(Weekly Review): A Mixed Week for BTC/USD, ETH/USD, and XRP/USD as Ripple Battles SEC, Next Mover: Spread of New Covid-19 Strain

BTC/USD (as of Dec 25, 2020, 10.25 a.m., GMT +8)

Source: Yahoo Finance

ETH/USD (as of Dec 25, 2020, 10.25 a.m., GMT +8)

Source: Yahoo Finance

XRP/USD (as of Dec 25, 2020, 10.25 a.m., GMT +8)

Source: Yahoo Finance

BTC/USD

After an incredible rally last week, BTC/USD closed in the red on Dec 20 and Dec 21. However, the price moved up on Dec 22.

When XRP/USD took a sharp dip of 50% upon news that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had sued Ripple, BTC/USD came under pressure on Dec 23.

However, BTC/USD closed at $23,670.90 which is a 1.74% rise.

Analyst opine that BTC/USD is in a price discovery mode. The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is also making analysts to figure out price targets.

ETH/USD

On Dec 22, ETH/USD broke past the $622,807 resistance. However, it then moved downwards, and analyst attributed this to the demand tapering out at higher levels.

The bulls regained control and the price moved on upwards until Dec 23 where it took a dip.

ETH/USD closed at $611.70 which is a 4.61% gain.

Analyst predict that if ETH/USD manages to hit $638.50 on a daily closing basis, the monthly peak of $677 will be possible.

XRP/USD

This week, XRP/USD has been moving on a downtrend. The start of the week saw the bulls defending the $0.425 to $0.40 support levels. However, the 20-day EMA of $0.513 turned down with the RSI reaching overbought territory, signalling a time for the bears.

However, when news hit the market that the SEC had sued Ripple for illegal sales of securities worth around $1.3 billion, it brought the price of XRP/USD down by 50% to a low of $0.212.

It rebounded and hit $0.37389 which is a 30.35% jump. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since Dec 24.

SEC’s lawsuits against Ripple days before Christmas took a toll on cryptocurrencies this week. SEC is stating that Ripple is a security and has conducted illegal sales of securities amounting to $1.3 billion. This has sparked concern in the market and trigger other exchanges to delist Ripple from their lists, failing which would require them to register as a securities exchange.

Although the jobless claims came in lower than expected this week, the shadow remains over the market if President Trump would veto the Covid-19 relief bill. The number of rising cases also dampens the Christmas cheer in the market.

However, the finalisation of the Brexit deal on Christmas Eve came just in time to lift up the spirits before Christmas.

A next mover would be the spread of the new Covid-19 and vaccine progress. Should the spread rapidly increase, and the vaccine fails to prove its effectiveness against it, it can then lead to a risk-off sentiment in the market which would benefit the cryptocurrencies family.

FOLLOWME BTC/USD Overall User Sentiment (as of Dec 25, 2020 at 10.30 a.m.)

Short – 81.74%

Long – 18.26%

BTC/USD (as of Dec 25, 2020, 10.25 a.m., GMT +8) - $ 23,633.85

ETH/USD (as of Dec 25, 2020, 10.25 a.m., GMT +8) - $ 611.82

XRP/USD (as of Dec 25, 2020, 10.25 a.m., GMT +8) - $ 0.3479