ethereum merger: Crypto price today: Bitcoin stays above $20,000; Shiba Inu & Avalanche shed 3% each
The latest red-hot inflation numbers have put global investors on edge about potential actions by the US Federal Reserve at its meeting next week. The FOMC is likely to push interest rates by 75 basis points, while a 100 bps increase cannot be ruled out.
Apart from the US dollar-pegged Tether, all other major crypto tokens traded lower on Thursday. Shiba Inu and Avalanche fell 3 percent each, while Bitcoin, Polkadot and Polygon lost 2 percent each.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization traded lower at $990.19 billion, falling nearly one percent in the past 24 hours. However, the total trading volume fell by a whopping 23 percent, close to $78.30 billion.
Expert take
Inflation rates once again affected the global cryptocurrency market this week, causing the global crypto market cap to once again fall below $1 trillion as it reacted to the US CPI, said Prashant Kumar, founder and CEO weTrade.
“The top two cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin and Ethereum – that had made gains over the weekend saw a decline,” he added. “All eyes are on the Ethereum merger scheduled to be completed today.”
Global updates
A South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, the co-founder of now-defunct stablecoin issuer Terraform Labs, according to the Economic Crimes Division of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office.
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is raising capital in parallel with a potential acquisition, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Crypto markets appeared to be suspended on Wednesday as traders awaited the Ethereum blockchain’s historic merger — the network’s transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network, which is expected to take place in about 12 hours.
In April 2021, China hosted what cryptocurrency and art media heralded as the world’s first “major” crypto art exhibition.
Tech View of Giotto’s Crypto Platform
Ethereum (ETH), the largest smart contract blockchain for decentralized applications, is about to go through one of the biggest events in its history today. The Merger – Ethereum’s transition from a Proof-of-Work-based network to a Proof-of-Stake network has been initiated amid a series of unfavorable macro moves.
It will be interesting to note ETH’s price trends at such a crucial stage. ETH is still trading 23 percent below its August high of $2,000. Starting at. As of 8am today, ETH is trading at $1,610, up 1 percent in the last 24 hours.
Map-ETH
After hitting a high of $2,000 in mid-August, ETH made a series of lower highs to a low of $1,400 before starting to chart an uptrend again. Since then, ETH has been moving in an ascending parallel channel and has defaulted twice to break below the channel. So far, the upper trendline resistance in the channel is acting as a strong resistance and ETH has failed to break out. ETH has broken below the channel and the .618 fib retracement is currently serving as its immediate support.
Increased whale activity and the influx of institutional investment in the wake of stake gains could brighten ETH’s outlook. However, Ethereum needs to overcome the psychological resistance of $1,700 to initiate another price rally. In the event of a sell-off today, $1,500 should act as immediate support, although it could break if the merger fails or is delayed.
Great levels
Resistance: $1650, $1700
Support: $1550, $1490
(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts’ own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial advisor before taking any position in the asset(s) mentioned.)
