There is an upswing in social media mention of ARB, the native token of Arbitrum, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, suggesting growing interest and potential for price gains.

According to AlphaScan data on January 4, ARB had the “best sentiment” in the last 24 hours, with more than 40% of all weekly mentions occurring within this timeframe. Notably, ARB was the most mentioned token, right behind Bitcoin. This surge in positive sentiment shows in the weekly timeframe, where over 30% of all monthly mentions occurred in the last week of December.

ARB Is Trending As Prices Rise To 2024 Highs

Social media mentions can be a good metric for tracking sentiment. As such, with ARB trending, only trailing Bitcoin, it could show that the crypto community is taking note of the project and tracking its progress. Since there was no hack or steep losses on January 3, the ARB social media count spike is a net bullish for the project.

Interestingly, ARB is trending across social media platforms when token prices are at an all-time high and decentralized finance (DeFi) activity is recovering. From the daily chart, ARB is changing hands at around $2, the highest price point for the token, according to Binance data. 

In 2023 alone, ARB surged roughly 300% from March 2023 lows, peaking in late December. The uptrend remains, and bulls are pressing on, absorbing any attempts for lower lows.

Arbitrum plays a key role in addressing the scaling limitations of Ethereum. The layer-2 roll-up option re-routs transactions from the mainnet, relieving the base layer. This helps keep gas fees low, enhancing the overall user experience. 

Based on L2Beat data on January 4, Arbitrum is the largest layer-2 scaling solution with a total value locked (TVL) of over $9.8 billion. Of note, Arbitrum has implemented a permission fraud-proof system that overly enhances transaction transparency, allowing for the effective monitoring of its sequencer’s activities.

Arbitrum Orbit Supports Custom Tokens For Gas Payment

The uptick in social media activity also follows the recent enhancements to Arbitrum Orbit. Launched in Q1 2023, the platform allows developers to build layer-3 protocols on Arbitrum. 

Protocol developers have now added support for custom gas tokens. This feature relieves Orbit chain deployers from using ETH to pay gas fees and, instead, opt to select ERC-20 tokens, including ARB. 

With Arbitrum Orbit evolving, developers and projects launching on layer-3 solutions will have more flexibility. This move will also likely enhance the utility of their respective tokens, boosting demand and even prices since they are not tied to using ETH or, expressly, ARB to pay gas fees. 

As anticipation builds around the potential approval or rejection of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 5, the Bitcoin price has witnessed a notable 2.7% recovery in the past 24 hours. 

This development comes amidst growing speculation about the patterns that could drive the Bitcoin price to reclaim the highs lost during the bear market in 2022. 

Notably, crypto analyst Ali Martinez has identified an ascending parallel channel as the governing pattern behind the Bitcoin price action since September 2023.

Bitcoin Price Faces Crucial Test At $48,000

According to Ali Martinez’s analysis, Bitcoin prices have exhibited a consistent pattern known as an ascending parallel channel. 

This technical formation suggests that the BTC’s price has been trading within the confines of a channel characterized by an upper and lower boundary, as seen in the chart below.

BTC could experience further price movement within the defined boundaries if the ascending parallel channel pattern holds. 

The price is expected to advance toward the upper boundary, which currently resides around $48,000. However, the Bitcoin price is anticipated to face resistance at this level and retrace towards the lower boundary at approximately $34,000. 

Following the retracement, a rebound toward the upper boundary, potentially reaching around $57,000, could be expected.

The upcoming decision by the SEC regarding spot Bitcoin ETF applications adds a layer of significance to Bitcoin’s price movement. The approval of Bitcoin ETFs has been a subject of great interest within the cryptocurrency community, as it can enhance liquidity and provide greater legitimacy to the cryptocurrency market. 

While the outcome of the SEC decision remains uncertain, the ascending parallel channel pattern reveals a compelling technical perspective that could impact Bitcoin’s price trajectory.

Critical Moment For BTC? 

Supporting the upside potential of the Bitcoin price in Martinez’s analysis, crypto analyst Rekt Capital highlights the importance of BTC’s ability to establish a strong support level at $43,900.

According to Rekt Capital’s analysis, Bitcoin is exhibiting promising signs as it strives to reclaim the top of the pattern at $43,900 as a support level. 

