Crypto newsletter: Bitcoin price breaks a key resistance level

• Bitcoin broke above $42000 over the weekend
• Polkadot consumes least amount of electricity compared to other major coins
• Buterin proposed new solution in order to lower transaction fees

The last seven days were great for the cryptocurrency market. Prices took a hit on Wednesday after weak Meta quarterly figures only to move sharply higher following Amazon earnings. Also news that Alphabet has begun exploring blockchain technology supported market sentiment. Bitcoin price managed to break above major resistance area around $42000 which sparked some cautious sense of optimism on the market. Altcoins had their fair share of success as well. Some projects like Ripple enjoyed even a double-digit gains. Bitcoin's market dominance decreased to 41.3%. The capitalization of all digital assets in circulation rose to 1.958 trillion, while an average daily trading volume is registered at $76.622 billion. 

Bitcoin:

• The Russian government took a pro-Bitcoin approach last week. Kremlin is in favor of establishing crypto regulation; the finance minister Anton Siluanov wants banks to sell crypto. 
• Bitcoin acceptance through regulation and taxation in Russia and India could boost the demand for the asset. 
• Bitcoin hash rate hit a new all-time high, making a full recovery since the China crackdown in May. 

Bitcoin hash-rate managed to fully recover after May plunge. Source: intotheblock

• According to data compiled by CoinDesk, Bitcoin’s trading volume across major centralized exchanges on the weekend was down significantly from Friday, but in line with most weekdays in the past week. Spot trading volume was reduced over the past week, as major crypto markets in Asia were off for the Lunar New Year holidays.

BTC trading volume declined over the weekend, similar to previous weeks. Source: CoinDesk

• The spent output profit ratio (SOPR) for Bitcoin short-term holders meanwhile broke above the 1 mark for the first time since end- December, which indicates that short term traders on average are beginning to sell at a profit rather than a loss.

SOPR help to estimate whether the distribution of spent transaction output is in profit or not. Source: CryptoQuant.

• The Crypto Fear & Greed Index jumped out of  "extreme fear" zone and reached highest level since Christmas. 

Index's shift to "neutral" territory since the November record highs, and pont to something of a reset of sentiment over the past two-and-a-half months. Source: alternative.me

Bitcoin price rose sharply on Friday and managed to break above downward trendline and resistance at $40500 over the weekend and now acts as support. Today upward move continues and price tested $43000 level which coincides with 50 SMA (green line). Should break higher occur, next target for buyers is located at $44000 and coincides with 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave launched in July 2021. Source: xStation5

Ethereum:

• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a solution to provide temporary relief to scalability issues and transaction fees on layer-2, ahead of sharding. Buterin has suggested “blob-carrying transactions” that drop transaction fees by five times or more by the end of 2022.  New updates could be bundled and added to the Shanghai hard fork. 
• Ethereum recorded outflows of US$27m, the 8th consecutive week which now total US$272m, based on a CoinShares survey.  

Digital asset investment products saw inflows for a second week totalling US$19million, however Ethereum recorded another week of outflows. CoinShares

Ethereum price broke above psychological resistance at $3000 over the weekend, which coincides with 200 SMA (red line) and upper limit of the triangle formation. If current sentiment prevails, next target for buyers is located at $3200 and is marked with 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the last downward corrections. Source: xStation5

Polkdadot:

•  Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI) data revealed that Polkadot uses less electricity compared to other major cryptocurrencies. 
• Polkadot consumes 6.6 times the electricity consumption of an average US household in a year. 
• The Ethereum competitor has announced the Pioneers Prize Program with a reward of $20 million for technological innovation in its ecosystem.

Polkadot requires minimal amount of electricity when compared to other major coins. Source: CCRI report

Polkdat bounced off the major support at $16.00 at the end of January and since then price continues recovery. Currently token is approaching major resistance zone around $23.25 which is marked with previous price reactions, upper limit for the 1:1 structure and 50 SMA ( green line). Should break higher occur, upward move may accelerate towards resistance at $27.10 which coincides with 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the last upward wave. Meanwhile nearest support liest at psychological $20.00 level. Source: xStation5