The crypto market has once again retreated into a range

Market overview

The crypto market, with a market capitalisation of $2.42 trillion, is 2% higher than a week ago but has lost 2.3% over the past 24 hours, as investors shift towards safe-haven assets amid developments in Iran. A new escalation has pushed cryptocurrencies back to mid-last-week levels. Among the top coins for the day, Aave (+8.5%), Zcash (+3.3%) and Dash (+2.3%) are leading the way. The laggards on the list are IOTA (−4%), Algo (−3.7%) and Neo (−3.1%).

Bitcoin has retreated from above $73K to around $71K. This marks the third pullback from the upper boundary of the consolidation range, which corresponds to 61.8% of the downward move seen at the start of the year. The bears have once again prevented the market from embarking on an upward trajectory, though BTC remains above the 50-day moving average, indicating a positive medium-term trend.

The same cannot be said for Solana, where the 50-day MA has acted as active resistance since the end of March. Although the coin remains above the $80 signal level, its prolonged stay near long-term support indicates relentless selling pressure and suggests that support may soon break. In that case, the potential target could be the $50–$60 range, where the coin was at the end of 2023, or even $20–$35, from where the last bull market began.

News background

Inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs have reached their highest level in the past six weeks. According to SoSoValue, net inflows into spot BTC ETFs totalled $786.3 million. Inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs have also resumed, totalling $187.1 million.

Bitcoin and Ethereum are close to levels that signal a trend reversal, according to macro analyst Jordi Visser. In his view, for the upward movement to be consolidated, BTC needs to break above $76K and ETH above $2.4K.

Activity on the Ethereum network has approached February’s record high, a bullish signal amid ETH consolidation, notes analyst CryptoOnchain.

Shares in BitMine, the largest mining company holding Ethereum on its balance sheet, have begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). BitMine CEO Tom Lee described the listing as an important milestone for the company.

The Japanese government has approved amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, under which cryptocurrencies are classified as financial instruments. The new rules also tighten requirements for crypto asset issuers.