Bitcoin price is gaining pace above the $44,000 resistance. BTC could rise further if it clears the $44,800 resistance zone in the near term.

Bitcoin price was able to surpass the $43,400 and $43,500 resistance levels.
The price is trading above $44,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average.
There was a break above a major rising channel with resistance at $43,650 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
The pair could continue to move up if it clears the $44,800 resistance zone.

Bitcoin Price Starts Fresh Increase

Bitcoin price remained well-bid above the $42,500 level. BTC started a fresh increase above the $43,400 and $43,500 resistance levels. Besides, there was a break above a major rising channel with resistance at $43,650 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

The pair even surged above the $44,000 resistance zone. It traded to a new weekly high at $44,780 and is currently consolidating gains. It is trading above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $42,767 swing low to the $44,780 high.

Bitcoin is now trading above $44,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average. Immediate resistance is near the $44,800 level. The next key resistance could be $45,000, above which the price could start another decent increase. The next stop for the bulls may perhaps be $45,750.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

A clear move above the $45,750 resistance could send the price toward the $46,500 resistance. The next resistance could be near the $47,200 level. A close above the $47,200 level could push the price further higher. The next major resistance sits at $48,500.

Downside Correction In BTC?

If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $44,800 resistance zone, it could start a downside correction. Immediate support on the downside is near the $44,300 level.

The first major support is $43,750 and the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $42,767 swing low to the $44,780 high. If there is a close below $43,750, the price could gain bearish momentum. In the stated case, the price could dive toward the $43,000 support.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining pace in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $44,300, followed by $43,750.

Major Resistance Levels – $44,800, $45,750, and $45,500.

Bitcoin miner reserves can often be a tell for where the market could be headed next due to their large holdings. These reserves going up or down can pinpoint how miners are looking at the market, and a drop in their reserves can be bad for the BTC price.

Miners Reserves Drop By 14,000 BTC

Bitcoin miners, who are responsible for confirming transactions on the blockchain and keeping the network safe, seem to be turning toward selling rather than accumulating. According to a CryptoQuant report, these miner reserves have seen a notable drop since 2024 began.

Their holdings dropped by 14,000 BTC in less than two months, suggesting that these miners have been selling some of their stash. Going by an average price of $43,000 since January 2024, this means that Bitcoin miners have sold over $600 million worth of BTC so far. As a result of this, miner reserves are currently sitting at 1.8 million BTC, which is the lowest level since June 2021.

Bitcoin miners selling their coins are not new because they often need to sometimes sell to keep their operations running. The most notable costs include electricity, as well as mining machines. However, it does not change the fact that their selling can have an adverse effect on the price of BTC.

This time around, though, miners seem to be selling for an additional reason, which Matthew Sigel, who’s head of digital asset research at VanEck, has identified to be for purposes of bolstering their balance sheets.

Bitcoin Miners Getting Ready For The Halving

The next Bitcoin halving is expected to happen sometime in April 2024, and the block rewards are expected to fall to 3.125 BTC. Naturally, these miners are getting ready for this drop in rewards, as identified by Matthew Sigel.

“Miners have begun to sell more of their coins to bolster balance sheets and fund growth capex ahead of tougher times for margins when block rewards are halved in April. After the halving, scale will matter even more.”

Nevertheless, as selling has ramped up, so has buying as Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers scramble to accumulate BTC for their customers. According to this NewsbTC report, Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers now hold more than 657,000 BTC, worth more than $28 billion at current prices.

At the time of writing, the BTC price is trending at $42,933, after being beaten back from the $43,000 resistance. The crypto’s fluctuations at this level suggest that $43,000 is the target to beat if it is to continue its uptrend.

The Dogecoin adoption trend has taken the crypto market by surprise after the number of new wallets being created on the network skyrocketed. Last week, new wallet creations were the center of attention as more than 890,000 new DOGE wallets were added in a single week. This time around, a new Dogecoin metric is taking the stage.

New Non-Zero Dogecoin Addresses Rise Rapidly

In a new report, the on-chain data tracking platform Santiment has identified rapid growth in one Dogecoin metric and that is the number of new non-zero addresses. These addresses include those that were created in the last week and are holding more than 0.001 DOGE on their balances.

The report shows that this category of addresses jumped more than 400,000 in the space of two weeks. More specifically, 413,800 new wallets have been added in the last week, with DOGE balances ranging from between 0.001 and 1 DOGE. This earns them the classification of non-zero balances.

Interestingly, this rapid rise in adoption happened at a time when the DOGE price was struggling to hold up in the market. As Santiment notes in its post, the DOGE price is down more than 23%, while network adoption has been on a bullish run.

