Top 3 Price Prediction Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple: Crypto sentiments rolls over as Meta shakes Nasdaq
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Bitcoin price breaks below the short-term uptrend and looks set to dip further.
Ethereum price is similar and breaks below crucial support and short-term trend line.
XRP price is set to make a bearish break out of a pennant, possibly set for more losses.
The whole cryptocurrency space contained losses for now as Meta earnings issued a warning and rattled the Nasdaq index with losses in the ASIA PAC and European session. These negative headwinds spill over to cryptocurrencies facing several casualties on the board with red numbers for all major pairs. Expect a possible continuation as more downside risks loom, with the second and third biggest central banks coming out this afternoon with their rate decisions.
Bitcoin price slips below $36,709 and could see a return to $34,000 if Nasdaq keeps tanking
Bitcoin (BTC) price is already giving back half its earnings from the past ten trading days, making investors very nervous. It comes as no surprise then that the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is taking a nosedive and is barely hitting the oversold level. This will leave investors unhappy and might see more funds being extradited from the cryptocurrency space after Meta earnings delivered a blow to global market sentiment.
BTC price slipped below $36,709, a critical level, on January 22 before clawing back gains. As both the short-term trend line and that critical support level have been breached, expect more downside to come as long as the Nasdaq keeps printing red numbers going into the US close later this evening. Not much in the way between now and $34,000, which would suggest anything other than that price action has created a flag-formation with more downside pressure to come.
BTC/USD daily chart
As mentioned in the introduction, with two major central banks issuing their policy guidance today, Bitcoin bulls may be gifted a safe ticket out of the Meta massacre. If the ECB, for example, commits to keeping its quantitative easing going, this could be very supportive for markets and see a quick turnaround in sentiment. BTC price would be lifted back up towards $38,073 in no time, setting bulls back on track to hit $39,780.
Ethereum bulls flee the scene as bears gain control, for now
Ethereum (ETH) price is in a similar pattern as Bitcoin. Going into the close yesterday, the flag setup still held, but with the break below and rejection this morning, at $2,695, the stage is set for ETH to slip further. As the low of yesterday has already been taken out, the chance of forming a bear trap becomes slimmer by the minute. As Nasdaq’s negativeness weighs on trading sentiment, do not expect bulls to quickly join the scene and try to catch the falling price action.
ETH price will want to dip further first before bulls engage. Here the more significant issue at hand is that the RSI still has some more room to go before hitting the oversold area. This could be translated into ETH price reaching $2,326 or even $2,278 before bulls want to re-engage, buying back in to Ethereum coins. These levels will be crucial as the monthly S1 support is at $1,928, below the $2,000 and could hold 26% of devaluation if ETH dips towards that bottom.
ETH/USD daily chart
Many things can change in just one trading day, depending on sentiment. Losses, for now, look relatively contained, once the US session is under full speed, it could easily be that investors start to pick up Nasdaq and Meta stock at these discounts, and US indices could be set for a close in the green. With that, investors will want to buy some more risk assets, such as cryptocurrencies, which could see ETH prices return to above $2,695. From there, Ethereum bulls can continue their ascent and reset the target for $3,018 by the end of this week.
XRP price risks of slipping out of the pennant, for a bearish breakout towards $0.55
Ripple (XRP) has contained its losses the most from a purely technical trading perspective. Where Bitcoin and Ethereum have breached essential supporting elements, the pennant price action in XRP still looks still in good shape and is holding things together. Even a short dip would not be alarming as $0.58 is just around the corner to support any further slippage out of the pennant. It must be underlined that that same level has been breached on a few past occasions in recent days and could lose its importance, which could set the stage for a full retest of $0.55.
XRP/USD daily chart
With the RSI back into oversold and the death cross further gaping open, a pause or short retrace looks more than justified. A bounce of the ascending side of the pennant could spark a bullish uptick as bears have no significant incentive to stay much longer in their short positions. With that, a bullish breakout would see a lift towards $0.70 by the end of this week.