This level holds importance in determining the cryptocurrency’s ability to sustain upward momentum. Rekt Capital suggests that a daily candle close above this resistance is essential for Bitcoin to make another attempt at moving higher.

The successful establishment of $43,900 as a support level and a daily candle close above this resistance would signify a positive development for Bitcoin’s upside potential. 

It would indicate a renewed bullish sentiment and potentially pave the way for further price appreciation. However, failure to overcome this resistance level and ending up as an upside wick could hinder Bitcoin’s ability to sustain upward momentum in the short term.

On Wednesday, Bitcoin trades at $44,000, followed by a news-driven dip toward the $40,800 level.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

Thorchain, a cross-chain liquidity network, has emerged as a frontrunner in cross-chain transfers, surpassing its competitors in volume and transaction activity, on-chain data shows. 

Thorchain Trading Volume Expands As Prominence Increases

Citing Galaxy Research data, a user on X, Bullion, noted that Thorchain processed $4.82 billion in cross-chain transactions over the past 30 days, while Cosmos’ Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol handled $3.35 billion worth of transactions during the same period.

Among layer-2 bridges, Arbitrum Bridge led the pack with $1.21 billion in cross-chain volume. Others, like Polygon POS and Stargate, processed $564 million and $694 million, respectively.

The spike in Thorchain’s trading volume and liquidity indicates the protocol’s increasing significance in the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. The protocol’s unique features and innovative solutions have made it a preferred destination for cross-chain asset transfers. 

At the heart of Thorchain is its ability to facilitate cross-chain asset swapping in a trustless and non-custodial manner. In this arrangement, and like popular decentralized exchanges like Uniswap, Thorchain allows users to retain control of their funds without depending on intermediaries. 

The stream swaps technology seems to be drawing user attention to Thorchain. This feature allows users to swap with near-slippage free even without high liquidity. Technically, and as expected in decentralized exchanges, the lower the liquidity, the higher the slippage. The offer for low or zero slippage gives Thorchain a significant advantage over other cross-chain swaps.

Beyond trading, Thorchain has incorporated other defi solutions, including lending. In this arrangement, Thorchain now supports the trustless lending of assets without liquidity risk or interest, a deviation from traditional lending protocols, including Aave. 

As DeFi TVL Recovers, Will RUNE Break To New 2024 Highs?

Together, these features have contributed to Thorchain’s growing trading volume, further cementing its position in the recovering DeFi scene. According to DeFiLlama, Thorchain has a total value locked (TVL) of around $322 million.

Meanwhile, Thorchain claims to have over 91,000 swappers. Cumulatively, the protocol has processed over $61 billion in trading volume.

As DeFi expands from 2022 pits, RUNE, the platform’s native token, has also benefited. Looking at the RUNE daily chart, it is up roughly 5X from 2023 lows.

Despite the re-pricing of asset prices on January 3, RUNE remains resilient. Prices are trending inside a bull flag. Any breakout above $6.5 and local resistances could catalyze demand, lifting the coin above $7.3 to new 2024 highs.

Dogecoin has had a hard time recovering from the flash crash that rocked the crypto market on Wednesday. After losing its hold on $0.09, the DOGE price has since been relegated back to the low $0.08 level where it continues to trade at the time of writing. Interestingly, this is happening at a time when the meme coin’s volume is seeing a significant rise, so what’s going on?

Dogecoin Volume Rises Over 190%

The Dogecoin daily trading volume has seen one of the most significant spikes in the last day after its price fell. As interest in the coin grew, so did the trading volume and in the end, there has been a more than 190% increase in the daily DOGE trading volume.

According to CoinMarketCap, this rise in the trading volume has brought the figure to more than $1.12 billion in a single day. This works out to around 9% of a trading volume to market cap ratio, something that is very good for the asset.

However, even with this rise in interest, DOGE is not enjoying any recoveries. Instead, its price is still trailing $0.082 at the time of this writing. It has also recorded a more than 10% decrease in price in the same time frame, while also completely eliminating its weekly gains.

Why Is DOGE Price Struggling?

It would seem the reason that the DOGE price is not moving is more sell pressure being mounted on the asset, especially by the large investors. These whales who hold significant amounts of Dogecoin seem to be selling off their holdings.

