Crypto Price Analysis 12-18 BITCOIN: BTC, ETHEREUM: ETH, SOLANA: SOL, DOGECOIN: DOGE, UNISWAP: UNI, ALGORAND: ALGO, OPTIMISM: OP

As a seasoned cryptocurrency investor with years of experience under my belt, I find myself constantly analyzing market trends and following the performance of various digital assets. After thoroughly examining the current state of these four coins – Optimism (OP), Algorand (ALGO), Optimism (OP), and Optimism (OP) – I must say that it’s a rollercoaster ride out there!

For two days straight, Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed its record high, touching $108,286, but then experienced a sharp drop to below $104,000, representing a nearly 3% decrease over the last 24 hours. Currently, traders are keeping an eye on the $110,000 mark and are boosting their wagers in anticipation of additional growth in the options market.

Markets registered a decline overall as Ethereum (ETH) slipped below $4,000 after registering a drop of almost 5%. Dogecoin (DOGE) also registered a fall of nearly 4%, while Cardano (ADA) is down by 4.50%. Chainlink (LINK), Tron (TRX), Avalanche (AVAX), Toncoin (TON), Polkadot (DOT), and Aptos (APT) also registered notable declines. As a result, the crypto market cap is down almost 3% and is currently at $3.63 trillion.

Bitcoin (BTC) Sets Another All-Time High

On Tuesday, Bitcoin (BTC) reached a record-breaking high of $108,268 before experiencing a significant drop since then. BTC experienced a 2.2% increase on Tuesday, marking a new achievement, but it failed to climb higher due to increasing selling pressure. This year alone, the world’s leading cryptocurrency has seen impressive growth of more than 150%. Traders believe that Bitcoin will reach $110,000 before the end of the year, as evidenced by the rising wagers for further gains in the options market. Shiliang Tang, president of crypto principal trading firm Arbelos Markets, commented on this trend.

In the upcoming January expiration, we’ve noticed a few types of strategies being employed by buyers. These include call spreads priced between $110,000 and $120,000, as well as those who have moved their long strike prices up from $100,000/$105,000 to $120,000 and above.

Just over two weeks ago, Bitcoin soared above $100,000 for the first time, following news that President-elect Donald Trump planned to appoint Paul Atkins, a known supporter of cryptocurrency, as the new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Additionally, there was an increase in investments in Bitcoin ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) as institutional interest in the digital asset grew significantly. James Butterfill, who leads research at CoinShares, made this observation.

“The US election outcome and the potential for the U.S. government to hold Bitcoin as a strategic reserve (which is not highly expected according to Polymarket, with a 27% chance), geopolitical unrest, and easier monetary policies are the key factors that will continue to influence prices in 2025.

Major Altcoins Emerge As Top Performers

On Tuesday, the total value of the crypto market soared above $3.7 trillion before dropping back down to its current value. Bitcoin (BTC) reached a record high, while Ethereum (ETH) also experienced growth before experiencing a decline. As the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) began their final meeting of the year on Tuesday, there was optimism in the market due to expectations for a third consecutive interest rate reduction decision. Experts predict that the U.S. Federal Reserve will probably reduce the benchmark interest rate by 0.25% at the conclusion of their two-day meeting. If the Fed implements this anticipated rate cut, it could reignite investor interest in risky assets and generate a surge of capital towards BTC and other digital currencies.

XRP Bullish Following RLUSD Launch

Following Ripple‘s announcement of the RLUSD stablecoin, there’s growing optimism among analysts about XRP. Some even forecast that its value might climb to $22 by 2025. Notably, crypto expert CrediBULL Crypto predicts that during this ongoing bull market, XRP’s market capitalization could skyrocket to an astounding $1.2 trillion, a trend that could persist into the upcoming year. In his analysis on XRP, CrediBULL Crypto expressed his views.

Take a step back to keep the overall perspective in mind. The arrangement of XRP’s structure appears remarkably clean and indicative of a rising trend, almost unbelievable. Disregard any short-term fluctuations—they are just background noise for someone not engaged in trading. From a broader viewpoint, the outlook for XRP is extremely positive and undeniably bullish.

