Weekly Cryptocurrency Update (Jan 22 – 28): Coins to watch – BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP & DOGE

On the upside, the $37,250 level serves as an early resistance. The first significant resistance zone is at $37,650. It is close to the 61.8 percent Fib retracement level of the most recent drop from $38,899 to $35,550.The major resistance is still around $38,000. A break upwards, above the $38,000 resistance, might signal the beginning of a prolonged upward trend. The next major resistance is near $38,500, which the bulls may be able to break through.If Bitcoin does not begin a new upward trend above $38,000, it may begin a new downward trend. Looking to the downside, $36,500 serves as immediate support. The first major support can be seen near the $35,550 level. On the downside, a break below the $35,550 support zone might push the stock down to the $34,000 support zone. BTC/USD is trading near the 36,977.7 level and consolidating in a range between 36,662.4 and 37,492.7.

However, the reason for its ongoing upward trend could be attributed to the upbeat sentiment in crypto and equities, which tends to underpin investor confidence. The US equity and crypto markets were attracted by positive economic data, due to US FED Chair Powell’s confidence that the US economy could survive multiple rate hikes this year, which was bolstered by better-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP statistics. As a result, the US GDP increased by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, which was up from 2.3 percent the previous quarter.

Bilal Hafeez, CEO and head of research at Macro Hive, presented a more detailed analysis of the impact of the Federal Reserve meeting on January 26. He remarked that the tone of the meeting “came out more hawkish than expected.” According to Hafeez, the Fed’s move to revise its inflation prediction shows that the central bank understood that “they needed to be more hawkish than before,” and he cited Powell’s remarks that “this cycle would be different from the past cycle, which signals faster raises than before.” As a result, the market’s reaction to the Federal Reserve’s forward guidance on monetary policy continues to weigh on riskier assets.

Furthermore, news claims that Flushing Financial Corporation, the parent company of New York-based Flushing Bank, has joined with crypto business New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) to offer its customers Bitcoin (BTC) services have bolstered the gains in the crypto market. According to its Q4 report, The bank was founded in 1929 and had more than $8 billion in assets by the end of 2021, with a net income of roughly $200 million. According to the release, the agreement with NYDIG will allow the bank to provide “safe and secure” BTC buying, trading and holding services to its customers.

The broad-based strength of the US dollar, triggered by expectations of aggressive hikes in US interest rates, was seen as one of the key factors that kept a lid on any additional gains in the BTC/USD coin. On Friday, the dollar was on track for its best week in seven months, boosted by a flight from riskier asset and market pricing, a year ahead of aggressive interest rate hikes in the United States. On Wednesday, after leaving the door open to raising rates quicker than in recent cycles, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell unleashed bets on five or more hikes this year.

During Friday’s Asian trading session, Ethereum’s price failed to halt the bearish movements it achieved early in the day, dropping close to the $2,400 mark. Ethereum is consolidating below the $2,400 mark. If there is no break above $2,500 and $2,550, the price of ETH could continue to fall. After failing to break above $2,700, Ethereum fell below the $2,550 support level. ETH even dropped below the $2,400 level and the 100-hourly simple moving average.

On the other hand, the bulls were active near the $2,300 level. The price has formed a low near $2,316 and it is correcting higher. There was a breakthrough at the $2,400 barrier. The price of Ether even surpassed the 23.6 percent Fib retracement level of the downward trend, from the swing up to $2,729, to the low of $2,316. On the hourly chart of ETH/USD, a big bearish trend line is forming, with resistance near $2,450. The first substantial barrier exists at or near the $2,500 level. A clear break over the $2,500 resistance level might signal the start of a continuous rise. In the above scenario, the pair could even break through the $2,550 barrier .

If Ethereum does not begin a new upward trend above $2,500, it may begin a new downward trend. On the downside, $2,350 serves as an initial support level. The first significant support is formed at or near the $2,315 mark. The price may accelerate lower if it breaks below the $2,315 and $2,300 levels. The bulls may find their next significant support near the $2,220 level. At the time of writing, on Friday, the ETH/USD coin was trading near the 2,387.54 level, and consolidating in the range between 2,366.98 and 2,472.18.The selling trend in Ethereum, which is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, could be linked to the volatile crypto market. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) continues to provide mixed signals, increasing investor uncertainty and negatively influencing asset values across the market. On Friday, the broader crypto market fell for the third day in a row. The market reaction to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy guidance going ahead continues to weigh on riskier assets. The US equity and crypto markets were unaffected by upbeat economic data, because of US FED Chair Powell’s view that the US economy could survive multiple rate hikes this year, which was bolstered by better-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP statistics. The US GDP increased by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, which was an upswing of 2.3 percent from the previous quarter.

As a result, Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) fell by 3.15 percent and 2.83 percent respectively, and Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) fell by 1.59 and 1.83 percent respectively. On the other hand, the recent bullish tendency in the USD pushed the ETH/USD pair lower. The broad-based US dollar was higher in Asia on Friday morning. The US currency benefited from hopes of aggressive hikes in US interest rates. On Wednesday, after leaving the door open for a more rapid raising of rates than in previous cycles, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sparked hopes of five or more hikes this year.

