The cryptocurrency market has started the week positively, with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other cryptocurrencies trading in bullish territory. The market recovery can be attributed to BTC’s technical recovery, Ethereum’s protocol upgrade, and growing derivatives activity.
BTC traded above $109,000 over the weekend, and buyer activity picked up early on Monday as it raced past $112,000 to an intraday high of $112,351 before registering a marginal decline. BTC is trading around $111,699 during the ongoing session, up over 2%.
Meanwhile, ETH has also made a strong recovery after losing the $4,000 level over the weekend. The altcoin dipped to a low of $3,970 on Sunday before rebounding on Monday and reaching an intraday high of $4,141. ETH is up nearly 3%, trading around $4,110. Ripple (XRP) has also started the week in positive territory, rising 2.52% to $2.85. Meanwhile, Solana (SOL) has reclaimed the $200 level and is up almost 4%, trading around $209. Dogecoin (DOGE) is up over 2%, while Cardano (ADA) is up nearly 3%, trading around $0.797. Chainlink (LINK), Stellar (XLM), Hedera (HBAR), Litecoin (LTC), Toncoin (TON), and Polkadot (DOT) have also started the week in positive territory.
Pavel Durov Claims France Wanted To Censor Election Content
Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov has claimed that French intelligence officials asked him to censor political content related to elections in Moldova, adding that he refused the request. According to Durov, officials stated that if he censored the content, they would put in a word with the judge overseeing his case in France. Durov wrote in a post on Sunday,
“The Telegram team received a second list of so-called ‘problematic’ Moldovan channels. Unlike the first, nearly all of these channels were legitimate and fully compliant with our rules. Their only commonality was that they voiced political positions disliked by the French and Moldovan governments. We refused to act on this request.”
Durov has been highly critical of the French government and the European Union for their pro-censorship policies. The case against the Telegram founder is being closely monitored by the crypto community and online free speech and privacy advocates.
Countries Will Ramp Up Bitcoin (BTC) Purchases Soon
Jan3 founder Samson Mow believes countries are preparing to ramp up Bitcoin (BTC) adoption after initial skepticism. Mow stated,
“I think we’re on the tail end of gradually, and we’re at the beginning phases of suddenly. These things happen very quickly.”
Speaking on the What Bitcoin Did podcast, Samson stated that countries are warming up to the idea of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, adding,
“It’s like literally gradually, then suddenly. I think it is simply a matter of time before we see a massive run-up, and we see a massive nation-state FOMO, you know, panic.”
However, Mow emphasized that while President Donald Trump had signed an executive order for a Bitcoin reserve, the US had yet to begin buying.
SEC Chair Highlights Regulatory Work
United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins has said the regulator is working closely with the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC) to determine agency roles and bring clarity to the market. Atkins stated that some projects were shelved only because of uncertainty about whether they would be supervised by the SEC or the CFTC. The SEC Chair said that both agencies will focus on rulemaking in the coming months to establish an innovation exemption by the end of the year.
“We’re trying to give the marketplace some kind of stable platform upon which they can introduce their products.”
Atkins also discussed the need for a conditional exemption to encourage developers. The SEC is working on new rules that will replace outdated securities laws applied to the crypto space. Previous SEC Chair Gary Gensler treated cryptocurrencies as unregistered securities. Despite the hostility, many crypto companies, including Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle, Ripple, and Strategy, thrived. However, experts argue that Gensler’s cautious approach left the US behind Europe and the UK in terms of access and adoption.
Singapore, UAE Top Crypto Destinations
Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have ranked as the most “crypto-obsessed” nations, according to a survey by ApeX Protocol. Singapore ranked #1 with a composite score of 100, thanks to 24.4% of its population owning crypto. It also leads in search queries, with over 2,000 crypto-related queries per 100,000 people. The UAE was #2 with a score of 99.7, ranking #1 for crypto ownership. It has also registered a sharp increase in crypto adoption, rising over 200% since 2019.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis
Bitcoin (BTC) has started the week in positive territory after registering a sharp rebound on Sunday. The flagship cryptocurrency faced selling pressure last week as buyers struggled to maintain control thanks to growing bearish sentiment. BTC registered a sharp drop on Thursday, falling almost 4% to $109,035. It recovered on Friday, rising 0.61% to $109,697 before registering a marginal decline on Saturday. Bullish sentiment returned on Sunday as the price rallied, rising over 2% to reclaim $112,000 and settle at $112,197. The current session sees BTC marginally up, trading around $112,301.
Market analyst Jordi Visser stated that BTC’s path to new all-time highs will be littered with major corrections of 20% or more in Q4. Visser compared the flagship cryptocurrency to Nvidia, the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company, and the first to hit a $4 trillion valuation, adding that BTC could behave the same way.
“I just want to remind people that Nvidia is up over 1,000% since ChatGPT’s launch. During that time period, which is less than three years, you’ve had five corrections of 20% or more in Nvidia before it went back up to all-time highs. Bitcoin’s going to do the same thing.”
Visser predicted that AI will take over industries and replace human labor, eroding traditional companies and even making stocks obsolete. This, Visser believes, will drive investors to BTC, which will become the best store of value in the digital age.
Analysts have been struggling to understand BTC’s price action in recent weeks. While gold and stocks have surged to all-time highs, BTC remains around the $110,000-$112.000 levels. Investors are divided about a potential rally in Q4 and whether the flagship cryptocurrency could reach new highs. If selling pressure returns, BTC could drop below $100,000, marking the beginning of an extended bear market.
BTC ended the previous weekend in the red, dropping 0.41% to $115,282 on Sunday. Selling pressure intensified on Monday as the price fell by over 2% to $112,736. Sellers retained control on Tuesday with BTC falling 0.64% to a low of $111,502 before settling at $112,017. Despite the overwhelming selling pressure, BTC recovered on Wednesday, rising over 1% to reclaim $113,000 and settling at $113,348.
Source: TradingView
Bearish sentiment returned on Thursday as BTC plunged nearly 4%, slipping below $110,000 and settling at $109,035. The price recovered on Friday, rising 0.61% but was back in the red on Saturday, registering a marginal decline and settling at $109,681. Bullish sentiment intensified on Sunday as BTC rallied, rising over 2% to cross $112,000 and settle at $112,197. The current session sees BTC marginally down, trading around $112,130.
Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis
Ethereum (ETH) has made a strong recovery since briefly losing the $4,000 level on Friday, when it fell to $3,872. The price rebounded from this level to reclaim $4,000 and settle at $4,037. It registered a marginal decline on Saturday before rising by over 3% on Sunday to end the weekend at $4,144.
The altcoin’s price hit the $4,000 support level on Friday as demand from institutional investors slowed down and liquidations registered a notable increase. According to on-chain data, Ethereum ETFs registered a record $795 million in outflows this week, surpassing the previous outflow record of $787 million. The ETFs registered $556 million in inflows last week and $637 million the week prior. The outflows are a clear indication that momentum among investors is falling.
ETH’s price also suffered because of a staggering $1.5 billion in liquidations this week. The liquidations happened as exchanges like Binance and OKX closed leveraged bullish positions as prices crashed. Macroeconomic factors also contributed to ETH’s decline. These include rising concerns about whether the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates during the next few weeks amid persistent inflation.
ETH ended the previous weekend down almost 1% at $4,479. Selling pressure intensified on Monday as the price fell nearly 6% to $4,202, but not before dropping to an intraday low of $4,079. Sellers retained control on Tuesday as ETH fell almost 1% to $4,166. The price registered a marginal drop on Wednesday before plunging nearly 7% on Thursday as bearish sentiment intensified. As a result, ETH fell below the crucial $4,000 mark and settled at $3,876.