Experts Predict How High Ethereum’s Price Could Go in 2022, a ‘Make-or-Break Year’
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Ethereum is the most well-known altcoin, and it’s much more than just another cryptocurrency for many investors and enthusiasts alike. And experts say it could grow in value by as much as 400% in 2022.
Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), has grown immensely in value since its creation. Launched in 2015 by computer programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ether has increased in price from $0.311 at its 2015 launch to around $4,800 at its highest late last year — with plenty of volatility along the way.
While Ether has recently dropped back down to as low as $2,200, that still represents a lifetime return on investment (ROI) of about 707,296% at the time of writing. A differentiating feature for Ethereum — unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — is its utility as a software network that allows developers to build and power new tools, apps, and NFTs.
The blockchain-based software network has many uses and applications across the tech world, especially for gaming, music, entertainment, and decentralized finance (DeFi) — making it one of the most popular and widely-used cryptos this past year.
At an annualized rate, Ether’s ROI is nearly 300%. That means early investors have nearly quadrupled their investment every year since the summer of 2014. Crypto prices are notoriously volatile, however, so financial experts say to only invest what you can afford to lose, and never at the expense of foundational goals like emergency savings and high-interest debt payoff.
So how high do experts expect Ether’s price to climb? Here’s a look at the factors contributing to Ethereum’s volatile, yet upward-climbing, price projections, and what experts predict for this year.
Ethereum Price Predictions
We asked three experts how high they see Ethereum going this year, and each qualified their predictions by saying it is nearly impossible to predict the future price of Ethereum. And other experts have said ETH’s price will be even more volatile than Bitcoin in the coming months, mainly because Ethereum is transitioning its technology to a less energy intensive version that insiders colloquially refer to as “Ethereum 2.0.” Ethereum’s upgrades could make it more appealing and sustainable for widespread use, but until that happens, experts are waiting to see how investors and companies building their tech on Ethereum’s platform respond to the changes.
Given these factors, here are some predictions for what to expect with Ethereum’s price this year:
Pro Tip Financial planners suggest only investing 1% to 5% of your overall portfolio in crypto. Despite its booming popularity, the crypto market is extremely volatile and prices can fluctuate rapidly overnight.
$4,000-$5,000
Despite the challenge of predicting the price of a volatile cryptocurrency, the experts we spoke with generally agree ETH could once again break $4,000 in 2022. And a recent Ethereum prediction by Bloomberg intelligence analyst Mike McGlone has it ending the year between $4,000-$4,500.
But how high might it go from there? That will depend on several factors (more on that below) that could contribute to its long-term value.
$6,500-$8,000
The crypto news outlet Coinpedia predicted ETH could end 2022 between $6,500 and $7,500 if the same bullish upswing that started in mid 2021 were to continue. However, 2022 brought a bearish downturn in the crypto market, making it clear that Ethereum’s price is not going to rise from sentiment alone. The blockchain now has considerable competition from similar platforms that are filling in its gaps while the Ethereum team works to transition to its second-generation updates.
“Ethereum was the only show in town,” said Henri Arslanian, global crypto leader of the professional services firm PwC in a January 12 episode of CoinDesk’s First Mover. But for Ether’s price to continue rising, investors will need to see improved demand and functionality.
“I believe Ethereum can go to $8,000,” Ian Balina, investor and founder of crypto research and media company Token Metrics, told NextAdvisor. “Ethereum is the clear leader but other blockchains are onboarding new users at a faster pace due to Ethereum’s high gas fees and low transaction speed.”
$12,000+
Coinpedia predicts an even higher price of $12,962.33 in 2022 if Ethereum’s upcoming transition to Ethereum 2.0 is successful. The new upgrades could potentially make Ethereum more affordable for users to mint and develop products, as right now the service fees to use Ethereum are notoriously high.
What Influences Ethereum’s Price
Ethereum earned its reputation as the first blockchain to use smart contracts, which are basically coded instructions on the blockchain that execute financial transactions through algorithms.
Now new Ethereum alternatives with similar capabilities are hitting the market and changing the demand for ETH in both favorable and unfavorable ways. Here are a few variables that impact Ethereum’s price.
