Chainlink’s LINK price retested the $12.00 support zone. The price is now eyeing a recovery wave above the $13.50 and $15.00 resistance levels. Chainlink price is showing bearish signs below the $15.00 resistance against the US dollar. The price is trading below the $14.20 level and the 100 simple moving average (4 hours). There is a key bearish trend line forming with resistance near $13.50 on the 4-hour chart of the LINK/USD pair (data source from Kraken). The price could start a decent increase if it clears the $15.00 resistance zone. Chainlink (LINK) Price Eyes Steady Increase In the past few days, Chainlink saw a major decline from well above the $18.00 level. LINK price declined below the $15.00 pivot level to enter a short-term bearish zone, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The price tested the $12.00 support zone. A low was formed at $11.92 and the price is now attempting a recovery wave. There was a move above the $12.50 level. It even jumped above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $18.66 swing high to the $11.92 low. LINK price is still trading below the $14.20 level and the 100 simple moving average (4 hours). Immediate resistance is near the $13.50 level. There is also a key bearish trend line forming with resistance near $13.50 on the 4-hour chart of the LINK/USD pair. Source: LINKUSD on TradingView.com The next major resistance is near the $15.00 zone. A clear break above $15.00 may possibly start a steady increase toward the $16.00 level or the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $18.66 swing high to the $11.92 low. The next major resistance is near the $18.00 level, above which the price could test $20.00. More Losses? If Chainlink’s price fails to climb above the $13.50 resistance level, there could be a fresh decline. Initial support on the downside is near the $12.80 level. The next major support is near the $12.00 level, below which the price might test the $10.80 level. Any more losses could lead LINK toward the $10.00 level in the near term. Technical Indicators 4 hours MACD – The MACD for LINK/USD is gaining momentum in the bearish zone. 4 hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for LINK/USD is now below the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $12.80 and $12.00. Major Resistance Levels – $13.50 and $14.00.

The chief executive of Crypto.com has warned of some selling coming up as we approach the Bitcoin halving, citing the “buy the rumor, sell the news” strategy. Noting that what’s happening in the bitcoin market currently resembles previous cycles, he stressed: “I personally expect great performance within the next six months.” ‘There May Be Some […]

Ethereum price is consolidating near the $3,000 zone. ETH could start a decent recovery wave if it clears the $3,100 and $3,200 resistance levels. Ethereum is struggling to recover above the $3,100 resistance zone. The price is trading below $3,120 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance at $3,035 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair could start another decline if it stays below the $3,100 resistance zone. Ethereum Price Holds Ground Ethereum price slowly moved lower after it failed to clear the $3,200 resistance zone. ETH remained in a bearish zone below $3,100 and showed bearish signs, like Bitcoin. Recently, the bears were able to push the price below the $3,000 support zone. However, the bulls were active near the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward wave from the $2,535 swing low to the $3,279 high. Ethereum is now trading below $3,120 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. Immediate resistance is near the $3,030 level. There is also a major bearish trend line forming with resistance at $3,035 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The first major resistance is near the $3,100 level and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com The next key resistance sits at $3,200, above which the price might rise toward the $3,280 level. A close above the $3,280 resistance could send the price toward the $3,500 pivot level. If there is a move above the $3,500 resistance, Ethereum could even climb toward the $3,650 resistance in the coming sessions. More Losses In ETH? If Ethereum fails to clear the $3,100 resistance, it could start another decline. Initial support on the downside is near the $3,000 level. The first major support is near the $2,900 zone. The next key support could be the $2,820 zone or the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the upward wave from the $2,535 swing low to the $3,279 high. A clear move below the $2,820 support might send the price toward $2,600. Any more losses might send the price toward the $2,550 level in the near term. Technical Indicators Hourly MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is gaining momentum in the bearish zone. Hourly RSI – The RSI for ETH/USD is now below the 50 level. Major Support Level – $2,900 Major Resistance Level – $3,100

