Top 5 Cryptos This Week (Feb 16): LINK, HT, XTZ, ETH, NEO
Bitcoin dropped below the psychologically important level of $10,000 on Feb. 15. This has dragged the crypto markets lower, whose market capitalization has dropped below $300 billion. Though Bitcoin has declined, its market dominance has risen from below 61% on Feb. 15 to 62.5%. This shows that altcoins have fallen more than Bitcoin.
Serial venture capitalist Mike Novogratz believes that Bitcoin is likely to rise to its lifetime highs in 2020. He said that Bitcoin was the “best new brand of the past eleven years” and had found its lane as a store of value. Novogratz felt that Bitcoin was a little frenzied and it could reach its old highs by May’s block reward halving.
Crypto market data weekly view. Source: Coin360
The current fall in Bitcoin has not changed its bullish structure. Hence, we remain positive on it but we believe that the rally in 2020 is likely to be gradual. We expect several intermittent corrections as bears defend the overhead resistance levels aggressively.
However, corrections are an important feature of any bull market because they keep the sentiment from turning euphoric. The dips also offer an opportunity for long-term investors to accumulate at lower levels.
Though Bitcoin is down in the past seven days, the top performers in our list have risen sharply. Will these top performers track BTC/USD lower or does their chart suggest higher levels in the next few days? Let’s find out.
LINK/USD
Chainlink (LINK) has again made it to the top 5 performers’ with a rally of about 35% this week. It has also been an outperformer this year with a rise of over 160%. During the week Link announced new partnerships with Swipe, 0x and Offchain labs. Can the altcoin extend its stellar run for a few more days or is it showing signs of topping out? Let’s analyze its chart.
LINK USD daily chart. Source: Tradingview
The LINK/USD pair has made a new lifetime high, which is a positive sign. This shows that the bulls are keen to buy at higher levels. If the price can sustain above $4.5826, a rally to $5.6843 is possible.
Though the RSI has entered into the overbought territory, history suggests that it can reach very deeply overbought readings before reversing direction.
Contrary to our assumption, if the bulls fail to sustain the price above $4.5826, a few days of consolidation or a minor pullback is likely. The first support to watch on the downside is close to $3.50 and below it $3.0.
HT/USD
Huobi Token (HT) also had a sharp run this week. It rallied about 27% and ended up as the second-best performer. Huobi announced that it has joined the Klaytn Governance Council, the leading blockchain project led by South Korean Internet giant Kakao. Several activities by HT in January have been cheered by the market participants. Will the interest in HT remain buoyant going forward? Let’s see what the technicals project.
HT USD weekly chart. Source: Tradingview
The HT/USD pair had risen to $5.3506, which is acting as a stiff resistance. We spot an ascending triangle pattern, which will complete on a breakout and close above $5.3506. This setup has a long-term target objective of $9.8212.
However, we anticipate the bears to mount a stiff resistance between $5.3506-$6.10. If the price turns down but consolidates close to $5.3506 for a few days, it will increase the possibility of a breakout of the triangle.
Alternatively, if the price breaks out of $5.3506 but fails to climb above $6.10, it might remain range-bound for a few days. Considering the stiff overhead resistance, we suggest traders wait for the price to sustain the breakout before initiating long positions.
XTZ/USD
Tezos (XTZ) was again among the top performers’ of this week with a rally of about 24%. Year-to-date, it had risen to over 160%, which made it one of the best performers among major cryptocurrencies. Can the bulls sustain the momentum or is it time for the altcoin to give back some of its recent gains? Let’s find out.
XTZ USD daily chart. Source: Tradingview
In the past three weeks, the XTZ/USD pair surged from a low of $1.4897 to a high of $3.5989, which is a 141.58% gain. This shows that the pair is backed by strong momentum. However, the rally of the past few weeks has pushed the RSI deep into the overbought territory, which points to a possible consolidation or a correction.
If the price dips down from the current levels, its first support is at $2.78092340, which is 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level of the recent leg of the up move. If the price bounces off this support, it will increase the possibility of the resumption of the up move.
Conversely, if the support breaks down, the next level to watch is $2.52825 and below it $2.2755766. Our bullish view will be invalidated if the price sustains below $2.2755766. Below this support, the decline can extend to $1.85, which was the breakout level.
ETH/USD
Ether (ETH) was the fourth-best performer for the second successive week with a rally of about 15%. The institutional interest in Ethereum seems to have spiked up as they are paying a huge premium to own it through Grayscale's Ethereum Trust.
The rumors of the merger between JPMorgan Chase in-house blockchain unit Quorum with major Ethereum-focused firm ConsenSys is likely to be positive for the biggest altcoin and the whole crypto sector.
ETH USD daily chart. Source: Tradingview
The bulls have pushed the price above the overhead resistance at $235.70. If the bulls can sustain this breakout, a move to the next resistance at $318.238 is possible. If this level is also scaled, the price can reach $366 levels.
We anticipate the bears to mount a stiff resistance between $318.238-$366. However, if the momentum can carry the ETH/USD pair above $366, a rally to $500 is possible.
Our bullish view will be invalidated if the price turns down from the current levels and slips back below $235.70. If that happens, it will signal a lack of buyers at higher levels. Nonetheless, if the price sustains above $235.70, it will indicate an advantage for the bulls and the up move is likely to resume.
NEO/USD
NEO rounded up the list of top performers’ with a rally of about 10% in the past seven days. Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it will launch futures trading in NEO from Feb.17 with a leverage ratio of 1x-50x. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, NEO Global Development has postponed the NEO DevCon 2020 but has confirmed that all its staff members are safe from the virus.
NEO USD weekly chart. Source: Tradingview
The NEO/USD pair is forming a large basing pattern. If the bulls can push the price above the range at $25.23, a new long-term uptrend is likely.
Currently, the bulls are attempting to sustain the price above the overhead resistance at $13.88772. If successful, the next target objective is $18 and above it at $20.96333. We expect the bears to mount a stiff resistance in the $20.96333 to $25.23 zone but if the bulls can scale this zone, the pair is likely to pick up momentum.
Conversely, if the bears sink the price back below $13.88772, it will indicate a lack of buyers at higher levels. The next support on the downside is at the moving averages, which are just below $11 levels.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange.