Ethereum price

SEC delays several Ethereum ETFs, pushing final decision to May

The SEC has pushed back its decision on a roster of Ethereum ETFs, with the final date for a potential approval arriving in late May.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is pushing back its decision on several Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to May 2024.

In several Dec. 18 regulatory filings, the agency delayed its decision on the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF and the Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF.

The Hashdex Ether ETF aims to hold both spot Ether and futures contracts, while Grayscale’s Ethereum Futures ETF is seen as a “trojan horse” that would corner the SEC into allowing Grayscale to convert its Ethereum Trust to a spot Ethereum ETF.

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Bitcoin maxis vs. multichains: Two opposing visions of crypto’s future

Many Bitcoin maximalists are even hesitant to apply the term “crypto” to their preferred asset, as it brooks association with more centralized coins.

Jan3 CEO Samson Mow has said that comparing Bitcoin to crypto is like comparing “an aircraft to a paper airplane.” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said, “It will be a multichain world.”

These opposing statements are the latest front in the longest-running feud in cryptocurrency — the battle between Bitcoin (BTC) and everything else that followed.

For the crypto masses, those individuals who hold only to a single blockchain are often referred to as the maximalists.

Bitcoin maximalism is almost as old as Bitcoin itself, with the phenomenon emerging not long after its creation.

According to Bitcoin educator and self-confessed Bitcoin maximalist Giacomo Zucco, maximalists hold four truths dearly:

  1. Everything that is not Bitcoin is a scam.
  2. Every attempt at changing Bitcoin is a scam.
  3. Every attempt at pushing people to spend Bitcoin is a scam.
  4. We shouldn’t be nice to scammers.

Even in the earliest days of blockchain, altcoins began proliferating. By 2010, the term shitcoin was born.

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SafeMoon hacker agrees to return 80% of stolen funds: Finance Redefined

The SafeMoon hacker said the exploit wasn’t intentional and that they plan to return majority of the funds.

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.

This week in DeFi saw the hacker behind the $8.9 million SafeMoon exploit agree to return the majority of the stolen funds. According to the project’s developers, the hacker will return 80% while keeping the remaining 20%.

United States crypto lender BlockFi was granted an additional 48-day extension to submit its exit plan by a New Jersey bankruptcy judge, exploring the potential sale of company assets and restructuring.

Ether (ETH) price hit a new 11-month high even as post-Shapella withdrawals peaked at over 1 million ETH. Meanwhile, Ethereum gas fees touched new multimonth highs owing to a fresh memecoin frenzy. The heavy traffic on the network allowed a maximal extractable value (MEV) bot to make millions in sandwich exploits.

The top 100 DeFi tokens broke out of a two-week bullish streak that began in anticipation of Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade, with most of said tokens trading in the red on the weekly charts.

SafeMoon hacker agrees to return 80% of stolen funds, says the development team

The attacker who drained $8.9 million worth of BNB (BNB) from SafeMoon has agreed to return 80% of the funds, according to an April 18 blockchain message from the SafeMoon team.

The encoded message was the latest in a series of communications between the SafeMoon team and the attacker as the parties attempted to settle.

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Crypto lender BlockFi is granted extra time to file Chapter 11 exit plan

BlockFi, a lender of digital assets, was given additional time to submit a bankruptcy exit plan by a New Jersey bankruptcy judge in the United States on April 19.

The cryptocurrency lender filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 and has been reportedly granted a 48-day extension until May 15 to file an exit plan. The crypto firm is exploring a potential sale of company assets or the possibility of getting an outside backer to support a restructuring deal, BlockFi lawyer Joshua Sussberg said in a hearing on April 19.

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Ether hits 11-month high as post-Shapella withdrawals pass 1 million ETH

Over 1 million ETH, worth $2.1 billion, was withdrawn from Ethereum’s Beacon Chain within the first four days of the Shapella hard fork, with Ether reaching over $2,100 for the first time in 11 months.

