Market update: Sellers in control as bearish forces continue

Light trading has continued across all the major cryptocurrencies today, with the top coins trading in very narrow ranges across the board. While the low-volatility, low-volume environment is usually bullish, given the number of recent failed rally attempts and the overwhelmingly negative long-term picture, bearish forces continue to clearly dominate the market.

Given the current risk of more moves to the downside, traders and investors should still stay away from entering positions here, as although a broader bottoming process might already be underway, there will be plenty of time to enter the market in more favourable technical conditions.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been trading in a very narrow price range throughout the day. The volatility compression in the coin’s market led to a collapse in trading activity, and despite the quiet market conditions, technicals continue to support the continuation of bearish trends.

Ripple

While Ripple’s market has been quiet (similar to its peers), XRP, which still holds second place on the market capitalisation list thanks to Ethereum’s weakness, is apparently under strong selling pressure. All short-term rally attempts have been quickly sold, and although the coin is still clinging to the $0.30 level of support, the next major move will likely be another test of the $0.28 low, with a possible move towards the August low near $0.26.

Litecoin

Litecoin continues to hold on to its recent gains, and still looks relatively strong compared to its closest peers, even though it is also stuck below its primary resistance level found near $34.50.

Ethereum

Finally, Ethereum is still trading above the key long-term support zone found between $95 and $100, but the market of the third largest coin is clearly controlled by sellers, and ETH has failed to make any progress in the last 24 hours.