Ethereum Classic (ETC) struggles to report any bullish rise – Where does it go next

The Ethereum Classic logo, grey circle with blue rim that has a blue & black diamond at its center

The crypto market has in general been very risk-averse. Even though we have seen loads of volatility, the general trend in the market has remained bearish. Ethereum Classic (ETC) is one of those coins that have been affected by this, and it seems the coin has very little bullish momentum right now. Here are some highlights:

  • ETC has managed to keep price action above the $25 support for now.

  • The token is currently trading at $26.56, virtually unchanged in the last 24 hours.

  • Despite this, ETC remains highly vulnerable to selling pressure.

Data Source: Tradingview 

Ethereum Classic (ETC) – Where does the price go?

A look at the price action over the last few days suggests that ETC is trading within a symmetrical triangle. This means that the coin is oscillating between support and resistance in almost the same breath. So, even if ETC was somehow able to build an upward trajectory, the coin would likely pull back at $28 and return to the $25 support. 

This is why we feel there is very little bullish momentum right now. But even with this symmetrical triangle, ETC still remains highly vulnerable to selling pressure. In fact, with current market volatility, it will be highly unreasonable to expect ETC to hold the $25 support in the days ahead. As a result, we believe that the only way the symmetrical triangle breaks is if ETC goes on a downtrend.

Why buy Ethereum Classic anyway?

It’s always hard for most investors to buy coins that appear to have plateaued or those that don’t seem to have enough upward momentum. But at the end of the day, the long-term outlook is what really matters for crypto investors. 

While right now, Ethereum Classic (ETC) appears to be struggling with bullish momentum, in the medium and longer-term, the coin will still deliver value for investors.

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Cardano (ADA) could hit the lowest price this year in the coming days

The start of March has been bittersweet for Cardano (ADA) but mostly, the coin has traded sideways. As more bear pressure starts to build, ADA is staring at the possibility of hitting an all-time low in the near term. Here are some notable highlights:

  • Cardano (ADA) has broken the crucial $0.8 support

  • At press time, the coin was trading at $0.79, up around 1% for the day.

  • More weakness will follow, and ADA could bottom below $0.7, the lowest level this year.

Data Source: Tradingview 

Cardano (ADA) – Price analysis and prediction

After trading sideways for most parts of March, Cardano (ADA) looks like it doesn’t have any bullish momentum to rise further. The coin had managed to hold the $0.8 support over the last week or so but that level has now been breached. At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.79.

We expect more weaknesses to follow. In fact, looking at the daily price movement today, ADA has moved predictably sideways again, posting gains of just 1%. It is likely that the coin will bottom at $0.7 or lower. This could push ADA to its lowest level this year.

The fall from grace couldn’t be more shocking. At the tail end of January, ADA was testing $1.64 in what appeared to be a decent upward trajectory. But as of now, the coin has lost over 50% in value from those highs.

Is Cardano (ADA) a good buy

Despite its up and downs, ADA still remains one of the main crypto assets in the market. There is no doubt that the long-term fundamentals will still remain positive.

But in case you would love to get ADA cheaply, it would be nice to wait a few weeks. Once the coin bottoms below $0.7, you can swoop in, buy, and hold it for a year or so.

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Ripple CEO: Denying SEC’s Motion to Strike Fair Notice defense is a ‘huge win for Ripple’

  • Brad Garlinghouse says Ripple is confident the SEC’s case will ultimately „be dismissed.“
  • XRP price shot up nearly 8% after the news
  • Ripple has maintained that its XRP token is not a security, earlier questioning a SEC official’s comments on Bitcoin and Ethereum

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has called the latest decision by a New York judge in the Ripple vs. US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) case as a “huge win” for the blockchain company.

If you weren’t paying attention then, you should be now. Huge win for Ripple today!” Garlinghouse said.

His comment followed an order by US District Judge Analisa Torres denying the SEC’s motion to strike down Ripple’s Fair Notice defense.

Part of Judge Torres’ order reads:

The SEC does not contend that Ripple’s affirmative defense is untimely, and the Court shall not conclude, at this early stage of the case, that Ripple’s defense is invalid. Accordingly, the SEC’s motion to strike Ripple’s fair notice affirmative defense is DENIED,”

Garlinghouse ‚confident‘ SEC’s case will be dismissed- ultimately

The SEC sued Ripple and top executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen for what it called the illegal sale of unregistered securities related to the XRP token. The case has been active since December 2020, with Ripple maintaining that XRP is not a security.

Commenting on the cases against him and Larsen, the Ripple chief noted:

“While we would have preferred the cases against Chris and me to end now, the SEC must now prove its claims. We are confident that ultimately all of them will be dismissed.”

Stuart Alderoty, General Counsel at Ripple said that Friday’s court order “makes it clear there’s a serious question whether the SEC ever provided Ripple with fair notice that its distributions of XRP – since 2013 – would ever be prohibited under the securities law,”

He lauded the judge’s decision and added that it might be time “the sun sets on the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement” approach.”

XRP price jumped nearly 8% following the news before the token pared some of the gains late afternoon.

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Kadena rallies after Binance listing – Can the pump last?