The 1.03 million ETH withdrawn came from 473,700 withdrawal requests, with April 15 representing the largest withdrawal day at 392,800 ETH, according to data from the Beacon Chain.

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Subway-themed trading bot makes millions using “sandwich” attacks

An anonymous MEV bot operator cashed in well over $1 million this week by executing “sandwich attacks” against buyers and sellers of two new memecoins.

The wallet address, linked to the Ethereum Name Service domain “jaredfromsubway.eth,” made $950,000 from the sandwich attacks on April 18 and profited about $300,000 and $400,000 on April 17 and 19, respectively, according to an April 19 tweet from nonfungible token data platform Sealaunch.

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DeFi market overview

DeFi’s total market value plunged by $4 billion this past week. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bearish week, with most trading in the red. The total value locked in DeFi protocols fell below $50 billion.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.

Bitcoin ‘mega whales’ send BTC price to $30K as volatility hits crypto

Bitcoin sees a sudden return to form as a reshuffle of order book liquidity precedes a spurt above crucial BTC price resistance.

Bitcoin (BTC) returned above $30,000 on April 18 as volatility preceded the day’s Wall Street open.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Bitcoin erases intraday losses

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as the pair suddenly added $500, delivering daily gains of more than 3%.

The pair had previously worried traders, who watched as the $30,000 support looked set to remain as longer-term resistance.

Before crossing the $30,000 mark, Binance order book activity was a focus for monitoring resource Material Indicators, which identified bid liquidity moving closer to spot price.

“Some has already started moving closer to the active trading zone. Watching to see if more of it follows or if price drops back into the $28s to fill,” part of the accompanying commentary read.

A subsequent update indicated that the largest class of high-volume traders, so-called “mega whales,” was responsible for the upward momentum.

Reacting to the latest BTC price action, Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, was optimistic.

“There we go for Bitcoin. Breaks through $30K, which means that we’re back in the range,” he tweeted alongside a chart showing key levels.

“Most preferred a retest at $29.7K would suit continuation towards new highs and towards $40K.”

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/ Twitter

Further volatility was meanwhile a possibility on lower timeframes ahead of the Wall Street open.

Those banking on further downside were already feeling the pressure, with data from Coinglass showing $16 million of BTC short liquidations on the day.

Bitcoin liquidations chart. Source: Coinglass

Ethereum leads altcoin rebound

Altcoins also felt the benefit of the sudden Bitcoin turnaround, with Ether (ETH) up 2% on the day.

Related: BTC price heading under $30K? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

The largest altcoin by market cap headed back toward the top of its intraday trading range, having successfully preserved $2,000 as support. 

The bulls’ target to break remained at $2,140 from April 16, which represents ETH’s highest level since May 2022. 

Ether’s 15% gains versus Bitcoin since the Shapella upgrade have also not gone unnoticed. 

ETH/USD 1-week candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Magazine: Why join a blockchain gaming guild? Fun, profit and create better games

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Less than 1% of staked ETH estimated to be sold after Shapella: Finance Redefined

The top 100 DeFi tokens surged along with the broader crypto market as the total value locked peaked at a new yearly high of over $54 billion.

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week.

The past week in DeFi was filled with anticipation leading up to the Shapella upgrade on the Ethereum mainnet. The hard fork was successfully completed on April 12, allowing validators to withdraw their staked Ether (ETH) after three years. However, only 253 validators have signed up to fully exit their staked Ether position, with analytics firm Glassnode predicting that less than 1% of the staked ETH will be withdrawn.

Amid all the rejoicing post-Shapella upgrade, an Ethereum researcher has revealed that staking Ether could become a privacy concern, as he had “internally” discovered that staking Ether shows a user’s IP address information.

A hacker minted 1 quadrillion Yearn Tether (yUSDT) after exploiting an old Yearn.finance contract, and then swapped the yUSDT to other stablecoins, allowing them to take hold of $11.6 million worth of stablecoins.

