Ethereum price started a decent increase after Bitcoin gained momentum against the US dollar. ETH is rising and might test the key $1,750 resistance.

• Ethereum started a decent increase above the $1,650 resistance.
• The price is trading above $1,660 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average.
• There is a key bullish trend line forming with support near $1,645 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair could climb further higher, but it might face strong resistance near $1,750.

Ethereum Price Reclaims $1,650

Ethereum stayed above the $1,550 support zone. The recent pump in Bitcoin above the $28,500 resistance sparked bullish moves in ETH. There was a steady increase above the $1,600 and $1,620 resistance levels.

The price even cleared the key $1,650 resistance zone. A high is formed near $1,700 and the price is now consolidating gains. It is trading well above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $1,620 swing low to the $1,700 high.

Ethereum is now trading above $1,660 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There is also a key bullish trend line forming with support near $1,645 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The trend line is near the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $1,620 swing low to the $1,700 high.

On the upside, the price is facing resistance near the $1,700 level. The first major resistance is near the $1,720 zone. The next key resistance is $1,750, where the bears might emerge. To continue higher, the price must settle above the $1,750 resistance.

Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

In the stated case, Ether could start a strong increase toward the $1,880 resistance. Any more gains might open the doors for a move toward $2,000.

Downside Correction in ETH?

If Ethereum fails to clear the $1,700 resistance, it could start a downside correction. Initial support on the downside is near the $1,660 level.

The next key support is $1,645 and the trend line zone. A downside break below the $1,645 support might send the price further lower. In the stated case, the price could drop toward the $1,620 level and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. Any more losses may perhaps send Ether toward the $1,550 level.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI for ETH/USD is now above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $1,645

Major Resistance Level – $1,700

The cryptocurrency market is still stunned by last week’s precipitous decline. In 10 days, Ether shed around 45 percent of its value.

On the four-day chart, the Ethereum (ETH) price has now returned to the historical RSI low recorded in 2018 when the cryptocurrency traded at $81.

On Saturday, ETH values fell below crucial levels and are currently trading in the triple digits as the recent crypto sell-off continued.

According to data provided by Coingecko, as of the time of writing, ETH is trading at $1,008, a decrease of about 40 percent over the past week.

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Ether Drops To As Low As $997

ETH is currently selling at $997.61 on Etherscan, a decrease of approximately 9 percent over the last 24 hours. The breach of this support level is expected to presage heavier losses for Ethereum.

The bears are in complete control of the market, and there are no major buyers.  In the bearish scenario, if sellers force the price below $900, the probable demand zone is between $700 and $900.  Upon reaching this region, ETH may enter the accumulation phase.

Currently, inflation, a wobbly stock market, rising interest rates, and worries of a recession are fueling negative sentiment on the stock and cryptocurrency markets.

ETH total market cap at $122 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

A Shot At $1,700 In A Bullish Scenario

In a bullish situation, ETH will certainly approach $1,700 in static resistance. The ability to overcome this barrier depends on the purchasing power of the market.

This eventuality seems unlikely given that the current macroeconomic climate has caused investors to view high-risk assets with skepticism.

Recent reports indicate that Ether’s developers have opted to delay the network’s move to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus while the bear market persists.

This improvement is anticipated to terminate the reliance on proof-of-work (PoW) mining and the Merge scalability solution, which has been in development for six years.

Suggested Reading | Bitcoin At $20K Could Be ‘New Bottom,’ Commodity Expert Suggests, And Here’s Why

Heavy Market Liquidation Pulls Down ETH

The recent decline of ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is due to the liquidation of a significant investment, possibly by Three Arrows Capital. The liquidation led to a substantial sum of ETH being unloaded on the open market.

After the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points, the highest increase in the last three decades, the stock market inched up Wednesday afternoon.

According to Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA, the fact that the cryptocurrency market did not follow is “worrying for some investors.”

Analysts estimate that Bitcoin and Ether can decline up to 85 percent during bear markets.

Due to the impossibility of market prediction and timing, there is never an “ideal” time to buy in cryptocurrencies. However, according to analysts, now could be a good time to enter the market because prices are cheap.

Featured image from Arch20, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin traded under the psychologically important $40,000 level at press time on Thursday evening, with the global cryptocurrency market cap falling 4.35% to $1.75 trillion.

Price Performance Of Major Coins

Coin	24-hour	7-day	Price
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)	-6.1%	-5.6%	$39,300.01
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH)	-4.3%	-5.2%	$2,596.16
Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE)	-3.8%	-8.1%	$0.12

Top 24-Hour Gainers (Data via CoinMarketCap)

Cryptocurrency	24-Hour % Change (+/-)	Price
ICON (ICX)	+41.5%	$0.93
Waves (WAVES)	+30.53%	$28.71
ThorChain (RUNE)	+11.1%	​​$4.91

See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

Why It Matters: On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department released inflation numbers for February. Headline consumer price index or CPI rose 7.9% in the month, above an estimated 7.8%, the biggest increase since January 1982.

Risk assets moved lower after the inflation data. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed 0.4% and 0.95% lower at 4,259.52 and 13,129.96, respectively. 