Kadena Logo on a mobile phone being held in some ones hand

  • Kadena pumps after Binance listing. 

  • Profit-taking has triggered a minor correction, but overall momentum is bullish.

  • Kadena’s core metrics as a platform blockchain are behind its strength. 

Kadena (KDA) is one of the best performers today and is currently up by over 14%. This follows news that the KDA token was now listed on Binance, the world’s largest exchange by volumes,

The Binance listing is a big deal, as it opens up Kadena to an even wider range of investors. This means higher volumes and higher demand once the money flows back into the crypto market. 

However, it is not just the Binance-driven pump that makes Kadena a worthwhile investment. Kadena is one of the lowest fees platform blockchains and can scale well. Kadena is also one of the safest platform blockchains in the market because, like Bitcoin, it runs on a Proof-of-Work algorithm. This makes it perfect for companies that want to build sophisticated financial solutions that require a high level of security. 

Interestingly, while Proof-of-Work has been getting a lot of bad rap lately due to energy consumption, Kadena does not have this problem. That’s because, in the Kadena Proof-of-Work algorithm, the cost does not increase with use. This helps it combine the safety of PoW with the efficiency that other blockchains get from Proof-of-Stake. 

This is one of the big factors contributing to Kadena’s rise in adoption and price over the past year. 

Kadena Profit-taking triggers correction.

 Source: TradingView

Hours before the Binance listing, Kadena’s price pumped hard. However, a few hours later, the price entered a correction as traders took profits in anticipation of a post-news dump. 

Bulls seem to be regaining control, though, an indicator that investors are still buying into Kadena in anticipation of even more gains. With Bitcoin now pushing back above $40k resistance, Kadena could easily retest the week’s high of $8.30. 

Summary 

Kadena pumped after the Binance listing. While the price has since dropped due to profit-taking, it seems to be stabilizing again. This indicates that the underlying demand is strong despite the price taking.

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Hedge fund shorts Tether

According to a Bloomberg report released Friday, hedge fund Fir Tree Capital Management, who have $4 billion in assets under management, made a large short bet against Tether (USDT), the stablecoin which is pegged to the US dollar.

One-to-one backing

With a market capitalisation of $80 billion, Tether is the world’s third largest cryptocurrency, behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company has long been under fire surrounding accusations that $80 billion worth of reserves is not held to back the cryptocurrency one -to-one, an issue the company has repeatedly tried to clear up, but one which will not go away.

Indeed, I interviewed Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino last week following the announcement by the Swiss city of Lugano that Tether would be accepted as legal tender, and asked him whether the city had concerns over whether the cryptocurrency was fully backed:

CoinJournal: Did Lugano seek assurances on whether Tether is 100% backed, or were they content with what Tether has already released publicly on the matter?

Paolo Ardoino: Tether and the city of Lugano sat down and openly discussed the misconceptions about the company. Tether has publicly stated that it has ongoing conversations with regulators and law enforcement and has made valiant efforts in complying with all requests for transparency.

Fir Tree Capital Management remain among the sceptics, however, with Bloomberg’s report claiming that the company expects to receive a payoff within 12 months. The short is motivated mainly by Tether’s ties to Chinese real estate developers, with revelations of Evergrande Group’s finances last year causing turmoil. While originally spooking crypto markets, Tether came out to confirm that Evergrande Group commercial paper did not feature among the $24 billion in high-yield commercial paper that the firm owns. Evidently, this is a claim which Fir Tree does not believe.

Structure of the Short

While details about the structure of the short bet have not been made public, we can speculate how it may be constructed. Given the fact Tether is a stablecoin with no price volatility (i.e . it always trades at $1), the short is an unconventional one. Where typically a short bet presents unlimited downside (as the shorted stock or financial instrument theoretically has no limit to the upside), this is different, given Tether will not rise in price under any circumstances.

In truth, it is more likely to resemble the purchase of a credit default swap (CDS) on a debt obligation, the likes of which entered mainstream conscience amid the Great Financial Crash last decade (and were the subject of Hollywood blockbuster The Big Short). Fir Tree are likely paying a fixed spread to bet against Tether, and will receive a large payoff if Tether defaults (alternatively, if a default becomes more likely in the eyes of the market, the spread would widen on the contract and Fir Tree could cash out at a profit).

Asymmetric Payoff

Therefore, the hedge fund’s bet will have an asymmetric payoff schedule to the upside. Of course, if Tether default and they do receive their payoff, the cryptocurrency markets will likely implode. The centrality of Tether to the ecosystem at large cannot be overstated – the stablecoin clears over $50 billion of daily trade volume (Apple stock volume, for comparison, averages $98 million in daily volume over the last three months).

Tether 24H volume 2019-2021, via Statista

Tether sceptics are nothing new, but this amounts to quite a high-profile move by Fir Tree, even if it is a low-risk, high-reward structure. The fund supposedly commenced shorting Tether last July, while Bloomberg also claims Fir Tree are considering setting up a separate fund for the sole purpose of shorting Tether, should there be enough client interest.

For the sake of crypto investors around the globe, the hope is that Tether are, in fact, what they claim to be – fully backed. If not, Christian Bale’s next role could be as a Fir Tree executive.

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