Source: TradingView
Despite the overwhelming selling pressure, ETH recovered on Friday, rising over 4% to reclaim $4,000 and settle at $4,014. The price registered a marginal drop on Saturday but regained momentum on Sunday, rising over 3% to settle at $4,144. The current session sees ETH marginally down, trading around $4,137.
Solana (SOL) Price Analysis
Solana (SOL) bounced back to reclaim the crucial $200 mark on Friday, rising over 6% to $205. However, it lost momentum on Saturday, falling nearly 1% before rebounding on Sunday to settle at $210. SOL is down almost 2% during the ongoing session, trading around $207.
SOL’s recovery comes amid growing speculation that several Solana staking ETFs are set for approval within the next couple of weeks by mid-October. ETF analyst Nate Geraci stated,
“Another flurry of S-1 amendments filed today on spot sol ETFs… Franklin, Fidelity, CoinShares, Bitwise, Grayscale, VanEck, & Canary. Includes staking (yes, bodes well for spot eth ETF staking). Guessing these are approved w/in the next two weeks.”
The regulatory filings come only two months after the REX-Osprey Solana staking ETF debuted on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The ETF registered $33 million in trading volume and $12 million in inflows on its first day. Asset manager Pantera Capital recently said SOL is the next asset in line for its institutional moment. Meanwhile, Bitwise Invest’s chief investment officer, Hunter Horsley, revealed that Europe’s Bitwise Solana staking ETP registered over $60 million in inflows over the past five trading days.
SOL traded in bearish territory on Sunday (September 21), dropping 1.36%. Selling pressure intensified on Monday as the price fell nearly 7% to $220, but not before dropping to a low of $213. Sellers retained control on Tuesday as SOL fell over 3% and settled at $213. The price fell to an intraday low of $204 on Wednesday. However, it recovered from this level to settle at $211, ultimately falling 0.77%.
Source: TradingView
Bearish sentiment intensified on Thursday as SOL fell almost 9%, slipping below $200 and settling at $192. Despite the overwhelming selling pressure, the price recovered on Friday, rising over 6% to reclaim $200 and settle at $205. Price action was mixed over the weekend, with SOL falling 0.83% on Saturday to $203. However, it was back in positive territory on Sunday, rising nearly 4% and settling at $210. The current session sees SOL down almost 2%, trading around $206.
Uniswap (UNI) Price Analysis
Uniswap (UNI) registered a marginal increase on Saturday (September 20) before falling 1.37% on Sunday to end the previous weekend at $0.06. Bearish sentiment registered an overwhelming increase on Monday as the price fell to an intraday low of $7.53 before settling at $8.23, ultimately falling 9.22%. Sellers retained control on Tuesday and Wednesday as UNi fell 1.96% and 1.93% to $7.91.
Source: TradingView
Selling pressure intensified on Thursday as UNI fell almost 6% to $7.44. Despite the overwhelming selling pressure, the price recovered on Friday, rising over 2% to $7.61. Price action was mixed over the weekend as UNI registered a marginal drop on Saturday before rising almost 2% to $7.75. UNI is down nearly 1% during the ongoing session, trading around $7.68.
Optimism (OP) Price Analysis
Optimism (OP) ended the previous weekend in bearish territory, dropping almost 4% to $0.779. Selling pressure intensified on Monday as the price fell nearly 10% to $0.702. Buyers retained control on Tuesday as OP fell almost 3% and settled at $0.683. OP attempted a recovery on Wednesday as the price reached an intraday high of $0.717. However, it failed to stay at this level and fell to $0.682, ultimately registering a marginal decline.
Source: TradingView
OP fell nearly 7% on Thursday, dropping to $0.637 as selling pressure persisted. Despite the overwhelming bearish sentiment, the price recovered on Friday, rising almost 5% and settling at $0.668. Price action remained positive over the weekend, with OP increasing 1.09% on Saturday and 0.97% on Sunday to settle at $0.682. The price is down almost 2% during the current session, trading around $0.670.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.