The global cryptocurrency market took a breather today as it broke a two-day losing streak to register a marginal 1 per cent gain in the last 24 hours to stand at $1.91 trillion. Trade volumes across exchanges witnessed a 15 per cent drop over the previous day.

Bitcoin (BTC) retracted by 1 per cent to close the day at $44,300. In the last 24 hours, the bulls and bears had a bit of a tussle as BTC went on to retest the $44,200 support level. BTC trade volumes declined by 12 per cent as traders indulged in a sell off. However, BTC’s weekly MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence), an indicator that tracks market momentum, flashed green for the first time since April when BTC reached its all-time high. This indicates that a shift in momentum is imminent and that BTC is expected to rally north soon.

Ethereum (ETH) failed to secure a close above the psychological $3,000 level as ETH trade volumes saw a steep 24 per cent drop indicating inclination for a sell-off at this level. ETH is currently trading near $2,990. Its support levels are at $2,950 and $2,900 while flipping the $3,000 level for resistance.

Among the top altcoins, Terra (LUNA) rallied a significant 28 per cent today in anticipation of its Columbus-5 network upgrade that is expected to go live in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) and Internet Computer (ICP) registered 7 per cent gains with Cardano reclaiming the third position among cryptocurrencies by market cap. Polygon (MATIC) and Uniswap (UNI) slipped marginally today.

While BTC has cooled off momentarily after a remarkable rally from its range-bound activity in earlier months, its price actions will depend on how quickly it can breach its 200-day moving average (at $45,500) again.

Top Gainers today:

1. Avalanche (AVAX): 29.2%
2. Terra (LUNA): 28.0%
3. Cosmos (ATOM): 27.0%

Top Losers today:

1. Telcoin (TEL): -6.2%
2. Celsius (CEL): -5.2%
3. Stacks (STX): -4.4%

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

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at a Glance:

1. Digital payments platform MobileCoin has raised $66 million in a Series B funding round to further develop its crypto offerings, including MOBot, described as the 'first cryptocurrency chatbot payment system'.
2. E-commerce giant Alibaba has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on its auction platform despite China's regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
3. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced it would be dropping non-fungible tokens (NFT) depicting WWE Hall of Famer John Cena in a 24-hour auction on August 20 in the lead-up to this year's SummerSlam event.
4. The Ukrainian ministry has considered paying its staff employees in e-hryvnia (name of its CBDC) and could be the suitable first pilot for the CBDC currently in development.
5. Popular short video platform TikTok has partnered with Ethereum-backed music streaming app Audius to allow music creators on Audius app to publish their music under the "TikTok Sounds" section.

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