Konstantin Anissimov, Executive Director at CEX.IO
BTC/USD
BTC/USD started the trading session of 17th February at 49,174. An attempt to test the intraday resistance level was taken between 01:00 and 02:00 UTC. But the selling pressure curbed the bullish swing and sent the price down in the next two hours close to 49,000. The next attempt to push the price above 50,000 began at 05:00 UTC and was a success: between 05:00 and 10:00 UTC, BTC/USD reached 51,600. After that the trading pair continued sideways, occasionally slipping below 58,000. The sideways fluctuations continued until 18:00 UTC.
Between 18:00 and 19:00 UTC, BTC/USD edged up once again, reaching another all-time high at 51,796 based on the CEX.IO pricing, which started a second upswing of the day that reached another all-time high of 52,500 between 20:00 and 21:00 UTC.
The BTC/USD capitalisation above 50,000 well aligns with our previous expectations as there were all technical signs of a steadily going uptrend. There was generated the necessary liquidity between 14th and 16th February, required for this breakthrough, and this powerful uptrend was a major technical factor for the bullish price action to keep on going.
We presently do not see a point for a downturn in the reasonably close price range, however, we now see 54,302 as a probable resistance point with the 2.618 Fibonacci retracement level based on the 2017 rally.
ETH/USD
ETH/USD opened the trading session of 17th February at 1,783. A slight corrective move down took place in the first five hours of trading, and the ETH/USD trading pair found support at 1,740 at 05:00 UTC. Off that level, ETH/USD began its long-going ascent that continued until the end of the day. At 1,820, the ETH/USD trading pair faced an intraday resistance and was moving sideways from 10:00 to 19:00 UTC.
Between 19:00 and 20:00 UTC, a breakthrough above 1,820 took place. There were three hours of up-and-down fluctuations before the day’s close, and ETH/USD closed the trading session of 17th February above 1,840.
The breakthrough above 1,820 – 1,840 is a good foundation for another bullish wave to take place in ETH/USD, since that region has been denying further upside progress for ETH/USD for quite a lasting time. Most likely, ETH/USD will get to 2,000 in a short while now, being supported by both Bitcoin’s ascent and the strong growth of the entire DeFi market.
The demand for Ethereum transactions created by DeFi protocols using Ethereum’s blockchain keeps Ethereum transaction fees, making Ethereum 2.0 look all the more lucrative. Therefore, when the Ethereum network is fully transported onto the Beacon chain, Ether will promise hefty profits off staking and minting. The Ethereum 2.0 phase 2, which should make the Beacon chain fully functional, is presently expected to end in the early 2022, which is playing its role in stimulating buying pressure behind ETH/USD.