DeFi-based financial inclusion serves to increase liquidity and earning opportunities for African micro-entrepreneurs through Fonbnk’s partnership with Tanda.

The top 100 DeFi tokens had another bullish week, thanks to a late surge in the crypto market after Ethereum’s much-awaited upgrade. Most DeFi tokens traded in green along with the rest of the market.

Less than 1% of staked ETH estimated to be sold after Shanghai upgrade: Glassnode

Just 170,000 Ether of the 18.1 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain will be unlocked within the first week of the Shanghai hard fork being executed on Ethereum, Glassnode has predicted.

The figure comprises 100,000 Ether ($190 million) worth of staking rewards and 70,000 ETH worth of staked Ether ($133 million), the on-chain intelligence platform predicted in its April 11 report.

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Ethereum researcher says staking reveals IP address, sparking privacy concerns

A researcher at the Ethereum Foundation (EF) showed that the IP addresses of ETH stakers are monitored as part of a broader set of metadata, causing the cryptocurrency community to flag Ethereum for privacy concerns.

In an April 12 interview on the crypto podcast Bankless, EF researcher Justin Drake revealed that he learned this information “internally.” The metadata Drake referred to tracks a wide range of information.

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Web3 economy to gain more traction in Africa through DeFi-based financial inclusion

Web3 in Africa began with cryptocurrency, with blockchain technology bringing a lot of transformation regarding transparency and people’s control over their finances. The Web3 economy in Africa continues gaining traction with decentralized finance-based financial inclusion.

Fonbnk, the Web3 on-ramp that allows Africans to obtain cryptocurrency assets by exchanging their airtime credits, has partnered with Tanda, a merchant network platform in East Africa, to launch an airtime trading marketplace across Tanda’s network of agents.

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Hacker mints 1 quadrillion yUSDT after exploiting old Yearn.finance contract

Blockchain security firm PeckShield recently detected a hack that allowed the attacker to mint over 1 quadrillion yUSDT from $10,000 in the latest DeFi exploit.

According to the security firm, the hacker then swapped the yUSDT to other stablecoins, allowing them to take hold of $11.6 million worth of the tokens. This includes 61,000 Pax Dollar (USDP), 1.5 million TrueUSD (TUSD), 1.79 million Binance USD (BUSD), 1.2 million Tether (USDT), 2.58 million USD Coin (USDC) and 3 million Dai (DAI).

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DeFi market overview

Analytical data reveals DeFi’s total market value crossed $54 billion this past week. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week, with most of the tokens trading in green, barring a few.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education in this dynamically advancing space.

Bitcoin price spikes above $31K as Ethereum gains spark ‘altseason’ calls

Bitcoin and Ethereum lead a wave of excitement over future crypto gains, with analysis concluding that the “bottom is in.“

Bitcoin (BTC) broke through $31,000 on April 14 as bulls hoped altcoins would soon follow.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Analyst eyes potential dip under $30,000 

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView captured new 10-month highs of $31,035 for BTC/USD on Bitstamp.

The pair had risen gradually the day before after a consolidatory period around new macroeconomic data prints from the United States.

These had furthered the bullish risk asset narrative, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Inflation (PPI) prints showing inflation slowing faster than expected.

While Bitcoin did not react immediately, the latest uptick reinforced market participants’ convictions over continued strength and a break with the long-term downtrend.

“Bitcoin looks strong, but will have some shallow corrections in an upward trend,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight forecasted on the day.

“I’ve marked $31.7-32K as important resistance point. However, $25K was the level everyone wanted to buy. This will probably shift to $28.5K, and then nobody buys. I’d prefer to focus on $29.7K.”

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/ Twitter

Van de Poppe referenced previous concerns over a deeper correction on BTC/USD, with nervous price targets including the 200-week moving average at around $25,500 and even $22,000.

Related: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — plus crypto tax tips

Popular trader Crypto Tony nonetheless advised potential long position entries to wait until confirmation of new support levels.

