Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum making new 2020 Highs

In a sudden upsurge that coincided with Bitfinex being in maintenance mode, Bitcoin (+5.61%) moved from 9780 to 10274. The surge moved up all the crypto sector. Ethereum (+12.13%) is currently over $245 and making new 2020 highs, as is doing Litecoin (+7.17), Ripple(6.64%), and the star of the day, Tezos, moving over 25 percent in the last 24 hours.

Ethereum tokens are mostly in the green, with Link (+15.93%) leading the way among the top capitalized, although many small token projects are also moving sharply up, such as CENNZ (+16.75%) TOMO(+17.95%) or IOTX(+25.29%).

The market capitalization is on a brink to reach the $300 billion and currently is $298.952 billion, a 5.36 percent growth that was made on a traded volume of $60.322 billion. The dominance of Bitcoin descended slightly to 62.9 percent, which shows that altcoins still appreciated more than the father cryptocurrency.

Hot News

According to a news piece by coindesk.com, the Bitcoin mining activity stagnates due to the coronavirus outbreak disrupting the activity in China. According to the article, the mining difficulty, which is adjusted periodically to make sure one block is produced every ten minutes, was modified on Feb 11 with an increase of 0.52 percent in its difficulty, when usually the difficulty growth rate is from 4.6 to 7 percent, implying a continuous technological race that is currently halted due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Some people attributed the surge in the cryptocurrency experienced yesterday to traders wanting to profit from the shorts held at Bitfinex, that was at that moment in maintenance mode, so traders could not close their positions. Others said the surge was after FED's chairman Gerome Powell praised privacy in his testimony to the U.S. House of Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. "A ledger where you know everybody's payments is not something that would be particularly attractive in the context of the U.S.," said Powell. (Source: coindesk.com).

German Bank von der Heydt opted for the Stellar network to integrate tokenized assets to its securities platform. This move allows the bank to create tokens of digital assets on the Stellar Blockchain, although the bank has confirmed they will use it only for private placements.

U.K.'s EPayments Systems Ltd has to suspend online payments due to the Financial Conduct Authority's anti-money-laundering procedures.

"Following discussions with the FCA, ePayments has agreed to suspend activity on customer accounts until remedial action has been undertaken to the satisfaction of the FCA." (Source: cointelegraph.com).

Technical Analysis: Bitcoin

Bitcoin made a sharp reversal on a very large volume yesterday and is currently making a new high for the year. The move placed its price straight above its +1SD Bollinger line and created a MACD bullish crossover. Now the price action hints for more upside. The next resistance level is placed at $10,465.

Ripple

Ripple followed the reversal of the crypto sector and created a new bullish leg starting from the base of the rectangular formation, which, as we mentioned yesterday, is a continuation pattern usually. The price pierced through two resistance levels and is now breaking the third one at $0.29, and making new yearly highs. All indicators are bullish. Thus, we think the $0.30 target is within reach.

Ethereum

Ethereum is continues moving strongly. After finding support at $217, the price has made a tremendous jump to $254 in 24 hours, breaking several resistance levels with ease, its price moving near its +3SD Bollinger line. Many analysts think this parabolic surge means a $300 target is within reach soon for this asset. Short-term, we see this price overextended. Thus, it is better to wait for a consolidation instead or just jumping in as-is.

Litecoin

Litecoin is also making new highs for the year. The price had found support at $73 when it was touching its 50-period SMA and moved up in sync with the rest of the sector. Nor the price is breaking above the $78.4 level. All the technical indicators point to more highs: LTC making higher highs and lows, MACD making a bullish crossover, and the price above its +1SD Bollinger line. The next goal is to reach the $80 level.

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