Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple market update - range-bound trading rules the market

Bitcoin (BTC) recovered from the intraday low, further upside is limited.
Altcoins are moving in sync with the first digital currency.

Tanya Abrosimova Independent Analyst

The cryptocurrency market is mostly directionless on Thursday. Bitcoin and major altcoins are range-bound with bearish bias; however, the critical support levels are still intact.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization settled at $196 billion; an average daily trading volume increased t0 $60 billion. Bitcoin's market share is registered at 66.6%.

What's going on in the market

Tezos (XTZ) continues its winning streak with nearly 4% of gains on a day-to-day basis. The US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced Tezos staking support that will bring the coin holders 6% of annual return. The news had a positive impact on the market and supported the price increase.

Meanwhile, Stellar Foundation decided to stop its 20-month airdrop ahead of schedule due to a flood of fake accounts. The team explained that giving money to crooks was at par with the initial purpose of the airdrop.

Also, Twitter is said to finance the development of standards for decentralized social media. The head of the company Jack Dorsey mentioned on Twitter that he was ready to fund a small independent team for that purpose. Twitter will put its weight behind the standard and, potentially, become one of its adopters.

Top-3 coins price overview

On the intraday charts, BTC/USD has attempted a recovery above $7,200; but SMA50 (Simple Moving Average) 1-hour located on the approach to this resistance limited the upside and used the price back inside the previous range. At the time of writing, BTC/USD is changing hands at $7,184, mostly unchanged since the beginning of the day.

BTC/USD, 1-hour chart

Ethereum hit $144.80 before retreating to $144.28 by the time of writing. The coin has recovered from the intraday low of $139.80; however, the further recovery may be limited by $145.00. This resistance area is followed by SMA100 at $146.50.

ETH/USD, 1-hour chart

Ripple's XRP has settled above $0.2200 after a move towards $0.2169 during early Asian hours. The coin has recovered the intraday losses, though it is still locked within the downside trend. The upside may be limited by SMA200 1-hour at $0.2230.