It was another bearish session on Saturday, with ETH struggling to retake the $2,000 handle on regulatory uncertainty despite the SEC v Ripple ruling.
Ethereum (ETH) fell by 0.36% on Saturday. Following a 3.34% loss on Friday, ETH ended the day at $1,932. The bearish session left ETH short of $2,000 for the first time in three sessions.
This morning, ETH was down 0.37% to $1,925. A range-bound start to the day saw ETH rise to an early high of $1,938 before falling to a low of $1,917.
The Daily Chart showed ETH/USD sitting below the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band.
However, ETH/USD currently sits above the 50-day ($1,868) and 200-day ($1,767) EMAs, signaling bullish momentum over the near and long term.
Notably, the 50-day EMA widened further from the 200-day EMA and reflected bullish momentum.
Looking at the 14-Daily RSI, the 54.62 reading signaled a bullish outlook, aligned with the 50-day and 200-day EMAs. Significantly, the RSI supports a run at the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band.
Looking at the 4-Hourly Chart, the ETH/USD faces strong resistance at the $1,950 psychological level. ETH/USD sits below the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band. However, ETH remains above the 50-day ($1,916) and 200-day ($1,878) EMAs, sending bullish near and longer-term signals.
Significantly, the 50-day EMA pulled away from the 200-day EMA, signaling a return to $2,000 to target the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band.
However, a fall through the 50-day EMA ($1,916) would bring the $1,895 – $1,865 support band and the 200-day EMA ($1,878) into view.
The 14-4H RSI reading of 48.93 sends bearish ETH price signals, with selling pressure outweighing buying pressure. Significantly, the bearish RSI suggests a fall through the 50-day EMA to target the $1,895 – $1,865 support band.
According to CryptoQuant, staking inflows fell from 96,736 ETH on Friday to 27,168 on Saturday. Significantly, staking inflows returned to below-normal trends, a bearish price signal.
The overnight withdrawal profile was relatively bullish, with principal withdrawals at normal levels. However, withdrawal projections for the morning session are also bullish after an initial spike. Projections show withdrawal levels will sit at normal withdrawal levels through most of the morning session.
On Saturday, the net ETH staking balance stood at a 92,640 ETH surplus ($183.53 million), down 21.44% over 24 hours. Deposits totaled 98,120 versus withdrawals of 5,470 ETH.
According to TokenUnlocks, total pending withdrawals stood at 28,600 ETH, equivalent to approximately $55.06 million. Notably, the staking APR stood at 5.55%, unchanged over 24 hours. While the downward trend in the staking APR is ETH price negative, the slide in the net staking balance was also negative.
Investors remained cautious on Saturday, with ETH falling short of $2,000 on the threat of an SEC appeal to the SEC v Ripple rulings.
Uncertainty toward the recent ETF refilings also tested buyer appetite. While the ETF applications are not ETH products, investors expect ETH ETF products to hit the US market once BTC ETFs are up and running.
The Court ruling that XRP is not a security in all transactions, except for transactions involving institutional clients, could incentivize the SEC to decline the ETF applications and delay the evolution of the US digital asset space.
In Hong Kong, HSBC began offering BTC and ETH exchange-traded funds to clients to trade in June.
SEC v Ripple case-related chatter will remain the focal point.
However, beyond the SEC v Ripple case and the staking statistics, investors should continue to monitor ETF chatter, with Binance, Coinbase (COIN), and US lawmaker crypto chatter also focal points.
With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.