Decentral Block Post

With less than two weeks until Litecoin’s halving, when the miner’s block subsidy will be cut in half, traders are questioning whether the additional scarcity effect will be enough to sustain the LTC price above $90. 

Litecoin’s (LTC) price has declined by 19% in the last 18 days, but it has shown a positive 31% performance this year. Notably, most gains occurred between June 29 and July 2, with a 34% rally pushing the price to a 14-month high of $115.

However, there’s an alarming statistic coming from the derivatives market that indicates a sharp correction is likely underway.

Historical data doesn’t favor Litecoin bulls

Each of the previous three instances where Litecoin futures open interest dropped below $500 million caused price drops of 38% or higher, which potentially matches the current scenario.

Litecoin futures’ aggregate open interest in dollars from June 29 ($300 million) to July 2 ($615 million) shows there was a significant surge, indicating increased demand for leveraged futures contracts.

Bitcoin continues to test investors’ patience, as it remains stuck inside a tight range. Although the near term is boring, traders need to be on their toes because narrow ranges are generally followed by a sharp increase in volatility. The only problem is that it is difficult to predict the direction of the breakout with certainty.

Glassnode’s latest weekly newsletter highlighted that Bitcoin’s (BTC) consolidation has shrunk the Bollinger Bands, which are separated by just 4.2%. Citing various on-chain indicators, the authors concluded that investors are unwilling to sell, and in several aspects, it looks similar to “periods like 2016 and 2019-20, characterized by choppy market conditions.”

Although Bitcoin’s near term may look uncertain, the long term remains bullish. Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards said in an interview with Cointelegraph that access to BlackRock’s exchange-traded fund application could make it “easier for institutions to put Bitcoin on their balance sheet.”

Will Bitcoin plunge below the support of the range and start a new downward move, dragging several altcoins lower? Let’s study the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been sustaining below the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) of $30,067 since July 17, which is a negative sign. It shows a lack of aggressive buying at current levels.

XRP (XRP) price booked an incredible 100% gain on the same day as the landmark ruling in the XRP securities case, but buyers are now struggling to hold on to these gains. 

The price surge came after judge Analisa Torres of District Court of the Southern District of New York ordered that XRP sale to retail investors does not qualify the token as a security in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against Ripple.

While the trading interest in XRP is reviving, the technical and network usage data hint at a short-term pullback.

Traders flock to XRP but network growth stalls

According to Coinglass data, the open interest volume for XRP futures contracts, which represents the total value of open bets for the asset, surged to its highest point since November 2021, reaching $1.19 billion on July 20.

XRP’s spot trading volumes topped Bitcoin and Ethereum and U.S.-based exchanges like Gemini and Coinbase relisted XRP, boosting the market’s sentiment further.