Since November, XRP has experienced a significant surge in value, rising by an impressive 500%. Yet, following encountering resistance near $2.88, its progress has slowed down, causing a dip and a challenging period for it to maintain values above $2.

Bitcoin-Ethereum Combo Fund To Lead Wave Of Crypto ETFs In 2025

According to Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Eric Balchnas, it is predicted that an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focusing on Bitcoin and Ethereum could lead a surge of new crypto ETFs in the year 2025. Balchunas referenced an analysis by another ETF analyst, James Seyffart, indicating this expectation.

As a researcher delving into the world of cryptocurrencies, I anticipate a sequence of cryptocurrency Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) to emerge next year. However, it’s crucial to note that this isn’t expected to happen all at once. Instead, we might first see the introduction of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) combination ETFs. Following this, Litecoin could potentially be next due to its similarity to Bitcoin, making it fall under the commodity category. Next in line would likely be Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), given its non-security classification. Lastly, I predict the emergence of XRP and Solana ETFs, but these may face hurdles due to ongoing lawsuits labeling them as securities.

Balchunas and Seyffart predict that a fund combining Bitcoin and Ethereum will likely be preceded by funds focusing on Litecoin (LTC) or Hedera (HBAR). However, Seyffart pointed out that numerous Solana ETFs have been turned down by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), suggesting that ETFs for SOL and XRP might not be seriously considered until Paul Atkins assumes leadership at the SEC. Balchunas suggests that regulators may view LTC and HBAR in a more positive light, potentially leading to ETFs being developed for these assets before ones like XRP and SOL.

It appears that LTC (Litecoin) might get approved since it’s derived from BTC and could be perceived as a type of commodity. Conversely, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) doesn’t consider HBAR (Hedera Hashgraph) to be a security, which may facilitate its approval process.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis

On Tuesday evening, Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed $108,000 for the first time ever, reaching an all-time high. However, its price quickly dropped during the subsequent session, now standing at around $103,760. The question arises: What’s fueling this latest spike in BTC, and could increasing institutional interest potentially create a scarcity of supply? Since the U.S. election, Bitcoin has experienced significant growth, with gains exceeding 50%. This recent upward trend commenced following President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to establish a U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, which ignited great enthusiasm in the market.

A significant contributor to the ongoing surge is a rise in institutional involvement and action, notably from MicroStrategy. This company has just acquired another $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, raising its total Bitcoin holdings to an astounding 439,000 BTC, currently valued at approximately $48 billion. The anticipated addition of MicroStrategy to the Nasdaq 100 index could potentially increase demand for their stocks, which might in turn benefit Bitcoin.

Last week, Bitcoin’s price movement was varied, with a significant dip occurring on Monday, falling nearly 4% to reach an intraday low of approximately $94,185 before closing at $97,434. Pessimism prevailed on Tuesday, causing the price to plummet further to $94,313 before ending the day at $96,912. However, Bitcoin bounced back on Wednesday, registering a rise of more than 4% and surpassing $100,000, closing at $100,900. Despite this positive trend on Wednesday, Bitcoin experienced another drop on Thursday, decreasing by about 0.97% to finish at $99,923. A rebound on Friday enabled Bitcoin to regain the $100,000 mark and close the week at $101,394.

Over the weekend, Bitcoin started off with a slight drop on Saturday, but bounced back nearly 3% on Sunday, ending at $104,181. On Monday, it soared to an unprecedented high of $107,464 before reaching a peak of $105,750, marking a new all-time high. Despite this, it eventually settled at $105,750, showing a 1.51% increase. The optimistic momentum continued on Tuesday, pushing Bitcoin to another all-time high of $108,268, only to fall back to $106,144 later in the day. However, during today’s session, Bitcoin has dropped approximately 2%, now trading at $104,246.

Regardless of the dip observed in this current period, experts remain optimistic that Bitcoin’s value will exceed $110,000 by the year’s end.

Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis

Starting the week, Ethereum (ETH) briefly surpassed $4,000 only to subsequently plummet significantly as it failed to maintain its position above that level, giving sellers an opportunity to push the price lower. ETH has been on an upward trend since the US elections, but experienced a substantial dip at the start of last week, decreasing over 7% to reach a low of $3,536 before stabilizing at $3,715. The downward trend continued on Tuesday, with ETH falling 2.30% to $3,630. However, on Wednesday, ETH disregarded the escalating bearish trends and rose by 5.62%, reaching a daily high of $3,834. Buyers kept control on Thursday as ETH reached an intraday peak of $3,988 but lost momentum at that level, eventually settling at $3,882, registering a 1.26% increase. On Friday, ETH surpassed the $3,900 mark again after increasing 0.63% and settling at $3,907.

After experiencing notable growth from Wednesday onwards, Ether (ETH) took a dip on Saturday, dropping nearly 1% to fall below $3,900 at $3,869. However, Sunday saw buyers re-entering the market, causing ETH to increase by 2.25%, closing at $3,956. The ongoing week has seen ETH displaying high volatility as both buyers and sellers vie for control. This resulted in ETH reaching an intraday low of $3,882 and a high of $4,106 before settling at $3,985. On Tuesday, ETH experienced a decline as sellers resurfaced, dropping by 2.34% to close at $3,982. Currently, ETH is continuing its downward trend in the ongoing session, with the price dropping more than 1% and trading around $3,850.

Should sellers successfully push ETH prices beneath the 20-day Simple Moving Average, there’s a possibility it might fall to around $3,500 before making a comeback. Conversely, buyers will strive to retake control and re-establish the $4,000 level.

Solana (SOL) Price Analysis

Currently, Solana (SOL) is moving downward, having been pushed below its 50-day Simple Moving Average by persistent sellers. Last week, SOL experienced a significant dip of 8.55%, driven by these sellers who took control and reduced the price to $216. On Tuesday, sellers aimed to drive SOL below $200 but only managed to push it down to an intraday low of $203, briefly falling under the 20-day SMA. However, SOL partially recovered, rising above the 20-day SMA and ending the day at $213, resulting in a minor decrease of 1.47%. Despite this selling pressure, SOL experienced a rise of over 6% on Wednesday, reaching $227. On Thursday, buyers tried to push SOL above the 20-day SMA, reaching an intraday high of $234. However, their momentum faded after reaching this level, and SOL dropped back to $227, showing a slight decline.

Over the weekend, a pessimistic outlook prevailed for SOL, with its value dropping by nearly 1% on Friday to close at $224, and further decreasing on Saturday to hit a low of $215 before settling at $219. The bearish trend reversed on Sunday as SOL experienced an almost 2% surge, but took a dive again on Monday, plummeting by 3.55% and dipping below its 50-day Simple Moving Average to close at $216. Tuesday was marked by intense volatility, with SOL reaching intraday highs of $228 and lows of $211. Ultimately, buyers took control, causing SOL to rise by 3.23% and finish the day at $223. However, during the current session, SOL has once again slipped into negative territory, dropping almost 3% and trading at $216.

Dogecoin (DOGE) Price Analysis

Dogecoin (DOGE) is finding it tough to bounce back after dipping below its 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and hitting crucial support levels during the past trading days. On Monday, DOGE suffered a significant decline of approximately 11%, dropping below the 20-day SMA and closing at $0.414. The sellers remained in control on Tuesday as DOGE dropped nearly 5% to reach $0.394. However, there was a slight recovery for DOGE on Wednesday, with an increase of over 5%, ending the day at $0.414. Yet, despite this substantial growth, DOGE failed to surpass the 20-day SMA and fell again on Thursday, decreasing by just over 2% to settle at $0.406. On Friday, there was a minor increase of 0.89%, with DOGE closing at $0.409.

Over the past few days, I’ve noticed that the 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) has been acting as a significant resistance level for Dogecoin (DOGE). On Saturday, despite an initial attempt to push through this barrier, DOGE dipped approximately 3.1% and closed at $0.397. However, the following day, it managed to regain some ground, increasing by about 2.2% and ending the weekend on a positive note.

