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Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated near $31,000 on July 14 after a classic short squeeze sparked new yearly highs.

BTC liquidates $50 million shorts in new squeeze

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price movements returning to cement support after rapid gains the day prior.

Already tipped for a trip higher, Bitcoin reacted instantly to news that a United States judge had supported the idea that altcoin XRP (XRP) was not a security.

This was taken by markets as a blow to regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which in recent months had sought to label altcoins as securities en masse.

XRP/USD immediately spiked by over 100%, almost touching the $1 mark before returning to trade near $0.80 at the time of writing. The last time that such levels formed part of the chart was in April 2022.

Polygon (MATIC) has experienced a significant price increase on July 13, driven by several key factors. These include a recent positive court ruling for XRP, increased activity of decentralized applications (Dapps) on the Polygon Network, and the highly anticipated launch of Polygon 2.0.

Within just 12 hours, MATIC witnessed a remarkable 24% rally, propelling its price to $0.89 on July 13, reaching its highest level in five weeks. Although the initial excitement subsided, the token managed to sustain a daily gain of 15%, indicating growing demand from traders and investors.

MATIC seizes opportunity from the SEC's loss

On July 13, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that XRP is not a security. This court decision could have far-reaching implications for other alternative cryptocurrencies, particularly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) specifically classified MATIC as a security during its legal battle against Coinbase on June 6.

As investors evaluated the risks associated with holding and trading assets that could potentially face delisting from regulated centralized exchanges, the price of MATIC plummeted by 37% over the next five days, hitting its lowest point in 11 months on June 10.

The court ruling determined that XRP holders do not have a reasonable expectation of earning profits from the efforts of others. This outcome represents a positive development for the entire cryptocurrency industry.

The price of XRP (XRP) has skyrocketed in the aftermath of a federal court ruling saying that its sales on crypto exchanges complied with U.S. securities laws.

On July 14, XRP price retreated by about 10% to $0.76, but compared to its lowest price the previous day, it was still up around 65%.

Related: Why is XRP price up today?

At its highest in the last 24 hours, the XRP/USD pairreached $0.93, its best level since December 2021, just shy of hitting the $1 mark.

A whale-backed XRP rally

Certain indicators show that XRP's ongoing price pump may not be just a short-term reaction to the positive news for Ripple.

This July 14 Bitcoin weekly options expiry holds the potential to be a significant turning point for market sentiment, potentially leading to a breach below the crucial $30,000 support level.

Despite the initial bullish surge triggered by the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) requests, the recent macroeconomic data has not been favorable for risk-on assets.

Analyzing market sentiment is crucial in assessing the chances of Bitcoin (BTC) holding above $30,000 by July 14. This level acts as a threshold that could provide bears with a perfect opportunity to profit up to $120 million through the weekly option expiry.

Falling U.S. inflation is detrimental to Bitcoin in the short term

In June, the Consumer Price Index in the United States registered at 3.0%, the lowest level since March 2021. This was primarily due to a 16.7% decline in the energy index. While this indicates a slowdown in inflation, it remains above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, which is detrimental to Bitcoin, as higher interest rates incentivize investors to pivot into fixed-income investments.

One could argue that, in the short term, the lowering of inflation reflects a successful intervention by the Fed and could be viewed as a positive factor for Bitcoin’s bullish momentum. However, on July 12, the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar’s strength against major foreign currencies, reached its lowest level in 14 months.

Bitcoin (BTC) looked set to challenge range highs on July 13 as fresh macroeconomic data boosted risk asset bulls.

PPI shows U.S. inflation retreating beyond expectations

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed the market as the BTC price focus shifted above $30,500.

United States Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers released on the day again came in below expectations, aiding rapidly abating inflation forecasts.

With two weeks to go until the Federal Reserve decided on interest rate policy, however, markets themselves remained convinced that another hike would come next — despite the PPI and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the day prior.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, bets on a 0.25% hike stood at almost 95% at the time of writing.

Bitcoin (BTC) may see a “parabolic curve” begin thanks to United States dollar weakness as the greenback falls to three-month lows.

In a tweet on July 11, popular trader Moustache suggested that the time is right for BTC price history to repeat itself.

