Over the past five weeks, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) seems to have decoupled from the stock market as the number one cryptocurrency by market cap held its ground much better than the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NDX). According to crypto data provider Kaiko, Bitcoin’s volatility level has dropped to that of the stock market for the first time in two years.
Most major cryptos finished the week flat or with minor losses. However, next week is expected to be much more interesting for traders as big tech companies such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), and others will report their quarterly earnings. These reports may set the tone for the last months of this year.
As a follow-up to last week’s article, this piece will go over the cryptocurrencies to watch this week: Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH-USD), Ripple (XRP-USD), Litecoin (LTC-USD), as well as the most anticipated crypto launch of the year, the new Aptos (APT-USD) token.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD)
As mentioned above, Bitcoin barely moved last week. As of now, it is up by 0.7% in the last seven days. Therefore, the analysis from last week remains pretty much intact.
If buyers continue to remain strong, the next resistance level will sit at $20,500. As can be seen on the chart, this resistance level also correlated with the descending daily trend line. A break above this line can kickstart a new bullish leg further to the upside. However, if the sellers regain control of the market this week and manage to break below $18,500, the next support area will be way further away at around $15,000.
Ethereum (ETH-USD)
Ethereum was a bit stronger than Bitcoin last week, gaining 3.4% in the last seven days. As mentioned in last week’s market breakdown, Ethereum became deflationary last week, which may have helped its gain.
Looking at the chart, the cryptocurrency still remains within the bear flag mentioned in last week’s breakdown. A break above the flag formation can shoot Ethereum to the next resistance level at around $1,450. However, a break below this pattern can lead the price all the way down to the next support area, which is around $1,200.
Ripple (XRP-USD)
XRP is down ~3% this last week despite its general counsel Stu Alderoty announcing that the company has finally obtained the SEC emails it had been fighting for since the trial started almost two years ago.
Last week yet again, the critical support level at $0.42 was challenged and almost broke down this time, but eventually, the buyers came into the market and managed to push the price higher. As can be seen on the chart, XRP is now trading at around $0.46, hovering just above support. In the event of a continuation higher, the next resistance level remains at $0.55; however, if the support breaks, the next possible area to watch for is $0.38.
Litecoin (LTC-USD)
For the time being, Litecoin’s market cap is $3.8 billion, making it the 20th largest cryptocurrency. LTC continued to show some strength compared to the rest of the market and is up more than 3% in the last seven days.
As of now, Litecoin is trading at around $52, which is a critical resistance level that correlates with the descending daily trend line.
In the event of a break above the descending trendline seen on the chart, the next resistance level sits at around $57. However, in the scenario of a fierce bearish movement to the downside, the next support level is at around $42.
Aptos (APT-USD)
Created by former Facebook employees Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, Aptos aims to be the blockchain of the future. The project has managed to create lots of hype in the crypto community with huge VC investments of more than $200 million by the likes of Tiger Global, Coinbase Ventures, and FTX Ventures, which valued the company at more than $1 billion.
Although the price crashed on the day of the launch, it seems to have recovered slightly since then. At writing, APT is trading at around $9 and is up more than 12% in the last four days.
As there is not much price history to look back on, if the current rally continues, APT can reach new highs. However, traders need to be aware that a large portion of the tokens is held by early investors, which may dump their holdings into the market at any time.
Conclusion: All Eyes are on Big Tech Earnings
As previously stated, this week will provide a clear understanding of whether the big tech companies are able to post positive earnings results despite the hard market conditions or not. This could have a strong impact across all high-risk assets, such as cryptos.
On the one hand, should these earnings have a better outcome than expected, there may finally be some kind of relief rally in the markets. On the other hand, if big tech disappoints investors, there may be more pain ahead before the market goes higher.