An example of this is a transaction that was reported by the on-chain whale tracker Whale Alert. The transaction which was carrying 300 million DOGE worth a little over $29.6 million at the time was being sent to the Binance exchange.

300,000,000 #DOGE (24,629,096 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Binancehttps://t.co/M3WBb9bPOW

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 4, 2024

Now, transactions like these can be bearish for a crypto’s price because sending coins to exchanges can often mean that the holder is deciding to sell their coins. Given this, it can put a lot of sell pressure on the price, keeping it down like in the case of Dogecoin.

There have also been multiple large Dogecoin transactions that have been headed for exchanges over the last day. An initial transaction of 82 million DOGE worth $6.74 million was flagged headed for the Robinhood trading platform. An hour later, another large transaction was flagged by Whale Alert, this time around, carrying 102.27 million DOGE worth $8.4 million to Robinhood as well. If all of these transactions were made with the intention to sell, it would explain why the DOGE price continues to struggle even amid market recovery.

However, not all transitions have been bearish, especially from these large investors. One transaction reported by the whale tracker saw over 151.68 million DOGE worth $12.49 million moved from Robinhood to an unknown wallet. Such a transaction is more bullish because it suggests the owner could be moving the coins to a private wallet with the intention of holding them for better prices.

CoinShares, a leading crypto asset investment firm, reported a substantial $2.2 billion inflows into digital asset investment products in 2023. This figure represents a notable 2.7-fold increase from the inflows seen in 2022, marking it as the third-largest year for such investments since 2017.

According to James Butterfill, Head of Research at CoinShares, this increase signals a significant shift in investor sentiment and market dynamics compared to the previous year.

Despite this uptick, the inflows remained under the record highs of $10.7 billion in 2021 and $6.6 billion in 2020. Butterfill attributes much of the recovery to the final quarter of the year, noting:

[This was] where it became increasingly clear that the SEC was warming up to the launch of bitcoin spot-based ETFs in the United States.

Diverse Investment Trends Across Crypto Funds

Bitcoin investment products were the primary beneficiaries, accounting for $1.9 billion or 87% of yearly inflows. This dominance of Bitcoin-related inflows marks the largest percentage allocation to date, surpassing the previous peak of 80% in 2020 and significantly higher than the 42% seen 5 years ago in 2017.

Butterfill noted no clear trend in this allocation, suggesting that the hype surrounding US SEC-approved spot ETF might be a contributing factor.

In contrast, Ethereum investment products saw a modest recovery in inflows towards the year’s end, totaling $78 million. However, this represented only 0.7% of Coinshares’ total Assets Under Management (AUM). On the other hand, Solana investment products recorded inflows of $167 million or 20% of the firm’s total AUM in 2023.

The US led the pack in terms of inflows in dollar terms, with $792 million, followed by Germany with $663 million and Canada with $543 million. However, when analyzing inflows as a percentage of AUM, the US saw a modest 2% increase, while Germany and Canada witnessed a more significant growth of 22% and 15% of AUM, respectively.

This disparity suggests a regional variation in investor preferences and strategies, particularly in the US, where the anticipation of a spot-based ETF may have influenced investment choices, according to Butterfill.

In total, assets under management at these funds surged by 129% over the year, hitting a high of $51 billion, a value not seen since March 2022. Blockchain equities also saw a rise, with inflows increasing 3.6 times to $458 million in 2023, resulting in a 109% rise in AUM.

Recent Market Recovery Post-Matrixport’s Report

The crypto market, however, is not without its recent turmoil. The market faced a setback following a bearish report by Matrixport, which speculated on the rejection of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the US SEC.

This report triggered a brief market downturn, with Bitcoin and Ethereum experiencing significant drops. Nonetheless, both cryptocurrencies show signs of recovery, with Bitcoin regaining its $43,000 mark and Ethereum climbing above $2,200.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from Tradingview

Global crypto payments provider Ripple is poised to venture into a substantial $1.5 trillion industry, signaling a potential surge for XRP. The company is strategically positioning itself to provide solutions to the financial complexities within this industry.

