Binance Coin eyes $560 next after BNB price ‘Cup and Handle’ breakout

October 13, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Binance Coin eyes 0 next after BNB price 'Cup and Handle' breakout</div>

Altcoin

BNB price gets a boost as Binance launches a $1 billion blockchain fund.

The ongoing price boom in the Binance Coin (BNB) market is painting a classic bullish chart pattern with an upside target of $560.

Dubbed as Cup and Handle, the pattern appears when the price forms an advance that appears like a U-shaped trend (Cup). That follows up with a formation of a descending channel range (Handle). A breakout above the Handle range typically leads to an upside continuation, with a bullish target at a length equal to the Cup's size.

So it appears that BNB has undergone a price trajectory that looks like the Cup and Handle pattern. Furthermore, the cryptocurrency's latest rally, accompanied by an increase in trading volumes, took its prices above the Handle range—a breakout—that raised the possibilities of bullish continuation ahead.

*BNB/USD 4H price chart featuring Cup and Handle setup. Source: TradingView.com*

As a result, should the BNB price rally sustain, it will eye a run-up towards the Cup and Handle breakout target near $560. Conversely, if the price falls below the Cup resistance (~$437), it would risk invalidating the entire bullish setup.

BNB price fundamentals

The latest BNB price rally appeared after Binance, via its blockchain project Binance Smart Chain (BSC), launched a $1 billion fund to accelerate adoption across the entire crypto industry. This earmarks $300 million for projects building decentralized applications atop BSC.

Traders typically view incubation events backed by blockchain projects as bullish for their native assets. Such events prompt developers to build new projects on dedicated public/private ledgers, which boosts the demand for their in-house tokens.

For example, in early October, Solana, a public base-layer blockchain protocol, announced over $5 million worth of rewards and seed funding for developers participating in its global hackathon called Ignition. The news helped to push the price of SOL, Solana's native token, up by 35%, as Cointelegraph covered.

BNB appeared to have gone through a similar bout of speculation.

Santiment, a crypto data tracking service, also detected a rise in BNB accumulation across wallets that already hold millions of dollars worth of tokens. So-called Binance Coin whales bought about 412,000 BNB in the past two weeks, thus adding 8.7% more tokens to their existing holdings.

*Binance Coin whale holders data. Source: Santiment*

The BNB accumulation among rich investors surged despite warning signs from regulators in some countries.

Binance also remains under investigation by several agencies in the United States, which has prompted several hedge funds, including Tyr Capital and ARK36, to either stop or scale down trading on their crypto exchanges.

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.

3 factors that can send Ethereum price to 100% gains in Q4

October 1, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

The three bullish indicators converge as Ethereum's native token Ether climbs over 9% Friday to cross $3,000, its psychological resistance level.

Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) has the potential to double its market valuation in the coming months, thanks to a confluence of supportive technical and fundamental indicators.

Ether price soared by more than 9% Friday to hit nearly $3,300 for the first time in ten days. Its gains surfaced primarily in the wake of a price rebound across all the top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), which gained 9.5% to hit $48,000, the highest level in 10 days.

Ether-Bitcoin correlation against rising U.S. inflation

Friday's crypto market boom coincided with the release of the U.S. Commerce Department's report on consumer spending.

The data showed that the U.S. core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, rose by 0.3% in August and was 3.6% up year-over-year. Thus, the core inflation surged to its highest levels in 30 years.

Speculators tend to treat Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, which explains the benchmark cryptocurrency's latest response to the higher consumer prices in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Ether's 30-day average correlation with Bitcoin sits near 0.89, as per data provided by CryptoWatch, which prompted ETH to move almost in lockstep with BTC.

*BTC/USD versus ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView.com*

A University of Michigan survey conducted between Aug. 25 and Sept. 27 found that the longer-term inflation expectations among U.S. consumers rose to 3%, the highest in a decade.

The outcome appeared in contrast with the Federal Reserve's Chairman Jerome Powell's views; he rubbished the rising inflation as "transitory" for months but admitted during a recent Senate hearing that the higher consumer prices might stay intact at least until the next year.

As a result, inflationary pressures gave crypto bulls the reason to pitch Bitcoin as an ultimate hedge, with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor suggesting corporates convert their cash-based Treasury into BTC.

In the presence of rampant inflation, cash & credit become crumbling liabilities. Convert your balance sheet to #bitcoin to turn liabilities into assets. https://t.co/kzCEPDA4S2
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@michael_saylor) October 1, 2021

MicroStrategy holds about 0.5% of the total Bitcoin supply in circulation, currently worth over $6 billion.

Supply squeeze

Ethereum went through a network hard fork upgrade on Aug. 5 that further raised the bullish outlook for Ether, owing to the classic supply-demand law.