“We have now crossed into the range of $31,000 EQ and $32,300 Range high,” part of the day’s Twitter analysis stated, alongside a chart showing the potential high, low and equilibrium (EQ) level of the new range.

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Crypto Tony/ Twitter

“Altseason is underway”

Once again stealing the show, however, were altcoins, led by Ether (ETH) after its “Shapella” upgrade.

Related: Bitcoin’s dominance knocked by ETH’s post-Shapella rally

After teasing a reclaim of $2,000 the day prior, ETH/USD went on to hit $2,130, its highest level since May 2022.

ETH/USD 1-week candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Unsurprisingly, reactions were highly complimentary of the overall crypto market strength.

“With the $BTC bottom being in and our final 5th impulse confirmed (imo). I believe that the bottom is likely also in on a lot (not all) of alts,” popular trader Credible Crypto summarized, referring to a theory from a recent YouTube video.

“Coins like $ETH and various others have likely seen their lows and have started the journey to new all time highs.”

Credible Crypto acknowledged that it was Bitcoin “in the drivers seat mid-term,” and that it would take a cooling off for BTC price action to stimulate rapid altcoin growth.

That said, the sentiment was peppered with references to “altseason” on the day, including from former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes.

Financial commentator Tedtalksmacro likewise declared altseason “underway,” noting the total altcoin market cap adding $62 billion in two weeks.

Others variously referenced “mini altseason” and “altseason 2.0,” arguing that copycat gains on altcoins should follow an initial surge led by Bitcoin.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

How on-chain data can make you a better trader

Join us as we discuss the potential for on-chain data and how it can make you a better trader.

In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Miguel Morel, CEO of Arkham Intelligence — a blockchain intelligence company that has built a platform that provides information on real-world entities and individuals behind crypto market activity.

In today’s discussion with Morel, we will explore how and why on-chain data is useful and perhaps some ways that technical traders should be using it. We will also talk about what might be next for the Ethereum network now that withdrawals are activated after the successful implementation of the Shanghai upgrade, and how on-chain data can help traders navigate this phase.

We kick things off with the latest major event in the crypto space, the Ethereum Shapella hard fork, which went down without a hiccup. We ask Morel what the primary takeaway is that the crypto industry and investors should focus on and what the data says about Ether (ETH) liquid staking derivatives.

A lot of folks have said the Ethereum upgrade would be a buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news event, but we haven’t seen too much selling of ETH yet. We get Morel’s opinion on how traders could use on-chain data to develop a strategy on how to analyze and possibly invest in Ether. 

Most traders and analysts rely too heavily on the same skillset, tools and approach to the market that were the go-to strategies in 2017. Are these still as relevant today as they were back then, and how has on-chain data changed the game? We also ask Morel what some might consider a controversial question: Is technical analysis dead? He gives us his honest, data-backed opinion. 

We cover all this and more, so make sure to stay tuned until the end. Market Talks airs every Thursday. Each week, it features interviews with some of the most influential and inspiring people from the crypto and blockchain industry. So, head on over to Cointelegraph Markets and Research’s YouTube page and smash those Like and Subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

Bitcoin price teases $30K breakdown ahead of US CPI, FOMC minutes

BTC price action becomes less sure of itself as a slew of U.S. macro data promises volatility across Bitcoin and risk assets.

Bitcoin (BTC) traced $30,000 on April 12 as looming United States macroeconomic data heightened nerves.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Analyst warns markets “discounting significance” of CPI

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hovering near the significant psychological level after overnight lows of $29,875 on Bitstamp.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for March is due at 2.30 pm Eastern Time, followed by minutes from last month’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at which policymakers confirmed a 0.25% interest rate hike.

“Today is US CPI day, and for the first time in a long while, it feels like the market is discounting the significance of this event…,” analytics account Tedtalksmacro wrote in part of Twitter commentary.

“Trader positioning leading into today is nowhere near as conservative/risk-off as we typically would observe.”