High Traffic and Utilization
Smart contracts made it possible for artists and creators to mint (make) and sell the digital artwork now known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). That was both a blessing and a curse for Ethereum, as the blockchain’s popularity led to what some call a “bottleneck” on the blockchain. Think of the mall parking lot on Black Friday — only digitally.
Now, with so many users, it’s become increasingly expensive to transact on Ethereum. The Ethereum team in response has developed new upgrades to its infrastructure, but it’s taken a few years to develop the technology.
In the meantime, a number of new companies have created add-on solutions (known as “Layer 2s”) that operate on the existing Ethereum blockchain. Additionally, entirely new blockchain networks, (known as “Layer 1s”) have also been released as and marketed as potential Ethereum alternatives, driving traffic away from the Ethereum blockchain and adding new competition — which can both increase or dampen any product’s popularity in the market.
For investors, more people using the Ethereum network means more support for the value of your investment, so competitors pulling users away could hinder Ethereum’s value over time.
First Mover Advantage
Despite the new competition, experts often suggest Ethereum’s “first mover advantage” has positioned it for long-term success, even though newer and more environmentally-friendly technologies have been developed. However, because cryptocurrencies are only valuable due to community buy-in, the commitment of users is more important than being first.
Thankfully, Ethereum has both: “I think the first mover advantage is real,” says John Zannos, a partner at Inflection VC, an early-stage venture firm investing in the open economy and blockchain companies. “But what’s more important to me is the health and the size of the community, and how many developers are coming into that community, because that’s what’s going to drive innovation.”
New blockchains like Solana and Cardano also provide similar functionality to Ethereum and have their own native cryptocurrencies. Still, experts say Ethereum is well positioned to grow with its users and meet evolving demand in the future.
“Ethereum could rapidly expand capacity if it wanted to,” says Raza Khan, an investor in the fintech industry and founder of the blockchain platform, Be. And for now, it seems the Ethereum community is OK with waiting to see if it does.
Competition From ‘Ethereum-Killers’
If “cryptocurrency” and “NFT” became household terms in 2021, “Web3” could make a run of it for 2022. Web3 refers to an open-access version of the internet built on blockchain technology, where financial transactions are more transparent, individuals have more ownership over their data, and, through cryptocurrency, users own most of the infrastructure.
Companies like Ethereum and similar blockchains like Solana, Cardano, and Tezos are working to develop the infrastructure on which the future vision of Web3 can be built. Investors see these new developments as similar to the dot com boom when Google, Facebook, and Apple were first coming into public awareness.
“2022 will be the battle for Web 3 and the next evolution of the internet,” says Balina.
The Future of Ethereum
Despite Ethereum’s competition, and other factors contributing to its ongoing volatility, there’s a general sense of optimism that the original smart contract blockchain will make it through this era of trials.
“Ethereum has over 90% of the NFT market,” said Arslanian. “This is going to be a very important year for Ethereum, a kind of a make-or-break year.”
There is good reason to expect a quick rebound from the current slump Ethereum is experiencing, Zannos tells NextAdvisor. “What I think Ethereum has is that momentum of community that allows for a group of very smart people to create innovation and see new opportunities,” Zannos says. “At the core, my optimism is tied to just the versatility of what you can do with Ethereum.”
Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2025
The price movement of Bitcoin is a rollercoaster of surprises, from the bull run of 2017 to the great crypto crash. But 2021 is among the most instrumental to the digital token since its inception in 2019. The crypto started the year with a bull run and eventually hit an all-time high of $64,000 in May. The bearish move has seen it dip to $36,000.
So will Bitcoin will tumble further, or will it hit the $100,000 mark? This article explores expert prediction of Bitcoin prices for 2025. But before that, let’s take a step back and briefly see how bitcoin has fared in the past.
Bitcoin and its Growth
Created by anonymous developers, Bitcoin was designed for daily transactions and circumvent cross-border payments. It has experienced wide adoption, gaining traction as a store of value and a hedge against inflation.
Since it has no real utility, the initial price fluctuation stems from sentimental value. This means retail trades and investors’ forecasts on future value drive its prices. While Bitcoin remains highly volatile, it has entered the mainstream economy thanks to its adoption by institutional investors. The regulatory institutions working hard to craft rules regulating the market have also affected the crypto prices.
