Crypto News: Bitcoin and $40,000 in the Hands of the SEC

Key Insights:

• BTC and ETH spent the weekend in negative territory as investors await progress toward a crypto-spot ETF market.
• Solana (SOL) enjoyed a breakout week, striking $60 for the first time since May 2022.
• The Wall Street Journal published a second article on crypto and illicit financing.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Spend the Weekend Underwater

Bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) saw losses throughout the weekend. A lack of crypto-spot ETF-related news left the pair in negative territory.

On Wednesday, November 8, the approval window opened for the SEC to approve 12 BTC-spot ETF applications. However, the window closes on November 17. Nonetheless, investors remain optimistic about the SEC approval of one, some, or all the applications.

The approval of BTC-spot ETFs could open the floodgates for ETH-spot ETF applications. On November 9, investors reacted to the BlackRock filing for an ETH-spot ETF. ETH ended the Thursday session up 12.30%.

This week, the focus will remain on the crypto-spot ETF applications. An SEC approval of one BTC-spot ETF could support a return to $40,000. BTC is up 125% year-to-date.

Solana Gains 37% in the Week Ending November 12

Solana (SOL) gained 36.7% in the week ending November 12. The lion’s share of the gains came from a 25.2% surge on Friday, November 10.

Projects building on the Solana network have brought Solana back into focus. In September 2023, Visa (V) announced the expansion of its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the Solana blockchain.

A shift in investor sentiment towards cryptocurrencies drove SOL to reach a 2023 high of $63.97 on Saturday, November 11. While hitting its highest level since May 2022, SOL remains well below a November 2021 ATH of $267.52. Nevertheless, SOL is poised to extend its three-month winning streak. SOL jumped 79.8% in October and is up 51.9% in November.

The launch of new projects on the Solana blockchain could fuel the recovery.

The Wall Street Journal Targets the Crypto Market a Second Time

On Sunday, the crypto community reacted to a second WSJ article targeting crypto and illicit financing. The second article discussed Hamas using crypto to receive funds from Iran in the two years preceding the October 7 attack on Israel.

The WSJ article followed a Forbes article titled ‘How Misinformation on Group and Crypto Fooled Nearly 20% Of Congress.’ The Forbes article highlighted how Senator Elizabeth Warren convinced 204 Congressional colleagues to sign a letter to the US administration. The letter called on the US administration to investigate the use of crypto in illicit financing.

Elliptic straightened out the facts shortly after the first WSJ article went viral.

Senator Cynthia Lummis responded to the Forbes article, saying,

“Crypto accounts for< 1% of all illicit finance activity and would be even less if we created a regulatory structure to allow the crypto industry to operate in America instead of unregulated foreign markets. Crypto is not the problem, bad actors that exist in every industry are.”

Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong responded to the WSJ article on X (formerly Twitter). Armstrong shared stats on American confidence in the news. According to the report, the percentage of Americans who say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers and television news has tumbled since the early 1990s.

Surprisingly, confidence in newspapers dropped from above 30% to 11% in 2022. Confidence in television news was down from above 45% to 16%.

The crypto market appears to have brushed aside the WSJ article. On Monday, the total crypto market cap was up 0.61% to $1,393 trillion.

Technical Analysis

Bitcoin Analysis

BTC held above the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, the EMAs sending bullish price signals.

A BTC move through the $37,600 resistance level would give the bulls a run at the November 9 high of $38,020. A break above $38,200 would bring $40,000 into play.

Crypto-spot ETF-related news will remain the focal point on Monday.

A BTC fall through the $36,400 support level would give the bears a run at the $35,265 support level.

The 14-Daily RSI reading of 81.00 shows BTC in overbought territory. Selling pressure may intensify at the $37,600 resistance level.

Ethereum Analysis

ETH remained above the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, the EMAs sending bullish price signals.

An ETH move to $2,100 would support a break above the $2,143 resistance level.

BTC-spot ETH and ETH-spot ETF news remain the focal points.

However, a fall through the $2,021 support level would bring the $1,926 support level into play.

The 14-period Daily RSI at 73.20 shows ETH in overbought territory. Selling pressure may intensify at the $2,143 resistance level.