Ripple’s Strategic Expansion

In a recent Wednesday report published on X (formerly Twitter), Ripple, a blockchain-based digital payments network, revealed its latest expansion target to be the $1.5 trillion IT industry. The crypto network has envisioned a transformative role for Ripple in the IT industry where difficulties with cross-border payments and other financial challenges have long persisted. 

“97% of payments leaders believe blockchain and digital assets will have a significant role in enabling faster payments within the next three years. In our latest payments guide, discover how to accelerate global payments for an IT services business,” Ripple stated. 

While Ripple expressed its ambition to extend into this thriving industry, the crypto payments provider also outlined several ways IT service providers can utilize blockchain-based payments to overcome their financial problems. 

According to Ripple, by using blockchain technology, many IT services can easily streamline payments to suppliers overseas. Additionally, blockchain-based payments can effectively solve issues like slow and expensive international wire transfers, high transaction fees, restrictive banking hours, and a lack of transparency. 

While Ripple anticipates the IT industry to hit $1.5 trillion by 2024, the crypto payments provider has also expanded its focus to other sectors. In November 2023, Ripple announced its intention to dominate the $300 trillion payments sector.

This strategic expansion aligns with the company’s vision to revolutionize the traditional finance system and could serve as a catalyst to trigger a long-awaited surge in XRP prices. 

What’s Next For XRP – Potential Surge?

Ripple’s possible entry into a trillion-dollar industry comes as a ray of hope for XRP ‘hodlers’ who have been waiting years to see a significant shift in the price of XRP. If Ripple’s advanced payment technology successfully becomes integrated into the vast IT industry, demand for its native token, XRP may rise.

Since 2023 till date, XRP has been unable to break resistance to reach the $1 price mark. However, Ripple’s move into a multi-trillion dollar market could lead to broader adoption of the cryptocurrency, potentially pushing XRP’s price to values predicted by various crypto analysts in the industry. 

At the time of writing, XRP is trading at 0.5771 according to CoinMarketCap. The cryptocurrency is still trading miles below its all-time high of $3.84 in 2018. 

An analyst has explained that a bear flag is potentially forming for Litecoin, which, if confirmed, might cause a decline for LTC to this level.

Litecoin Could Be In Danger Of Deep Decline Due To This Bear Flag

In a post on X, analyst Ali has pointed out a possible bear flag taking form for Litecoin. A “bear flag” is a pattern in technical analysis that, as its name implies, looks like a flag on a pole.

The pattern takes shape when the asset observes a sharp downward move and follows it up with a period of consolidation. This consolidation happens toward a slight overall uptrend, meaning that its upper level is created by connecting higher highs, while the lower line joins together higher lows.

The downtrend prior to the consolidation makes up for the pole, while the channel looks like a flag. Inside the flag, the price is naturally likely to feel resistance at the upper level, while support is at the lower one.

The bear flag is popularly considered a continuation pattern, meaning that the downtrend would continue after the pattern forms. This continuation happens as the price finally ends its consolidation and crashes through the lower level of the flag.

Like the bear flag, there is also the “bull flag,” which forms in the opposite circumstances. In the case of this pattern, the price breaks out with a sharp upward move after the consolidation period toward the downside finishes.

Now, here is the chart shared by the analyst that sheds light on a possible bear flag forming in the 3-day price of Litecoin:

From the graph, it’s visible that Litecoin’s 3-day price has possibly been consolidating inside a bear flag during the last few months. With the latest crash in the asset, though, the price appears to finally be breaking out of the pattern towards the down direction.

This plunge in the coin has occurred as the rest of the cryptocurrency sector has also reverberated with a crash. Unlike many other assets, however, LTC never enjoyed any sharp rally to kickstart the year, so the plummet has been especially damaging for it.

“Post-recent dip, the outlook for Litecoin appears challenging,” notes Ali. “If the selling pressure continues, LTC might see a push down to $38, potentially confirming a bear flag formation.”

Generally, breakouts from any flag pattern are of about the same length as the preceding pole, which is why the analyst has selected this target. If Litecoin’s potential drawdown does play out in this fashion, then the asset would have seen a decrease of more than 41% from the current price levels.

LTC Price

Litecoin had been floating above the $73 mark just earlier, but following this 11% crash, the coin is now down to just $65.

