After Bitcoin forfeited the $33,000-mark, altcoins such as Stellar Lumens, Cosmos, and Zcash moved within a range and awaited further signals from the market leader to make a stronger move on the charts.

Stellar Lumens [XLM]

Source: XLM/USD, TradingView

Stellar Lumens moved within the tight channel of $0.28 and $0.26 as trading volumes remained subdued over the last few days. The 20-SMA and 50-SMA highlighted some points of resistance as the candlesticks remained below the two moving averages. A bullish rally in the broader market could determine the price action over the next few trading sessions, otherwise, XLM could trade within its present channel.

The Awesome Oscillator was bearish-neutral as the red bars remained below equilibrium.

The Chaikin Money Flow showed that despite capital inflows, the price was unable to break above its press time resistance.

Cosmos [ATOM]

Source: ATOM/USD, TradingView

At the time of writing, ATOM was trading close to its support line at $8.12 after a bit of to and fro movement over the last few trading sessions. It was unclear whether the bulls could maintain the price above its support level as subdued trading volume prevented a rise on the charts. A bearish scenario could see the price lose out on the $8.12-level and move lower to $7.1. The indicators were largely neutral, and the path forward for ATOM could rely on strong cues from the broader market.

The Relative Strength Index remained neutral and stabilized just around 50.

The MACD slightly favored the bears as the bars on the histogram were moving towards the half-line.

Zcash [ZEC]

Source: ZEC/USD, TradingView

Although Zcash seemed bullish at the time of writing, the resistance at $89.9 halted a further rise on the charts. A bit of sideways movement can be expected moving forward as buyers remained subdued in the market. In case of a fall, the bulls could hold on to the $81.08-support level.

The candlesticks moved within the Signal line and the lower band of the Bollinger Bands and can be expected to continue this trajectory, unless there is a drastic move in market leaders BTC and ETH.

The On Balance Volume dipped and moved flatly as the price fell below the $89.94-resistance. The price might trade below its press time support if the OBV fails to pick up.

Source: https://ambcrypto.com/stellar-lumens-cosmos-zcash-price-analysis-23-january

Bitcoin’s price bounced back on the charts after undergoing yet another price correction, with the same settling above the $32,000-price level, at press time. In fact, after seeing its value fall by over 15 percent on the 20th of January, the coin was on its way to breach its immediate resistances at the $33,000 and $34,000-levels.

In the past, Bitcoin has been troubled by minor corrections on the charts after falling from the ATH it set around the $42k-level. However, Bitcoin returning to claim a position above $35k, for example, might be a clear sign that the bulls are back in control. This raises the question – In the short-term market for Bitcoin, how probable is such a scenario?

Given the cryptocurrency’s overall market sentiment, traders may have to wait a while before the $35k-price level is claimed. In the long term, given Bitcoin’s scarcity and the fact that it has in the past gone past this price level, the $35k-level should be easily capturable.

However, in the next few weeks, the continuing bearish sentiment may stop the coin from breaching this resistance.

Source: Santiment

According to Santiment’s data, strong bearish sentiments with regard to Bitcoin are around at the moment. Santiment’s Weighted Social Sentiment metric is a clear indicator of the overall sentiment traders have towards an asset. In Bitcoin’s case, in spite of it rebounding today, many traders seem to be a bit hesitant at these levels.

For assets like Bitcoin that work in a speculative market, crowd sentiment is a key attribute. While it is wise to buy when the price takes a dip, the fact that after Bitcoin fell to the $30k-price range there were quite a few corrections without a strong uptrend could be one of the reasons traders are hesitating to buy more BTC and help its price move north.

Source: Santiment

In fact, taking a closer look at the two corrections that happened on Bitcoin’s charts over the past week, Santiment highlighted that while traders were keen on buying the dip during the first correction, there was a bit of skepticism during the second dip that happened yesterday.

To better understand social sentiments, Google trends data can also come in handy. Taking a look at user interest in Bitcoin world over, a slump over the past few days was evident, with this finding shedding new light on the cryptocurrency’s recent price performance.

According to Google’s data, a value of 100 is the peak popularity for a term, with Bitcoin seeing its levels fall to 59 at press time, from 100 on the 11th of January.

Source: Google Trends

With Bitcoin setting new highs this month, it has also, in turn, redefined what it means to buy low and sell high. Bitcoin’s press time price point is still quite steep in comparison to where it was under a year ago and one of the reasons why traders may be a bit apprehensive during these price corrections could be because the price is still in quite an expensive range.

Additionally, another reason why the bearishness continues for Bitcoin could be because of the $10k drop that Bitcoin underwent, and even after traders ‘bought the dip,’ the price has only increased marginally and ended up seeing yet another price correction. To a certain extent, one can argue that this could be the reason why in the short-term, the bearishness prevails.

However, given Bitcoin’s predicted trajectory, a $30k-price point is likely to be quite a rarity in the coming months and traders accumulating the coin may find themselves quite fortunate soon.

Source: https://ambcrypto.com/why-has-bitcoins-brief-recovery-not-been-enough

Mrs. Janet Yellen has made a follow-up comment about cryptocurrencies since the previous one in her recent confirmation hearing. In what seems like a contrary statement, the Treasury secretary nominee is now asserting the potential of digital currencies.

The senate committee on finance proposed the question which reads; “Dr. Yellen, what do you view as the potential threats and benefits these innovations and technologies will have on U.S. national security? Do you think more needs to be done to ensure we have appropriate safeguards and regulations for digital and cryptocurrencies in place?” Yellen responded, saying “I think it important we consider the benefits of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, and the potential they have to improve the efficiency of the financial system.”

She further emphasized the importance of advancing the legitimate use cases for Bitcoin and developing a regulatory framework that facilitates this. In her words;

“I think we need to look closely at how to encourage their use for legitimate activities while curtailing their use for malign and illegal activities. If confirmed, I intend to work closely with the Federal Reserve Board and the other federal banking and securities regulators on how to implement an effective regulatory framework for these and other fintech innovations.” 

Mrs. Janet Yellen, President Joe Biden’s secretary treasury nominee had been in the news for her recent comments about cryptocurrencies. When asked on Tuesday by the Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan to “outline some of these emerging technological concerns and how Treasury should combat new forms of terrorism criminal financing?” Yellen can be quoted saying that “cryptocurrencies are of particular concern” in her Senate confirmation hearing on the 19th of January. Although in Yellen’s defense, only five minutes were allocated for questions and answers concerning cryptocurrencies. Parts of the comment which read “we really need to examine ways in which we can curtail their use” was a direct response to the use of cryptocurrencies for malicious purposes only. 

Yellen’s concerns for cryptocurrencies are valid in this context, as cryptocurrency theft continues to dampen the speed at which global adoption could be attained for digital assets. Over the years, crypto-theft has plagued the industry and warranted concerns for the future of digital assets.

The dark web has also seen an upsurge in the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method. Cryptocurrencies have been the go-to for scammers, largely because of their decentralized nature. This may be a difficult problem to curtail as stolen cryptocurrencies are usually sent to mixers, to help maintain the animosity. Many times, stolen funds are hardly ever retrieved.

Source: https://zycrypto.com/joe-bidens-treasury-secretary-nominee-asserts-bitcoins-potential/