Forecast at 5.2% year-on-year versus 6% a month ago, CPI presents a mixed bag — Fed policy remains hawkwish, while pressure from the recent banking crisis has markets unsure as to what further policy tightening is feasible.

Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows expectations of rate hikes continuing in May, but potentially pausing thereafter.

Fed target rate probabilities chart. Source: CME Group

“We are keeping in mind that the Fed is still largely data dependent and has warned against taking its foot off the pedal early,” trading firm QCP Capital wrote in a market update released on the day.

“Markets are 75% priced for a 25bps hike in May. Therefore this number carries great importance either way. A lower than expected print will likely take off the hike and lead to a risk asset rally.”

Related: Crypto audits and bug bounties are broken: Here’s how to fix them

QCP continued that the release of the FOMC minutes may have an equally influential impact on cryptoassets thanks to the divergence of the Fed’s position versus market sentiment.

“Investors will closely scrutinize the reasons for the Fed’s downshifting and what they will keep an eye on in terms of the banking sector, liquidity, and overall market performance. While data dependency on inflation will be a critical factor, comments about bank stability will carry weight, in particular how many rate hikes the Fed see the current credit tightening as being equivalent to,” the update stated.

“Lately, crypto as an asset class has not been a good reflection of macro markets. To that end, crypto has its own event risk following the release of FOMC minutes.”

Ether gives up BTC gains

Ahead of the Ethereum (ETH) Shanghai upgrade mainnet launch, meanwhile, altcoins had a difficult 24 hours, with many of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap shedding 3-4%.

Related: CPI to spark dollar ‘massacre’ — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

In so doing, altcoins reversed the gains that had accompanied Bitcoin’s push past the $30,000 mark, Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight noted.

Ether strength against Bitcoin fell to ten-month lows on the day, with ETH/BTC trading at 0.062.

ETH/BTC 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

“As expected that strength on ETH/BTC was short lived,” popular trader Credible Crypto reacted.

He added that the performance did not “speak so much to weakness on ETH per se, but rather just much more strength on BTC as we continue our parabolic advance to new all time highs.”

ETH/BTC annotated chart. Source: Credible Crypto/ Twitter

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin reaches $30K — Is this the start of the next bull run?

On this week’s episode of The Market Report, Cointelegraph’s resident expert discusses Bitcoin’s rise to $30,000.

This week on The Market Report, Cointelegraph analyst and writer Marcel Pechman discusses Bitcoin (BTC) breaking through the $30,000 mark, setting a new high for 2023. He also covers Tether blacklisting a validator and whether Ethereum’s latest upgrade could bring institutional investors to Ethereum.

Bitcoin hits $30K to mark highest price since June 2022

Bitcoin has hit price highs not seen since mid-2022, with the largest crypto by market cap touching $30,000 and setting a new high for 2023. According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin has slightly surpassed $30,000 and is at nearly $30,190 at the time of writing, a price it hasn’t reached since June 10, 2022. In the last 30 days, BTC recorded gains of nearly 46%, rising to its highest level in 10 months on April 11. Some analysts predicted that it would regain its $30,000 price tag as traders await the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on April 12, which will give insight into the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation. But what about our very own analyst? Pechman gives his take on whether or not the anticipated CPI has anything to do with the recent price of Bitcoin.

Tether blacklists validator address that drained MEV bots for $25M

Tether, the issuer behind the leading stablecoin Tether (USDT), has blacklisted an address that drained Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bots for $25 million last week. In this case, the rogue validator address swooped in to back-run the MEV’s transaction, leading to losses of nearly $25 million in various digital assets, making it the largest MEV exploit to date. Etherscan has already flagged the address, warning of its involvement in the exploit. Was it wrong for Tether to blacklist the address? Did anyone actually do anything wrong here? Pechman breaks it all down for us.