Global asset management firm Alliance Bernstein has explained that bitcoin’s bullish trajectory should resume after the upcoming halving event. The firm’s analysts described: “We believe it is always new demand catalysts that lead to bitcoin price appreciation in every cycle.” Bernstein’s Analysts on Bitcoin’s Price Post-Halving Global asset management firm Alliance Bernstein’s analysts Gautam Chhugani […]

The excitement surrounding the upcoming Bitcoin halving has led to a significant increase in Google searches for “Bitcoin halving,” with interest reaching its highest point ever, more than double that of the last halving event in 2020, and is predicted to hit peak popularity. The halving event, which reduces the rewards miners receive by half, […]

Magic Eden, a Solana-based NFT marketplace, achieved its highest monthly trading volume in March, outpacing Blur with a 194.4% increase to $756.5 million, attributed to its Diamond reward program and support for creator royalties. This surge led Magic Eden to become the top NFT marketplace by trading volume, dethroning Blur for the first time since […]

In a recent report published by QuickNode, the first quarter of 2024 showed the dominance of decentralized finance (DeFi) and the notable growth of Web3 gaming in the crypto industry, which outperformed the stablecoin sector in key metrics, indicating investor preference and market sentiment during this period.  Hopes For Second ‘DeFi Summer’  Per the report, DeFi experienced a significant resurgence in Q1’24, fueled by a surge in developer and user activity, particularly on chains like Solana (SOL) and Base.  This resurgence has sparked growing hopes of a second ‘DeFi Summer,’ as DeFi projects embrace new concepts such as staking, liquid staking, restaking, and liquid restaking, which have been catalysts for its growth. Notably, staking now represents a substantial portion of DeFi’s Total Value Locked (TVL). While stablecoins remain the top spot for address activity, DeFi surpassed stablecoins in an essential metric: transaction counts.  Related Reading: Crypto Analyst Says Don’t Buy Altcoins Just Yet – Here’s Why DeFi emerged as the leader in transactions for Q1’24, averaging nearly 7 million daily transactions. Furthermore, DeFi led in fees spent, gas usage, and the overall number of projects despite comprising only approximately 4% of the total crypto market cap. The TVL for yield-generating protocols within DeFi witnessed steady growth, climbing from $26.5 billion in Q3’23 to $59.7 billion in Q1’24. According to QuickNode, this rally signifies a return of confidence and liquidity to the DeFi markets as investors seek opportunities for yield generation. Players Take Control With Web3 Gaming In parallel, Web3-based gaming has emerged as a significant departure from conventional gaming platforms. By leveraging cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Web3 gaming offers players new and decentralized gaming.  Players now have the opportunity to actively participate in games and earn rewards, shifting control away from centralized entities within the gaming ecosystem. The report highlights the growth of Web3 gaming, surpassing stablecoins in transaction volume and achieving the highest year-over-year (YoY) active address growth across all categories, with a 155% increase in active addresses during Q1 ’24.  This surge in player engagement and participation is evident through the exponential growth of transactions within Web3 gaming, which experienced a staggering 370% YoY increase. The Appeal Of Stablecoins Although stablecoins continue to lead in daily active users, representing over 41% of all Web3 user activity, other categories have shown higher quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) activity growth, indicating potential catch-up.  Tether’s USDT remains the dominant stablecoin, controlling approximately 75% of the market cap. Notably, Circle’s USDC has taken the lead in volume and average transaction size, partly due to Coinbase’s efforts to integrate USDC on its platform and promote its use on its Layer 2 network, Base. Related Reading: Crypto Exchanges Bitcoin Supply Can Only Last For 9 Months, ByBit Report In addition, the report notes that stablecoins have proven attractive to both new and experienced users, offering stability and value predictability, especially during periods of market uncertainty. QuickNode attributes the surge in stablecoin user activity in Q1’24 to several factors, including the approval and listing of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, the anticipation of Bitcoin’s next Halving event, the devaluation of fiat currencies, the popularity of low-volatility assets, and the strength of the USD, to which over 90% of stablecoin transactions are anchored. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