Bitcoin – Price History Lesson
Bitcoin was an alien idea soon after its creation. Not many people understood what it was or represented. By April 2011, it was selling at $1 and rose to $29, representing 2900% in three months. However, a recession came, followed by an uneventful 2012. Growth resumed with its value reaching $200 at the beginning of 2013 and spiking to over $1,200 in December.
Then the bull run came in 2017, and the price skyrocketed from $900 at the end of 2016 to $19,000 in December 2017. The price of bitcoin entered a ranging market for the next two years. In 2020, the pandemic hit, and the price of Bitcoin opened the year at $6,000. It, however, grew gradually to close the year at $29000.
In 2021, it took a month for bitcoin to smash previous price records. The virtual currency hit a market cap of $1 billion in February. By April, the price hit a new high of $63,000. It, however, shed over 50% of its value by July, falling to $29,000. The ups and downs continued and reached an all-time high of $67000 in November. However, it has dipped due to concerns of Omicron variants and is now trading at $36,000.
Story continues
Bitcoin Price Forecasts for 2025
As the first expert predictions, we will use data from CryptoPredictions.com. This site uses mathematical computing to predict the price of cryptocurrencies. These predictions are updated every 5 minutes so they might differ at the time of your reading.
While many experts predict the price of Bitcoin will be upwards of $100,000, the site has more conservative predictions.
Q1 Predictions
CryptoPredictions platform forecasts that Bitcoin would open the year 2025 trading between $42,020.849 and $61,795.366. In February, the price of Bitcoin is expected to average $50,661.630. In March, the site forecasts price to range between $43,978.946 and $64,674.921.
Q2 Forecasts
In the second quarter, the price of Bitcoin is expected to trade between $44, 967.078 and $68,884.958. The price is expected to average $54000 in May and $55,107.967 in June.
Q3 Predictions
Bitcoin is predicted to average $56,154.063 in July, while the maximum price could cross $70,000. The uptrend is expected to continue in August, averaging $48,628 between $71,512. In the last month of the third quarter, the site’s algorithm predicts Bitcoin to range between $49,505 and $72,802.41.
Fourth Quarter Forecasts
In the last quarter of the year, CryptoPredictions.com forecasts show the pioneer digital token could eventually surpass $50,000. The site expects Bitcoin to average $60,207 and $62,143 in November and December, respectively. In the fourth quarter, the highest expected price of Bitcoin is $76,429. Bitcoin is forecasted to close the year at an average price of $61,143.351.
Expert Predictions
Various crypto investors and analysts have voiced their predictions for Bitcoin. Below are some of the projections worth taking note of.
Finder Panel Predictions
A panel consisting of 33 fintech experts and cryptoanalysts predict Bitcoin will be worth $192800 by 2025. The expert further predicts that the price will climb to $406,400 by 2030. This is not the first time they are making these predictions. Last year, they made a similar forecast but have revised their projection following the Bitcoin dip. In June last year, they had predicted the pioneer digital coin to reach $265,000 and increase about three folds to sell at $706,321 in 2030.
Half of the analysts believe the current dip provides an excellent opportunity to buy, while ten percent see a perfect opportunity to go short. 29% of the panelists would rather not buy or sell at the moment.
The panel consist of industry experts, including asset managers and crypto analysts including;
Bilal Hammoud – the CEO of NDAX
Daniel Polotsky – the founder of CoinFlip
Desmond Marshall – the managing director of Rogue International and Rouge Venture
Elvira Sojili – an associate professor at the University of New South Wales
Fred Kompella – founder of Finder
Chloe White – the managing director of Genesis Block Pty Limited
Other panel members include John Hawkins, Jeremy Cheah, John Stefanidis, David Klinger, and Ganesh Kompella.
Pavel Shtikin Bitcoin Forecast
The CEO of Nominex exchange, Pavel Shtikin, believes Bitcoin will replace gold and experience a massive bullish market to hit $500,000 by 2025. He states that adoption by leading corporations worldwide will support this price growth.
