On Oct. 1, the cryptocurrency market experienced a 9.5% pump that drove Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) to their highest levels in 12 days. A variety of reasons have been attributed to the price move, including the United States consumer price index, exchanges' diminishing supply and a "cup and handle" bullish continuation chart formation. Traders are not likely to find an explanation for the sudden move, apart from investors regaining confidence after the Sept. 19 drop was attributed to contagion fears from China-based property developer Evergrande. The Ethereum network has been facing some criticism due to the $20 or higher …

French stock market regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), continues monitoring the cryptocurrency market to warn investors about unauthorized crypto services. On Friday, AMF updated its web portals, identifying those that offer crypto and foreign exchange (forex) investments through unauthorized entities. The list included four websites related to cryptocurrency derivatives investments alongside 12 forex-related sites. According to the regulator, the listed entities have been offering investment products without being authorized to provide such services. To protect investors from potentially fraudulent investments, AMF and French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) regularly update the blacklist of unauthorized investment providers. Still, …

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading in a descending pattern since the strong $53,000 rejection that occurred on Sept. 7, and the $3.4-billion futures contracts liquidation along with China’s ban on crypto trading appear to have severely impacted traders’ morale. Adding to the negative sentiment, major crypto exchanges such as Binance and Huobi halted some services in mainland China, and some of the largest Ethereum mining pools, like SparkPool and BeePool were forced to shut down completely. Based on the above chart, it is possible to understand why buyers placed 80% of their bets at $44,000 or higher. However, the past …

Ether (ETH) price has seen quite a bit of volatility lately and to the surprise of many traders, the $4,000 level continues to present considerable resistance. Currently, the price is respecting the upward channel, which started in August. But every time the support is tested, the risk of an aggressive correction increases. With that in mind, the $340 million options expiry on Oct. 1 will likely be dominated by neutral-to-bearish put options. Bulls placed larger bets for the expiry but it appears that they were too optimistic for Oct. 1, so their $215 million call (buy) options are getting closer …

Ripple's (XRP) rallied 72% from Aug. 7 to Aug. 14 but since then, every attempt to break out of the descending channel has been quickly suppressed. The past ten days have been no different, with the XRP price correcting by 15%. The platform was first launched in 2012 and Ripple is a distributed open-source protocol and remittance system created by United States-based Ripple Labs. The company provides cross-border payment solutions through domestic partnerships or by offering RippleNet services. At one point, XRP price was trading above $2, but the ongoing multi-year lawsuit between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange …

Technical analysis is a controversial topic, but higher lows are commonly interpreted as a sign of strength. On Sept. 28, Ether (ETH) might be 30% below its May 12 high of $4,380, but the current $3,050 price is 78% higher than the six-month low of $1,700. To understand whether this is a “glass half full” situation, one must analyze how retail and pro traders are positioned according to derivatives markets. On Sept. 24, Chinese authorities announced new measures to curb crypto adoption, causing the second-largest Ethereum mining pool (Sparkpool) to suspend operations on Sept. 27. According to Sparkpool, the measures …

Solana (SOL) reached a $216 all-time high on Sept. 9 after rallying 508% since August. The bull run caused some analysts to project a $500 target tha would translate to a $150 billion market capitalization. It is worth noting that during SOL's rally, the Ethereum network's average transaction fee surpassed $40. Surging interest in the nonfungible token (NFT) market accelerated investors' transition to Solana, which was boosted by the launch of FTX's NFT marketplace on Sept. 6. The above chart shows SOL's two-month performance compared to Avalanche (AVAX) and Cosmos (ATOM). Both are fighting for the same decentralized application user-base …

China bans Bitcoin (BTC) — again. No, we’re not traveling back in time. On Sept. 24, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) published a new set of measures to promote inter-departmental coordination on cracking down on crypto activity. The measures intended to “cut off payment channels, dispose of relevant websites and mobile applications in accordance with the law.” Most investors may have missed the $3 billion Bitcoin (BTC) and $1.5 billion Ether (ETH) monthly options expiry that took place less than one hour before the news of the crypto ban came out. According to “Molly”, a former Bitcoin Magazine contributor, …

Acting head of the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Michael Hsu has warned that the exotic financial products developed in some quarters of crypto and DeFi are reminiscent of those that precipitated the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Speaking before the Blockchain Association on Sept. 21, Hsu warned that “innovation for innovation’s sake [...] risks creating a mountain of fool’s good,” drawing analogies between the rapid proliferation of digital asset derivatives and the explosion in mortgage and debt derivatives, such as the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) that preceded the 2008 global financial crisis: “I have …

Ether (ETH) has been in a bearish trend since early September, and this week's Evergrande-led market crash drove the price below $2,700 on Sept.20, its lowest level in 47 days. Curiously, just three weeks ago, Ether was testing the $4,000 psychological barrier, but this changed after mounting crypto regulatory concerns and the fear of China's debt markets triggering a global sell-off intensified. This week United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler spoke to the Washington Post about renewed plans to regulate the crypto sector and the growing stablecoin market. Ether's negative price trend reversed on Sept. 22 …

This week's combination of bearish factors was enough to bring Bitcoin's (BTC) price down to its lowest levels in 46 days, and this nearly obliterated 86% of the $2 billion September call (buy) options that expire on Sept. 24. There's still room for some surprises, especially considering the deadline is 8:00 UTC on Sept. 24. However, the incentives for the bears seem small because the sub-$40,000 test on Sept. 21 caused less than $250 million in futures contracts liquidations. On Sept. 22, Evergrande Group eased some default fears after it confirmed that it would make an interest payment on an …

After 46 consecutive days of trading above $42,000, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) started to show weakness on Sept. 21. Over the last three days, the 13% accumulated loss was enough to erase the hard-earned gains added since Aug. 6. Historicals also show that the previous bearish cycle took 79 days to regain the all-important $42,000 level. Traders' attention turned to the start of the United States Federal Reserve's monetary meeting, where the financial authority is expected to indicate whether it will curtail the $120 billion monthly asset repurchase stimulus program. Curiously, as all this takes place, China's equity markets, …