XRP could continue a price correction in the short term as recent price action has put it rebounding against a resistance level of $0.5. On-chain data has also revealed a row of transactions from whales of the cryptocurrency in the past 24 hours, but are they bullish or bearish on XRP? These large transactions have been a mix of both, although the trading volume of each transaction could point to them being bearish rather than bullish.  XRP Whales On The Move Large XRP transactions, often indicators of whale activity, have spiked recently. XRP has seen some major whale movements over the past few weeks that point to a bearish sentiment among big players amidst a price correction for the cryptocurrency in the past seven days. However, while some of these big transfers are going into crypto exchanges for a potential selloff, some are also anonymous wallets shifting huge amounts of tokens from crypto exchanges into private wallets. Related Reading: Crypto Expert Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $650,000 Due To This Reason Whale transaction tracker Whale Alerts posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) instances of enormous transactions on April 16. The first notable transaction was the transfer of 158 million tokens worth $77 million from a private wallet into the crypto exchange Binance. This massive transfer into the exchange ignited worrying signs for holders hoping for a reversal from bearish momentum into a price surge. Similarly, there was a transfer of 28.9 million XRP worth $14.2 million into Bitstamp.  On the other hand, Whale Alerts also indicated the outflow of XRP from Binance into private wallets. Particularly, the tracker noted the transfer of 100 million XRP, worth around $48 million, into private wallets. These transfers were made with three transfers in rapid succession, with each transfer of 33.33 million XRP worth $16.2 million.  Interestingly, the tracker also noted the movement of large amounts of tokens on April 15. Overall, there were transfers of 457 million XRP worth over $234 million into crypto exchanges Bithumb, Bitvavo, and Bitstamp. The largest transaction was the transfer of 390 million tokens worth $201 million into Bithumb. What’s Next For The Altcoin? Whale transactions are very important in the world of cryptocurrencies. Prices could swing massively at any time based on the actions of a few big players. For regular XRP investors, these whale transfers highlight the volatility and uncertainty in the current price of XRP. At the same time, their movement into crypto exchanges is bearish, and they give investors a glimpse of the the altcoin’s price trajectory in the short term.  Related Reading: Arkham Releases Top 5 Crypto Rich List – You Won’t Believe How Much Is Inaccessible At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.4986. Although currently up by 1.79% in the past 24 hours, XRP seems to be reversing after hitting $0.5 again. The altcoin is still in a price correction on the larger timeframe, as it is currently down by 18% and 20% in the past seven and 30 days, respectively. According to a crypto analyst, XRP is set to go on a massive rally to $22. Additionally, many experts believe that the price of the altcoin will experience an enormous price increase after the next Bitcoin halving. Price struggles to find support tat $0.49 | Source: XRPUSDT on Tradingview.com Featured image from Bitcoin news, chart from Tradingview.com