However, this rise in adoption does not have a positive effect on the DOGE price, suggesting that there isn’t demand among the investors. More than likely, these new non-zero wallets are created by existing users who are looking to take advantage of and trade the newly introduced DRC-20 token standard on the network.

DOGE Comes Under More Selling Pressure

The Dogecoin price could be looking at more struggles ahead as more sell-offs could be looming on the horizon. Whale Alert, a platform that tracks the origin and destination of large crypto transactions, has flagged a large DOGE transaction that has sparked speculation in the community.

According to the report, the whale sent a total of 100 million DOGE coins worth over $7.8 million to the Robinhood exchange. The destination of the transaction is important because usually when investors send coins to centralized exchanges such as Robinhood, the purposes are more than likely to sell. In this case, a $7.8 million sell-off could put further pressure on an already struggling DOGE price.

For the DOGE price to climb as high as $0.2, there would need to be a catalyst, such as Elon Musk announcing Dogecoin payments for X (formerly Twitter). If the entire crypto market continues to perform poorly though, then the DOGE price could fall as low as $0.07 before bouncing back.

The state of Bitcoin (BTC) price action across multiple time frames has analysts at the edge of their seats. As of February 7, various technical formations suggest that the leading crypto appears poised for a critical breakout from the current consolidation. 

Is Bitcoin Preparing For A Big Move?

Taking to X, Mags thinks Bitcoin is in for a “big move,” considering the candlestick arrangement in the weekly chart. The analyst notes that prices have been moving horizontally in the past nine weeks, falling within the expected range. 

The Bitcoin market has ranged between 8 and 30 weeks in the past. So far, the current consolidation has lasted for nine weeks. Amid this, Bitcoin prices have tested both sides of the range with notable “fake-outs.” 

In light of the current state of affairs in the Bitcoin market, Mags is confident that the prolonged consolidation suggests that the coin, guided by history, could edge higher. 

Beyond the ranging market, another analyst notes that the Bitcoin 3-day Bollinger Bands, a technical indicator that measures volatility, is narrowing. The squeeze, the trader notes, is at historical levels, often followed by a breakout. However, as it is, how prices will evolve in the weeks and months ahead remains uncertain.

Adding to the intrigue, Jason Goepfert on X points out that the S&P 500, a stock market index, is currently within 0.35% of its 3-year high. The uptrend is clear even though less than half of all stocks constituting the index are trading above their 10-day moving average. 

At the same time, less than 60% are above their 50-day moving average, and fewer than 70% are above their 200-day moving average. This rare confluence suggests that the financial market could be at a critical turning point, possibly impacting crypto.

Eyes On Spot ETF Issuers And United States Federal Reserve

Only time will tell whether Bitcoin will rally or tank from spot rates. However, what’s evident is that the Bitcoin uptrend remains clear, with fundamentals aligning to support optimistic bulls. To illustrate, spot Bitcoin ETF issuers are buying more coins from the market. At the same time, the excitement around the upcoming Bitcoin halving event is adding fuel to the optimism.

The broader market is also watching the United States Federal Reserve. Market consensus is that the central bank will slash interest rates in March 2024 and embark on quantitative easing. With more money circulating, some will find their way to Bitcoin, driving prices to record highs of $69,000 or beyond in the coming months.

Crypto analyst Jaydee recently highlighted a historical pattern that suggests that the XRP price could experience a parabolic move soon enough. If history is anything to go by, XRP is believed to have the potential to see a 4,000% surge when this pattern finally forms.

XRP Price Testing 10-Year Trendline

Jaydee revealed in an X (formerly Twitter) post that the XRP price was currently testing a 10-year trendline. This move is significant as the analyst noted that XRP saw a 39x and 650x increase in its price the last two times this trendline was tested. Specifically, the 650x increase came in 2017, which happened to be a notable year for XRP.

Several analysts have referred to 2017 in their XRP analysis, suggesting that 2024 could mirror it in some way. In fact, Jaydee had alluded to 2017 in one of his previous XRP analyses, where he noted that a symmetrical triangle that formed then had returned to the charts. He suggested that the bullish pattern could trigger another parabolic move like the one that occurred in 2017.

Meanwhile, Jaydee revealed in a more recent X post that he was stacking up on more XRP tokens despite the crypto token’s tepid price action. The analyst advised his followers to “stop timing the bottom” when they can just buy the consolidation phase. He further hinted that a move to the upside could be imminent, stating that the weekly RSI looks like a “hidden bullish divergence.”