The XRP price fell sharply yesterday as a result of Bitcoin’s flash crash, as did the entire altcoin market. The price briefly fell by 21% yesterday, plummeting from around $0.64 to $0.505. Although the price was still able to recover above the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) in the 1-day chart at $0.5712 by daily close, it is still down around 10% compared to yesterday’s high.

Nevertheless, crypto analyst Egrag Crypto remains bullish and was able to take some good out of yesterday’s crash. In his latest analysis of the 1-day XRP/USD chart, Egrag highlighted that the XRP price is in a preparation phase for an upswing. Egrag’s chart presented on X provides insights into the XRP’s current position and potential future movements.

XRP Price Gearing Up For An Upswing Soon?

Egrag’s analysis starts by revisiting the August scenario where XRP touched the lower boundary of its ascending channel amidst a massive liquidation in the crypto space amounting to $1 billion. Fast-forwarding to the present, XRP is once again at this critical juncture with a similar scale of liquidation occurring yesterday.

“Now, after five months, it’s revisiting that zone with another aggressive $1 billion liquidation,” Egrag notes. Remarkably, the XRP bulls defended once again the lower trendline of the ascending channel which was established in May last year.

The XRP bulls‘ steadfast buying represents a strong bullish signal, particularly as they have maintained the price above the so-called “Val Hell Line” at approximately $0.55. Egrag identified this line as the most crucial support line.

A fall below this level with the daily candle close could have signaled the beginning of a downward trend. But despite the market’s upheaval, Egrag highlights the bullish sentiment by noting, “Surprisingly, the XRP bulls have staunchly defended this channel, buying into the dip as if there’s no stopping them.”

Moreover, Egrag emphasized that another retest was pretty “standard market behavior” within the broader context. He views this retest as a potential consolidation phase, potentially building up to an upswing. “The bulls managed to triumph over the Val Hell Line, avoiding a daily candle close below it,” Egrag remarked.

Price Levels To Watch

Egrag’s chart also features Fibonacci retracement levels, particularly highlighting the 0.702 level at about $1.1096 and the 0.5 level at approximately $0.7529. Traders traditionally use these levels to gauge potential support and resistance zones, and Egrag’s chart indicates that these levels are important to monitor for the XRP price action.

The 0.702 Fib level could remarkably coincide with a breakout from the trend channel if the price reaches the level between April and May. In conclusion, the crypto analyst confidently states, “Personally, I’m increasingly confident that we’re gearing up for a significant upswing very soon. #XRPArmy, keeping an eye on the broader channel perspective keeps me calm and steady, cool and ready.”

At press time, XRP traded at $0.5791.

Most cryptocurrencies such as Cardano (ADA) currently going through a consolidation period after weeks of intense price growth in December. Data from Coinmarketcap shows the big cryptos posting declines in a seven-day timeframe, with some even plunging by double digits. 

Cardano hasn’t been left out, as it is currently down by 9.20% and 15.3% in the past 24 hours and seven days respectively. However, according to one crypto analyst, Cardano (ADA) could be gearing up for a 30-40% price surge that sends the token well past $0.80 this month.

Cardano Consolidating After Price Surge

Cardano has been on a nice price surge, reaching a peak of 170% price gain in the last quarter of 2023. At the time of writing, the crypto is still up by 35% in the past 30 days despite the ongoing consolidation. According to a technical analysis shared by crypto analyst Captain Faibik on social media, Cardano is currently in a bullish pennant formation on the daily timeframe.

Bullish pennant patterns are formed after an uptrend and indicate a continuation of the upward trend during a consolidation. For Cardano, the pole was a 77% price rally from $0.3759 to $0.6655 in the first two weeks of December. 

It then traded in increasingly higher lows and lower highs, creating the pennant shape. If the pennant pattern holds, the analyst envisions a bullish breakout which would lead to a 30% to 40% bullish rally to the $0.8 price level. 

$ADA Bullish Pennant formation..!!

Looks Promising for the Another +30-40% Bullish Rally..#Crypto #Cardano #ADA pic.twitter.com/53rYFF5Ws9

— Captain Faibik (@CryptoFaibik) January 2, 2024

What’s Next For ADA Price?

