Decentral Block Post

Litecoin (LTC) could rise another 20% amid a rare trend reversal breakout that has already resulted in LTC outperforming most crypto assets in recent days.

LTC's not-so-bearish symmetrical triangle

LTC's price broke out of what earlier appeared to be a bearish symmetrical triangle.

Symmetrical triangles are trend continuation patterns, meaning breaking out of their range typically prompts the price to move in the direction of their previous trend. 

Litecoin formed a symmetrical triangle pattern between May and November after dropping 70% to nearly $40 in the prior trading sessions. Ideally, the LTC/USD pair could have resolved the pattern by breaking below its lower trendline.

But instead, it broke above the upper trendline in early November, as shown below. According to Edwards and Magee, the authors of Technical Analysis of Stock Trend, the breakout move is rare, given only 25% of symmetrical triangle breakouts have historically resulted in trend reversals.

Bitcoin (BTC) starts its first full week of December at three-week highs as bulls and bears battle on.

After a weekly close just above $17,000, BTC/USD seems determined to make the most of relief on stocks and a weakening U.S. dollar.

As the United States gears up to release November inflation data, the dollar looks to be a key item to watch as BTC price action teases a recovery from the pits of the FTX meltdown.

All may not be as straightforward as it seems — miners are facing serious hardship, data shows, and opinions on stocks’ own ability to continue higher are far from unanimous.

As the end of the year approaches, will Bitcoin see a “Santa rally” or face a new year nursing fresh losses?

The United States equities markets shrugged off the hotter-than-expected labor data on Dec. 2 and recovered sharply from their intraday low. This suggests that market observers believe the Federal Reserve may not change its stance of slowing the pace of rate hikes because of the latest jobs data.

Although the FTX crisis broke the positive correlation between the U.S. equities markets and Bitcoin (BTC), the recent strength in equities shows a risk-on sentiment. This could be favorable for the cryptocurrency space and may attract dip buyers.

The broader crypto recovery may pick up steam after more clarity emerges on the extent of damage caused by FTX’s collapse. Until then, bullish price action may be limited to select cryptocurrencies.

Let’s look at the charts of Bitcoin and select altcoins that may be getting ready to start an up-move in the near term.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin has been trading near its 20-day exponential moving average, or EMA, of $16,963 for the past three days. This suggests a tough battle between the bulls and the bears to gain supremacy.

Bitcoin (BTC) trades 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a market that never sleeps, and the BTC price is constantly changing. It doesn’t matter which currency or commodity is used to measure how much a bitcoin is worth — BTC is always live and the market is always open.

It wasn’t always that way — in the beginning, before around 2010, there were no exchanges or even reliable price information, and BTC/USD traded at tiny prices — at one point even less than a single U.S. dollar cent. Since those days, however, the Bitcoin price has gone up millions of percent.

As of December 2022, one bitcoin is worth (BTC). It’s also easy to compare different prices across the crypto market — there’s no need to rely on a single source, and the market is always at work finding consensus. Want to know how much Bitcoin costs right now? Cointelegraph offers reliable real-time information for the current price of Bitcoin in dollars and other currencies.

There are also live price charts for a wide range of altcoins including Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Binance Coin (BNB). Check out the Cointelegraph crypto price indexes to get started with the current price of Bitcoin.

How much is 1 Bitcoin worth? How much is 5 Bitcoin worth?

Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million, and its scarcity is one of the largest cryptocurrency’s unique features. BTC newbies and those unfamiliar with crypto often encounter problems understanding how the Bitcoin supply works, however.

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls attempted to retake $17,000 into the Dec. 4 weekly close as volatility looked set to return to the market.

Bollinger Bands demand BTC pricevolatility

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD crisscrossing the $17,000 mark — a focal point throughout the weekend.

With macro cues still to come, Bitcoin looked for catalysts as signs of volatility crept into low timeframes.

Among those eyeing a potential break of the status quo was popular trader Cheds, who noted that the Bollinger Bands volatility indicator was flashing on the 4-hour chart.

Bollinger Bands constricting signals that volatility is due soon, and on the day, 4-hour chart bands were at their narrowest since Nov. 27 — just before BTC/USD gained $1,000.

On Dec. 2, NFT Steez hosts Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond chatted with Victor Solomon to discuss his journey into bridging his in-real-life artwork into NFTs and how he cultivates the community and culture that surrounds it. 

Solomon's work centers around basketball, not just the object, but the sport itself. For Solomon, the inspiration for his work comes from his early childhood of wanting to play hockey, a sport that was not accessible for him, and his eventual discovery of basketball which he discovered to be more accommodating.

Solomon said:

"Basketball was such an inspirational platform for me since there's no barrier to entry."

Solomon says that the open nature of basketball is an "incredible parallel for everything that's happening in Web3" and throughout the episode he explains the symbiotic relationship he has experienced in building out VesselVerse, the basketball of the Metaverse.

On Dec. 2, the United States dollar index (DXY), an index that measures the dollar’s strength against a basket of top foreign currencies, reached 104.40, which was the lowest level seen in five months. 

