Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, BNB, DOT, XEM, MIOTA

Bitcoin (BTC) price has been correcting in the past few days and traders are curious to know whether this is a minor pullback or the start of a deeper decline. The problem is that no one has a crystal ball and analysts can only point to critical support levels that may hold based on historical data and evidence.

However, in a bear phase, the price tends to slip below key support levels as traders panic and sell out of fear, similar to how the price exceeds the upside targets during a bull run as traders buy due to FOMO.

March has historically been a weak month for Bitcoin, which suggests seasonal traders may prefer to wait and watch rather than jump to buy on dips. This lack of demand may be one of the reasons for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust premium dipping into the negative over the past week.

*Crypto market data daily view. Source:* *Coin360*

However, not all the data is bearish. On Feb. 26, Moskovski Capital CEO Lex Moskovski pointed out that Bitcoin miners positions turned positive on Feb. 26 for the first time since Dec. 27. Adding to this, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said the large Coinbase outflows in the past few days suggest that institutions are still accumulating at lower levels.

This data seems to be inconclusive and does not provide an immediate picture of whether the advantage is with the bulls or the bears. Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that may outperform in the next few days.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin has broken below the 20-day exponential moving average ($47,441), which is the first indication of the start of a deeper correction. The next critical support is the 50-day simple moving average at $41,066. The price has not closed below this support since Oct. 9, hence the level assumes significance.

The bulls are likely to defend the 50-day SMA aggressively. If the price rebounds off this support and rises above the 20-day EMA, it will suggest the sentiment remains bullish and traders are buying on dips.

However, the flat moving averages and the relative strength index (RSI) just below the midpoint suggest the bulls are losing their grip.

If the bears sink the price below the 50-day SMA, it will indicate that supply exceeds demand and traders are booking profits in a hurry. Such a move could pull the price down to the Feb. 8 intraday low of $38,000.

A break below this support will be a huge negative as the next support is at $32,000 and then $28,850.

*BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The downsloping 20-EMA and the RSI in the negative zone suggest that bears are in control. The price is now approaching the critical support at $41,959.63.

If the price rebounds off this support, the bulls will try to push the price above the 20-EMA. If they succeed, it will suggest that bulls are accumulating the dips aggressively. The BTC/USD pair may then rise to the 50-SMA and then $52,000.

Conversely, if the $41,959.63 support breaks and the bears flip it to resistance, then a deeper correction is likely.

BNB/USD

Binance Coin (BNB) has been in a corrective phase since Feb. 20, which shows that traders are booking profits after the sharp up-move on Feb. 19. However, the pace of the fall has been gradual since Feb. 25, indicating that traders are not panicking.

The price has currently dropped to the 20-day EMA ($194) where the buyers may step in. If the price rebounds off this support and breaks above the downtrend line, the BNB/USD pair may again attract buying from short-term traders. That could push the price to $280 and then to $300.

The 20-day EMA has flattened out and the RSI is just above the midpoint, indicating a balance between supply and demand. However, if the bears sink and sustain the price below the 20-day EMA, it will suggest that supply exceeds demand, The pair could then correct to $167.3691 and then $118.

*BNB/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows the formation of a descending triangle pattern that will complete on a breakdown and close below $189. If that happens, it will suggest that the top is in place and the pair could then drop to $118.

Conversely, if the bulls defend the support at $189, it will suggest that the sentiment remains positive as the bulls are buying on dips to strong support levels. A breakout and close above the downtrend line will invalidate the bearish setup and that may result in a rally to $280.

DOT/USD

Polkadot (DOT) is correcting in an uptrend. The long tail on the Feb. 23 and Feb. 26 candlestick suggests that the bulls are attempting to defend the 20-day EMA ($30.49). However, the long wick on the rebound on Feb. 27 shows that demand dries up at higher levels.