A Buy Signal On The XRP Charts

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez stated in an X post that the TD Sequential indicator was signaling a buy on the XRP weekly chart. According to him, this indicator further suggests that the XRP price is “poised for an upswing lasting one to four weeks.” Interestingly, this coincides with crypto analyst Crypto Rover’s prediction that XRP could experience a “massive breakout” by March.

Then, Crypto Rover’s chart analysis hinted at XRP rising to as high as $1 when this move to the upside occurs. However, it remains uncertain whether or not XRP will be able to sustain that bullish momentum in a bid to fulfill crypto analyst Egarg Crypto’s prediction that XRP will rise to $5 by April. 

Egrag mentioned that the $5 range would only mark the “initial wave 1 of a prolonged bull market.” The analyst has also stated on different occasions that XRP could rise to as high as $27 in the next bull run. 

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $0.5, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

Ethereum (ETH) has made significant strides in its 2024 roadmap with the successful launch of the Dencun upgrade on the final Holesky testnet. 

This is seen as a crucial step towards deploying the upgrade on the mainnet, signaling Ethereum’s progress in improving transaction efficiency, and scalability and reducing transaction fees by up to 90%. As a result, ETH has surged 2.9% in the last 24 hours, breaking its previous downtrend.

Ethereum Dencun Upgrade

The Dencun upgrade was first activated on the Sepolia testnet in January 2024, following its deployment on the Goerli testnet. This upgrade aligns with Ethereum’s broader strategy to enhance scalability and reduce transaction costs for its users. 

Introducing the concept of “proto-danksharding,” Dencun aims to decrease transaction costs for layer-2 blockchains and address scalability challenges, paving the way for the eventual implementation of “danksharding” for further benefits.

Once fully implemented, Dencun is expected to significantly increase Ethereum’s transaction processing capacity, potentially enabling the network to handle over 100,000 transactions per second. According to the network’s development team, this scalability enhancement is crucial for supporting the growing ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps) and users on Ethereum.

Furthermore, Dencun will have notable technical improvements, such as the introduction of ‘blobs,’ which reduce the cost of rollups on the Ethereum mainnet by compressing transaction data off-chain. 

By caching data needed for short-term transaction verification, blobs aim to minimize storage and processing requirements, further enhancing the network’s transactional capabilities.

Anticipation For ETH’s Market Impact

The successful implementation of the Dencun upgrade holds the potential for significant implications on ETH’s market value, driven by a combination of factors.

Firstly, the upgrade’s enhanced network capabilities, including boosted transaction processing capacity and reduced costs, are expected to attract more developers and users to the Ethereum ecosystem. 

With improved scalability and lower transaction fees, Ethereum could become a more attractive platform for building dApps and conducting transactions. This increased utility and demand for Ethereum could have a positive impact on its market value as more participants seek to acquire ETH tokens.

The perceived reliability and forward momentum resulting from the successful implementation of Dencun may attract more investors to consider Ethereum as an investment opportunity. The increased interest and demand for ETH tokens driven by this positive sentiment can contribute to potential price appreciation.

Lastly, the anticipation of Dencun’s benefits and the reactions to its successful implementation may lead to short-term price volatility, with investors adjusting their positions based on their expectations of how the upgrade will impact Ethereum’s functionality and market position.

All of these developments could have a significant impact on ETH’s price trajectory and position the token in a long bullish trend, if this momentum continues to be capitalized on, the next barrier at $2,450 could be easily surpassed, potentially sending ETH to new highs. 

While the long-term implications remain to be seen, this is a positive development for ETH bulls as the network has lacked significant catalysts and has been involved in a significant price correction for the past 3 weeks.

With activations on the Sepolia and Goerli testnets already completed, the final testnet deployment, Holesky, was initially scheduled for February 7, 2024. However, it has now been rescheduled for March 2024. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

On Tuesday, the Solana blockchain experienced a major outage that stopped the network’s mainnet operations for approximately 5 hours. The outage raised concerns about the blockchain’s stability and security as the incident became the 11th of the kind in the last 2 years.

Kicking Solana When It’s Down?

On February 6, the Solana blockchain network suffered a significant outage that lasted 4 and 46 minutes and disrupted the network’s operations, raising doubts about the blockchain and exposing the project to fierce criticism.

The crypto community took no time to share their thoughts about the situation, with many crypto investors referring to memes and jokes to express their concerns about the history of Solana’s outages.

Among the online voices, Cardano’s Founder, Charles Hoskinson, took the opportunity to poke fun at the situation by referencing his previous jokes about the network. Hoskinson replied to the Solana team’s announcement simply stating, “This always works,” and attaching a gif of a man blowing a malfunctioning video game’s cartridge before inserting it back into the console.