To recap, the U.S. dollar’s weight against the basket of top foreign currencies grew by 19.6% in 2022 until late September as investors looked for protection against the impact of a hawkish Federal Reserve and, more recently, the rising energy costs and the effect of high inflation.

The U.S. dollar’s retreat may have been an interim correction to neutralize its “overbought” condition, as the 114.60 peak was the highest level in 20 years. Still, its inverse correlation with Bitcoin (BTC) remains strong, as pointed out by analyst Thecryer on Twitter:

Notice how the intraday DXY retrace to 105.50 from the 104.40 low happened when Bitcoin faced a $230 flash crash to $16,790. Such movements reinforce how cryptocurrencies’ performance remains codependent on traditional markets.

Bitcoin enthusiast Aldo the Apache noticed that the DXY “bullish divergence at support” occurred as the S&P 500 stock market index struggled with a vital resistance level.

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to hold key support on Dec. 2 as United States stocks fell on the Wall Street open.

DXY weakness offers hope of "Santa rally"

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as bulls bought time between $16,800 and $17,000.

Analysts had earmarked the former as a key level to retain, this nonetheless in question at the time of writing as stocks shed 1% to start the session.

Popular crypto analytics account Nunya Bizniz queried whether it was time for a “decision” on S&P 500 performance, eyeing a pattern which suggested a local top may soon appear.

Should that be the case, Bitcoin’s correlation to traditional risk assets would be tested, this having ebbed in the wake of the FTX meltdown.

The multi-week ApeCoin (APE) market rally is nearing exhaustion owing to a mix of technical and fundamental factors.

Fundamental — ApeCoin Staking launch 

In the past two weeks, APE's price is up over 50% after bottoming at around $2.60.

The APE/USD rebound came in line with similar recovery moves elsewhere in the crypto market. But, it outperformed top assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as traders pinned their hopes on ApeCoin's staking debut.

The ApeCoin Staking feature will debut on Dec. 5 at apestake.io, according to its developer Horizon Labs. It will allow users to lock their APE holdings into four staking pools — ApeCoin pool, BAYC pool, MAYC pool, and Paired pool — that will allow them to earn yield periodically.

The feature announcement has resulted in a rise in the APE holders' count, according to data tracked by Dune Analytics. Notably, it reached 103,591 on Dec. 2 compared to 94,775 a month ago, which, combined with rising prices, shows an increase in APE's spot demand.

Bitcoin (BTC) is entering a prime “low-risk bottom” zone as sellers finally accept FTX losses.

Data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode shows that seller exhaustion is reaching ideal levels for a BTC price leg up.

Bitcoin sellers face low BTC price volatility

Almost one month after the FTX implosion began, Bitcoin investors have either capitulated and sold at a loss or continue to hodl unrealized losses.

As Cointelegraph reported, those losses became significant just days after the event, with over 50% of the BTC supply held in the red.

Now, another on-chain metric is painting a potentially more bullish picture when it comes to hodlers’ loss-making BTC investments.

Disparities in information access and data analytics technology are what give institutional players an edge over regular retail investors in the digital asset space.

The core idea behind Markets Pro, Cointelegraph’s crypto-intelligence platform powered by data analytics firm The Tie, is to equalize the information asymmetries present in the cryptocurrency market.

Markets Pro bridges the gap of these asymmetries with its world-class functionality: the quant-style VORTECS™ Score.

The VORTECS™ Score is an algorithmic comparison of several key market metrics for each coin utilizing years of historical data that assesses whether the outlook for an asset is bullish, bearish or neutral at any given moment based on the historical record of price action.

The VORTECS™ Score is designed to notify traders that something has just happened that — in the past — reliably moved asset prices.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been stuck below the $18,600 resistance for the past 19 days and while bears successfully breached the $16,000 support on Nov. 21, the 8% range is pretty narrow for an asset class with 60% annualized volatility.

This gives investors good reason to doubt that BTC price will hold its current gains leading into the $430 million BTC options expiry on Dec. 2.

Investors are still unsure about whether $15,500 was the Bitcoin bottom and the consequences of the FTX and Alameda Research demise continue to emerge. The latest contagion victim was Auros Global, an algorithmic trading and market-making firm, which missed a repayment on a decentralized finance loan.

Regulatory uncertainty also continues to limit Bitcoin's price ascension, especially after United States Senator Elizabeth Warren reinforced the importance of blocking direct exposure of the insured financial institutions and the "highly speculative activity, highly leveraged, and vulnerable" crypto space.

Considering these risks, it seems essential that bulls defend $17,000 ahead of the Dec. 2 options expiry.

The price of GMX rallied to its second-highest level in history on Dec. 1 as traders assessed the decentralized exchange's ability to evolve as a serious competitor to its top rival Uniswap (UNI).

GMX established an intraday high of $54.50 in a recovery that started on Nov. 29 from $40.50. Its rally's beginning coincided with crypto research firm Delphi Digital's tweet on the GMX decentralized exchange, as shown below.  

GMX beats Uniswap in fees for the first time

Notably, GMX had earned about $1.15 million in daily trading fees on Nov. 28, which surpassed Uniswap's $1.06 million trading fees on the same day.

This seemingly renewed buying sentiment in the GMX market, helping its price rally 35% to $54.50 afterward.

Moreover, GMX also benefited from the growing discontent against centralized exchanges in the wake of the FTX collapse. The decentralized exchange's revenue rose by 107% to $5 million in November, boosted by a 128% increase in annualized trading volume and a 31% rise in daily active users.

Bitcoin (BTC) attempted to flip $17,000 to support on Dec. 1 after sealing its lowest monthly close in two years.

Bitcoin gains inch up as November end

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD circling $17,100 in a second intraday charge at higher levels.

The pair managed to avoid losses as the monthly candle closed, instead seeing solid daily gains of around 4.5% for Nov. 30.

Nonetheless, Bitcoin shed 16.2% for the month, making November 2022 its worst since 2019.

The more buoyant mood coincided with comments from the United States Federal Reserve. In a speech on inflation and the labor market, Chair Jerome Powell openly stated that smaller interest rate hikes could begin as soon as December.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization gained 2% in the past seven days, reaching $850 billion. Even with the positive movement and the ascending channel that was initiated on Nov. 20, the overall sentiment remains bearish and year-to-date losses amount to 63.5%.

Bitcoin (BTC) price also gained a mere 2% on the week, but investors have little to celebrate as the current $16,800 level represents a 64% drop year-to-date.

Bankrupt exchange FTX remained at the centerpiece of the newsflow after the exchange hacker continued to move portions of the stolen $477 million in stolen assets as an attempt to launder the money. On Nov. 29, analysts alleged that a portion of the stolen funds were transferred to OKX.

The FTX saga has made politicians shout louder in their calls for regulation. On Nov. 28, the European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde called regulation and supervision of crypto an "absolute necessity." The United States House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters announced that lawmakers would explore the collapse of FTX in a Dec. 13 inquiry.

On Nov. 28, Kraken, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, agreed to pay more than $362,000 as part of a deal "to settle its potential civil liability" related to violating sanctions against Iran. According to the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, Kraken exported services to users who appeared to be in Iran when they engaged in virtual currency transactions.

Fantom (FTM) continued its upward momentum on Nov. 30 amid reports that the Fantom Foundation generates consistent profits and has 30 years of runway without having to sell any FTM tokens. 

Fantom's FTM holdings up from 3% to 14%

FTM price gained nearly 13.5% to reach $0.24, its highest level in three weeks. The rally came as a part of a broader rebound trend that started when it bottomed out at around $0.17 on Nov. 22. This amounts to a 50% price rebound in the last eight days.

Interestingly, the rally picked up momentum after the Fantom Foundation's "Architect," Andre Cronje, released the firm's financial records on Nov. 28, revealing that it had $340 million worth of digital assets and had been earning over $10 million annually. Notably: 

Nov 2022 — Over 450,000,000 FTM, > $100,000,000 in stables, > $100,000,000 in crypto assets, $50,000,000 in non-crypto assets. Salary burn rate $7,000,000 / year. We have ~30 years left (without having to touch FTM)

Certain crypto and blockchain projects have suffered due to their potential exposure to failing companies.

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly returned to $17,000 into Nov. 30 as monthly close volatility loomed.

Trader: $17,500 monthly close “most bullish outcome”

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD following traders’ predictions to sweep higher levels before consolidating.

Highs of $17,072 appeared on Bitstamp, with the pair nonetheless unable to flip the highs to support. At the time of writing, Bitcoin hovered around $16,900.

$17,000 marks a key range for bulls to reclaim, Cointelegraph reported the day prior, and until this happens, the status quo remains.

“$BTC bulls want to hold 16.8k as first counter trend S/R flip. Back below would represent a minor upthrust,” popular analyst Cheds summarized, revealing a short at the highs.

Ether (ETH) rallied 5.5% in the early hours of Nov. 29, reclaiming the critical $1,200 support. However, when analyzing a broader time frame, the 24% negative performance in the past 30 days significantly impacts investors' sentiment. Moreover, investors’ mood worsened after BlockFi filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 28.

Newsflow remained negative after the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a settlement with Kraken exchange for "apparent violations of sanctions against Iran." In a Nov. 28 announcement, the OFAC said Kraken had agreed to pay more than $362,000 as part of a deal "to settle its potential civil liability."

Moreover, on Nov. 28, institutional crypto financial services provider Silvergate Capital denied rumors of significant exposure to BlockFi's bankruptcy. Silvergate added that its losses are lower than $20 million in digital assets and reiterated that BlockFi was not a custodian for its crypto-collateralized loans.

Traders are afraid that Ether could drop below $800 if the bear market continues, but some are also questioning the risk of invalidation. One example comes from crypto Twitter trader @CryptoCapo_:

Let's look at Ether derivatives data to understand if the worsening market conditions have impacted crypto investors' sentiment.