Decentral Block Post

Ethereum’s on-chain movements indicate bullish pressure building around Ether as its exchange balances reached an all-time low and staking deposits keep surging. 

Ether’s (ETH) technical charts suggest that the asset can reclaim $3,000 if buyers are able to push above the resistance between $1,900 and $2,000.

ETH held on exchanges hits an all-time low

Exchange balances for ETH reached a new low of 12.6%, dropping sharply in the last 30 days, according to Glassnode data. Reduced supply on exchanges is usually a bullish sign, as it means fewer tokens are readily available for selling.

The netflow volume of deposits and withdrawals from exchanges shows a steep surge in withdrawals at the start of June amid a regulatory crackdown on Binance and Coinbase.

The data should be taken with a grain of salt, as withdrawals were caused by investors spooked by centralized exchanges.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading above $31,000 after its 24.3% rally between June 15 and June 23, which caught many off guard. For bears, that meant facing $165 million in short futures contract liquidations, but the unexpected rally also brought some degree of discomfort for investors using Bitcoin derivatives.

Inflation remains the biggest question mark for traditional markets, a point highlighted by the recent 50-basis-point interest rate increase by the Bank of England, followed by similar moves in Norway and Switzerland, leading to the highest cost of capital in over a decade for the region.

In response to questions from lawmakers on the United States House Financial Services Committee on June 21, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that “the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go” and reiterated that “nearly all FOMC participants expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year.”

According to JPMorgan strategists led by Marko Kolanovic, “the economy’s recent resilience may delay the onset of a recession,” so the impacts of the monetary tightening movement by the central bank are yet to be felt, “and ultimately a recession will likely be necessary to return inflation to target.”

Investors now question whether Bitcoin has the strength to trade above the $30,000 resistance amid the bearish pressure emerging from a potential economic recession and further central bank activity aimed at curbing the demand for capital.

A few months ago Pepecoin came and went, bringing quick, unimaginable riches to early investors and turning latecomers into reluctant bag holders.

While the chart resembles the standard crypto pump-and-dump scheme, Pepecoin’s (PEPE) price action this week suggests that the frog-themed token could be the newest contender to Dogecoin (DOGE) in the memecoin sector.

Dogecoin has dominated the memecoin space for years. Many copycats of dog-themed tokens, like Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Floki (FLOKI), have challenged DOGE’s position over the years but eventually faded.

SHIB briefly surpassed DOGE in market capitalization after rising 1,000% to a peak valuation of $41.1 billion on Oct. 28, 2021. At the time, Dogecoin’s market capitalization was $31.5 billion.

However, the near-vertical rally faded in the following weeks, and Dogecoin reclaimed its top spot in the memecoin category.