The crypto market traded within rigid ranges on Saturday, with the total market cap closing at $2.08 trillion as of 10 am IST, an increase of a modest 1 per cent driven by a few altcoins. Trade volumes across exchanges dropped significantly to $110 billion.

Bitcoin (BTC) traded within a $1,100 band through the day from $44,800 to $45,900. The $46,000 level is now flipped as a resistance zone. BTC closed the day at $45,380, a 0.3 per cent increase overall. While BTC has held off further dips, few analysts expect BTC to get rejected at $47,000-48,000 before it heads towards the $40,000 range. If that happens, BTC may lose its support at its 20-week moving average. BTC dominance is now at 41.1 per cent.

Ethereum (ETH) gained by a modest 2.4 per cent today though it failed to push past $3,350, closing the day at $3,325. It successfully bounced off $3,200 intra-day, its 50-day EMA.

Key altcoins drove the market today with Avalanche (AVAX) and Polkadot (DOT) gaining by more than 9 per cent. Cardano (ADA) also had a strong rally on the eve of its smart contract announcement expected later today, rising by 7 per cent today. Solana (SOL) and Algorand (ALGO) had sub 1 per cent declines.

BTC price actions will drive the market in the next couple of weeks. Till BTC trade above its 20-week moving average, some altcoins will continue to grow.

Top Gainers today:

1. Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) : 18.9%

2. OMG Network (OMG) : 16.7%

3. Avalanche (AVAX) : 14.7%

Top Losers today:

1. Algorand (ALGO): -9.2%

2. Revain (REV): -6.1%

3. IOST (IOST): -5.8%

Analysis includes the top 100 cryptocurrencies only as of 10 am IST

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at a Glance:

1. According to decentralised apps tracker DappRadar, the weekly sales volume on NFT marketplace OpenSea has fallen sharply by almost 50% to $792 million over the last seven days. The platform had recorded $4 billion sales volume in August.

2. The Bitcoin network reached a major milestone yesterday as Bitcoin miners officially produced block number 700,000. Out of the total supply of 21 million BTC, 89.6 per cent have been mined to date.

3. After a deal with decentralized exchange (DEX) Swarm Markets, Britain’s state-owned postal service will now sell Bitcoin vouchers to anyone using its identity verification app.

4. Swiss crypto exchange SIX has been granted approval by the Swiss regulators to launch a digital asset marketplace and central securities depository built on blockchain technology.

5. American crypto hedge fund Pantera has raised $369 million in total from 107 investors for its new blockchain fund according to an SEC filing

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