First Mover Asia: Bitcoin is flat in muted trading; Ether declines

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization declined before recovering ground later in the day.

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:

Market moves: Bitcoin remained largely flat, while its spot volume reduced further.

Technician's take: BTC buyers have consistently lost ground to sellers.

Prices

Bitcoin (BTC): $37,004 -.03%

Ether (ETH): $2,666 -1%

Top Gainers

Asset	Ticker	Returns	Sector
Internet Computer	ICP	+8.3%	Computing

Top Losers

Asset	Ticker	Returns	Sector
Cosmos	ATOM	−9.8%	Smart Contract Platform
Solana	SOL	−7.8%	Smart Contract Platform
Polkadot	DOT	−7.3%	Smart Contract Platform

Markets

S&P 500: 4,477 -2.4%

DJIA: 35,111 -1.1%

Nasdaq: 18,878 -3.7%

Gold: $1,806 -0.1%

Market moves

Bitcoin 's (BTC) price late Thursday was roughly flat after dipping in earlier in the day, while spot trading volume remained muted.

After a more than 4% drop on Wednesday, bitcoin’s selling pressure was mostly gone during U.S. trading hours on Thursday despite the continued price plunge of Meta Platforms' shares following the former Facebook’s disappointing earnings results and outlook. A sell-off on tech stocks also eased during late trading after shares of Amazon.com and Snap soared on their quarterly results.

At the time of publication, the oldest cryptocurrency was changing hands at $37,000, roughly where it was 24 hours earlier, according to CoinDesk data. Bitcoin’s trading volume across major centralized exchanges continued to drop from a day ago.

(CoinDesk/CryptoCompare)

The reduced spot trading volume has been a trend in crypto for most of January, according to data provider CryptoCompare. January’s spot trading volume for the crypto market across major exchanges reached their lowest level since December 2020, CryptoCompare wrote in a report published on Feb 3.

In the broader cryptocurrency market, most of alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) were also in red on Thursday. Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading at about $2,660, down approximately 1% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data.

Technician's take

Bitcoin four-hour price chart shows support/resistance levels. (Damanick Dantes/CoinDesk, TradingView)

Bitcoin (BTC) buyers and sellers are at a stalemate, evidenced by low trading volume and muted price action over the past few days.

The cryptocurrency is trading in a tight range between $35,000 support and $38,000-$40,000 resistance. Most technical indicators are neutral, which means BTC could remain in a narrow price range going into the Asia trading day.

Buyers have consistently lost ground to sellers given the persistent downtrend since November. Based on the overwhelming selling pressure, the downward-sloping 100-day moving average on the four-hour chart has been a useful gauge of downtrend resistance.

Still, initial support at $35,000 could stabilize the current pullback. Stronger support is seen around $30,000, a critical price zone that could determine a shift from a bullish to bearish price trend.

Important events

3 p.m. HKT/SGT (7 a.m. UTC): Germany factory orders n.s.a. (Dec. YoY)

3 p.m. HKT/SGT (7 a.m. UTC): Germany factory orders s.a. (Dec. YoY)

9:30 p.m. HKT/SGT (1:30 UTC): U.S. labor force participation rate (Jan.)

9:30 p.m. HKT/SGT (1:30 UTC): U.S. unemployment rate (Jan.)

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