Dubbed London Hard Fork, the upgrade introduced an improvement protocol, EIP-1559, that started burning a portion of Ethereum's network fee, called Base Fee. So far, the EIP-1559's activation has removed 410,404 ETH (~$1.32 billion) out of active supply permanently, as per WatchTheBurn.com.

Ethereum is also preparing to switch its consensus mechanism from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). As a result, it has launched a staking pool that would allow users to earn rewards and grow their ETH holdings if they lock 32 ETH into their official PoS smart contract for a certain period.

So far, the amount of ETH deposited in the so-called Ethereum 2.0 staking contract has surged from around 11,500 in November 2020 to 7.82 million ETH today. That said, the transition has effectively removed 7.82 million ETH out of circulation temporarily.

*Total ETH stakes in Ethereum 2.0 smart contract. Source: CryptoQuant*

On the other hand, the total amount of Ether tokens held across all the crypto exchanges have dropped to their record lows. Data from CryptoQuant shows that exchanges now held only 18.1 million ETH compared to 23.73 million ETH an year ago.

*Ether reserves across all crypto exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant*

The declining ETH reserves show that traders may want to hold their Ether tokens than sell them for other assets. As a result, it creates a supply squeeze for investors looking to enter the Ethereum markets, thus making ETH more valuable.

With EIP 1559 #ethereum supply will likely peak around 120 million, after which it will go down and down and down, meanwhile demand will be rising. Pretty sure that means the number will go up.
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) September 24, 2021

Cup and handle

A mix of lower supply and higher demand serves as a bullish backstop for the Ether price. Meanwhile, more evidence for an upside breakout comes from a cup and handle pattern on Ether's longer-timeframe charts.

The Cup and Handle is a bullish continuation pattern, comprising a rounding bottom and a descending channel setup, as shown in the chart below. The structure's profit target is typically at length equal to the Cup's maximum height.

*ETH/USD daily price chart featuring cup and handle pattern. Source: TradingView.com*

Considering the Cup's resistance level is at near $4,000, a breakout from there expects to send the ETH price to above $6,000, almost double its current rate.

Ethereum eyes $6.5K bullish target as ETH price chart paints ‘Cup and Handle’

September 16, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Ethereum eyes .5K bullish target as ETH price chart paints 'Cup and Handle'</div>

ada

The success rate for cup and handle patterns in forex and stock markets, on daily timeframes, are 65% and 68%, respectively, per a Harvard study.

Ethereum blockchain's native asset Ether (ETH) faces the prospect of exploding towards $6,500 in the coming sessions.

ETH looks like a cup and handle too. Thoughts?
— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) September 15, 2021

The bullish analogy takes cues from a textbook technical pattern dubbed "Cup and Handle." In detail, a Cup and Handle structure develops after the price first rallies significantly to the upside and then corrects to carve out a rounding bottom, called the "cup."

The move follows a rebound towards the prior high and a failed breakout attempt above the said level. As a result, the price pulls back once again and grinds out a smaller rounding bottom, called the "handle."

Ultimately, the price returns to prior high for the second time and breaks out successfully, resulting in a move equal to the cup's depth.

So it seems the ETH/USD exchange rate has painted a cup and is now forming a handle, as shown in the chart below.

*ETH/USD daily chart featuring cup and handle formation. Source: TradingView.com*

The depth of the ETH/USD's cup is nearly $2,437. As a result, should the pair retest $4,112-resistance for a bullish breakout move, its prospect of rising by as much as $2,437 will increase. In doing so, Ether would eye a run-up towards $6,549.

A Harvard study shows that cup and handle patterns have a 65% and 68% success rate in forex and stock markets, respectively, on daily timeframe charts.

Institutional FOMO on

Ethereum's upside analogy appears against the backdrop of growing institutional interest.

In a report published on Sept. 7, Standard Chartered, a multinational banking giant headquartered in London, discussed Ether's economic use-case, adding that the cost to purchase one ETH could grow to $26,000-$35,000 in the future.

"The current transition to ETH 2.0 could transform ETH by increasing its functionality and scalability and reducing environmental concerns, although it could raise more complex security issues," the report stated.

"Timelines for ETH 2.0 rollout could slip, but in the near term, decreasing net supply — as ETH is staked for ETH 2.0 — should provide price cushion."

In an interview with CNBC, Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, that her firm would split its crypto investments into 60% Bitcoin and 40% Ethereum. The former AllianceBernstein executive envisioned a higher demand for ETH tokens in the wake of ongoing growth in Ethereum-backed decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) craze.

"I'm fascinated with what's going on in DeFi, which is collapsing the cost of the infrastructure for financial services in a way that I know that the traditional financial industry does not appreciate right now," Wood told CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin at the Salt technology conference in New York.

