Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week above $30,000 but is heading nowhere, with the multimonth trading range refusing to shift.

BTC price action is giving traders little more than a frustrating sense of deja vu as they wonder what it could take to change the trend.

It may be more accurate to say that on low timeframes, a trend is exactly what Bitcoin lacks. The largest cryptocurrency has spent weeks bounding between upside and downside liquidity pockets without deciding whether bulls or bears will ultimately win.

This struggle continues to play out with predictable regularity, and nothing — not macroeconomic data prints, institutional involvement or anything else — has been able to switch things up.

With that in mind, it may not be all that problematic that the coming week offers little in terms of data-driven risk asset catalysts from the United States or Federal Reserve.

Nearly two years after the dog-inspired decentralized finance (DeFi) project — AnubisDAO — was rug-pulled for almost $60 million in Ether (ETH), the stolen funds were siphoned away using Tornado Cash.

In October 2021, AnubisDAO raised 13,556 ETH from crypto investors owing to the predated Dogecoin (DOGE) trend. However, roughly 20 hours into the investment, the funds were sent to a different address — resulting in an instant loss for the investors.

Between July 15 and 16, the illicit funds were moved via Tornado Cash, a decentralized protocol that allows private transactions. The person in possession of the 13,556 ETH divided and moved the funds via 100 ETH per transaction, as shown in the screenshot below.

The information was brought forward by blockchain investigator PeckShield, back when 13,556 ETH was worth roughly $60 million. After almost two years, the stolen funds amounted to almost 26.2 million at the time of writing.

As the duped investors see their funds being siphoned away into the abyss, a few remain optimistic about a highly unlikely scenario of getting a refund once the bear market recovers. As a result, investors are advised to do thorough research about a project and its founders before making any investment.

A former federal prosecutor turned chief executive of a crypto-focused venture capital fund says she would be “surprised” if the United States securities regulator lodges an immediate appeal against the Ripple case ruling, as it currently benefits from lack of “legal clarity.”

On July 13, Judge Torres granted a partial summary judgment in favor of Ripple Labs regarding XRP’s status as a security. At the time, a few commentators warned that an appeal from the SEC would be a possibility.

However, in a July 15 Twitter thread, Haun Ventures CEO Katie Haun explained that the securities regulator will likely stay quiet as it benefits from the “current confusion” and that losing an appeal could jeopardize its future enforcement actions.

“Anything is possible, but an immediate appeal seems unlikely both because the agency would have to ask the court to split this decision from the portion going to trial and because I’m skeptical the SEC actually wants legal clarity,” said Haun.

“The Commission benefits from the current confusion and losing these issues on appeal would jeopardize its entire enforcement agenda. So I’d be surprised if the SEC tried to appeal now.”

Bitcoin (BTC) attempted to break away from its boring sideways price action on July 13 following Ripple’s legal victory over the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, but the enthusiasm proved to be short-lived. Sellers pulled the price back into the range on July 14, indicating that they remain active at higher levels. However, a positive sign is that the bulls have kept Bitcoin’s price above $30,000.

Market observers are expected to closely follow the review process for the various exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals for a spot Bitcoin ETF, prominent being the proposal by BlackRock. Interestingly, out of 550 ETF applications by BlackRock, only one has been rejected, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart.

Even as Bitcoin consolidates waiting for its next catalyst, several altcoins are witnessing solid buying. This has pulled Bitcoin’s market dominance below 50%, suggesting that the focus could be shifting to the altcoins in the near term.

Could Bitcoin start a trending move in the short term or will it remain stuck inside the range? What are the altcoins that are looking strong on the charts? Let’s study the charts of top-5 cryptocurrencies that could be on trader's radar in the next few days.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin closed above $31,000 on July 13 but that proved to be a bull trap because the bears yanked the price back below the level on July 14. This shows that the bears are fiercely defending the zone between $31,000 and $32,400.

Bitcoin (BTC) attempted to break away from its boring sideways price action on July 13, following Ripple’s legal victory over the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, but the enthusiasm proved to be short-lived. Sellers pulled the price back into the range on July 14, indicating that they remain active at higher levels. However, a positive sign is that the bulls have kept Bitcoin’s price above $30,000.

Market observers are expected to closely follow the review process for the various exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals for a spot Bitcoin ETF, one of the most prominent being the proposal by BlackRock. Interestingly, out of 550 ETF applications by BlackRock, only one has been rejected, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart.

Even as Bitcoin consolidates, waiting for its next catalyst, several altcoins are witnessing solid buying. This has pulled Bitcoin’s market dominance below 50%, suggesting that the focus could be shifting to the altcoins in the near term.

Could Bitcoin start a trending move in the short term, or will it remain stuck inside the range? What are the altcoins that are looking strong on the charts? Let’s study the charts of the top-five cryptocurrencies that could be on traders' radar in the next few days.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin closed above $31,000 on July 13, but that proved to be a bull trap as the bears yanked the price back below the level on July 14. This shows that the bears are fiercely defending the zone between $31,000 and $32,400.