Top 3 Trending Coins: NEAR Surge Continues as ETH Pulls Back from Highs, FTT Lags

Key Points

• Ethereum has slipped back from earlier session highs around $1,630, but bulls still target $1,700.
• NEAR is the best performer in the crypto top 50, up over 11% in the last 24 hours.
• FTT is a laggard over that same time period, but its technicals still look positive.

Market Update: Bitcoin Pulls Back Below $22,000

Profit-taking has triggered a reversal in most major cryptocurrencies from the multi-week highs that many hit during Asia Pacific trade, as investors mull macro events approaching later in the week. Bitcoin was last trading around $21,900, having pulled back from earlier session highs near-$23,000, its highest level since mid-June.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency, like most other major coins, still trades with healthy on-the-week gains, with Bitcoin still up over 5.0% since Sunday’s close. For now, BTC/USD’s path higher has been blocked by its 50-Day Moving Average just above $23,000. There isn’t much on the US macro calendar this week that could impact broad crypto sentiment aside from Friday’s flash July PMI data that will update on the health of the Service and Manufacturing sectors.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum pushed as high as the $1,630 area in early trade on Tuesday, the cryptocurrency getting ever closer to the next upside target marked out by technicians just above $1,700. ETH/USD has since pulled back a little and is trading just under 3.0% lower on Tuesday in the $1,530s.

But ETH is still higher by around 3.5% versus 24 hours ago according to CoinMarketCap, making it one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in the top 50 by market capitalization. At current levels, Ethereum is up a staggering more than 50% since last week’s lows just above $1,000.

The cryptocurrency certainly seems to be carrying a lot of upside momentum, suggesting a test of $1,700 resistance (the May 2022 and mid-2021 lows) is very likely in the days ahead. Technical buying after a breakout above resistance at $1,280 has been a major factor driving recent gains, but analysts have also noted optimism about Ethereum’s upcoming Merge to Proof-of-Stake. Senior Ethereum developers last week outlined their expectations for the transition to occur in September.

NEAR Protocol (NEAR)

Up-and-coming Ethereum competitor blockchain the NEAR Protocol, which boasts amongst the fastest transaction speeds/highest transaction capacity of any existing blockchain, is the best performing cryptocurrency in the top 50 over the last 24 hours according to CoinMarketCap. Over this time period, it was last up around 11.5%, though at current levels in the $4.30s, has backed off from earlier highs above $4.50.

Since last week’s lows just above $3.0, NEAR Protocol’s NEAR token has surged a staggering nearly 45%. In doing so, it has rallied to the north of both its 21 and 50DMAs near $3.50 and $3.93 respectively. The latest rally on Tuesday comes despite the broader pullback in crypto and saw NEAR surpass its late-June highs just under $4.40 and hit its highest level since 11 June.

With NEAR/USD having cleared key levels of resistance to the upside, the door is seemingly now open for a test of late-May lows in the $4.70 area, the next obvious bull target. Beyond that, the next major level of resistance that the bulls will be looking at is the psychologically important $5.0 level and then around $6.50.

FTT

FTT, the utility token of the FTX crypto exchange ecosystem that provides holders with discounted trading fees, OTC rebates and can serve as collateral for futures positions, has reversed sharply from multi-week highs above the $30 level that it hit earlier in the session. The cryptocurrency was last trading just below $28.50, down just under 5.0% on the day and down about 4.0% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

This makes the token one of the worst performers over this time period in the crypto top 50 (by market cap). That being said, FTT’s short-term technical outlook is still looking upbeat. The cryptocurrency rose convincingly above a downtrend linking recent highs going back to late May on Monday and has since found support at a retest of this trendline.

Traders may well be adding to bullish positions and targeting a more convincing break above the $30 in the sessions ahead. FTT’s 21DMA (at $26.10) looks likely to cross above its 50DMA (at $26.25) in the coming days, which could add to the bullish impetus. Beyond $30, the next logical target is the $32.00 balance area (early 2022 lows and then some mid-May highs).

FTT Struggles Despite FTX’s Position of Strength

Regarding the FTX exchange, despite the ongoing crypto winter, the exchange looks to be in a strong position. Unlike other major rivals such as Coinbase and Gemini, FTX has not shrunk its workforce and has even been looking to expand via M&A, having agreed to a deal that could see it acquire troubled crypto lending firm BlockFi for as little as $240 million.

There were also rumors recently it was looking to buy out popular US-based retail trading application Robinhood. FTX is the second-largest cryptocurrency spot exchange after Binance and the tenth-largest derivatives exchange in the world by trading volume. Despite this, at current levels, FTT is over 65% below last year’s record levels around $85 per token.