Shapella could bring institutional investors to Ethereum despite risks

Ethereum’s stakers and validators will shortly be able to withdraw $32 billion of Ether (ETH) from the Beacon Chain, which accounts for about 15% of the ETH’s circulating supply, according to Coinbase’s April 5 newsletter. Some worry that the upgrade, also known as the Shanghai hard fork, may lower the overall number of validators and put selling pressure on the network, among other concerns. The upgrade should mitigate risks for investors. “Lower volatility plus a yield makes for a more familiar and less risky asset to hold long-term,” Rich Rosenblum, co-founder and president of GSR — a crypto market-making firm — told Cointelegraph. Will Ethereum’s latest upgrade attract more institutional investors? Pechman lets us know what he believes will happen.

The Market Report airs every Tuesday, so be sure to head on over to the Cointelegraph Markets & Research YouTube page and smash those Like and Subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

CPI to spark dollar ‘massacre’ — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Bitcoin seals its highest weekly close in ten months as CPI prepares to inject fresh volatility into BTC price and beyond.

Bitcoin (BTC) starts the week on a firm footing as bulls send BTC price to a new 10-month high weekly close.

After a relatively calm week, last-minute volatility is getting traders excited at the prospects of a repeat attack on $30,000 resistance — but a lot stands in the way.

In what is set to be a significant week of macroeconomic data releases, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) print for March is due April 12, along with fresh insights into Federal Reserve policy.

Add to that the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade and it’s a recipe for volatility. How will Bitcoin react?

Volatility correlations between the largest cryptocurrency and traditional risk assets are inverting, data shows, while sentiment data also suggests little appetite for sudden selling among the hodler base.

Cointelegraph takes a look at the status quo in the run-up to what promises to be a week that keeps market participants on their toes.

CPI headlines key macro data week

A familiar event leads the week’s macro calendar, with U.S. CPI data due for March.

The release, this time on April 12, traditionally accompanies heightened volatility in risk assets, making that date a key area to watch for “fakeouts” in crypto markets.

The Federal Reserve will further produce the minutes of its latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, during which it opted to continue raising interest rates.

The environment is thus somewhat complicated when it comes to CPI’s impact on asset performance. While traders want to see inflation receding faster than expected, the Fed itself remains hawkish, last month confirming that further interest rate hikes may be appropriate.

However, a divergence between the Fed and markets is equally evident, with sentiment beginning to show that the latter simply does not believe rate hikes will continue much longer.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, next month’s FOMC meeting will likely end in a repeat 0.25% hike. Those odds are highly flexible and react immediately to any new macro data releases, CPI included.

Fed target rate probabilities chart. Source: CME Group

For macroeconomic and stock market analyst James Choi, there is another side to the inflation story, one involving a traditional headwind for crypto: the U.S. dollar.

This week’s release will set dollar strength on a three-month freefall, he warned on April 10, paving the way for some potential further relief on risk assets.

“People seem to have no idea how the $USD $DXY will fall in the next 3 months,” he commented on a U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) chart originally shared in late 2022.

“And this massacre will begin with this week’s CPI report. Mark my words, mark them well…”

U.S. dollar index (DXY) annotated chart. Source: James Choi/ Twitter

Others are eyeing Q1 bank earnings as a source of potential knee-jerk market reactions, among them Jim Bianco, president of macro analysis firm Bianco Research.

In part of a Twitter commentary, Bianco predicted that the earnings would be “bigger than CPI.“

Bitcoin price volatility on the up

If volatility is what traders want, they arguably already have it in abundance, data shows.

According to market data resource Kaiko, Bitcoin is on a diverging path from equities when it comes to volatility, increasing action while the Nasdaq cools.

The events of last month, centered around the unfolding U.S. banking crisis, were enough to send the “gap” between Bitcoin and Nasdaq 30-day rolling volatility to its highest levels in a year.

Bitcoin vs. Nasdaq correlation chart. Source: Kaiko/ Twitter

Bitcoin’s correlation with gold, Kaiko revealed last week, is now higher than with the S&P 500.