Uniswap (UNI) Price Analysis

The upward trend for Uniswap (UNI) came to a sudden halt last Sunday when it reached a peak price of $19.47. Despite this high point, UNI could not maintain its position and fell dramatically on Monday, losing nearly 14% to reach $16.05. Sellers continued to have the upper hand on Tuesday as UNI dropped further to an intraday low of $14.05 before rising slightly to close at $15.24, resulting in a decline of more than 5%. However, UNI saw a recovery on Wednesday and increased almost 13%, moving up to $17.15. Attempts were made by buyers to push UNI above the resistance at $19 as it reached an intraday high of $18.98. Yet, UNI lost its momentum under the weight of selling pressure and dropped back to $17.69, resulting in a gain of just over 3%.

On Friday, UNI experienced a decline of more than 1%, closing at $17.49 amid weakening momentum. On Saturday, bearish feelings grew stronger as UNI fell by 4.28% to reach $16.75. However, it bounced back on Sunday, rising by 1.69% and ending the day at $17.03. The weekend ended with a slight uptick for UNI. But, the beginning of this week saw sellers taking control, causing UNI to drop almost 5% to reach $16.23. During the ongoing trading session on Tuesday, there was a minor increase in the price of UNI, which currently stands at $16.29.

Algorand (ALGO) Price Analysis

Over the past week, I’ve been closely monitoring Algorand (ALGO), observing its trading range between $0.40 and $0.45. I’m keenly watching as it strives to regain momentum and climb above its 20-day Simple Moving Average. Last Monday saw a significant dip, with ALGO hitting an intraday low of $0.352, plummeting by approximately 16%. However, the resilience of buyers became evident on Tuesday, as ALGO rose by 1.55% to close at $0.423. On Wednesday, this upward trend continued, with a surge of over 7%, pushing the price up to $0.453. But Thursday brought a shift in sentiment, and ALGO experienced a decrease of 5.53%, settling at $0.428. Fortunately, the price recovered on Friday, rising by 2.27% and closing the day at $0.437.

Initially, Algorand (ALGO) experienced a decline on Saturday, dropping nearly 4% and falling beneath its 20-day Simple Moving Average, closing at $0.420. However, it rebounded on Sunday, rising from a low of $0.406 to increase by 2.65%, ending the day at $0.431. The week began with ALGO dropping over 4% and settling at $0.413. Buyers made an attempt at recovery on Tuesday as ALGO reached a high of $0.442, but it lost momentum after this level and fell to $0.412. Currently, in the ongoing session, Algorand is down almost 3% as sellers aim to push it below the $0.40 support level.

Optimism (OP) Price Analysis

Optimism (OP) is struggling to recover after suffering a considerable decline over the past few sessions. The price plummeted last Monday, dropping almost 16% to go below the 20-day SMA and settle at $2.24, but not before falling to an intraday low of $2.01. Sellers retained control on Tuesday as OP dropped to a low of $2.03 before settling at $2.20. OP recovered from this level on Wednesday, rising almost 6% and settling at $2.33. Bullish sentiment intensified on Thursday as OP went above the 20-day SMA after an increase of 9.21% and settled at $2.55. Friday saw OP experience considerable volatility as buyers and sellers struggled to establish control. Buyers ultimately gained the upper hand as OP registered a marginal increase and settled at $2.56.

On Saturday, the market for OP shifted bearish due to weakening buyer momentum, causing a significant dip of more than 5% that took it below the 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and settled at $2.43. However, on Sunday, there was a recovery as the price moved back above the 20-day SMA after a rise of approximately 4%, settling at $2.53. Unfortunately, OP dipped again on Monday, losing 1.58% and dropping to $2.49. This bearish trend intensified on Tuesday with another fall of 6.45%, dropping below the 20-day SMA once more to settle at $2.33. In the current trading session, OP has shown a slight increase as buyers aim to push it back towards $2.50.

2024-12-18 18:12