The LTC/USD currency pair could not stop its early losses, and was trading near $105.600 on Friday, which was down by 0.09 percent on the day. On the daily chart, the price of Litecoin is seen consolidating around the channel’s lower limit. The nearest resistance level is above the 9-day and 21-day moving averages, as seen from above.

If the buyers can break through this barrier, further resistance levels could be found at $150, $160 and $170. If the market price falls below the lower border of the channel, it will probably fall to the nearest support level of $80. The $70, $60 and $50 support levels may also be tested if sellers continue to push the price below the lower boundary of this channel. The Relative Strength Index (14), which is a technical indicator, is currently expected to move into oversold territory, meaning that the market will continue to show bearish indications.

According to Hafeez, the tone of the meeting “turned out to be more hawkish than expected.” According to Hafeez, the Fed’s decision to modify its inflation forecast demonstrates that the central bank has realized that it “has to be more hawkish than before,” citing Powell’s statement that “this cycle will be different from the last cycle, which entails faster hikes than before.” As a result, the market reaction to the Federal Reserve’s forward guidance regarding the monetary policy, continues to weigh on riskier assets.

The losses in the LTC/USD coin, on the other hand, were aided by the strength of the US dollar. The risk-off market mood bolstered the US dollar, which tends to favor safe-haven assets, like the US currency. Meanwhile, expectations of aggressive interest rate hikes in the United States have further boosted the value of the US dollar. Moreover, the US dollar received a further boost from positive economic data from the US. The US GDP increased by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, which was up from 2.3 percent the previous quarter.

Despite the positive news surrounding Ripple’s network, the XRP/USD coin has been flashing red and has begun a slow decline below 0.60000. Ripple, a blockchain payments company, based in San Francisco, has announced a $200 million Series C share buyback, bringing the company’s valuation to a new high of $15 billion.

Ripple raised $200 million in a Series C funding round in December 2019, with Tetragon Financial Group, a UK-based investment business, leading the way alongside SBI Holdings and Route 66 Ventures. However, the bulls could not benefit from this news and stayed quiet near the 0.59773 level.

Today’s XRP price is $0.601230 USD, with $1,476,809,658 USD in 24-hour trading volume. XRP has fallen 1.25 percent in the last 24 hours.With a market capitalization of $28,700,889,584 USD, the current market ranking is #7. The total number of XRP coins is 100,000,000,000, with a circulating supply of 47,736,918,345 coins.The market’s risk-off mood could be one of the major reasons for Ripple’s negative rally. Conflicting news from around the world had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market. It’s worth noting that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s statements suggested that there will be more interest rate hikes this year than the three previously forecasted, most likely starting in March. Therefore, the FED’s monetary policy forward guidance continued to weigh on riskier assets.

Plus, the continuing dollar buying bias undermines the XRP/USD coin. The dollar rose in early European trade on Friday, setting the stage for its best week in seven months, as the market priced in several Federal Reserve interest rate hikes this year.

The dollar has been in high demand this week due to comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who suggested that there will be more interest rate hikes this year than the three initially anticipated, possibly beginning in March.

Data are showing the United States’ GDP growing at a faster-than-expected 6.9% quarter on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2021, as well as the best annual growth in nearly four decades, has fueled speculation that the first interest rate hike could be as much as 50 basis points rather than the traditional 25 basis points.

The DOGE/USD pair could not halt its bearish direction of early in the day and it fell to an intra-day low of 0.138850. Even though McDonald’s rival, Mr. Beast Burger, is considering accepting Dogecoin payments, DOGE went down 1.74% in the 24 hours prior to the time of writing. This could be due to the mixed market mood, which confuses investors. At the time of writing, Dogecoin stood at $0.139622, with a trading volume of $613,780,590 for the preceding 24 hours. Dogecoin had thus lost 1.74 percent of its value for the same period. With a live market cap of $18,523,793,513, the current market ranking is #10. It has a circulating supply of 132,670,764,300 DOGE coins with no maximum supply.

Following Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Dogecoin ($DOGE) co-creator Billy Markus’ efforts to convince McDonald’s to accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency as a method of payment, one of its rivals has announced that it will consider doing just that if Musk does something for them.

According to CryptoGlobe, Musk said on social media that if McDonald’s accepted DOGE payments, he would eat a Happy Meal on television, which gained the backing of several celebrities. McDonald’s responded by joking that Tesla would have to accept “grimacecoin” first, prompting the price of several fake grimacecoins to rise.Rival fast-food restaurant chain, Mr.Beast Burger, an American delivery-only fast-food company created by online icon Jimmy Donaldson (AKA Mr.Beast), has tweeted Elon Musk, suggesting that if he gets an RT, it will “work on” accepting $DOGE. This information, however, has not affected Dogecoin values thus far.