DXY “most important chart” for Bitcoin this year

Bitcoin’s formerly strong inverse correlation to dollar strength has waned this year, but its latest movements are a talking point among traders.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) on the way to testing support at 100 for the first time in months.

Previously above 105, the greenback has faced stiff resistance after 2022s 20-year highs.

The price of BNB has experienced a 24.5% decline over the past 90 days, despite a 7% gain between July 10 and July 11. BNB (BNB) has performed worse than the overall altcoin market, indicating that the underlying cause for the bearish momentum persists.

It is highly likely that the correction in BNB’s price can be attributed to the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng “CZ”s Zhao, on June 5, as the decoupling coincides with that event.

To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the situation, analyzing derivatives contracts provides valuable insights into the positions of whales and market makers.

Is the recent BNB price rally sustainable?

This analysis should highlight whether the surge above $245 on July 11 is supported by an improvement in sentiment or a balanced demand for leverage through BNB derivatives.

Price is undoubtedly the most important metric for understanding traders’ sentiment, but it does not encompass all possibilities. For instance, between August 2022 and September 2022, BNB outperformed the altcoin market by 19%.

Bitcoin mining difficulty reached an all-time high of 53.91 trillion units after the latest difficulty adjustment on July 12. It is a measure of how difficult it is to mine Bitcoin (BTC) blocks.

The blockchain adjusts its difficulty every two weeks to maintain its processing time of 10 minutes. When the network’s processing power increases, it adjusts to make mining challenging, reducing the profitability for individual miners.

The latest adjustment will add to the pressure on miners, who have been selling off their mined BTC since June. Some analysts suspect that the lack of miner accumulation has likely restricted an uptrend in the BTC price.

With the latest difficulty adjustment, the profitability of medium- and small-scale miners will likely drop into negative territory, forcing them to temporarily turn off some of their ASIC hardware.

The potential capitulation of weaker miners could finally enable larger miners to accumulate Bitcoin, which may reduce the mining selling pressure.

Bitcoin (BTC) eased higher into July 12 with the key macroeconomic event of the week just hours away.

CPI set to hit lowest since March 2021

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC price momentum as it slowly inched closer to $31,000.

The largest cryptocurrency showed little volatility through the start of the week, with local range highs and lows still clearly defined.

With liquidity tight around spot price, analysts hoped for a reshuffle upon the release of the June print of the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Roughly expected at around 3.2% — the lowest score since March 2021 — CPI should show U.S. inflation continuing to slow down.

Caradano’s native gas-paying token ADA received a big blow at the start of June when the SEC regarded it as a security in its lawsuit against Binance and Coinbase.

The lawsuit triggered a 42.5% drop in ADA’s price from $0.37 to a two-year low at $0.21 within a few days after SEC’s lawsuit.

Additionally, the token faced further downside selling pressure due to delisting on U.S.-based trading apps Robinhood and eToro.

However, under the hood, the network has been making progress with an uptick in DeFi activity after a scalability upgrade in May.

The technical and on-chain analysis of the token also shows potential for a positive recovery.

The price of Bitcoin has been trading between $29,900 and $31,160 for the past 18 days, causing concern among investors who are looking for explanations for the lack of a clear trend. 

After a 25.5% rally between June 15 and June 23 led to Bitcoin’s (BTC) highest price level in 13 months, one would expect investors to become more active and optimistic, but BTC’s inability to sustain prices above $31,000 and neutral on-chain and derivatives data do not corroborate this thesis.

Bitcoin ETF expectations faced a harsh regulatory environment

The current price situation is particularly worrisome because of the expectations that arose after BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, applied for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on June 16. Some analysts have predicted a Bitcoin price of $100,000 by the end of the year, adding to the frustration of traders who are betting on further gains.

It’s worth noting that in mid-April, investors experienced a consolidation of prices around $30,000, but it didn’t last longer than a week, and the price eventually dropped to $28,000. This movement explains why investors are hesitant to build positions at the current price levels and prefer range trading.

Despite the initial excitement about the possibility of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approving a Bitcoin instrument for traditional financial markets, there’s negative price pressure due to the regulatory actions against leading exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.

Bitcoin (BTC) held on exchanges is down to where it was at the 2017 BTC price all-time high, data confirms.

