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BTC/USD 24.08.2017

The BTC/USD pair has seen an increase in volatility over the last several days. One could also witness a false hit, which happened on Aug. 22. Closure of marginal market positions led to such a rapid movement. However, the recovery was fast, which once again has proved the strength of the $3,900 zone.

Technically, the situation is as follows:

The $4,400 resistance zone has proven strong. In case of $4,400 hit and confident settling, a new rally is likely to happen.

  • Support zone of the $3,900 zone. Despite the false hit, the support zone is still around $3,900. But one should be careful since volatility is strong and short-term stop order moves might not be the best decision right now.

  • False hit. Study this movement carefully, it shows how the market works and why BTC price moves up or down.

  • The $3,900-$4,400 channel is likely to keep on in the coming weeks, along with buys from lower borders of the channel and sells from the upper borders. It’s a possible scenario, but on the current market, opening short positions might not be a good idea. An important factor to consider here is trading volume.

  • BTC-related news has been positive. The SegWit activation and fight for mining powers with BCH have led to an increasing news flow and growing popularity of Bitcoin.

ETH/USD 24.08.2017

Ethereum is one of the strongest projects on the cryptomarket. Technological solutions that ETH offers are in high demand there. The rising number of transactions in the network only proves the point.

Yet, ETH has its problems. Slow network during major ICOs has not left a very good impression. And the market tends to react instantly to any problem. But most importantly, one should not forget that Ethereum has a very strong team of developers. They all do understand the problems and are working on their solutions. And this is what makes Ethereum one of the best assets for investors on a fundamental level.

Technically, the situation is as follows:

  • Strong ETH uptrend continues

  • $280 remains to be a resistance zone

  • $320 resistance zone has been hit, but the retest has failed. There has been a return to the $280-$320 channel.

  • Right now the price trades around the $320 resistance zone. For further growth, the trading volumes and general market dynamics are very important factors.

  • Volatility remains high.

  • News about the nearest hard fork has generated heat around ETH. One should pay special attention to the Difficulty Bomb. This will influence ETH price very positively. This is one more step from PoW to PoS.

Influence of fundamental factors makes the technical analysis just a support instrument. The Metropolis release has been the spotlight of the Ethereum network. News about its activation will heat up the interest to the project.
Options with correction to the $280 support zone are also possible, but only if the whole market falls.

LTC/USD 24.08.2017

We finally saw some movement with LTC. It was caused by news from developers on tests and activation of Lightning Network. Judging by Charlie Li’s Twitter account, the white paper and the results of LN tests will be published very soon. We’ve already seen the first reaction, a second wave can follow after a full-blown announcement.

Technical analysis:

  • The last peak has been tested.

  • Triangle formation is possible. Therefore, buys from support zones, probably, will not be possible.

  • Very positive news; the LN tests.

  • Bids on LTC have also gone up.
    A usual LTC bid is one to two percent a year. Right now, one can loan LTC at 11.95 percent a year. This is also an important trigger during growth; one can consider when building a strategy.

In this case, the same as with Ethereum, news will play an important role. Potential Lightning Network activation will impact the price a lot, and can even make Litecoin a leader in growth on the whole digital currency market. A very strong rally may still be possible, and strong movement that took place during SegWit activation can take place once again.