Crypto Markets See Mixed Trading as Axie Corks Smooth Love Potion

The latest moves in crypto markets, in context

February 8, 2022

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Market Moves

By Shaurya Malwa

Crypto markets saw mixed trading on Tuesday with relatively small gains and losses among the largest assets by market capitalization.

Leading the charts in the past 24 hours were payment tokens XRP and Shiba Inu’s SHIB, with advances of as much as 22%. But by press time, SHIB appeared to be weakening, down over the past three hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), the two largest cryptocurrencies, added about 3% in the past 24 hours even as tokens of layer 1, or base, blockchains Solana (SOL) and Polkadot (DOT) fell 2.5%, data on analytics tool CoinGecko showed.

Among other majors in the same period, Cardano’s ADA jumped 2% while binance coin (BNB) was little changed. AVAX tokens surged 10% on the back of strong fundamental activity on Avalanche, which processed over 1 million transactions on Monday across various tools, services and products built on the network.

SHIB wants a Valentine

SHIB broke and held above previous resistance levels. (TradingView)

SHIB extended Monday's surge. The token has gained 43% from Sunday’s low of $0.000022. Tokens exchanged hands at $0.000035 in early Asian hours after breaking a resistance level at $0.000027 earlier this week. The tokens saw a brief sell-off as traders took profits at the $0.000035 level.

The jump came as Shiba Inu’s official Twitter account teased a possible partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase. “Hey coinbase send us a DM. Valentine's Day is approaching and we have a pending match,” the tweet read, causing prices to surge in early Asian hours.

CoinDesk also was covering play-to-earn videogame Axie Infinity's efforts to reduce the daily supply of the smooth love potion (SLP) rewards tokens – implemented after the price fell 93%.

And a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that is raising money to support Julian Assange's defense has collected a record-breaking 12,350 ether ($38 million), according to fundraising platform Juicebox.

AssangeDAO started accepting donations on Feb. 3 and has already surpassed ConstitutionDAO on Juicebox, which tried to buy the U.S. Constitution at an auction.

Full story here: Shiba Inu’s SHIB Extends Surge, Bitcoin Breaks Key VWAP Resistance

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Crypto Prices

Bitcoin (BTC)

See the latest price here

Ether (ETH)

See the latest price here

The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours:

Biggest Gainers:

Biggest Losers:

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.

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Latest Headlines

Technician's Take

By Shaurya Malwa

Bitcoin holds above VWAP

Bitcoin broke above resistance, buoyed by several catalysts. (TradingView)

Bitcoin broke key resistance levels related to the Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP), a tool that calculates the average price a security has traded at throughout the day using both price and volume.

“The 2022 yearly VWAP was acting as a key resistance level,” Delphi Digital wrote analysts in a note. “With Bitcoin now trading around $42,500, the VWAP was breached convincingly on Friday after several failed breakout attempts.”

VWAP is used by traders to bid, or sell, assets based on prices that provided the most volume to ensure better entries and lower slippage. In recent months, bitcoin tended to fall when it approached the VWAP levels, but has held above that level since Friday.

“The Bitcoin chart continues to paint a bullish picture,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at FxPro, in an email to CoinDesk. “With the price at $45,000 on Tuesday morning, BTC is trading above the 50-day moving average just above the mid-January pivot area.”

“At the same time, the RSI on the daily charts has not yet entered the overbought area, leaving room for further growth,” Kuptsikevich added.

RSI, short for relative strength index, is an indicator that measures the magnitude of price changes over a certain time period. RSI readings above 70 are considered overbought, and those below 30 indicate an asset may be oversold.

The OGs of NFTs get animated with the biggest stars from around the world in this entertaining new series from CoinDesk TV. Tune in Tuesdays in February at 4 p.m. ET.

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:
Bitcoin Holds Above $42K as Major Cryptos Rebound, Privacy-Focused Web 3 Application Builder Aleo Raised $200M at $1.45B Valuation
"First Mover" hosts speak to Voyager Digital Co-founder & CEO Steve Ehrlich for an in-depth analysis on the crypto markets as major cryptocurrencies bounce back. Privacy-focused Web 3 application builder Aleo raised $200 million in a Series B funding round at a valuation of about $1.45 billion dollars. Aleo CEO & CTO Howard Wu shares his plan for expansion.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.

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