The 20-day EMA is flattening out and the RSI is dropping towards the center, which suggests the bullish momentum is weakening. However, during the recent bull run, the DOT/USD pair has repeatedly taken support at the 20-day EMA.

If the price again rebounds off the 20-day EMA and the bulls push the price above $35.6618, the pair may retest the all-time high at $42.2848. A break above this resistance could result in a rally to $50.

This bullish view will invalidate if the bears sink the price below the 20-day EMA and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $25.7817. If that happens, the pair may drop to the 50-day SMA ($22.33).

*DOT/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows the price is currently trading inside a symmetrical triangle. If the bears can sink the price below the support line of the triangle, the pair could drop to $25.7817 and then to the pattern target at $18.70.

The downsloping 20-EMA and the RSI in the negative territory suggest a minor advantage to the bears in the short term. But if the price rebounds off the current level, the bulls will try to push the price above the triangle. If they succeed, the pair may rise to $42.2848.

XEM/USD

The bulls defended the 20-day EMA ($0.475) on Feb. 26, which shows that the sentiment remains positive and traders are buying on dips. The bulls are currently attempting to resume the uptrend in NEM (XEM).

The upsloping moving averages and the RSI above 63 suggest the path of least resistance is to the upside. If the bulls can drive the price above $0.5051, the XEM/USD pair could rally to $0.7637. A breakout of this resistance could open the doors for an up-move to $0.9607.

Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns down from $0.5051, the pair may consolidate for a few days before starting the next trending move. A break and close below the 20-day EMA will suggest the start of a deeper correction.

*XEM/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows the price is stuck between $0.439 and $0.63 for the past few days. Both moving averages are sloping up marginally and the RSI is just above the midpoint, which suggests a minor advantage to the bulls.

If the bulls can propel the price above $0.63, the pair may rally to $0.763 and then to $0.821. On the contrary, if the price breaks below the moving averages, the pair may drop to the $0.439 support. If this support also cracks, the correction may extend to $0.346 and then to $0.277.

MIOTA/USD

MIOTA has been in a corrective phase since topping out at $1.554775 on Feb. 19. While the pullback has been sharp, the positive sign is that the bulls have been successfully defending the 20-day EMA ($1.09) for the past few days.

The 20-day EMA has flattened out and the RSI is also trading just above the midpoint, indicating a balance between supply and demand. Attempts by the bulls and the bears to assert their supremacy have failed in the past few days.

This equilibrium may tilt in favor of the bulls if they can push and sustain the price above the overhead resistance at $1.30. In such a case, the MIOTA/USD pair may rally to $1.554775.

On the other hand, if the bears sink the price below $0.90, a fall to the 50-day SMA ($0.74) is possible.

*MIOTA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows the formation of a symmetrical triangle, which generally acts as a continuation pattern. Both moving averages are gradually turning down and the RSI is in the negative territory, indicating advantage to the bears.

The pair has broken below the support line of the triangle but the bulls are attempting to arrest the decline and push the price back into the triangle. If they succeed, it will suggest buying at lower levels. The bulls will gain the upper hand after the pair sustains above the triangle.

However, if the price turns down from the current levels, it may signal the start of a deeper correction.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

3 reasons why Reef Finance, Bridge Mutual and Morpheus Network are rallying

As new institutional and retail investors enter the cryptocurrency space on a daily basis, large-cap top performers like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) attract the lion’s share of investor’s attention as they are the well-known ‘secure’ blockchain projects.

Once these new investors get a taste of the mainstay cryptocurrencies and how to navigate the volatile markets, their attention soon turns to smaller cap coins as they search for the up-and-coming projects that could be the next big thing.

Currently, CoinMarketCap shows that there are 8,475 tokens and more are added daily. This makes it difficult to keep up with the latest developments and find solid projects with real-world potential.

With that in mind, here are some interesting projects that have been gaining strength over the past few weeks.

MRPH/USDT

Morpheus Network (MRPH) is a blockchain platform focused on logistics and supply chain optimization through the use of its SaaS middleware platform which is integrated with emerging technologies.

