Market Consolidates by 3%; BTC Closing in on $35K Mark

After closing with the lowest six-month gains in three years, Bitcoin (BTC) continued its upward rally for the second consecutive day after hovering around the $33,000 region for quite a while. It crossed the $34,000 mark post midday and continued to gain momentum to close at $34,600, registering a gain of 3.5 per cent in the last 24 hours. BTC eased past the first resistance level at $33,800 and kept clear of the first and second support levels at $32,600 and $30,270 respectively. However, the daily BTC trading volume saw a slight decline of 1 per cent when compared to the previous day suggesting weakness in the rally. If we look at the bigger picture, this dip coincides with the Bitcoin mining difficulty experiencing its largest downward adjustment in history precipitated by China's crackdown on mining. 

The overall market sentiment was unsurprisingly in line with BTC market sentiment with almost all the major cryptocurrencies showcasing an upward trend in value. The global crypto market cap stood at $1.43T, an increase of 3.2 per cent over the last day ending at 9 am IST. On the flip side, buyer’s confidence continued to flicker, apparent in the 2.4 percent decline in the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours. 

Ethereum (ETH) continued to rally upwards ahead of its EIP-1559 blockchain update, registering a 22 per cent gain in the last 7 days to cross the $2,200 mark. It steered clear of the first and second support levels at $2,100 and $2,000 respectively. EIP-1559 stands for “Ethereum Improvement Proposal” and it is an update that is set to go live this month.

All the major cryptocurrencies including Cardano (ADA), Binance coin (BNB), Ripple (XRP), Polkadot (DOT), Uniswap (UNI) among others continued gaining momentum by up to 7 per cent. Bitcoin continues to dominate the market with a 45.48 per cent share listing a minor decrease over the day, lending momentum to the overall market sentiment. Investors had something to cheer at the end of the week as BTC remained bullish with an 8 per cent gain over the past week successfully testing its critical support levels. 

Top Gainers Today-

1. Elrond (EGLD): 15.0%

2. Aave (AAVE): 11.5%

3. Celsius (CEL): 9.8%

Top Losers Today-

1. XinFin Network (XDC): -7.1%

2. IOTA (MIOTA): -1.26%

3. Cosmos (ATOM): -1.2%

The analysis includes the top 100 coins only as of 9 am IST

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at Glance: 

1. Bitcoin mining difficulty has dropped by 28 per cent owing to reduced competition amidst the Chinese crackdown. This drop is being regarded as the highest negative adjustment in the history of Bitcoin.

2. The USD Coin on the Tron blockchain crossed the $100 million mark in its circulating supply, a month after it first went live on the blockchain. This development is one of many moves towards blockchains delivering cheaper transaction fees and faster transaction speed. 

3. The USA has been ranked as the most ‘crypto ready country in the world with the highest score of 7.13 per cent, as per a recent survey by Crypto Head. The same survey noted Cyprus as the country most interested in cryptocurrencies. 

4. International crypto exchanges in India might be required to pay an additional 18 per cent GST (Goods and Services Tax) very soon as per a report by Economic Times. 

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