Cryptocurrencies moved in line with stocks and headed downwards. However, some analysts are of the view that the apex coin may emerge as a hedge against inflation. 

“Maybe the short-term price will drop due to panic, but long-term I think #Bitcoin is by far the best bet against inflation,” tweeted Michaël van de Poppe, a cryptocurrency trader.

Investment thesis with such a high inflation; would you want to be in equities, $USD, commodities or #Bitcoin?

Maybe short-term price will drop due to panic, but long-term I think #Bitcoin is by far the best bet against inflation.

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) March 10, 2022

The co-founders of on-chain analysis company Glassnode, Jan & Yann, tweeted that commodities look strong and there is a “rotation to value.”

A chart shared by them, depicting the top 10 assets by market cap, reveals a 15% decline in the year-to-date performance of Bitcoin, while gold shot up 14%. 

The top 10 assets by market cap reveal strong commodities and rotation to value

Will liquidity flow to riskier assets like #Bitcoin given a 96% prob of target rates 25-50 bps? Find out here https://t.co/6eOWyypDgk pic.twitter.com/OPTdhQwUbi

— Negentropic (@Negentropic_) March 10, 2022

Meanwhile, the put/call ratio for Bitcoin hit a six-month high of 0.69 in February amid bearish market sentiments, according to Delphi Digital.
On Thursday, the volume-adjusted put/call ratio hit a monthly low of 0.44 as call volumes rose. Deribit traders were buying April 29 BTC calls for $42,000, $50,000 and $60,000 strikes, Delphi said, boosting the notional value up to $193 million on the exchange. 
“This might indicate that traders are turning bullish, even in an uncertain macro environment.”

BTC Options Open Interest Vs BTC Put/Call Ratio For Open Interest and Volume — Courtesy Glassnode

Ethereum has formed a stronger correlation with the S&P500 index than Bitcoin over the past month. Gold has a “spot-on” inverse correlation with the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, according to financial market data and content platform Santiment.

#Ethereum is staying surprisingly close to the price of the #SP500. In fact, its correlation has been much more tight than #Bitcoin‘s own correlation with the #SP500 over the past month. Also, #gold has had a spot-on inverse correlation to both.  https://t.co/3TJH7zwjcd pic.twitter.com/BPatTroxGW

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) March 10, 2022

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Bitcoin prices plummeted on Thursday as global geopolitical tensions escalated to unprecedented levels.

On Thursday, there was no agreement reached to end the war during the second round of negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials.

In response to the impasse, markets were jittery, which pushed prices of conventional safe-haven assets up such as gold and the US dollar.

Before the Russian invasion, Bitcoin moved in a manner comparable to that of other risky assets such as technology stocks.

Related Article | Criminal Whales Hold $25 Billion In Crypto Assets: Chainalysis Report

Investors anticipate that the United States Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates in response to rising inflation in the near future.

Money is being transferred from riskier assets like bitcoin to stocks of banks and other corporations that perform well when interest rates increase.

Bitcoin Prices Vulnerability, Investor Worry

A change in the landscape has made Bitcoin vulnerable to stock market volatility in the US.

As a result, the current geopolitical climate will worry Bitcoin investors. They will remain restless until the situation between Russia and Ukraine is resolved.

Because of the present circumstances, Bitcoin is already down 10% for the year and roughly 38% from its all-time high achieved in November 2021.

As long as tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to worsen, cryptocurrency miners should keep their fingers crossed for the sake of their safety.

BTC total market cap at $787.22 billion in the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

Related Article | Bitcoin Staggers After Putin’s Nuclear Deterrence Alert Warning

Swapping Rubles For Bitcoin

Russians are swapping their depreciating rubles for bitcoin to lessen the impact of international economic sanctions imposed in response to their country’s attack on Ukraine.

Because of the government’s restrictions on residents’ capacity to conduct electronic cash transfers, Ukrainians increasingly resort to bitcoin and other stablecoins backed by the US dollar.

Volatility and inflation triggered by the Russian invasion have led Bitcoin’s value to fall 4.82% in the last 24 hours, with a low of $41,104.75 and a high of $44,079.23, which is lower than in previous weeks.

Both Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA) saw a price reduction as a result of Bitcoin’s decline.

The current price of Ethereum is $2,722.38; it has decreased by 6.39% in the previous 24 hours, with lows of $2,692.05 and highs of $2,934.50. Cardano’s price is now $0.874909, down 5.36% from the last day.

Potential Nuclear Disaster

Meanwhile, it was reported early Friday morning that Enerhodar, Ukraine’s largest nuclear power station, was on fire after being bombed by Russian soldiers, raising fears of a nuclear calamity.

The news created panic from the crypto sector, with some investors rushing to dispose of their crypto holdings and seek other safe haven alternatives.

According to a spokesperson for the facility, Russian artillery fire directly targeted the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and one of the facility’s six reactors caught fire.

The nuclear plant official said despite the fact that the reactor has been deactivated, there is still nuclear fuel inside, and anything can happen.

Featured image from Cryptopolitan, chart from TradingView.com