Crypto Today: Bitcoin and Ethereum gain, XRP holds steady ahead of $1 billion options expiry

Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP updates

• Bitcoin trades at $61,804 in the early American session on Friday. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has erased over 6.0% of its value since Monday. While BTC dropped in value this week, the asset notes three consecutive days of net outflows from Spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), according to data from Farside Investors. 
• Ethereum hovers just below $2,400 on Friday. The altcoin trends towards lower fees, and analysts at IntoTheBlock consider this as a key contributor to Ethereum’s underperformance. Analysts say the market effectively “rejects the thesis of ETH as money,” in a recent newsletter, explaining the decline in Ether price. 
• Ethereum Spot ETFs noted $3.2 million in net outflows on Thursday. 
• XRP traders grapple with the US Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) appeal against the $125 million lawsuit ruling in the Ripple case. The payment remittance firm has 14 days from October 3 to file a counter appeal, and XRP traders keep their eyes peeled. 

Chart of the day: Aptos (APT)

Aptos ranks among cryptocurrencies that yielded the most negative returns for traders in the last 24 hours. APT is likely poised for a double-digit rally if the DeFi token extends its gains. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) momentum indicator shows a positive underlying impulse in the APT price trend. 

The consecutive green histogram bars in the momentum indicator support a bullish thesis for APT. Aptos could face resistance at the upper boundary of the Fair Value Gap (FVG) between $8.60 and $8.91. 

APT could target the $10.41 level, a resistance level respected by Aptos between May and October. This marks a 16.89% gain in APT’s price. 

APT/USDT daily chart

Looking down, APT could find support in the FVG between $7.99 and $8.19 in case of a correction in Aptos. 

Market updates 

• Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has noted a decline in its market share. Coindesk reports that Binance’s trading volume took a 20% hit month-on-month in September 2024. 

• Kraken obtains a license to operate a derivatives trading platform in Bermuda, in a move that could bolster crypto adoption. 
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked El Salvador to scale back its Bitcoin policy during a press conference event on Thursday. 
• Over $1 billion in Bitcoin options expire on Friday, likely increasing the volatility in BTC. 

Industry updates

• Crypto data intelligence firm Santiment identifies that bearish sentiment has emerged among market participants as mentions of “Uptober,” a term that implies positive monthly returns in Bitcoin in October, have declined.

• Crypto platform Polymarket introduced a betting market on Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity. 

Bet on Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity 

• Coinbase is set to remove stablecoin-related services that do not comply with the European Union’s (EU) MiCA requirements starting December 30, 2024, according to Bloomberg’s report.