This always works https://t.co/5kVRVGFM4l pic.twitter.com/X9yJXcETQn

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) February 6, 2024

Members of the crypto community found the remark amusing. One user brought forward previous sarcastic comments that the Cardano founder made during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session two years ago.

Hoskinson trolled the AMA viewers by claiming collaboration between the two networks was possible. He started saying, “You know, collaboration with Solana would make a lot of sense…” before recalling a story of his brother owning a successful Nintendo repair shop and comparing the blockchain to a broken gaming console.

 So I was thinking since you know Solana comes from that world, that maybe there’s some legacy there, you know, we can figure out how to turn it on and off, taking it out on the cartridge, these types of things. I don’t know, it might be possible.

Hoskinson finished the statement by mockingly suggesting that the collaboration wouldn’t happen, he said “But my brother doesn’t do Nintendo stuff anymore. He’s a doctor.”

“Collaboration with Solana would actually make a lot of sense.” @IOHK_Charles

Perhaps #Solana can become a partner chain? #Cardano pic.twitter.com/8Vp0NMNl7a

— St₳kΣ with Pride (@StakeWithPride) February 6, 2024

Besides Cardano’s founder, Wall Street veteran and journalist Max Keiser also criticized the Solana team’s announcement in reply. Keiser called SOL, Solana’s native token, “centralized garbage” and took the opportunity to also shoot at coins like ETH, ADA, and BNB.

Solana Swiftly Recovers

Recently, Solana’s DeFi ecosystem made the headlines after the Solana-based decentralized exchanges (DEXs) daily trading volume surpassed Ethereum’s for the second time, according to data from DefiLlama, hinting at healthy growth and development in the Solana ecosystem.

Despite the doubts and concerns of crypto investors during the outage, SOL’s price recovered from the initial drop and has recovered 1.8% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko. At the time of writing, SOL is trading at $97.

Software company Microstrategy bought another $37 million worth of Bitcoin, bringing its unrealized profit to $37 million.

Microstrategy Now Holds This Much In Unrealized Bitcoin Gain

Michael Saylor, the founder and chairman of Microstrategy, has announced in an X post that the firm purchased an additional 850 BTC at $37.2 million in January, which was recently approved.

In a post on X, CryptoQuant Netherlands community manager Maartunn explains four important facts about Microstrategy’s portfolio after this latest shopping spree.

First, here is a chart that shows how the total supply held by Microstrategy has grown over the last few years:

The chart shows that the company has made several Bitcoin purchases over the past year and has substantially grown its holdings. Following the latest buying move, the firm’s wallets hold 190,000 BTC.

This is a staggering amount, as the entire circulating supply of the asset is around 19.6 million BTC right now, which means Microstrategy alone holds almost 1% of the BTC supply.

For perspective, all the Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), combined, hold about 3.3% of the coins in circulation.

Next, Maartunn has shared a chart displaying the cost of each purchase.

Adding up all these costs, the total price of Microstrategy’s Bitcoin stack is around $5.932 billion. However, the chart below shows that the company’s actual BTC value differs from this amount.

As the graph shows, Microstrategy’s stack’s value at the current cryptocurrency price is notably higher than the amount it used to acquire these coins. In particular, the value of the company’s holdings is currently around $8.1 billion.

Finally, the analyst shared a chart revealing the firm’s unrealized profit and loss trend over the years.

Microstrategy’s Bitcoin holdings had been in the red during the 2022 bear market and most of 2023, but with the start of the rally last October, the company’s fates finally changed as it returned to the green.

The firm’s BTC stack holds significant unrealized gains of almost $2.2 billion. It would appear that Saylor’s strategy may have paid off, at least for now.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around the $43,000 mark, up 1% over the past week.

Cardano (ADA) has been stuck in a price rut recently, but behind the scenes, activity on the Cardano blockchain is exploding. Transaction volumes and wallet addresses are all growing, showing that interest and adoption of the network are growing rapidly. All this activity has prompted analysis of how far the crypto can spike in the near future.

Cardano On-Chain Activity Points To Future Price Growth

Cardano’s growth in development activity in recent months has rivaled other cryptocurrencies, putting it on the map among developers. Metrics show that there are currently 1,322 projects under development. Similarly, Plutus V2 scripts recently reached 18,821, and Plutus V1 scripts also stand at 6,536 to make a total of 25,357, indicating the growth of smart contracts.

