Cryptocurrency market update: Recovery picks up steam, Ethereum adds 6%

• Major cryptocurrencies gain traction on Saturday despite a lack of fresh market drivers.
• Bitcoin remains on track to snap a three-week losing streak.
• Ethereum climbs to $180, gains more than 6%.

Major cryptocurrencies spent the previous three trading days under pressure but were able to stage a decisive recovery on Saturday despite a lack of significant market drivers. On Friday, Bitcoin lost its traction with a classic ‘buy the rumour, sell the fact’ reaction to Bakkt’s introduction of its digital-asset custody warehouse, which will allow  customers to move Bitcoin in and out of their accounts before futures are launched on September 23.

Meanwhile, at a panel organized by the Swiss Institute of International Studies (SIAF), University of Zurich, on Friday, Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, said that the Fed was not taking any steps to develop a digital currency and noted there were serious security issues surrounding digital currencies. Swiss National Bank Governor Jordan, on the other hand, said stable coins could become more widely used than current crypto tokens  but added that they could hamper monetary policy in some circumstances.

Top-3 coins price overview

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) rose to its highest level in more than two weeks at $10,950 on Friday but made a sharp U-turn during American trading hours and closed the day near $10,300. As of writing, the pair was up nearly 2% on a daily basis at $10,500. With today’s rebound, the pair is now up more than 7% on the week and remains on track to snap a three-week losing streak. A daily close above $10.450 (50-day MA) could allow the pair to test the critical  $10,750 (Fibonacci 50% retracement of June rally) handle ahead of $11,500 (Fibonacci 38.2% retracement of June rally). On the downside, supports could be seen at $10,200 (Friday’s low/20-day MA), $10,000 (psychological level/Fibonacci 61.8% retracement of June rally) and $9,320 (Aug. 29 low).

As it seemed like Ethereum (ETH/USD) was headed to its fifth straight weekly close in the negative territory, today’s sharp rebound allowed the pair to turn green on the weekly chart. As of writing, the pair was up 6% on the day at $180. Although  Ethereum’s Ethereum’s community manager on Friday announced that the testnet activation of the Istanbul hard fork had  been pushed back to early October, the upbeat cryptocurrency market sentiment helped the oversold ETH reverse its direction. The immediate resistance for the pair aligns at $185 (20-day MA) ahead of $200 (psychological level/50-day MA). Supports, on the other hand, could be seen at $170 (daily low) followed by $160 (Fibonacci %78.6 retracement of June rally).  

Similar to BTC and ETH, Ripple (XRP/USD) also erased the majority of the losses it suffered in the last three days. After touching its lowest level in ten days at $0.2475, the XRP/USD is now trading at $0.2615 adding nearly 4% on the day. $0.2645 (daily high/20-day MA) could be seen as the first hurdle on the upside ahead of $0.2700 (Aug. 28 high) and $0.2890 (50-day MA). The initial support is located at $0.2500 (daily low) ahead of $0.2365 (Aug. 14 low).