Bitcoin correlation annotated chart. Source: Kaiko/ Twitter

Kaiko added that Bitcoin’s inverse correlation to the U.S. dollar is also rapidly unwinding.

“Although BTC remains negatively correlated with the US Dollar, the correlation is now almost negligible, falling from -60% to -23% YTD,” part of Twitter commentary read at the weekend.

Bitcoin vs. DXY volatility chart. Source: Kaiko/ Twitter

BTC price sets new 10-month high weekly close

Bitcoin offered a late surprise into the April 9 weekly close, with BTC/USD making last-minute gains to seal the candle at just above $28,300 on Bitstamp, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows.

BTC/USD 1-week candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

This is impressive in itself, marking fresh ten-month highs for weekly closes as bears are continually denied a return to lower levels.

“Bitcoin still holding the lower area of support, and still following the path,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, wrote as part of his latest analysis.

“Everyone wants to long $25K, but I think we won’t be getting it. No clear bearish divergences either on higher timeframes. Retest of $28.6K & most likely breakout to $30K+.”

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/ Twitter

During the close, BTC/USD managed to hit local highs of $28,540 before returning to consolidate below the closing level.

Van de Poppe remains optimistic about the short-term prospects.

“Bitcoin consolidated at support and runs to $28,500. Another test of $28,600-29,000 and we’ll most likely breakout significantly,” he continued.

“More importantly; confidence comes back in the markets then, so you’ll see more Altcoins starting to break out.”

Related: Crypto winter can take a toll on hodlers’ mental health

In his own appraisal of longer-term market strength, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital described Bitcoin as “very well positioned” to make further gains.

When it comes to price action in 2023 so far, however, he remains conservative, noting the ongoing potential for BTC/USD to form a “double top” structure and return toward its yearly open.

“Still unclear whether BTC is forming a Double Top here,” he summarized alongside an explanatory daily chart.

“Either side of the Double Top formation is approximately equal, though this more recent part is becoming a bit longer. If this second part becomes even longer, it could distort the pattern altogether.”

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Rekt Capital/ Twitter

Ethereum Shanghai upgrade looms

As Bitcoin market dominance sees a return to form, BTC may see an internal source of friction this week as Ethereum prepares to undergo its Shanghai hard fork.

ETH/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Cointelegraph has extensively reported on the event, which will unlock — and open up for sale — around $2 billion in Ether (ETH).

Analysts are classically divided over how intense the resulting sell-side pressure might be. Some soberer takes argue that there will be few incentives for holders to exit the market.

“For those looking to ‘sell the news’ after the Shanghai upgrade, staked ETH will take around 1 year+ to be completely unlocked, it will be on a first come first served basis,” analytics account The Modern Investor summarized on Twitter.

“Those who started in 2021 will be released first. Caution: You’ll just be selling your ETH to whales.“

While ETH/USD recently hit its highest levels since August, attempting to snatch $2,000, ETH/BTC is struggling to lift off from ten-month lows.

ETH/BTC 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

“Rejected,“ popular trader Cheds reacted to the latest events on the ETH/BTC daily chart.

Sustainable greed?

Despite crypto market sentiment being at its most “greedy” since the BTC/USD all-time highs of November 2021, there are some encouraging signals from hodlers.

Related: Bitcoin traders expect ‘big move’ next as BTC price flatlines at $28K

These come courtesy of research firm Santiment, which at the weekend noted an ongoing trend that echoes hodler action from earlier that year as Bitcoin headed into unknown price territory.

“There is a rising rate of Bitcoin hodlers as traders seem to have become increasingly content in keeping their bags unmoved for the long-term,” it stated.

“We saw a similar trend from January, 2021 through April, 2021 when $BTC rose above $64k for the first time.“

During Q1 2021, crypto market “greed” was much more intense, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index spending much of the time near its maximum levels — traditionally a warning that a correction is due.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index (screenshot). Source: Alternative.me

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.