Layer-1 (L1) coin LTC is today’s top gainer, climbing 10% in the past 24 hours. The double-digit surge comes following a regulatory setback, as the US SEC delayed its decision on Canary Capital’s application for a spot Litecoin ETF.
However, the current LTC token upward momentum may be on shaky ground as technical indicators suggest a potential bearish reversal.
On Tuesday, after the SEC called for public comments on Canary Capital’s application for a spot Litecoin ETF, LTC plunged to a two-week low of $81.03.
However, the resurgence in trading activity across the broader crypto market over the past day has helped LTC rebound from this dip. It now trades at $91.68, with daily trading volume exceeding $850 million.
But, there is a catch. Key technical and on-chain indicators suggest a potential bearish reversal in the short term, as buyer exhaustion appears on the horizon.
For example, despite LTC’s rally, its Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), which measures buying and selling pressure, has declined, forming a bearish divergence. Readings from the daily chart show that this momentum indicator is declining and poised to breach the center line.
A CMF bearish divergence occurs when the price of an asset makes higher highs while the indicator makes lower highs. This suggests that buying pressure is weakening despite rising prices. The trend indicates a potential reversal or loss of upward momentum in the LTC market.
Moreover, on-chain readings show that LTC’s Network Realized Profit/Loss (NPL) is rising, indicating that coin holders are sitting on unrealized gains and may be tempted to sell. At press time, the NPL sits at 1.7 million.
This metric reflects the net profit or loss of all coins moved on-chain, based on the price at which they were last moved. A rising NPL suggests increasing profitability across the network.
This, in combination with LTC’s weakening buy pressure as reflected by its CMF, heightens the risk of short-term selling pressure as traders look to lock in profits.
Can Litecoin Hold Its Gains?
With strengthening bearish pressure, LTC buyers risk facing exhaustion soon. If new demand fails to come into the spot markets to support the LTC token rally, it could lose its current gains and fall to $82.88.
However, a bullish shift in market sentiment could prevent this. If buying activity soars, it could drive LTC’s price to $95.13. A breach of this resistance could catapult the altcoin toward $105.04.
Welcome to the US Morning Crypto News Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee to see what experts say about Bitcoin (BTC) amid prevailing market turmoil caused by Trump’s tariffs and broader macroeconomic events. BeInCrypto reported that the status of Bitcoin as a hedge against economic uncertainty is coming under scrutiny. Now this view is becoming increasingly tangled.
Bitcoin Price Closes In On $89,000 While Traditional Markets Slide
On Monday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq extended their declines, while the US dollar index (DXY) also fell to a 3-year low. The turnout highlighted a divergence in performance between crypto and equities.
S&P500, Nasdaq, and US DXY price performances. Source: TradingView
“Only 6 times since the 1970s have the DXY and SPX fallen together: 70s stagflation, Gulf War, Greenspan hikes, the dot-com crash, 9/11… Buyback window opens Friday for US corporates,” VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Mathew Sigel commented on X.
The selloff in equities came amid heightened political tension and renewed concerns over the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) independence. President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of Fed chair Jerome Powell.
“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” the President wrote on Truth Social.
The post followed earlier remarks hinting at Powell’s potential removal, an idea reportedly being reviewed by Trump’s economic advisors.
Trump also suggested the economy would slow unless interest rates were cut immediately. The bone of contention between Trump and Powell is that while the president pushes for interest rate cuts, the chair advocates a more cautious stance.
Market reaction was swift:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 971.82 points (2.48%) to 38,170.41.
Nasdaq Composite fell 2.55% to 15,870.90.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.36% to close at 5,158.20.
The so-called “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks were hit hardest.
Tesla sank 5.8%
Nvidia slid more than 4%
Amazon and Meta both dropped around 3%.
Industrial heavyweight Caterpillar also lost 2.8%.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is bucking the trend, steadily approaching the $89,000 threshold while traditional markets slide. A decisive move above this level could see the pioneer crypto hit the $90,000 target highlighted in Monday’s US Crypto News briefing.
Historically, Bitcoin’s performance has shown an inverse correlation with the DXY. This prompts speculation that a pivotal moment for the pioneer crypto may be on the horizon.
“The DXY has broken down to March 2022 levels. Bitcoin is back on the move,” highlighted analyst Ben Werkman.