Supply chain managers are able to use the platform to create a digital representation of their network as information collected is transformed into actionable data, with all steps in the supply chain being notarized on the Morpheus blockchain.

MRPH was trading at a price of $0.412 on Jan.15 before an influx of trading activity lifted the token more than 920% to a high of $4.44 on Feb.8.

*MRPH/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The rapid rise in price was due in part to the fresh attention the project received from several well-known YouTube influencers and recent verifiable MRPH partnerships, such as China’s Qingdao Maple Leaf International Trading Co. and the possibility of a partnership with Coca-Cola in Latin America.

Speculations aside, the Morpheus platform currently has more than 100 integrations with industry-leading service providers including DHL, FedEx, SWIFT, Oracle, and Salesforce. With significant real-world partnerships and the attention of cryptocurrency influencers, MRPH has strong fundamentals and is likely to gain more attention from investors.

BMI/USDT

Bridge Mutual (BMI) is a more recent arrival to the decentralized insurance space but it has quickly garnered the attention of investors.

The insurance platform offers coverage for stablecoins, centralized exchanges and smart contracts. It also allows users to provide insurance coverage, determine insurance payouts, and recie compensated for taking part in the ecosystem.

BMI’s initial decentralized exchange offering (IDO) was conducted on Jan. 30 with a token price of $0.125 and it was first listed on Uniswap for $1.03. Since listing, BMI has rallied by 540% to a high of $5.46 on Feb. 3. Currently, BMI trades at $3.24 following the downturn in the market that began on Feb. 21.

*BMI/USD 1-hour chart. Source:* *CoinGecko*

Decentralized insurance has thus far been dominated by Nexus Mutual (NXM), but BMI’s arrival offers a fresh challenger to a field with growing demand due to the risky nature of investing in DeFi platforms.

REEF/USDT

Reef (REEF) is a Polkadot-based DeFi platform that aims to offer cross-chain trading powered by a yield engine and smart liquidity aggregator that enables automation of the exchange process.

One issue Reef developers hope to provide a solution for is high gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain that are currently making DeFi unusable for many community participants. The team also hopes to help connect liquidity pools from separate networks, avoiding the need for multiple accounts which can be difficult to keep track of.

*REEF/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

Work on the project began in the second half of 2020 with the completion of its IDO on Sep.30. Following its listing on Binance and Uniswap in late December of 2020, REEF price bottomed out at $0.0067 on Jan.13 and has since increased more than 750% to a high of $0.054 on Feb.11.

DeFi remains one of the hottest growth areas in the cryptocurrency sector and Reef is well-positioned to capitalize on its continued growth. As the Polkadot ecosystem grows its user base and provides solutions that provide relief from high Ethereum transaction costs, cross-chain functionality projects like Reef stand ready to benefit as decentralized finance goes mainstream.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

Increasing stock market volatility drags Bitcoin and altcoin prices lower

The cryptocurrency market faced another day of downward pressure as the unease in the traditional markets continues to spread following the recent interest rate spike on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell to a low at $44,710 late on Feb. 25 before buying at the key support returned to help the digital asset recover back above $46,500 but generally, analysts are looking for $50,000 to become an established support before expecting bullish continuation.

Despite major BTC purchases by MicroStrategy, Tesla and MassMutual, a majority of institutional investors still have security and tax treatment concerns that prevent them from investing in Bitcoin, according to Galaxy Digital co-president Damien Vanderwilt.

Institutional investment has been a significant source of optimism in the cryptocurrency sector in 2021, but its influence in helping BTC reach a market cap of $1 trillion may be overstated as recent analysis shows that stablecoin whales and retail traders still hold the most buying power.

Interest rate increase puts pressure on GBTC

On Feb. 25, the interest rate for the 10-year U.S. Treasury spiked to 1.52%, its highest level in over a year.

