Christine Lagarde – the president of the European Central Bank – has issued a warning about cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum, calling them highly speculative and saying that they are “suspicious.”

Lagarde: Crypto Is NOT Cash!

Bitcoin and digital assets have shot up like crazy over the past year. The idea is that these assets are becoming hedge tools against inflation and other economic problems caused by the current presidential administration and ongoing coronavirus fears. While many people have garnered newfound respect for these assets, Lagarde feels very differently, and says that they are not cash and should not be treated as such.

In a recent interview, Lagarde commented:

I think we have to distinguish between cryptos that are highly speculative and suspicious occasionally, and high intensity in terms of energy consumption assets, but they’re not a currency.  Cryptos are not currencies, full stop. Cryptos are highly speculative assets that claim their fame as currency, possibly, but they’re not. They are not.

Among the big price highlights to occur for digital assets over the past several months include bitcoin reaching a new all-time high of approximately $64,000 per unit in April. In addition, Ethereum also experienced a new high of about $4,000. Other assets, such as Solana, Ripple’s XRP and Binance’s BNB, have also incurred triple-digit gains.

These currencies – and many others like them – are not garnering affection from Lagarde, though she was rather praising of stable currencies in her interview, claiming:

You have those stable coins that are beginning to proliferate, which some big techs are trying to promote and push along the way, which are a different animal and need to be regulated, where there has to be oversight that corresponds to the business that they’re actually conducting, irrespective of how they name themselves.

Many banks and governments across the globe have been looking at stable coins as of late, recognizing that cryptocurrencies are becoming much more prominent and that they need to stay current to compete. The ECB itself ultimately launched a digital euro project earlier in the year under Lagarde’s direction and guidance. She continued her praise of the stable currency space with:

And in all that, you have the central banks who are prompted by a demand of customers to produce something that will make the central bank and central bank digital currencies fit for the century we are in. I was keen to push the issue, the CBDC issue, on our agenda because I believe that we have to stand ready for that.

Stable Currencies May Provide Solid Answers

One figure sharing this sentiment is Benoit Coeure, the head of innovation at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). He recently stated of stable currencies:

CBDC (central bank digital currencies) will be part of the answer. A well-designed CBDC will be a safe and neutral means of payment and settlement asset.

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Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/christine-lagarde-is-not-a-big-fan-of-digital-currencies/>

The entire cryptocurrency market has been facing severe bearishness over the past few weeks. The king of altcoins, Ethereum broke down below crucial support levels and would incur selling pressures from all around. That effect would automatically trickle down to the other smaller altcoins in the market like VeChain.

However, thanks to its recent rally, Solana seemed to be in a relatively better place to continue its upward trajectory if market sentiments improve.

Ethereum (ETH)

ETH/USD | Source: TradingView

Ever since the correction that happened on El Salvador’s Bitcoin Day ETH/USD has been trading in a very narrow range between $3100 to $3500. It had briefly broken out of the range, only to fall back down into it, before correcting even more.

This was a worrisome signal since it broke down (white arrow) below the descending triangle pattern on the chart as depicted by the pink lines. Ethereum prices also broke below the next support level of $2990 as depicted by the yellow trend line. So unless the prices are able to rally back from current levels to the range of $4000-$4400, the short term future for this counter remained bleak.

The Relative Strength Index dropped below 40 mark which would add to the selling pressure in this currency pair. The MACD, which suffered a bearish crossover a few weeks back entered the negative territory too. The prices have also moved significantly below the 20-day Moving Average line (marked in green) to further add to the bearishness.

Solana (SOL)

SOL/USD | Source: TradingView

Solana has been one of the best performing coins in the past month and a half and its rally propelled it to the seventh biggest coin by market capitalization. Since mid-August, 2021 it rallied nearly five times in price (blue channel), before correcting sharply a month later in line with the entire market and that correction turned into a bearish trend ever since.

Due to the nature of the recent rally, the only logical level of support for the prices would come near $20. However, if Solana prices are able to breakout of the white channel from current levels to above $160, the earlier rally may resume.

Despite the major correction over the past few days from $200 to current prices, indicators had turned extremely bearish yet. The Relative Strength Index remained near the 50 mark so there was still some bullishness.

The MACD which suffered a bearish crossover still remained well within the positive region as well. The prices however, broke down below the 20-day Moving Average (green) but again, it isn’t too far away to retest those levels. So overall, bullish sentiment in this particular coin still persisted.

VeChain (VET)

VET/USD | Source: TradingView

The VET/USD currency pair was extremely volatile and fell significantly from its all time highs. Since then it was trading within a very wide range however, a promising chart pattern was beginning to emerge for this particular coin.

A bullish cup and handle pattern was seen (white lines) and a breakout over $0.12-$0.16 can result in a major rally. The level of support for VeChain was around $0.06 and that should hold fine based on historical data.

Although, the indicators did not show as much enthusiasm on the bullish side. The Relative Strength Index touched 30 levels and currently was around 37 which was very weak. The MACD too breached the zero line and crossed over into the negative territory.

The prices also dropped below the 20-day Moving Average (green) over two weeks ago and were not able to break out of it ever since. So overall, this coin, much like many others in the market, faced the heat of extreme bearishness in the market and would require a convincing breakout over $0.16 to be bullish again.

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Source: https://ambcrypto.com/ethereum-solana-vechain-price-analysis-22-september

Even as the cryptocurrency market continues to face a major moment of truth this week, Mike Novogratz is highlighting the $40,000 and $2,800 prices for Bitcoin and Ethereum respectively as key levels for bulls.

Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, the Galaxy Digital C.E.O stated that the bearish move did not come as a surprise to him as it was only a standard behavior of the market washing shorter-term risk out.

“We held $40,000 overnight in Bitcoin and $2,800 in Ethereum. I think those are very important levels for people to watch. As long as those hold, I think the market’s in good shape” 

Markets got a little too long

He noted that for a moment, investors had almost missed the Web 3 flight by focussing more on the major layer 1 networks getting the markets “a little too long”.

A drastic turnaround of investors putting their money in other assets could have caused an equilibrium shift leading to the drop. He also noted that the intensified Evergrande Crisis in China could also have largely contributed to the drop, particularly pointing at the stable coin FUD.

“People have got this idea that tether’s got their stable coins backed by Chinese commercial paper and if that was the case and Evergrande blows up, you got to think that Chinese course of paper is worthless and so, some of this was a reaction to say, oh my goodness if tether goes that would be really a bad thing!”

Regulatory Uncertainty

Escalating turf wars between the SEC and the cryptocurrency industry is also a major catalyst to this week’s sell-off. Novogratz pointed out that there was a general feeling of nervousness by investors on the FED coming after stable coins amid SEC’s recent wars with Crypto exchanges.

During a presentation with the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Tuesday last week, SEC’s Chair Gary Gensler’s reference to crypto industry as the “Wild West” or the old world of “buyer beware” asserting that the crypto industry lacked enough investor protection only seemed to escalate tension in the already stressed market.

This week, Coinbase shelved its plans to launch a 4% interest-yielding Lending product following a warning to institute legal proceedings from the SEC. This move is widely seen as reflecting in this week’s market movements with Grayscale Investments’ CEO Michael Sonnenshein on Tuesday calling for legal clarity from regulators.

“Where we are today there needs to be some more guidance from the SEC and we really have to move to a place of actual regulation beyond just enforcement actions which we continue to see,” he told CNBC.

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Source: https://zycrypto.com/mike-novogratz-reveals-key-bitcoin-and-ether-price-levels-for-crypto-market-to-remain-in-good-shape/