gains.

Ethereum bulls take a brief breather

Bitcoin’s range-bound trading between $50,000 and $60,000 in recent weeks can partially be attributed to the rising price of Ether, which has caught the attention of institutional investors looking for exposure to more than just BTC. The growing demand for Ether can clearly be seen in the price action of the ETH/BTC pair.

ETH/BTC 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

According to David Lifchitz, managing partner and chief investment officer at ExoAlpha, Ether's recent all-time high was in part due to a “continued rotation away from Bitcoin” which helped push the price of Ether “as high as $4,214 before suddenly puking down to $3,658 (-13% in an hour).”

The downturn in the crypto market coincided with a selloff in the U.S. equity markets that hit the tech-heavy NASDAQ index especially hard. Lifchitz noted that Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies were eventually able to “bounce back half of the loss from the high.”

While the sell-off “could be explained by some correlation trades leading to a quick profit-taking in cryptos”, Lifchitz also pointed to the possibility of a more organized selloff where some traders took advantage of frothy market conditions.

Lifchitz said:

“It could also have been an organized selloff as Ethereum was at its ATH after a torrid ride (i.e. ETH was vulnerable to a quick drop) in order to spook the weak hands and shake them off, triggering a cascading selling effect, before buying back ETH on the cheap as shown by the even higher volume to buy right after the selloff.”

Lifchitz highlighted that just:

“Twenty-four hours later, Bitcoin is back in the middle of its twilight zone ($50,000 to $60,000) and Ether is slowly grinding higher above $4K. So all in all, it was just an ordinary day in crypto land.”

Further insight into the market moves over the past week was offered by Ben Lilly, co-founder and analyst at Jarvis Labs, who highlighted an increase in on-chain profit taking over the last week that had “lots of capital turning over throughout altcoins.”

Lilly said:

“As capital made its way from coin to coin, profits were being realized as Bitcoin traded sideways. What we saw on May 10 was the end of this phase.”

Altcoins lead the market higher

The overall altcoin market shook off the bearish moves seen in the larger-cap cryptocurrencies. EOS led the day with a 50% jump which took the price to $13.92  after Block.one announced that it had secured $10 billion in funding to launch an EOS-based cryptocurrency exchange named Bullish Global.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Yearn.finance (YFI) managed to break out of the trading range it had been stuck in to put on a 58% rally to a new record high above $80,000, while the price of Revain (REV) exploded 130% to reach a multi-year high at $0.049.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.474 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 42.8%.

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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