According to Chad Steinglass, Head of Trading at CrossTower, the move led to market-wide pressure that pushed the “GBTC premium down as low as negative 6% and it closed around negative 2% today.” The analyst sees interest rate volatility as a major source of market volatility, as the long end of the curve steepens while the U.S. dollar is pushed lower.

*Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source:* *Coin360*

Cryptocurrencies fell under increased pressures as equity markets deteriorated throughout the day, possibly due to a “scramble for liquidity” resulting from traders “pushing up against margin calls and needing to free up cash.”

Steinglass said:

“I interpret the GBTC premium collapse as a sign that either retail is dumping to free liquidity, or large fund holders like ARKW are seeing outflows, which causes them to sell GBTC along with everything else.”

Traditional markets are still choppy

The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back .0582 basis points to 1.46 on Feb. 26, marking a 3.82% decrease from its high on the previous day. This leadi to a choppy day in the markets which saw the major indices close mixed.

The NASDAQ finished the day up 0.56%, recovering some of its losses from the 3.5% drop on Feb. 25. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and DOW finished the day in the red, down 0.48% and 1.51% respectively.

A majority of the top cryptocurrencies also took on sharp losses on Friday, with the exception of Cardano (ADA), which became the third-ranked cryptocurrency by market cap after its price broke out to a new all-time high at $1.29. The current excitement for the altcoin appears to be connected to the upcoming ‘Mary’ mainnet launch scheduled for March 1.

*ADA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

Basic Attention Token (BAT) has also battled back against the market sell-off to post a 6.43% gain following the Feb. 23 announcement of the upcoming Brave Decentralized Exchange (DEX).

Ether (ETH) price is down 7.19% and trading below $1,500, while Binance Coin (BNB) has dropped 8.36% to $224.14

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.533 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 61.3%.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

Focus on DeFi ‘fairness’ benefits Holochain, Orion Protocol and Dodo

Bitcoin’s (BTC) strong bull run and the immense popularity of the decentralized finance space have attracted several new investors to cryptocurrencies. A report from Crypto.com shows a massive increase in crypto users as the figure rose from 66 million in May 2020 to 106 million by January this year.

Contrary to the popular notion that new crypto users are mostly speculating on the price, data from Unchained Capital shows that investors who bought in the past three to five years are still holding and are not yet tempted to book profits.

Unlike the 2017 bull market where many low-cap altcoins rallied, the current bull trend has rewarded projects with strong fundamentals. Let’s have a look at three such tokens and also analyze their charts.

HOT/USD

Holochain (HOT) aims to provide the solution for the scalability problems which may be a limiting factor in the crypto sector. Holochain wants to give control of data and privacy back to the people, eliminating large corporations and middlemen.

To achieve that, Holo, a distributed peer-to-peer hosting platform, acts as the link between the web and the Holochain apps. Holochain wants to make this technology available to users who can access the apps in a web browser. If this needs to be done, the technology must have vast scalability, fast speeds, and it should also be financially viable. The team at Holochain believes they are on the path to achieving this goal.

As part of the process, Holochain launched an app called Elemental Chat that runs on HoloPorts. The team is also planning to enable web users to log into Elemental Chat through the HoloPort. This will put the protocol’s scalability claims to the test and help to further fine-tune the project.

The team has also outlined the progress on the upcoming milestones of the Holo suite of products that will be progressively released in the future. If the team delivers on its promises, the protocol may attract investor attention.

HOT surged from $0.0007817 on Feb. 8 to an intraday high at $0.00424 on Feb. 21, a 442% rally within two weeks. This up-move had pushed the relative strength index (RSI) above 92 on Feb. 21, indicating the market was extremely overbought in the short term.

*HOT/USDT daily chart. Source:* *TradingView*

That resulted in profit-booking on Feb. 22 and 23, which pulled the price down to the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.0021028. But the positive sign is that the long tail on the candlesticks on both days showed strong buying at lower levels.