ApeCoin (APE), the ERC-20 token governing the ApeCoin Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), showed notable growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.  Key metrics showed significant progress, driving APE’s market capitalization, token price, and trading volume quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), demonstrating consecutive quarters of growth. ApeCoin Regains Unicorn Status As noted in a recent report by Messari, APE’s rebound was particularly noteworthy compared to the broader cryptocurrency market, which grew 53% quarter over quarter, and Bitcoin’s market cap, which grew 63% quarter over quarter.  After briefly dipping below $1 billion in Q2 2023, APE’s market cap regained unicorn status, ending Q1 2024 at $1.3 billion, representing 31% growth. According to the report, this market value increase was partly driven by a 21% QoQ rise in APE’s token price. Related Reading: Crypto Analyst Says Don’t Buy Altcoins Just Yet – Here’s Why The report also highlighted the unlock of 46.8 million APE tokens from the circulating supply, contributing to the market cap growth. However, this unlocks, and the $16.5 million allocated to governance expenditures potentially created sell pressure on the asset throughout the quarter.  Another 46.8 million APE tokens were unlocked in Q1 2024, with 22 million APE going to the DAO Treasury and 24.8 million APE distributed to non-DAO entities. The DAO plans to issue or sell APE to fund approved proposals, while non-DAO entities are free to sell once their funds are unlocked. Despite the additional sell pressure resulting from unlocking and committing 8.3 million APE tokens, the price of APE still saw a substantial 21% QoQ increase. This surge in price indicated a higher volume of buy orders, exerting upward pressure on the asset. The report also analyzed trading activity, highlighting the dominance of large-volume traders (whales and sharks), who accounted for 63% of the trade volume in Q1. The average decentralized exchange (DEX) swap size increased by 28% QoQ, reflecting the heightened activity among larger-volume traders.  Furthermore, the transfer volume of APE tokens grew by 12% QoQ, potentially driven by significant transactions following the approval of various governance proposals throughout the quarter. APE’s Journey Forward Looking ahead, APE’s utility is set to expand by implementing recently passed governance proposals. AIP-381 aims to build game-focused DAOs and vaults accessible exclusively to APE holders, allowing them to participate in governance and access specific ecosystem assets.  Additionally, the ApeChain proposal selected Horizen Labs to build a blockchain that utilizes APE as a gas token and potentially supports other asset-related applications. However, while APE continued to attract new holders, the growth rate of new APE holders did not accelerate despite two consecutive quarters of price increases, according to Messari.  To address this, ApeCoin DAO formed a branding partnership with a Formula One racing team, among other initiatives, to attract new holders in the future. Related Reading: Crypto Analyst Unveils Top 10 BTCfi Altcoins Post-Halving On the other hand, the ApeCoin DAO has been actively voting on new governance proposals, approving the building of ApeChain on the Arbitrum technology stack and expanding the utility of the APE token to GameFi DAOs and vaults.  The average votes per proposal increased by 19% QoQ, indicating growing community engagement. ApeCoin DAO plans to move the voting process on-chain more, promoting decentralization and participation in governance. Despite the overall growth witnessed by APE in Q1, the token has recently experienced a significant downturn, aligning with the downward trend in the overall market. APE has suffered a notable decline of over 41% in the past month, leading to its current trading price of $1.148. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

Roger Stone, a seasoned Republican political strategist, lobbyist, and former adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign, has endorsed the meme coin TRUMP on X, sparking a 17% increase in its value amid a wider downturn in the cryptocurrency market. Meanwhile, the meme token BODEN experienced a 9% uptick against the U.S. dollar over the last 24 […]

Many investors expressed worries about the crypto market corrections during this cycle. Bitcoin’s price drop has dragged altcoins with them, and, as a result, a more pessimistic sentiment has started to brew among some sectors of the crypto community. Analysts and traders have reassured investors that the market fluctuations are a normal part of the journey. Some urge the community to look at the bigger picture, as altcoins remain above levels not seen in years. Related Reading: Traders Forecast Massive Rally For Altcoins, But Why Is Sentiment “Down”? Renowned crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa weighed in on the matter, exploring some of the reasons and differences that make this bull cycle different from the 2020s. Time For An Altcoins Cool-Off? In an X post, Altcoin Sherpa asserted that there’s a high possibility “that altcoins are done for the next 1-4 months.” The analyst considers that, right now, most of the market needs “time to chill out and consolidate after such a big run.” Despite recently falling below the $1 trillion market capitalization, altcoins have performed remarkably in the last few months. In 2024, cryptocurrencies’ market cap, excluding Bitcoin’s, has increased by 22.79%, according to TradingView data. Altcoins market cap has also considerably surged in longer timeframes, with a 91.31% and 52.46% jump in the last six months and the past year. This “big run,” as Sherpa called it, sits the cryptocurrency market at levels like those seen in 2022. However, what worries the crypto analyst is, despite the overall performance, “many alts didn’t even run that hard over the last few months.” He illustrated his point with Chainlink’s native token, LINK. Despite the +500 days of accumulation, LINK investors only got 3-4x gains depending on when they go in. Now, the token’s price is “strongly pulling back.” Expectations for altcoins during this cycle seemingly play a significant role in the current sentiment. As one X user pointed out, LINK was anticipated to be one of the biggest winners of this cycle, Sherpa replied that he “expected more lol.” The user playfully commented, “No dino coins and new and shiny coins are the better bet.” How Did The Market Change? The previous comment highlights what appears to be a significant difference between this bull run and the 2020s. Choosing your bag has become more difficult since the market has expanded significantly. Sherpa considers that “now more than ever, it is super important to choose the altcoins that are going to run hard.” In 2020, the massive altseason made “everything go up consecutively.” This time, the liquidity is more fragmented, and “only a few sectors are pumping.” The AI and memes sectors have been the hottest topic in 2024, and layer-1 (L1) tokens, like SEI, have also performed well. “Everything else? Not great,” remarked Sherpa. The massive number of tokens, both newly launched and old ones, are finding it more difficult to “capture mindshare/attention.” Regarding retail investors, the analyst is not surprised that the default choice is memecoins instead of “trying to learn about some DeFi veRewards type of stuff. Or Oracle or L1s or modular or anything else.” The analyst suggested investors “move to real value” like ETH and SOL. He also considers that big token launches, with significant money behind them, “have some real value.” These coins, as stated in the post, have the potential to “do very well” once Bitcoin stabilizes. Sherpa’s market analysis closes with a “pretty bearish” outlook for the following months. The growing difficulty in keeping user attention and “for people to become strong users/community members” for many projects has made the market a different playground. Ultimately, the analyst pointed out that “portfolio rebalances are necessary” and said he still believes this run is not over. Related Reading: Crypto Analyst Says Don’t Buy Altcoins Just Yet – Here’s Why Altcoins market cap sitting at $981 billion in the weekly chart. Source: TOTAL2 on TradingView Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

