Cryptocurrency market update: Bitcoin edges lower toward critical $10,000

The heavy selling pressure surrounding all major cryptocurrencies since the start of the week seems to have lost its strength on Saturday but the market doesn't show any interest in a decisive recovery attempt. Although Bitcoin gained traction on Friday on the back of Bakkt announcing that it will offer futures that will pay out in Bitcoin starting September 23rd, the positive impact of this development faded away relatively quickly. According to the latest available data on coinmarketcap.com, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies fell to $263 billion from $300 billion seen on Monday.

Top-3 coins price overview

After rising to a fresh two-day high of $10,540 on Friday, Bitcoin (BTC/USD) turned south on Saturday and erased a large portion of the recovery gains it recorded in the second half of the week. With the low weekend trading volume keeping Bitcoin's losses limited, for now, the picture remains bearish for the biggest cryptocurrency with regards to market capitalization. As of writing, the BTC/USD pair is down 2.22% on the day at $10,130. $10,000 (psychological level/Fibonacci 61.8% retracement of June rally) is located as the initial support and a break below that critical level could attract sellers and push the pair lower toward $9,500 (Aug. 15 low) and $9,000 (psychological level/Jul. 17 low/Fibonacci 78.6% retracement of June rally). On the upside, a daily close above $10,800 (20-DMA/50-DMA/Fibonacci 50% retracement of June rally) could be seen as the beginning of a deeper recovery.

Ethereum (ETH/USD) slumped to its lowest level in more than three months at $171 and failed to make a sharp rebound to retake the $200 psychological level. At the moment, the ETH/USD pair is erasing 1.2% on the day at $183. Above the $200 handle, $210 (20-day MA) could act as an interim resistance ahead of $240 (Aug. 6 high/50-day MA). On the downside, $171 (Aug. 15 low) is the immediate support and below that level, the pair could target April lows at $140.

Ripple (XRP/USD) dropped to its lowest level since December 2017 at $0.2365 earlier this week and has been staying in a tight consolidation channel since. Although the pair is adding a little more than 1% on a daily basis at $0.2640 at the moment, it's still down nearly 13% for the week. Only with a strong move above $0.3000 (20-day MA and former static support) the XRP/USD pair could bring in more buyers and continue to retrace its losses. On the downside, $0.2200 (Dec. 10, 2017, low) and $0.2000 (Dec. 8, 2017, low/psychological level) can be targeted if the bearish pressure remains intact.