However, traders who are stuck at higher levels are dumping their positions on rallies, as seen from the long wick on the Feb. 24 candlestick.

After the large intraday range of the past few days, the HOT/USD pair has formed an inside day candlestick pattern today, indicating a balance between supply and demand. The pair may now consolidate for a few days.

If the bulls can push the price above $0.00363, a retest of $0.00424 is possible. A breakout of this level could start the next leg of the up-move that may reach $0.0055629.

Conversely, if the bears sink the price below $0.0028, the pair may drop to the 20-day exponential moving average ($0.0020).

ORN/USD

As the decentralized finance space grows, many new projects are being announced on a regular basis. It becomes difficult for investors to keep track of all of them. Hence, a liquidity aggregator that connects to several decentralized and centralized exchanges in order to swap pools and provide access from a single platform may be sought after and this is what the Orion protocol (ORN) aims to do.

The protocol plans to offer its investor’s a variety of revenue streams. The Orion Liquidity Boost Plugin offers increased liquidity to its partners and has already onboarded Polkastarter and many other blockchain projects.

Orion’s Launchpad Liquidity has partnered with DAO Marker and DuckDAO, which will enable projects launch incubated projects on the launchpad’s own platform

Orion recently launched the staking calculator, allowing ORN token holders to calculate the staking rewards and attain APY’s of up to 38%.

After launching the first phase of the Orion Terminal’s mainnet on Dec. 15, the team plans to add several features like derivatives, leveraged ETFs, contract trading, NFTs, lending, margin trading and staking of any digital asset by 2021.

As more products are launched, the revenue is likely to increase and that may benefit ORN token holders.

ORN has been in a strong bull run this year. It rallied from $4.3014 on Feb. 8 to an intraday high at $15.20 today, a 253% rally in just over two weeks. As a result, the RSI has surged to above 91 levels, indicating the possibility of a short-term fall or a range-bound trading action.

*ORN/USDT daily chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The bears tried to stall the rally on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23, but the long tail and the positive closes of each day show that the bulls purchased the dips and resumed the rally.

However, today it looks as if traders booked profits and a retest of the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $11.4379 is possible.

If the ORN/USD pair rises from this support level, it will indicate strong demand at lower levels. That could result in a retest of $15.20 and a breakout of this resistance may propel the pair to $20.

On the other hand, a break below $10.2759 could pull the price down to the 20-day EMA ($8.21). Such a deep fall could delay the next leg of the up-move.

DODO/USD

The DeFi space has been attracting investor attention in the past few months. However, the growing popularity has clogged the Ethereum network gas fees have soared to unsustainable levels. Therefore, traders are searching for options that are on competing networks and charge fewer fees. Binance Smart Chain has been one of the major beneficiaries of this trend.

DODO is a decentralized exchange that uses the Proactive Market Maker (PMM) algorithm, which the team claims is better than automated market makers. DODO offers several features such as trading, aggregation, initial DEX offerings, and mining.

DODO introduced Crowdpooling in January, and this feature aims to provide equal opportunity to investors by addressing the biggest issues being faced by new projects. If successful, Crowdpooling will help prevent frontrunning, insufficient liquidity, and the high costs associated with attracting liquidity. The first phase of the DODO V2 Beta crowdfunding pool called ‘ShuttleOne’ was a huge success as it was oversubscribed by 173 times.

DODO token was listed on Binance on Feb. 19 following the DODO V2 Public Beta launch on the Ethereum Mainnet and Binance Smart Chain on Feb. 22. There are also several incentive programs available on BSC.

DODO price rallied from an intraday low at $2.788 to an intraday high at $10 on Feb. 19. The token had strong listing gains but since then, the price has been in a corrective phase.

*DODO/USD 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The bulls attempted to start a rebound off $3.50 on Feb. 23, but the bears continue to sell on minor rallies, indicating a negative sentiment. However, a minor positive is that the bulls have been defending the $4.50 level for some time.