If you ask me about BTC in 2025:
✅ adoption by world’s leading corporations
✅ BTC price to 6 figures before 2022
✅ BTC – legal tender by developing countries in 2023
✅ BTC replaced gold as a global reserve asset and break $500k in 2025. 🚀🚀🚀 just want to see it — Pavel Shkitin (@pshkitin) August 3, 2021
Justin Chuh
Justin Chuh, a senior trader at Wave Financial, argues that Bitcoin is a tried-and-tested digital assets haven. The halving and inflation will see the price surge to sell at $210,000 by 2025.
Max Keiser
Keiser Report host Max Keiser has quite a conservative forecast and is expecting the price of bitcoin to reach $100,000 in 2025.
Fundamental Analysis
At the fundamental level, the future price of bitcoin will depend primarily on the perceived value. This means traders and investors will pay a specific amount if they believe it is worth the amount. Demand and supply will also play a significant role in the future of crypto like any other asset class. Bitcoin is designed to have a maximum supply of 21 million coins. If the popularity of bitcoin continues to grow, the supply will not be able to meet the demand. However, supply may outpace demand if the popularity wanes.
Bitcoin halving, which occurs every four years, will make bitcoin even more scarce. The next halving is expected to happen in 2024, reducing the mining reward to 3.125. The halving is usually followed by massive price proliferation. After this event, a bull market could follow and spill over to 2025.
Remember, Bitcoin is used as a store of value and to generate returns on investment. Investors and brokers have even created derivatives to influence the price of bitcoin further. In October, the first future-based bitcoin ETF (BITO) went live on the New York stock exchange. The futures ETF tracks contracts that speculate Bitcoin’s future price rather than spot or current price. Therefore, the price of Bitcoin and ETF do not necessarily match.
Perhaps one aspect that could have a massive impact on the price of Bitcoin is whether countries will adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. In June 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. This means that the citizens can use Bitcoin to pay taxes and payments for goods and services. If the other countries join, the Bitcoin price might proliferate massively.
In addition, bitcoin underwent the first upgrade in November 2021, since its inception. Remember, bitcoin had no real use in the past, which made other cryptos more appealing and have more potential. The Taproot upgrade makes bitcoin less expensive, efficient, and private. It also enables Bitcoin to run smart contracts.
One of the things that could push the price of Bitcoin is if it becomes an accepted form of payment. In 2021, the value increased when Tesla CEO announced that the electric vehicle manufacturer would accept bitcoin payment. However, the company has currently halted accepting bitcoin payments.
Some big companies started accepting bitcoin back in 2014. Below are some companies that have integrated Bitcoin into their payments system.
Overstock was the first retailer to accept bitcoin payments.
Microsoft started accepting Bitcoin payments in 2014
Amazon-owned whole foods also started accepting Bitcoin payments by instantly converting Bitcoin to dollars
Since 2020, Starbucks allows customers to pay using Bitcoin on the Starbuck app.
Newegg accepts Bitcoin payments for electronics
Twitch accepts crypto payments, including Bitcoin
Online travel company Travala.com accepts Bitcoins and other cryptos for hotel stays
Paypal also integrated crypto to enable users to send and receive Bitcoin payments
Other Factors that Will Affect the Price of Bitcoin
Bitcoin price will also depend on how other cryptocurrencies behave. If the consumer believes other cryptocurrencies will be more valuable than Bitcoin, it could negatively affect the demand, leading to a dip in value. If regulators address the crypto concerns and institutions adopt the crypto as a form of payment, the price could surge significantly. The price of Bitcoin could be affected by media hype, speculation, investors’ panic, and FOMO.
Final Words on Bitcoin Predictions for 2025
Bitcoin is the most popular and valuable cryptocurrency. While other cryptocurrencies have grown significantly, they are still a long way behind bitcoin. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is less than half as valuable as Bitcoin. While Bitcoin lacks real use cases like Ethereum, it is widely accepted as means of payment and cross-border transactions.
In addition, massive adoption by giant tech companies like Microstrategy makes it appealing to investors. Bitcoin is also expected to upgrade its ecosystem, giving some utility. If you add acceptance as a means of payment and institutional adoption, we could see Bitcoin hit new highs in 2025, as predicted by experts above in the article.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
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Solana price prediction: Can the cryptocurrency hit $200?
THE price of cryptocurrency Solana soared to a record-breaking high of $258.93 in June last year, but is now trading at much less than this.
We explain how the cryptocurrency’s value has jumped and dived since last summer’s surge - and whether it could hit $200 this year.
1 Solana’s price has jumped in recent days Credit: Getty
Remember that buying cryptocurrencies is always a risky business, and you should only invest what you can afford to lose.
They are extremely volatile, and your cash can fall as well as rise rapidly.
It’s important to only invest in things you understand, and some products and cryptocurrency services can be very complex.
Before investing you should do your research as cryptocurrency firms aren’t regulated like other financial companies.
This means that you won’t have any protection if things go wrong and you could lose all of your money.
What is the price of Solana?
In June, Solana was trading at $258.59 according to CoinMarketCap - but at the time of writing, its value now stands at $98.40.
Its value is down by 6.37% over the past 24 hours.
It comes after $325million hack on Wormhole, which works as a bridge between the Solana and Ethereum blockchains.
The cryptocurrency market at large also suffered in the second half of last year, hit by market forces and crackdowns by authorities.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, was banned from operating in the UK by the financial watchdog in June.
While China is also getting tough on cryptocurrency mining - the energy intensive method of creating new coins.
A number of authorities across the country have ordered crypto-mining projects to close - including the Sichuan province.
Solana is a challenger to Ethereum as the blockchain of choice for building decentralized applications.
Similar to rivals such as Cardano, the project claims to offer a faster and more efficient alternative.
The idea and initial work of Solana began in 2017, but it didn’t officially launch until March 2020.
Solana price predictions for 2022
Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, meaning their prices can soar or tumble very quickly.
This makes it impossible to accurately predict whether they will rise or fall in the future.
That hasn’t stopped crypto fans from trying to forecast Solana’s fortunes.
Solana’s price could hit $107.12 by the year’s end, according to a prediction by website Coin Price Forecast.
Meanwhile, Wallet Investor has estimated it could hit at least $298.186 in a year.
According to Finder’s panel of 50 fintech specialists, the price of Solana could hit $1,178 by the end of 2025 and then surge to $5,057 in 2030.
“We think that SOL is one of a few smart contract based blockchains that have the technical architecture that will be difficult for Ethereum to compete with on the basis of transaction speed and transaction cost," crypto hedge fund general partner Gavin Smith said.
He added: “For smart contract usage especially in DeFi these factors are a critical success indicator.”
What could affect Solana’s price?
Cryptocurrency values can rise and fall based on regulatory decisions by governments and financial watchdogs.
Comments by high profile individuals, such as Elon Musk, can also impact prices.
Although it fell since August last year, Solana was on the rise following a “milestone scalability test” in October.
It hosted the “Degenerate Ape Academy”, a collection of digital artworks (NFT) on Solanart, a marketplace on the Solana network.
Myron Jobson, personal finance campaigner at Interactive Investor, previously told The Sun: “The collection of 10,000 artworks reported sold out in under 10 minutes. Each piece was ‘minted’ using the SOL token.”
He added that “there’s a sentiment among crypto evangelist that Solana has strengthened its status as credible challenger to Ethereum as the blockchain of choice for building decentralized applications”.
Solana’s creators have claimed it can process more than 50,000 transactions per second.
Mr Jobson said: “However, Solana is pitted against Ethereum which has had a head start when it comes cash injection and time to develop decentralized finance projects.
“In addition, efficiency of Ethereum is expected to improve with upgrades over the long term such as the most recent Ethereum London Hard Fork upgrade.
“Whether Solana can overcome Ethereum’s first mover advantage remains to be seen.
“There are no guarantees that Solana, Ethereum and cryptocurrencies more broadly will be and can be used more effectively on a transactional basis.”
“As such, the crypto marketplace remains highly speculative and volatile.”
But as global crackdowns on cryptocurrencies continue, the cryptocurrency could suffer.
In January 2022, Solana - along with Bitcoin, Ethereum and many more currencies - went into freefall after Russia promised to toughen up on the market.
Inside Bitcoin tycoon’s £8m ocean-front ‘fortress’ with ‘moat’ and jacuzzi after making crypto £100m fortune
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5 key crypto predictions for February 2022
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The January blues seem to be retreating. Most cryptocurrencies have gained over the past few days, and metaverse tokens are leading this recovery.
Though the total market cap of the cryptocurrency market has yet to rebound to its all-time value, the ongoing recovery has come as a breather. In the first few days of 2022, there were predictions that BTC might reach US$ 100,000.
Let’s look at the factors that may shape crypto prices in February.
- Rate hikes by central banks
Inflation has been one of the worst economic fallouts of the pandemic. Economies are reeling from record high prices of virtually all goods and services. In this light, all central banks may resort to raising rates in the near-to-medium term. The Fed has indicated that a hike may come in March.
Much of the January sell-off in cryptocurrencies was attributed to fears of high interest rates. Investors re-tuned their risky portfolios.
From here on, there are two likely possibilities. First, the market may have adjusted to the looming rate hikes, and a further sell-off may not be as deep. Second, actual rate hikes may again trigger a wider sell-off in all riskier asset classes including the volatile cryptocurrencies.
Also read: Why are NFTs valuable?
- Rebound in stocks
The S&P 500 Index has shown signs of rebound over the past few days. After last year’s impressive gains, the global stock markets remained subdued in the initial weeks of January.
Tech stocks suffered a rout, but things may get better in the coming weeks. Cryptos are often clubbed with stocks in the riskier asset category. The price movement in stocks and cryptos has been comparable so far in 2022. Cryptocurrencies have also recovered over the past week, and Bitcoin and Ether are up over the past 24 hours.
Investors may now look favorably at stocks and cryptos after having adjusted their portfolios. But a few experts are also warning of a deep correction in the market and only stocks with strong fundamentals may emerge as winners.
- Regulators on cryptos
Different regulators in the world have different stances on cryptocurrencies. The emerging economy of India introduced a range of aspects including taxing of virtual and digital assets, and levies on cryptocurrency gifts while presenting the national budget 2022.
In February, a few other countries like India may come up with their plans to regulate cryptos, or even banning their trade. Any move, negative or positive, would have a profound impact on crypto prices. In El Salvador, the success or failure of the Bitcoin legal tender experiment would be closely watched.
- Price prediction of Bitcoin
Bitcoin remains at the top of the crypto world with a dominance of nearly 42 per cent in the total market cap.
Data provided by CoinMarketCap.com
Bitcoin’s 2022 price movement has been anything but impressive. The headlines about BTC breaching the US$100,000 milestone are now nowhere in sight. Trading at nearly US$38,000 currently, Bitcoin is down from its peak price, but has gained nearly seven per cent over the past one week.
In February, Bitcoin may rebound more, but this largely depends on investors’ approach toward riskier assets. Cryptos are volatile and if the Fed’s rate hikes suck liquidity, BTC may feel the heat. That said, BTC price may rebound to US$45,000 by the end of February if there are more buyers than sellers.
Also read: Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch in February 2022
- Price prediction of altcoins
Altcoins are led by Ether, which has also gained over the past one week.
Data provided by CoinMarketCap.com
Other major altcoins include blockchain networks like Solana and Fantom, and metaverse tokens like Decentraland and Axie Infinity. The latter have strongly rebounded over the past few days, and if Sony and Microsoft’s metaverse moves bring back bulls, gaming cryptos may further rise.
Ether’s price may reach US$3,200 by the end of this month. But for this to happen, Ethereum will have to build on its lead over competitors like Fantom and Cardano.
Also read: YouTubers and cryptocurrencies: Should you be influenced?
Viewpoint
Predicting anything about cryptocurrencies and their linked blockchain projects is a difficult exercise. Uncertainty grips the market a lot more when macroeconomic indicators like inflation and growth are not favorable. That said, cryptos are on a rise of late, and this limited rally could translate into gains for investors that buy and sell cryptos at the opportune time. Cryptos remain a close watch no matter their volatility.