The 2024 Bitcoin halving is only two days away, and there are already varying expectations of what might happen to the BTC price once the event is completed. One way to get an idea of how it could play out for the Bitcoin price, though, is through historical data and how the cryptocurrency has performed at times like these. Bitcoin Price Trends For Previous Halvings There have been three halvings so far since Bitcoin was first launched in 2009 and with each one, Bitcoin has demonstrated various reactions to the event. The first halving took place on November 28, 2012, the second happened on July 9, 2016, and the last one was on May 11, 2020. Related Reading: Arbitrum’s Massive $107 Million Token Unlock Threatens To Send Price Below $1 For the purpose of this report, only the last two halving will be referenced given that adoption had began to climb at the time that these two happened. The 2016 halving happened when Bitcoin was trading around $650, but in the weeks following the halving, the BTC price would drop another 30%, reaching as low as $460 before climbing back up once again. BTC price crashed 30% post-halving in 2016 | Source: Tradingview.com Then, during the 2020 halving, the BTC price was trending just under $10,000, and following the halving, would see a drop in price as well. However, this drop was not as significant as the 2016 drop, with the BTC price only falling around 15% during this time. BTC price crashed 15% post-halving in 2020 | Source: Tradingview.com This has formed quite a trend with the halving, where the Bitcoin price falls after the event, which is expected to be bullish. Therefore, if this trend continues, then BTC could see a sharp drop in price despite the expectation that the halving will be bullish for price. However, it is important to consider that subsequent halvings have seen a lower post-halving crash compared to their predecessors. So, if this holds this year, Bitcoin could still be looking at a crash but to a much lesser degree. For example, the 2020 post-halving crash was half of the 2016 post-halving crash, so holding this trend, the crash this time around could only be an around 7-8% crash. BTC Deviates From Established Halving Trends While the historical data does suggest where Bitcoin could be headed following the crash, it is also important to note that the digital asset has deviated from a number of pre-halving trends. One of these deviations is the fact that the Bitcoin price hit a new all-time high before the halving, something that has never happened before. This could suggest that there will be a complete deviation from these established trends, meaning that a crash may not follow the halving after all. Related Reading: XRP Price Set For 3,000% Rally To $22, Analyst Predicts Another deviation is that the few weeks leading up to the last two Bitcoin halvings have been green. However, in 2024, the last three weeks leading up to the halving have been red as the BTC price has been in decline. This also lends credence to the fact that there could also be a deviation from its post-halving trends. One thing to keep in mind though, is that the crypto market has always been uncertain and Bitcoin has a habit of doing what no one expected. The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has seen a pull back from the extreme greed territory, but it continues to remain in greed, which means investors are still bullish. In this case, if Bitcoin were to do the opposite of what is expected, then it could follow the established trend and crash back down. BTC deviates from pre-halving trend | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced three consecutive days of net outflows, with a loss of $58 million on Tuesday. Leading the outflow for the day was Grayscale’s GBTC. After Another Day of Outflow, IBIT Nears GBTC as Potential Leader in Spot Bitcoin ETF Market Grayscale’s GBTC continued to report reductions in its bitcoin […]