If the price turns up from the current level and breaks above $5.660, the DODO/USD pair may rise to $7.50. This level is likely to act as a stiff resistance but if crossed, the pair could rally to $8.75 and then retest $10. The next leg of the uptrend may resume above this level.

Conversely, if the bears sink the price below $4.50, a drop to $3.50 is possible. The selling could intensify if the $3.50 to $2.788 support cracks.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

Nvidia supply shortage won’t stop $50M Q1 crypto miner sales, says CFO

Nvidia’s ongoing supply problems won’t stop the company from selling $50 million worth of its new CMP chip range in the first quarter of 2021, the company’s chief financial officer Colette Kress forecasted on Feb. 24.

Nvidia failed to meet demand from its core gaming customer base in 2020, and the trend looks set to continue into 2021. Added demand from a horde of cryptocurrency enthusiasts keen to direct Nvidia’s new RTX 30 series GPU to Ether (ETH) mining initially appeared to pile pressure on the company.

But the firm’s CFO expects the recently announced Cryptocurrency Mining Processor product line to hit $50 million in sales in the first quarter of the year. The CMP range is designed specifically for Ether mining, and its introduction was part of an attempt to allocate more units of its RTX 30 range to gamers.

Despite supply problems, Nvidia hit record revenues of $5 billion in the last quarter of 2020, while its stock price soared to all-time highs. This is a near-exact repeat of the market conditions present in 2018, when increased demand amid supply shortages pushed the stock price to the highest level in its history up to that time.

On Wednesday, United States President Joe Biden signed an executive order to address the shortage of semiconductors and microchips. A critical review will investigate the country’s failing supply lines, which have been shown to rely too much on Chinese manufacturing, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chip shortage boosted the value of the PHLX Semiconductor Index, which tracks the value of chip-related stocks, with the index gaining 70% in the past 12 months.

JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur expects the pump to continue, even though the supply shortage won’t be corrected for some time.

Sur recently told MarketWatch, “We believe semi companies are shipping 10% to 30% BELOW current demand levels and it will take at least 3-4 quarters for supply to catch up with demand and then another 1-2 quarters for inventories at customers/distribution channels to be replenished back to normal levels.”

Sur said the previous quarter was the first in which every chip maker JPMorgan tracked actually exceeded forecasted earnings.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

RUNE soars after Multichain capital reveals large position

Thorchain’s native token RUNE gained 30% in the last 24 hours after crypto venture firm Multicoin Capital revealed that it has accumulated a large position in the asset.

RUNE was trading at roughly $3.90 on Feb. 23 before Multicoin announced their investment, which sent prices soaring to new all-time highs at $5.61.

THORChain’s token was largely unaffected by the Feb. 22 crash that saw BTC and many altcoins dip significantly, with RUNE up 34% in the past seven days. This announcement comes off the back of a strong year for RUNE, with the price up almost 62,000% since it launched 18 months ago.

The rally has pushed RUNE up the market cap rankings to now rank as the 60th-largest crypto asset, with a total capitalization of $1.24 billion.

THORChain started in 2018 and is a decentralized cross-chain automated market maker (AMM) exchange allowing users to trade spot tokens across blockchains.

Alongside the announcement, Multicoin shared a research report in which they outlined the potential of THORChain. The report revealed that the investment firm is excited about the ability to trading tokens between different blockchains as a key opportunity for traders:

“Trading is one of the primary use cases for crypto. However, trading across chains requires users to trust centralized exchanges and use two wallets […] This process is clunky. Swapping PERP tokens on Ethereum for SRM tokens on Solana is a UX nightmare.”

Multicoin is a crypto investment firm founded in 2017, that invests in blockchain companies, cryptocurrencies, and tokens. The firm invested in decentralized music sharing service Audius in October 2020, and recently invested in Manta Network at the start of February.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH