Bitcoin and Ethereum Provide a Few Sparks

Bitcoin had an up-and-down week while Ethereum wiped out most of the week's gains with a retracement.

Bitcoin hints at bullishness

After a week-long consolidation between 3,830 and 3,880 USD, Bitcoin (BTC) finally broke to the upside with a 5% rally up to 4,036 USD before a retracement down to the 0.5 Fibonacci level at 3,943 USD. This was followed by a move up to 4,054 USD.

BTC closed the week with a large bearish candle down to the 0.618 Fibonacci level at 3,920 USD before making a rebound and finding a temporary support level above the 200 MA on the 1-hour chart.

BTC has been looking rather bullish on the 4-hour chart. Since its drop to 3,350 USD in mid-February, BTC has made a 25% move up to the 4,190 USD area.

After a retracement down to the 3,660 USD range, BTC has steadily made higher lows and higher highs.

As you can see in the 4-hour chart below, BTC has not only found support on the 0.5, 0.619, and 0.382 Fibonacci levels of the previous run up, it has managed to do so while maintaining a farther distance from the level each time. This suggests a bullish undertone to BTC’s recent price movement.

Unlike the 4-hour chart, BTC’s daily chart isn’t looking so hot.

As the weeks pass by, BTC’s outlook on the longer time frame charts is starting to look more and more like a giant bearish pennant.

Even with BTC’s recent moves up to test the 4,000 USD range, the bearish pennant is clearly still in play.

If BTC is unable to make it up to the 4,430 USD area over the next few weeks, we may see another bearish shakeout to retest the yearly low.

Ethereum finds new support

The Ethereum (ETH) chart from this past week was more or less the opposite of Bitcoin’s.

After a 12% move up to 147 USD, ETH retraced nearly 100% of the move and hit a low of 132 USD.

Unlike BTC, ETH was unable to attract enough buy-side volume to push price back up for a double top. Instead, ETH broke through the 200 MA on the 1-hour chart, and is now finding resistance on this previous line of support.

ETH’s 4-hour chart looks comparatively more bullish. As you can see in the image below, there have been multiple tests of the 200 MA over the past two weeks.

At the moment, ETH is still trading above this support level. If ETH is unable to find support above the 200 MA on the 1-hour chart in the short-term, we may potentially see the 4-hour chart flip bearish.

XRP range tightens

In last week’s market recap, we highlighted XRP’s consolidation and imminent apex.

Unfortunately, we have yet to see XRP commit to a breakout in either direction, and it spent the past week consolidating into an even tighter range.