Related Reading: Massive $29.3 Million Whale Transfer Threatens XRP Price With More Sell Pressure

These scripts are essential for deploying smart contracts on the Cardano chain and have seen a 76% growth from 14,379 scripts recorded on January 1.

At the same time, Cardano’s transaction count in the past two months has been something to boast about. The Cardano ADA network recently successfully completed 255,000 payments in 24 hours. Particularly, December and January saw Cardano process over 4 million transactions each month, showing the increasing network usage. 

Active daily addresses have steadied above 30,000 since the beginning of the year, recently reaching 57,304 active addresses on February 4th. The total transaction count is now at 83.58 million. These metrics reflect the network’s ability to process a high number of transactions and its appeal to developers looking to build innovative crypto projects. 

Price Targets Suggest ADA Could Reach $4 To $6 Long Term

Despite the gloomy price action in the past month, these metrics point to Cardano price sentiment changing to a more favorable one. As a result, analysts predict a bullish turnaround, with one even putting a $4 to $6 price target by 2026. This represents a 730% and 1140% growth from the current price level.

In a similar vein, crypto analyst Ali Martinez predicted a more bullish surge to $8 by January 2025, representing a 1558% surge from the current price level. Nevertheless, ADA has a lot of room to grow if Cardano can continue to attract developer and investor interest.

At the time of writing, Cardano is trading at $0.4825, with 44% of addresses still making a profit and 51% of addresses currently at a loss. While short-term volatility is likely and the road ahead still has obstacles, the long-term price outlook for ADA looks bright, and Cardano appears well positioned for future success in a wider crypto market bull run. 

Sean McBride, the former Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Ripple, has hinted at significant upcoming news for Ripple and XRP. McBride’s announcement, made via a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), has sparked a mix of excitement and skepticism among followers and investors alike.

His post stated: “Big news coming from #Ripple and #XRP in the next couple days,” setting the stage for speculation on what the news could entail and its potential impact on XRP’s market performance. However, the reaction to McBride’s announcement has been varied within the XRP community.

Big news coming from #Ripple and #XRP in the next couple days

— Sean McBride (@seanmcbride16) February 6, 2024

Wietse Wind, the founder of XRPL Labs—a company known for developing XRP Ledger-based projects such as XAMAN (formerly XUMM), a digital wallet, and Codius, a smart contract platform—responded with a hint of skepticism, implying concerns about insider trading:

Must be quite the news if it is worth entering insider trading territory.

Another community member, identified as Faisal, expressed a more cynical view, suggesting a pattern of temporary engagement with Ripple’s technology: “Another company using Ripple’s products as a ‘pilot program’ and then never actually using it after?” This sentiment reflects a broader skepticism that has occasionally surrounded Ripple’s partnerships and the actual adoption of its technology.

In response to the negative feedback, McBride’s retort was blunt: “Yeah, all you non Ripple shareholders can STFU because, yes, big news IS coming, already has come, and XRP is going to explode so piss off if you don’t have anything positive to say.” This statement indicates a strong belief in the significance of the upcoming news and its potential to positively impact the XRP price.

XRP Price Shows No Reaction (Yet)

As of press time, the XRP price has not shown any significant reaction to McBride’s announcement. This lack of immediate market movement may suggest that investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach.

In a technical analysis of XRP against the US dollar (1-day chart), the price shows a continuation within a descending channel pattern, indicating a bearish market sentiment. As of press time, the XRP price hovered around the $0.50 mark.

The chart analysis reveals that the price of XRP is currently struggling below several critical Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) – the 20-day EMA at $0.52319, the 50-day EMA at $0.55345, and the 100-day EMA at $0.56877. This EMA positioning suggests a strong resistance level for any upward price movement. Furthermore, the 200-day EMA at $0.56220, although below the 100-day EMA, still acts as a potential resistance zone.

Volume indicators show a relatively stable volume with a slight increase in selling pressure, as denoted by the red volume bars. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 36.08, which is close to the oversold territory, but not yet indicative of a strong reversal signal.

Notably, the price is trading near the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement level at $0.49894, a critical support level in the short term. This Fibonacci retracement is drawn from the major swing high at $0.74902 to the swing low at $0.43085. The price has already breached the 0.5 ($0.58993) and 0.618 ($0.55239) Fibonacci levels, which were previously acting as support levels, and is now testing the 0.786 level for potential support.

The descending channel pattern is defined by two parallel lines, with the price making lower highs and lower lows, which is typically seen as a bearish signal. For traders looking for a bullish reversal, a break above the upper boundary of the channel and the nearest EMA would be essential. Conversely, a drop below the 0.786 Fibonacci level could see the price test the $0.43085 level, which is the recent swing low.