Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) market update December 22, 2022

The total crypto market cap is up by $3 billion for the period since Monday and now stands at $811 billion. The top ten currencies are mostly flat for the day with Dogecoin (DOGE) being the top performing with a 3.8 percent of increase. At the time of writing bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $16,840. Ethereum (ETH) is at $1,218.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin closed the trading day on Sunday, December 18 at $16,730 after a rough week during which we saw a fake breakout to the $18,500 local horizontal resistance and a drop below the 21-day EMA and the $17,000 horizontal support.

The better-than-expected CPI data from the United States combined with an in-line with the expectations interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve did not help risk assets much. BTC in particular closed the seven-day period with a 2 percent loss.

On Monday, the BTC/USDT pair dropped further down to touch $16,278 intraday before stopping at $16,440 at the daily candle close. The move resulted in another 1.8 percent being erased from its valuation.

Surprisingly, on Tuesday, December 20, we saw a nice reversal to the upside in a bullish engulfing that took the price to re-test the previously-mentioned short-term EMA. Bitcoin was testing the previous support range around $17,000. It is still to be seen if it has turned into resistance.

The mid-week session on Wednesday came with a pullback to $16,836 in a potential consolidation below the dynamic resistance line.

What we are seeing midday on Thursday is a low volatility day. Bitcoin is trading flat.

It is worth noting that the biggest cryptocurrency continues to trade above the long-term diagonal support and the price is still in a Bullish divergence with the Relative Strength Indicator. The last month of range trading, however, was marked by declining trading volumes.

ETH/USD

The Ethereum Project ETH has been trading above the psychological level of $1,000 since early July. It comes as no surprise that it was also the most stable asset on the Top 10 list for the period.

Last week, however, it lost more than 6 percent after suffering rejection in the $1,270-$1,300 region – a major resistance on both daily and weekly timeframes.

The ETH/USDT pair continues to be caught between the mid-term diagonal resistances and long-term diagonal supports and a few potential S/R zones in between.

On Monday, December 19, the ether hit $1,150 early in the morning but managed to partially recover in the second part of the session ending the day at $1,168.

The Tuesday session was slightly different and the coin rallied all the way up to $1,217 or 4 percent higher. Recapturing $1,200 is a good start given the importance of that area in recent weeks and months.

The third day of the workweek came with slow trading and possible consolidation before the next leg up.

As of the time of writing this market update, the leading altcoin is trading flat.

Looking at the weekly chart we can clearly see declining prices since mid-August combined with declining volumes and raising RSI – all of which usually suggest exhaustion of the downtrend.