Bitcoin (BTC) once again came close to breaching the major psychological resistance at $50,000 with a strong 4 per cent gain in an hour intraday post disruptions in Facebook-led services. BTC experienced resistance at $49,750 while it enjoyed intraday support at $46,900. BTC closed the day strong at $49,100 with a 3 per cent daily increase. BTC dominance is now at 43.0 per cent.

Led by BTC, the overall cryptocurrency market grew by a modest 2 per cent to $2.16 trillion as of 9 am IST. Total trade volumes across exchanges grew 23 per cent to $107 billion today. This comes as US stock indices registered declines given a 5 per cent drop in Facebook’s stock to levels last seen in June. The crypto market benefitted from sentiments indicating a preference for decentralized social networks in the future as Facebok-led services were disrupted for at least 5 hours across the globe.

Ethereum (ETH) also gained as BTC rallied but ended the day with a modest 1 per cent increase to $3,380. ETH faces strong resistance at $3,400 while it enjoys support at $3,250.

Key altcoins in the top 25 had a modest day with the exceptions of Dogecoin (DOGE), Internet Computer (ICP) and Terra (LUNA) with more than 7 per cent gains. Meme coins had a field day as DOGE and Shiba Inu (SHIB) rallied. SHIB registered a daily gain of 68 per cent and topped the charts. Binance Coin (BNB) has once again entered the top 3 after replacing Cardano (ADA) yesterday. Axie Infinity (AXS) cooled off after a weekly gain of more than 100 per cent with a 2 per cent drop today.

BTC’s relative strength index (RSI) suggests that a breakout is imminent and if BTC crosses $51,000 this week, it can rally beyond $55,000 this month. Altcoins are likely to mimic BTC’s price actions in the mid-term.

Top Gainers today:

1. Shiba Inu (SHIB): 67.9%

2. Icon (ICX): 19.5%

3. Klaytn (KLAY): 13.2%

Top Loser today:

1. dYdX (DYDX): -7.4%

2. Perpetual Protocol (PERP): -4.3%

3. Revain (REV): -3.8%

Analysis includes the top 100 cryptocurrencies only as of 9 am IST

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at a Glance:

1. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, crypto transactions have surged by 700% in Central and Southern Asia and Oceania region between July 2020 and June 2021. The value of these transactions amounted to $573 billion.

2. New Zealand-based crypto investment firm Vault Digital funds have launched its first Bitcoin-only investment fund that will enable New Zealand investors to get direct and complete exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

3. US-based crypto miner Marathon Digital Holdings has been issued $100 million from Silvergate bank to purchase Bitcoin mining equipment and fund its mining operations.

4. Decentralised finance (DeFi) security firm Lossless has helped DeFi lending protocol Cream Finance to recover more than 5,000 ETH from its flash loan attack back in August 2021.

5. Edward Snowden, the famous whistleblower, has said that despite a coordinated global campaign by governments to undermine public understanding of (and support for) cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has gotten much stronger.