Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week still in holiday mode with United States financial markets off for Independence Day.

The largest cryptocurrency, stuck below the increasingly daunting $20,000 mark, continues to feel the pressure from the macro environment as talk of lower levels remains omnipresent.

After a quiet weekend, hodlers find themselves stuck in a narrow range while the prospect of a breakout to the upside appears increasingly hard to believe.

As one trader and analyst singles out July 4 as the site of a “wild run to the downside” for crypto markets, the countdown is on for Bitcoin to weather the aftermath of the latest Federal Reserve rate hike.

What else could the coming week have in store? Cointelegraph takes a look at the potential market-moving factors for the days ahead.

Argentina, a country with one of the highest crypto adoption rates in the world, saw the price of dollar-pegged stablecoins surge across exchanges on Saturday after the abrupt resignation of its Economy Minister, Martin Guzman. 

The minister’s shock exit, confirmed on his Twitter account on July 3 via a seven-page letter, threatens to further destabilize a struggling economy battling high inflation and a depreciating national currency.

According to data from Criptoya, the cost of buying Tether (USDT) using Argentinian pesos (ARS) is currently 271.4 ARS through the Binance exchange, which is around a 12% premium from before the resignation announcement, and a 116.25% premium compared to the current fiat exchange rate of USD/ARS.

The local crypto price tracking website has also revealed a similar jump in other USD-pegged stablecoins, including Dai (DAI), Binance USD (BUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP), and Dollar on Chain (DOC).

Argentineans have been piling into crypto as a means to hedge against the country’s rising inflation and a continued fall of the Argentinean peso against the USD dollar.

The bears are attempting to sink Bitcoin (BTC) below $19,000 to further cement their advantage over the crypto market. Analysts watching Bitcoin’s MVRV-Z Score, a metric which measures how high or low Bitcoin’s price is relative to “fair value,” expect an even deeper fall before the bottom is finally reached.

However, economist, trader and entrepreneur Alex Krueger pointed out that Bitcoin’s volume hit an all-time high in June. Usually, the highest volume in a downtrend is indicative of capitulation and that “creates major bottoms.” If Bitcoin follows the historical pattern of the 2018 bear market, Krueger expects the bottom to form in July.

Due to the tight correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500, crypto traders will have to keep a close eye on the performance of the United States equities markets next week, which may be influenced by the release of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last meeting and the June jobs report.

Could Bitcoin form a higher low and lead the crypto markets toward the path of recovery? Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that indicate the possibility of a relief rally in the short term.

BTC/USDT

The long wick on Bitcoin’s July 1 candlestick shows that bears continue to sell on rallies near the 20-day exponential moving average ($21,396). Although bears pulled the price below $19,637, they have not been able to build upon the momentum.