BeInCrypto contacted Geoff Kendrick regarding the Bitcoin price outlook as traditional finance (TradFi) shows weakness. The Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered said Bitcoin’s resilience signals a shift in how investors perceive the digital asset.
In his opinion, the king of crypto is now increasingly seen as a hedge against risks in TradFi and US Treasuries.
“I think Bitcoin is a hedge against both TradFi and US Treasury risks. The threat to remove US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell falls into Treasury risk—so the hedge is on,” Kendrick told BeInCrypto.
This sentiment aligns with a recent report when US 10-year treasury yields fell below 4%. The incident signaled a potential shift in Fed policy and sparked renewed interest in Bitcoin and other risk assets.
Sentiment is Improving for Crypto, Bitwise Europe Analysts Say
According to the Tuesday Newsletter from Bitwise Europe, the firm’s proprietary Cryptoasset Sentiment Index has flipped to a “slightly bullish” reading.
“At the moment, 8 out of 15 indicators are above their short-term trend. Exchange inflows and the BTC funding rate have both improved since last week,” Bitwise analysts noted.
Bitwise also noted a continued high correlation between Bitcoin and altcoins, which suggests that a surge in Bitcoin’s price could spill over to other tokens. According to the newsletter, around 20% of tracked altcoins outperformed Bitcoin over the past week.
On the TradFi side, Bitwise reported a marginal uptick in Cross Asset Risk Appetite (CARA), which rose from -0.59 to -0.43. CARA is the firm’s proprietary gauge of market sentiment across traditional asset classes.
While the CARA index is still subdued, it points to a modest rebound in risk appetite. This renewed interest aligns with Kendrick’s view that Bitcoin’s number one purpose in a portfolio is to hedge against risks to the existing financial system.
“Bitcoin’s number one purpose in a portfolio is as a hedge against risks to the existing financial system, due to its decentralized ledger, and this can play out via two routes, as private sector risks like the March 2023 SVB collapse and risks associated with the government sector, such as US Treasury risks,” Kendrick told BeInCrypto.
The Standard Chartered analyst said the current threat to the Fed’s independence via Powell’s potential replacement falls squarely into the second of these categories.
“In terms of what is measurable the current threat plays out via US Treasury term premium, which is now at a 12-year high, 10Y term premium,” he added.
Solana (SOL) has increased by 2% in the last 24 hours, riding the broader market’s optimism ahead of the upcoming FOMC meeting. The Layer-1 (L1) coin currently trades at $147.83.
On-chain data shows a spike in demand for long positions, indicating that a growing number of traders are positioning for a price rally.
Solana Futures Show Strength Ahead of FOMC
The slight uptick in trading activity across the crypto market over the past 24 hours has pushed SOL’s price up by 2%. This modest gain reflects growing investor optimism as markets gear up for today’s FOMC meeting.
SOL’s futures traders have expressed optimism by upping their demand for long positions. According to Coinglass, the coin’s long/short ratio is at a monthly high of 1.04, signaling a preference for long positions among its futures market participants.
The long/short ratio measures the proportion of bullish (long) positions to bearish (short) positions in the market. When its value is below one, more traders are betting on an asset’s price dip than on its rally.
Conversely, as with SOL, a ratio above one means more long positions than short ones. This suggests bullish sentiment, with most SOL futures traders expecting its value to rise.
Further, on the daily chart, SOL’s rising Relative Strength Index (RSI) confirms the spike in demand for the altcoin. At press time, this momentum indicator is at 57.54.
The RSI indicator measures an asset’s overbought and oversold market conditions, ranging from 0 to 100. Values above 70 typically signal an asset is overbought, while an RSI below 30 indicates oversold.
SOL’s current RSI reading signals growing bullish momentum and leaves room for further upward movement before entering overbought territory.
SOL Price Balances on Support Line
As of this writing, SOL trades at $147.69, bouncing off the support at $142.59. If demand soars and market conditions remain favorable post-FOMC meeting, SOL could extend its rally and climb toward $171.88, a high it last reached on March 3.
However, if the upcoming FOMC meeting sparks a resurgence in bearish pressure, SOL could face renewed selling momentum. In such a scenario, the coin may break below the support level at $142.59, paving the way for a deeper decline toward $120.81.
