Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) Market Update September 22, 2022

The total crypto market cap grew by $16 billion for the period since Monday and now stands at $927 billion. The top ten currencies are all in green in the last 24 hours with XRP (XRP) leading the pack with a 6.7 percent of increase. At the time of writing Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $19,200. Ethereum (ETH) is at $1,310.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin closed the trading day on Sunday, September 18 at $19,400 ending the previous seven-day period with an 11 percent loss after suffering rejection at the range high right above $22,600. The bulls could not keep the bullish momentum alive and were forced to retreat.

On Monday, the BTC/USDT pair flash-crashed to $18,200 in the morning erasing more than six percent of its valuation before recovering in the evening and closing in green eventually. The high volatility came with a significant increase in the 24-hour trading volumes, which were once again above the average values for the last 14-days.

The Tuesday session saw BTC dropping 3.5 percent down to $18,860 as it once again found itself in the mid-term horizontal support area. As previously discussed, a clean break here would open the door for $12,000.

The mid-week trading day on Wednesday came with huge volatility caused by the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and rate decision. The biggest cryptocurrency traded in the $18,000-$20,000 range before closing the daily candle at $18,466 right after the FED announced a 0.75 basis points rate hike in line with the market expectations.

What we are seeing midday on Thursday is a slight increase in the price of BTC as it is hovering around the $19,200 mark, engulfing the last day’s candle.

ETH/USD

The Ethereum Project token ETH is significantly under-performing in the aftermath of the long-expected and widely celebrated merge to Proof of Stake consensus mechanism on September 15. It was the worst performing digital asset in the Top 10 during the last seven days erasing 24 percent of its market cap.

On Monday, September 19 it started trading lower, touching $1,280 in the morning. The ether hit the improvised lower boundary of the downtrend channel built on top of the Diamond Top pattern we discussed during our last market update.

It quickly recovered in the second part of the session and closed in green, at $1,380. However, the coin was still trading below the $1,420 short-term support, which indicates a lack of bullish momentum and weak technical structure to support a reversal to the upside.

The ETH/USDT pair lost 4 percent on Tuesday and fully erased the gains from the previous day by falling down to $1,322.

The third day of the workweek came with extreme volatility thanks to the Federal Reserve rate hike decision. ETH lost 6 percent and touched the previous range high around the $1,240 mark.

Bulls were quick to react and bought the support. As of the time of writing this market update on Thursday, the ether is trading significantly higher – at $1,310.