"Our confidence in ethereum has gone up dramatically as we've seen the beginning of this transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake."

Rivalry risks

Meanwhile, Ethereum also faced criticism for its inability to resolve higher transaction fees and network congestion issues. That prompted emerging layer one blockchain rivals like Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), and Cardano (ADA) to eat up a portion of Ethereum's market hegemony.

It would take Ethereum another two years to become a fully functional proof-of-stake protocol, per its official roadmap. The transition consists of a three-step process. In the first, Ethereum has implemented the Beacon chain to introduce staking on a separate layer.

The next step scheduled sometime later in 2021 will see Ethereum's original chain merger with the Beacon chain. Meanwhile, Ethereum will introduce “shard chains” that expect to enable Ethereum to process more transactions in the final phase.

Classic bearish chart pattern forms for Bitcoin as BTC price tumbles to $32K

June 21, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Bitcoin flashes a classic bearish technical pattern that could crash BTC prices to below $20,000.

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls should look for a cover, at least as far as chart technicals are concerned.

The flagship cryptocurrency continued its price declines into the new weekly session, hitting $32,105 ahead of the London opening bell following an approximately 10% intraday drop. In doing so, it raised the prospect of retesting its quarter-to-date low of $30,000 for either a bearish breakdown or a bullish pullback.

*Bitcoin consolidates between $30,000 and $42,000. Source: TradingView*

But as traders grapple with the ongoing medium-term bias conflict in the Bitcoin market, one classic technical pattern has surfaced to boost a bearish outlook.

The cup has turned

Spotted by Keith Wareing, an independent market analyst, the so-called “Inverse Cup and Handle” structure points to an extended downside price correction ahead in the Bitcoin market. In detail, the pattern develops when an asset forms a large crescent shape as it rallies higher and corrects lower, followed by a less extreme, upward rebound.

Traders look at the Inverse Cup and Handle pattern as their cue to open short positions to target deeper levels. The most extreme bearish target, in such a case, is determined by measuring the distance between the cup’s top and the pattern’s breakout level.

Meanwhile, traders typically spot breakout levels when the price breaks out from the handle pattern to the downside while accompanied by higher volumes.

*Bitcoin Inverse Cup and Handle formation hints bearish breakout is ahead. Source: Keith Wareing, TradingView*

Based on the chart provided by Wareing, Bitcoin’s recent price action — ranging from its pump to nearly $65,000 followed by a dump to $30,000 and a retracement to $40,000 — almost checks all the boxes that confirm the presence of an Inverse Cup and Handle structure.

Except, the Bitcoin price still awaits a bearish breakout.

Back in play pic.twitter.com/aqLVazTK8J
— Keith Wareing (@officiallykeith) June 21, 2021

The depressive Bitcoin setup appeared as traders assessed the United States Federal Reserve’s hawkish reversal on interest rates and inflation. Last week, the U.S. central bank signaled that it could raise benchmark lending rates by the end of 2023 instead of 2024 to tame the rising inflation.

James Bullard, one of the Fed officials, said separately on Friday that the central bank could raise rates by as early as 2022.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell also said in a press conference on Wednesday that his office would move to discuss reducing the $120 billion worth of monthly asset purchases it had started in March 2020.

Bitcoin and other pandemic winners, including gold and Wall Street stock indexes, fell in tandem owing to the Fed’s hawkish tones. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a pool of top foreign currencies, rose to its two-month high, suggesting a renewed appetite for cash among investors.

More bearish outlooks emerge

The latest Bitcoin price plunge also took cues from reports of China’s deepening crackdown on crypto mining farms in the region. The state-backed newspaper Global Times reported that authorities in Sichuan ordered miners to wind down their operations.

Sichuan is home to China’s second-largest crypto mining community. The latest ban means that 90% of China’s mining capacity, which makes 75% of the global computing supply, has probably gone offline, noted Global Times.

Bitcoin’s hash rate dropped to its November 2020 low following the China crackdown story.

*Bitcoin’s hash rate drops to 140.3 EH/s for the first time in six months. Source: Blockchain.info*

Jeffrey Ross, founder and CEO of Vailshire Capital Management, said that he expects Bitcoin to stay weak for the next one to three weeks, fearing liquidation at the end of Chinese miners.

Nevertheless, he added that the cryptocurrency’s macro outlook remains bullish as long as it holds key technical targets above 12- and 48-month moving averages.

*Bitcoin's breakdown below 12-month moving average risks wiping its market valuation by more than 50%. Source: Jeffrey Ross, TradingView*

Bitcoin’s 48-month moving average is currently around the $13,000 level.

Cup and Handle