Recent data reveals that over 27% of all ether, amounting to 32,472,720 ethereum, is currently staked, as interest in this activity has heightened significantly within the past year. Liquid staking derivative (LSD) protocols have locked in more than $40 billion, with Lido Finance holding $28.77 billion of that sum. Staking Captures 27% of Ethereum Supply; […]

Cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform, Bybit has released a new report highlighting the impacts of the upcoming Bitcoin halving event on the supply dynamics of Bitcoin within exchanges in the crypto space. The crypto firm has provided valuable insights on how the halving event would enhance scarcity and considerably influence the price of BTC.  Exchanges Set To Face Bitcoin Supply Crunch On Tuesday, April 16, Bybit published a new report, providing a detailed analysis of the Bitcoin halving event set to take place this month. The crypto firm disclosed that the Bitcoin reserves within the world’s crypto exchanges have been depleting at a rapid pace, leaving only nine months of BTC supply left on exchanges.  Related Reading: Arbitrum’s Massive $107 Million Token Unlock Threatens To Send Price Below $1 For a clearer perspective, Bybit explains that with just two million Bitcoin left in its total supply, a daily influx of $500 million into Spot Bitcoin ETFs would result in approximately 7,142 BTC leaving exchanges daily. This suggests that it would take only nine months to completely consume all of the remaining BTC reserves on exchanges.  Bybit has stated that a major contributor to this supply squeeze would be the upcoming Bitcoin halving event, which would reduce the cryptocurrency’s total supply by 50% by cutting Bitcoin miners’ rewards in half.  The crypto exchange has also disclosed that after the halving event, the sell-side supply of BTC flowing into Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) will become grossly reduced. Additionally, Bitcoin’s “supply squeeze will ostensibly be worse.” BTC To Become “Twice As Rare As Gold” In its report, Bybit compared Bitcoin’s supply after the halving event with that of gold. The crypto exchange revealed that Bitcoin was steadily growing to become one of the safest investment choices, even for the most seasoned and sophisticated investors within the crypto space.  According to the exchange, the Bitcoin halving event would significantly impact the cryptocurrency’s scarcity factor, making it an even rarer asset than gold.  Basing this analysis on the Stock-to-Flow (S2F) ratio, Bybit disclosed that Bitcoin’s S2F ratio is around 56 currently, while gold’s ratio is 60. After the halving event this April, Bitcoin’s S2F ratio is projected to increase to 112.  Related Reading: Arkham Releases Top 5 Crypto Rich List – You Won’t Believe How Much Is Inaccessible “Each Bitcoin halving sharpens the narrative of Bitcoin as not just a currency, but a scarce digital asset, akin to digital gold. This upcoming halving in 2024 will thrust BTC into an era of unprecedented scarcity, making it twice as rare as gold,” the Co-founder and CEO of Bybit, Ben Zhou stated.  While highlighting the significance of Bitcoin’s rarity following the halving event, another report also disclosed that the price of Bitcoin would experience significant upward pressure post-halving. This suggests that BTC’S supply squeeze could potentially propel its price to new heights during this period.  Furthermore, the report revealed that several crypto analysts predict that the post-halving increase in Bitcoin’s price would be less remarkable than the early pre-halving surge which saw the price of Bitcoin hitting new all-time highs of more than $73,000. BTC price drops below $63,000 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com Featured image from Analytics Vidhya, chart from Tradingview.com