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Experienced crypto traders know that bull markets are for selling and bear markets are for accumulation, but the latter can be difficult amid a backdrop of surging inflation that saps the purchasing power of fiat currencies. 

As the crypto market heads deeper into crypto winter, with prices in the gutter and developers focused on creating the next popular protocol or breakout token, some crypto fans have begun to explore new ways of increasing their stack in preparation for the next bull market.

Here’s a look at the top five ways hodlers can increase the size of their crypto portfolio without breaking the bank so that the money they earn can go toward combating the rising cost of living.

Staking

Staking is perhaps the most tested and proven way to increase the number of tokens held, as the vast majority of proof-of-stake (PoS) networks offer a steady yield for locking up coins.

In addition to helping with transaction validation and network security, staking tokens in a smart contract reduces the available circulating supply, which, in turn, can help boost the price of the underlying crypto asset.

The previous $19,000 Bitcoin (BTC) support level becomes more distant after the 22.5% gain in nine days. However, little optimism has been instilled as the impact of the Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Voyager, Babel Finance and Celsius crises remain uncertain. Moreover, the contagion has claimed yet another victim after Thai crypto exchange Zipmex halted withdrawals on July 20.

Bulls' hopes depend on the $23,000 support strengthening as time goes by, but derivatives metrics show professional traders are still highly skeptical of continuous recovery.

Macroeconomic headwinds favor scarce assets

Some analysts attribute the crypto market strength to China’s lower-than-expected gross domestic product data, causing investors to expect further expansionary measures by policymakers. China’s economy expanded 0.4% in the second quarter versus the previous year, as the country continued to struggle with self-imposed restrictions to curb another outbreak of COVID-19 infections, according to CNBC.

The United Kingdom's 9.4% inflation in June marked a 40-year high, and to supposedly aid the population, Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi announced a $44.5 billion (GBP 37 billion) assistance package for vulnerable families.

Under these circumstances, Bitcoin reversed its downtrend as policymakers scrambled to solve the seemingly impossible problem of slowing economies amid ever-increasing government debt.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has been outperforming its arch-rival Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) during the current crypto market rebound with the ETC/ETH pairs at 10-month highs.

Why is ETC beating ETH?

ETC's price has risen to $27 on July 22, amounting to a 100% gain in nine days after bottoming out at $13.35. Comparatively, ETH's price has seen a 64% rally in U.S. dollar terms.

Ethereum's rebound has been among the sharpest among the top cryptocurrencies, primarily due to the euphoria surrounding its potential network upgrade in September.

Dubbed "the Merge," the long-awaited technical update will switch Ethereum from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS).

Moreover, it will replace miners with stakers. As a result, the PoS switch could force existing Ethereum miners to switch to PoW chains.

Bitcoin (BTC) took a step back as Wall Street trading began on July 22 after recovering most of its previous losses.

BTC bulls fail to sustain assault on multi-week high

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed BTC/USD encountering fresh resistance near $24,000.

The pair had spent the past 24 hours slowly clawing back lost ground after news that Tesla had sold most of its BTC holdings.

With the pre-announcement high of $24,280 still in force, bulls saw something of a setback as Wall Street opened on the day, with BTC/USD losing around $400.

Analyzing the current order book structure on major exchange Binance, on-chain monitoring resource Material Indicators warned that the overall bear market structure remained in control.

Bitcoin (BTC) recovered above $23,000 into July 22 as attention increasingly focused on the upcoming weekly close.

BTC price needs to preserve at least $22,400

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD finding renewed strength after briefly dipping towards $22,000.

The pair traded in a critical zone for bulls on the day, with the 50-day and 200-week moving averages (MAs) still yet to flip from resistance to support.

Analysts were holding out for the weekly candle close to determine the strength of Bitcoin’s latest uptrend which at one point delivered weekly gains of up to 25%.

“To perform a reclaim of the 200-week MA as support, $BTC needs to Weekly Close above $22800,” popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital wrote in part of a recent Twitter update.

Price action across the cryptocurrency market was largely subdued on July 21, as traders took a day to digest gains over the past week and book profits following the biggest relief rally since early June.

Amid speculation about what drove the recent rally, the Ethereum Merge has consistently ranked at the top of the list. The market rally shifted into high gear after a tentative date of Sept. 19 was set for the mainnet Merge.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a high of $1,620 on July 20, Ether's (ETH) price retraced to a low of $1,463 in the early trading hours on July 21 and has since climbed back above support at $1,500.

Now that the initial price surge brought on by the Merge announcement has subsided, here’s what several analysts are expecting to unfold as Ether's mainnet transition to proof-of-stake approaches. 

A healthy pullback

Ether's pullback on July 21 is a positive development according to market analyst Rekt Capital, who posted the following chart highlighting the importance of its weekly close above $1,300 and subsequent move higher.

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly broke above $24,000 on July 20, but the excitement lasted less than two hours after the resistance level proved more challenging than expected. A positive is that the $24,280 high represents a 28.5% increase from the July 13 swing low at $18,900.

According to Yahoo Finance, on July 19, Bank of America published its latest fund managers survey, and the headline was "I'm so bearish, I'm bullish." The report cited investors' pessimism, expectations of weak corporate earnings and equity allocations at the lowest level since September 2008.

The 4.6% advance on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index between July 18 and July 20 also provided the necessary hope for bulls to profit from the upcoming July 22 weekly options expiry.

Global macroeconomic tensions eased on July 20 after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed plans to reestablish the Nord Stream gas pipeline flow after the current maintenance period. However, in the course of the last few months, data shows that Germany has reduced its reliance on Russian gas from 55% to 35% of its demand.

Bears placed their bets at $21,000 or lower

The open interest for the July 22 options expiry is $540 million, but the actual figure will be lower since bears have been caught by surprise. These traders did not expect a 23% rally from July 13 to July 20 because their bets targeted $22,000 and lower.

Cardano (ADA) has dipped this July 21 as the market favors mounting selling pressure around its most reliable resistance levels in 2022 over a major upcoming hard fork.

ADA price could plunge 20% by early August

ADA's price fell 5% intraday to $0.476. The downside move came as a part of a broader retreat that started a day after it briefly climbed above its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave in the chart below) near $0.50.

The 50-day EMA has been serving as ADA's curvy resistance level since October 2021. 

Additionally, the upper trendline resistance of a broader descending channel pattern strengthened the selling sentiment around the ADA's 50-day EMA wave. Earlier in June, the same resistance confluence had triggered a 35% price drop toward the channel's lower trendline.

Therefore, ADA's renewed correction move risks leading the price toward $0.384 by July or early August, down about 20% from July 21's price.

Bitcoin (BTC) extended losses on the July 21 Wall Street open after a key resistance level failed to hold as new support.

Dollar rises to squeeze risk assets

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dropping to $22,340 on Bitstamp after the opening bell, down 8% from its local top. 

The pair's progress had seen a challenge from Tesla, which revealed that it had sold 75% of its BTC position at a loss. Macro events then added to Bitcoin's woes in the form of fresh U.S. dollar strength and a surprise rate hike from the European Central Bank (ECB) to combat inflation.

At the time of writing, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) had regained 107, up 0.6% in an hour as U.S. equities conversely saw modest losses. 

In Europe, meanwhile, the ECB decision failed to improve the fortunes of the euro, which gave back early gains as the Eurozone battled fresh political fallout in Italy.

“Easy come, easy go” was the story on July 20. The day started on a positive note with Bitcoin (BTC) climbing above $24,300, only to end the official trading day in the red after less than stellar Q2 earning news showed Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin and Minecraft creator Mojang Studios reversed course by deciding to ban NFTs on its platform.

A potential source of the afternoon downturn can be traced to Tesla’s Q2 earnings data, which showed that the electric car company sold off 75% of its Bitcoin holdings in order to add $963 million in cash to its balance sheet.

Shortly after the Tesla news broke, Bitcoin price pulled back from its daily high of $24,280 to $22,900, before stabilizing around $23,500.

Related: Bitcoin price hits $24K, but analysts say on-chain data points to an ‘inevitable’ pullback

Today's unexpected pullback may have also helped to bring a little market perspective to crypto traders who were ready to call for an end to the bear market.

Cryptocurrency investors continue to enjoy this week's bullish price action after Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and a handful of altcoins rallied on July 20 alongside gains in the traditional markets. 

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that a midday rally by Bitcoin bulls managed to lift the top crypto to a daily high of $24,281, which sparked a new round of bullish proclamations on Crypto Twitter.

While the week-long climb has helped boost investor sentiment, several analysts are warning traders to not get too far ahead of themselves because the market is still providing some red flags worth taking note of.

Prepare for an inevitable pullback

Bitcoin’s climb above $24,000 officially confirmed a breakout from the previous trading range between $18,000 and $22,500, according to market analyst Caleb Franzen, who posted the following chart noting the question the market now faces. 

Franzen said,

Bitcoin (BTC) touched $24,000 at the July 20 Wall Street open as the good times kept rolling for crypto markets.

BTC price rally "all macro driven"

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD passing its latest milestone after a brief consolidation.

Twenty-four-hour gains for the pair remained at nearly 8% and weekly returns near 25% as Bitcoin and altcoins benefitted from a declining U.S. dollar and rising stock markets.

Bitcoin's rise had seen bulls reclaim key trendlines lost in June, but the jury remained out on whether the newfound strength could endure beyond the current weekly candle.

"Bitcoin rally looking good? Yes. But BTC shall take no pride in this rally," analyst Venturefounder commented.

Solana (SOL) ticked modestly lower on July 20 after testing a critical technical resistance, suggesting further pullback moves in the coming weeks.

SOL price eyes 50% wipeout

SOL's price decreased by over 4% to $44 after failing to breach a multi-week ascending trendline resistance. Interestingly, this resistance level comes as a part of what appears to be a bearish continuation pattern dubbed the "bear flag."

A previous test of the same resistance trendline in late June had preceded a 30%-plus price drop, illustrating a higher distribution sentiment among SOL traders near the level. Therefore, the latest pullback from the same range could lead to an extended downside retracement. 

Meanwhile, the bear flag's lower trendline has been capping SOL's sharp pullback moves. As a result, SOL's extended correction scenario could have its price hit the support level, now near $35.40 — a 20% drop from current price levels.

Additionally, a decisive close below the lower trendline would risk triggering the bear flag breakdown setup, wherein the price falls by as much as the height of the downtrend (called "flagpole") that preceded the flag's formation.

Bitcoin (BTC) took aim at $24,000 on July 20 after a night of solid gains put bulls in the driving seat.

Parabolas violated

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it breached $23,800, its highest level since June 13.

Against expectations, crypto staged a recovery beyond an intra-hour “fake-out” as risk assets benefitted from declining United States dollar strength.

The inverse correlation between the U.S. dollar index (DXY) and Bitcoin remained center stage on the day, with the greenback coming off twenty-year highs at the end of the week prior.

“The Dollar is taking a nice hit today from the bears,” popular trader Crypto Tony told Twitter followers as the breakout took shape:

Similar to Stockholm syndrome where captives develop a psychological bond with their captors, crypto winters have a way of flipping even the most bullish cryptocurrency supporters bearish in a short period of time.

Evidence of this reality was on full display on July 19 after the recovery of Bitcoin (BTC) back above $23,000 was met with widespread warnings that the move was merely a fakeout before the market heads for new lows

While the possibility of new lows being set in the future can’t be ruled out, here’s a look at analysts' opinions on how this BTC breakout could be different than most investors expect.

This time "it's different"

The pointed message of “this time is different” was offered by pseudonymous Twitter user Trader XM, who posted the following chart outlining why BTC is poised to head higher.

As highlighted on the chart above, BTC price did not retest of the range low even as four retests of the range high took place, and this suggests that buyers are now stronger than sellers.

Crypto fans are rejoicing at the sight of green across the market on July 19 as the months of “down only” price action has finally come to an end after the market flashed its first substantial relief rally in at least a month. 

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that much of the newfound excitement is the result of Bitcoin (BTC) breaking above resistance at $23,000 to hit a daily high of $23,447, its first meaningful move above the 200-week moving average.

While many have been quick predict a climb to the mid-$30,000 range, a few analysts caution that it could be another fakeout pump. Let's take a look at traders' perspectives on Bitcoin's move toward $33,000.

Bitcoin needs a weekly candle close above $22,800

The move back above the 200-week MA has been a point of focus for cryptocurrency analyst Rekt Capital, who posted the following chart commenting that “For the first time in weeks, BTC is putting in a decent effort to try to reclaim the 200-week MA as support.”

The 200-week MA has been a highly watched metric in recent weeks because it has served as a reliable bear market indicator that has historically provided insight into when a bottom has been set.