Tracked by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the latest figures show less than 12% of the BTC supply now resides in exchange wallets.

Analyst: BTC price “on the cusp of true price discovery”

Bitcoin returned to exchanges during the 2023 BTC price upside, during which BTC/USD more than doubled from cycle lows.

The period since late April has seen a reversion to the long-term trend of coins leaving exchanges however, this month, it hit a milestone.

As of July 10, 11.59% of the available BTC supply currently lies in known exchange wallets labeled by Glassnode. The number has not been this low since mid-December 2017 — when Bitcoin hit its previous all-time high of $20,000.

Polygon (MATIC) price is up today, mirroring upside moves elsewhere in the cryptocurrency market as traders assess a mix of fundamental factors.

On July 11, the MATIC price rose 2.32% to $0.75, its highest level in a month — outperforming the crypto market, whose valuation stayed relatively unchanged from the previous day at around $1.14 trillion.

New CEO, Polygon's 'decentralized governance' plans

MATIC's intraday gains come as a part of a broader price jump that started after Polygon appointed its former chief legal office, Marc Boiron, as the new chief executive officer (CEO) on July 7. Since then, MATIC/USD has gained nearly 15%.  

Boiron's appointment comes more than a month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) argued that MATIC is a "security" in its lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase.

Meanwhile, the price gains also appear as Polygon prepares to implement a sequence of network upgrades as a part of its "Polygon 2.0" overhaul. Namely, the establishment of a "decentralized governance" protocol by July 17.

Bitcoin (BTC) staged a fresh breakout attempt into July 11 as the battle for yearly highs stayed hot.

$31,000 reappears in BTC price “leverage crunch”

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price briefly passing $31,000 before the July 10 daily close.

In a copycat move, seemingly with last week’s snap higher for inspiration, BTC/USD managed to approach resistance before momentum waned, subsequently falling back over $800.

Some form of continuation did set in thereafter, and at the time of writing, Bitcoin traded around $30,500.

For Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, the overnight move had all the hallmarks of a “leverage crunch.”

The weighted average cost of purchased Bitcoin recently reached a level signifying that all investors who have consistently dollar-cost averaged into the leading cryptocurrency are now in the black, regardless of how long they have been holding.

This news comes despite the price of Bitcoin, as measured in U.S. dollars, still being down by over 50% from its all-time high of around $69,000.

And yet, many financial pundits in the space still cling to the notion of Bitcoin’s (BTC) entire existence and market cap of nearly $600 billion being based on a Ponzi scheme of some sort. Others continue to deny that saving in the hardest form of money ever known has, so far, been an excellent investment thesis — one that has outperformed all others.

Yes, there may be risks. And yes, volatility definitely comes with the territory. But looking at such factors in a vacuum does not make for adequate analysis of any investment. The alternative strategies available must be taken into consideration, along with other variables such as:

These are just a few potential questions that could be worth investigating when it comes to arguments against dollar-cost averaging (DCAing) into BTC for the long term.

Bitcoin (BTC) is in line to hit $50,000 this year and crack all-time highs in 2024, says Standard Chartered.

In a report quoted by media outlets including Reuters on July 10, the banking giant went on record to announce a BTC price recovery.

Standard Chartered vs. 2023 BTC price: From $5,000 to $50,000

In the wake of seismic changes in the institutional approach to Bitcoin in the United States, the mainstream narrative around the largest cryptocurrency is shifting rapidly.

Standard Chartered, which just last year forecast the BTC price dropping as low as $5,000, now believes it will end the year ten times higher.

BTC/USD should reach $50,000 in 2023, the report from the global head of research and chief strategist, Geoff Kendrick, forecasts.

Bitcoin (BTC) begins a new week barely clinging to $30,000 as a “bearish divergence” sets the tone.

After a quiet weekend, BTC price action faces a potential pullback period within its broader bullish trend, traders say.

What could be on the menu for the market this week?

After a relative period of calm, external triggers are back for risk assets, with a slew of United States macroeconomic data releases combined with multiple speeches from Federal Reserve officials.

Add to that some interesting dynamics around U.S. BTC buying now in play, and the recipe for volatility is there.