Cardano is currently trading at $0.5567 with a 115% increase in 24-hour trading volume. Several indicators point to the cryptocurrency going on a price growth this year, along with the entire crypto industry. 

For one, IntoTheBlock’s Network Value to Transaction (NVT) ratio of 3.09 suggests that the Cardano chain is currently undergoing high network transaction value against its market cap, which is often a bullish sign.

In fact, the surge in December and the current consolidation in early January are still in line with a prediction by crypto analyst Ali Martinez last year, who used historical data to predict a 2,300% surge to $6.

Once Cardano’s price pushes above $0.64 with strong volume, that will confirm the uptrend is ready to continue. On the other hand, if Cardano were to turn the support level of $0.55 level into a resistance barrier on the daily timeframe, it could denote weakness from the bulls which would negate the bullish sentiment in the short term. In such a case, we could see Cardano’s price continue to decline to the $0.5 level.

Adding to the woes of the cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin, the prominent memecoin with the highest market value, has experienced a notable setback with a over 10% drop in its price over the last 24 hours. This downturn follows a trend of significant declines witnessed by the dog-themed altcoin in the previous week.

The current trajectory of DOGE’s price decline raises concerns among investors and market observers, as it points to potential challenges and uncertainties surrounding the memecoin’s stability.

Whale Moves: Dogecoin Uncertainty Peaks

Compounding this situation is the recent activity of large holders, colloquially referred to as “whales,” who have moved substantial amounts of Dogecoin – exceeding 600 million DOGE – to major trading platforms like Binance and Robinhood.

300,000,000 #DOGE (24,629,096 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Binancehttps://t.co/M3WBb9bPOW

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 4, 2024

The transfer of such significant volumes by influential holders to popular trading platforms introduces an element of uncertainty in the market, with the potential to exacerbate the ongoing decline in Dogecoin’s value.

Some 82 million and 102 million DOGE, or more than $15 million, came from two secret addresses to Robinhood at the start of the movement.

A little while later, a reversal occurred when 151 million meme coins, or almost $12 million, went from Robinhood to an unidentified wallet.

The culmination took place when the most substantial transfer, 300 million Dogecoin valued at $24 million, was transmitted from an unidentified location to Binance.

At the time of publication on Thursday, the price of DOGE had dropped by 10%, trading at $0.08. Furthermore, the coin’s value has decreased by roughly 12% over the past seven days. Furthermore, even with the early gains, the 30-day losses have now reached about 11%.

DOGE Plunge: Market Drop, Trading Surge

When Dogecoin dropped from $0.09 to its current price in less than two hours on Wednesday, the decline in value grabbed traction. The market value of the meme coin fell by 9.95% to $11.77 billion as a result of this decline.

Its trading volume increased significantly in the last day, rising 165% to a little over $1 billion, despite the price decline.

These sudden movement come at a pivotal moment for Dogecoin. The much-anticipated DOGE-1 mission, funded entirely by the Dogecoin community, is set to launch this winter.

The CubeSat mission, developed by Geometric Energy Corporation, marks a historic step for the cryptocurrency, aiming to collect “lunar-spatial intelligence” with onboard sensors and a camera.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (@NTIAgov), a Department of Commerce (@CommerceGov) agency, approved DOGE-1 X-Band (0083-EX-CN-2022 on https://t.co/b6iEAYdTPV)

We have yet to get the FCC license grant which will address X-Band and S-Band $XI pic.twitter.com/YSJoyLclQk

— SΔMUΞL RΞIÐ (e/acc) (@SamuelReidGEC) November 28, 2023

While the DOGE-1 mission brings a wave of excitement and publicity, the recent whale activity casts a shadow of uncertainty. The price drop sparked by the massive token transfers could be interpreted in multiple ways.

Some see it as shrewd market maneuvering, capitalizing on a temporary dip. Others worry it may signal a loss of confidence in Dogecoin’s long-term potential.

With the launch date approaching, the interplay between the whale activity, the DOGE-1 mission, and broader market trends will be crucial to watch.

Can the launch generate enough positive momentum to counteract the price decline? Or will the whales’ actions continue to hold the currency hostage?

Featured image from Shutterstock