Ether Nears $1.7K as Bitcoin Drops Below $30K
  Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets July 20, 2021 Sponsored by  (Price data as of July 20 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.
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Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:
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The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges.
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Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Ether Falls Toward $1.7K as Bitcoin's Price Drop Weighs On Broader Market Ether (ETH) and other alternative cryptocurrencies, popularly known as altcoins, are taking a hit alongside bitcoin (BTC)'s price drop, as the dour macro mood overshadows bullish idiosyncratic narratives.
The native token of Ethereum's blockchain is trading near $1,758 at press time, down 6% on a 24-hour basis. The cryptocurrency touched a three-week low of $1,721 early today, having peaked above $4,000 in May, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Other prominent altcoins like XRP, cardano (ADA), uniswap (UNI), chainlink (LINK), and stellar (XLM) are nursing declines around 10%. Bitcoin, the crypto market leader, is down 5% at $29,700.
"We're seeing risk-off moves in equity, FX, and commodities," said Edmond G., head of trading at B2C2. "Crypto isn't immune from traditional market sentiment and is also caught up in the legs lower. So far, we're seeing very little movement [higher in ETH] while heading into the Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP) 1559 upgrade proposed [for] Aug. 4."  Ether and bitcoin daily charts (Source: TradingView) Global equity markets faced selling pressure on Monday, while the dollar rose on concerns a rebound in coronavirus cases would derail the global economy. As a result, bitcoin and crypto, being at the far end of the risk curve, are suffering losses.
According to some analysts, Ethereum's impending upgrade aims to burn part of the transaction fees and make ether less inflationary.
"The ether supply burn would be significant even with the growth of the layer 2 scaling solutions," Noelle Acheson, head of markets insights at Genesis Trading, said. " Whatever amount ends up being burned, it will be more than what's currently being burned, so the upgrade does reduce the supply growth."
Acheson said that while the upgrade wouldn't directly reduce ether transaction fees, a sour spot for DeFi protocols and traders, it will "make them more transparent and manageable."
However, Delta Exchange CEO Pankaj Balani said markets priced in the bullish EIP narrative earlier this year.
Ether nearly doubled to $4,000 in the four weeks to mid-May even as bitcoin traded between $50,000 and $60,000. Ether's decoupling was mainly powered by the optimism surrounding the EIP upgrade.
"Crypto markets are now in a slow grind lower and vulnerable to negative macro news," Balani said in a WhatsApp call. "Ether and other altcoins will see a bloodbath if bitcoin slides toward $20,000."
The probability of bitcoin falling that low and nuking the broader market has increased, with the cryptocurrency looking to establish a foothold under $30,000. "When a price dumps and stays flatlined at the lows, forming a ledge," that says the market is doomed, trader and analyst Alex Kruger said. "You can see that in most charts in the past 24 hours."
According to Patrick Heusser, head of trading at Crypto Finance, $29,000 and $1,700 are crucial supports for bitcoin and ether, respectively. "How low can it go? Probably down to $20k," he said. "If you look at the liquidity pool structure, there was not much trading on the way up, except a bit around $23,000."
Ether could run into stronger selling pressure, as blockchain data shows an increased flow of coins onto exchanges. "We are seeing lending platforms like BlockFi sending large amounts of ETH to Coinbase, possibly to liquidate," Alex Svanevik, CEO of blockchain data company Nansen, said.
The only positive news for crypto bulls is that the market is seeing low volumes while grinding lower. "It potentially signals that sellers are exhausted and that the market is waiting for some positive news," Heusser said.  Ether daily chart shows low-volume sell-off (Source: Messari) Further, equity markets are showing signs of stability at press time. The European markets are trading higher, and the futures tied to the S&P 500 are pointing to a positive open with a 0.60% gain. "It could be a bounce time for crypto, as equity market panic looks to be over," Kruger said. "It makes sense to move stop loses on bitcoin shorts higher to $31,000." Read the original story here: Ether Falls Toward $1.7K as Bitcoin's Price Drop Weighs On Broader Market
 The CoinDesk Quarterly Review 2021 Q2
Most CoinDesk 20 assets, which constitute 99% of the crypto market by verifiable volume, ended the quarter with negative returns. Meanwhile, protocol development for the world's largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin and Ethereum, reached new milestones. CoinDesk Research's latest Quarterly Review dives into the trends, developments and technological progress that shaped the crypto markets from April to June 2021. The full report is now available from the CoinDesk Research Hub.
Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes, CMT  Bitcoin Struggles Below $30K; Next Support at $27K Bitcoin (BTC) sellers were active during Asia hours as the world's largest cryptocurrency dipped below $30,000 for the first time in four weeks. The next level of support is seen at $27,000, which is a 60% retracement of the March 2020 low.
Intraday charts appear oversold, which could stabilize some selling pressure. However, upside appears limited below $34,000 given strong overhead resistance.
Bitcoin was trading around $29,600 at press time and is down 5% over the past 24 hours.  Bitcoin four-hour price chart shows short-term support and resistance levels with RSI (Source: TradingView)
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Grayscale CEO on New DeFi Fund, EQIFI Founder and CEO on Risks and Opportunities in DeFi Lending and Borrowing Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, joins "First Mover" to discuss the launch of a new DeFi (decentralized finance) fund providing investors with exposure to a portfolio of DeFi protocols. The portfolio is designed to track the new CoinDesk DeFi Index. Other guests include Brad Yasar of EQIFI, giving his perspective on stablecoins, and Matthew Le Merle of Fifth Era shares his blockchain industry predictions.
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