Aurelia Butler

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  • 75 Shares99 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    XRP Is Surprisingly Stable, Here’s Why

    In recent days, XRP’s price action has been characterized by its struggle to overcome a series of local resistance levels. A notable rejection was faced around the $0.63 mark, which has added to the narrative of an asset under pressure. Despite these rejections, the asset’s ability to stay afloat above the 200-day EMA suggests underlying strength and potential for growth.XRP/USDT Chart by TradingViewThe market’s oppressiveness toward XRP can be attributed to various factors, including lack of usecase for XRP and a poor performance throughout the 2023. However, the past has shown that XRP can swiftly shift from oppressed states to strong bullish rallies, often catching many off-guard.For a scenario where XRP’s growth continues, it is essential for the token to maintain its stand above the 200-day EMA. If this level holds, it can serve as a springboard for future bullish attempts. A decisive close above this moving average could stimulate investor confidence, potentially leading to a challenge of the recent resistance at $0.63. A break and hold above this level could signal a trend reversal and may pave the way for XRP to target higher resistances, possibly around the $0.70 to $0.75 regions.After dipping to a support level around $88 on December 20, 2023, Solana has rebounded, forming a higher low near the $90 mark. This movement suggests accumulating strength and a possible change in direction from the previous downward trend. The local trendline resistance, which Solana is currently testing, is evident at approximately $97.50. Two pivotal price levels stand out on Solana’s chart. The first resistance level after the trendline sits near the $100 psychological mark. This round number has historically been a challenging point for Solana to breach decisively. Beyond that, the $104 level looms as the next significant barrier, which was a previous local high around January 3, 2024.Conversely, on the support side, the level to watch is around $88, as mentioned earlier. This price has proven to be a firm foundation, with buyers stepping in to uphold Solana’s valuation. A secondary support level is present near $85, just below the 50-day moving average, acting as a safety net for any potential retracements.The rapid growth witnessed in the past few days has been nothing short of impressive. Ethereum, which lingered around the $2,400 mark in the early days of February, has seen a significant influx of buying pressure, leading to a breakthrough past key resistance levels. This positive price action posits two potential scenarios for the smart contract giant.In one scenario, Ethereum could continue its aggressive push, riding the wave of current market optimism towards the $3,000 target. If this momentum is maintained, and with the additional fuel from the recent high volume of trades, ETH could test $3,000 in the coming days. A consolidation above $2,600 would be crucial for this scenario to unfold, as it would establish a new support level, reinforcing investor confidence.Alternatively, given the volatile nature of the crypto markets, a retracement could occur before Ethereum reaches $3,000. This would likely see the asset retesting support at the $2,500 level, which if held, could serve as a springboard for a second wave towards and beyond $3,000.This article was originally published on U.Today More

  • 138 Shares189 Views

    in Economy

    Ecuador rushes to raise cash for costly war against drug gangs

    Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa is rushing to raise revenues as the country’s outbreak of drug-related violence threatens to spark an economic crisis in the Andean nation.Noboa, who took office in November pledging to boost jobs and halt the crime wave, aims to refinance foreign debt, increase value added tax and delay a shutdown of Amazon oil production to fund the war he declared on “terrorist” drug-traffickers.After the jailbreak of a powerful drug lord in early January, dozens of prison guards were held hostage by inmates while bandits took over a TV studio live on air. Noboa imposed a 60-day state of emergency, including a nightly nationwide curfew, as the army carries out raids on prison wings and gang-controlled neighbourhoods.“War is costly — we need to take tough economic measures and we need to all be on board,” Noboa told a radio station this month. Ecuador’s president Daniel Noboa, right, heads a security meeting in Guayaquil last week More

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    in Economy

    Why the ECB should still be worried about wages

    Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde spurred investors to ramp up bets on early rate cuts this week by saying wage growth was showing signs of cooling, causing the euro and bond yields to fall. But economists warn that rate-setters still want hard data to confirm the impact on inflation before they take action.The big fear for all central banks since the start of the inflation surge has been that workers’ demands for higher pay to maintain their living standards would fuel persistent price rises. Wages were slower to rise in the EU than in the US or UK, because so many workers are covered by sectoral pay deals that last several years and take time to renegotiate. But by the third quarter of last year the effect was clear: the ECB’s real-time tracker of negotiated wages showed that annual pay growth hit 4.7 per cent, the fastest pace in the history of the single currency area. That compares with annual wage growth of 4.1 per cent in the US and 6.5 per cent in the UK, according to the latest data.You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.Lagarde said at the ECB’s press conference on Thursday that the pay of 40 per cent of employees covered by its wage tracker was “yet to be determined” because it was covered by collective agreements expiring in December and the first quarter of 2024. This means the ECB will receive crucial information in the next few months on the extent of underlying inflationary pressures. Lagarde’s comments suggested the ECB is cautiously optimistic about a benign scenario where wages grow more slowly, at a pace that allows workers to repair their living standards, while companies take a hit to profits rather than passing the cost to consumers. The central bank’s in-house wage tracker suggests pay growth has stabilised in recent weeks as job vacancies have declined, Lagarde said. “We are seeing a slight decline, so it is directionally good from our point of view.”Wage growth is expected to slow from about 5.3 per cent last year to 4.4 per cent this year, according to an ECB survey of 70 non-financial companies published on Friday, which found “an increasing number” were planning to cut jobs. The bank has said 3 per cent wage growth is consistent with inflation in line with its 2 per cent target.Meanwhile the ECB’s assumption that wage increases would be absorbed in companies’ margins was “exactly what we have seen”, Lagarde said, adding: “There is a phenomenon of catching up for employees. It’s also one of the reasons why we see growth coming up and the recovery beginning in the course of 2024, because of rising wages while inflation comes down.”“I’m not worried about what I see in wages,” an ECB governing council member told the Financial Times after Thursday’s meeting, when the central bank held rates at a record high of 4 per cent. “But we don’t need to rush, we need to be cautious and make a judgment based on data that will be coming out.”Policymakers have expressed differing views on how important quarterly wage growth figures will be when deciding when to cut interest rates.Data on first-quarter eurozone wage growth will be published shortly after the ECB’s meeting in April, suggesting its June vote may be the earliest rates could feasibly be cut. Philip Lane, ECB chief economist, seemed to signal this by saying recently: “By our June meeting, we will have those important data.”However, Lagarde downplayed the need to wait for the first-quarter wage figures to be confident that inflation had been tamed. “We look at a whole range of data, we are not only focused on wages,” she said. “So I would not draw any conclusion from a date of publication.”ECB president Christine Lagarde speaks to the press following the Governing Council’s monetary policy meeting on Thursday More

  • 163 Shares169 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Bitcoin Price Action Explained: Here’s Real Reason Why BTC Dipped After ETF Approval

    In reaction, BTC prices rose to a new multi-year high, reaching $49,102. The market then fell 18% over the weekend, reaching fresh year-to-date lows of $40,236.As with any important event, holders of Bitcoins enjoy debating whether it was priced in or not.In this regard, Julio Moreno, the head of research at CryptoQuant, debunks the widely circulated narrative that the Bitcoin price drop was caused by Grayscale’s GBTC selling Bitcoin.Before being converted to an ETF from a trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) was one of the only options for stock traders in the United States to obtain exposure to Bitcoin price swings without having to purchase the actual cryptocurrency.While GBTC has seen remarkable outflows after its uplisting into an ETF, a chunk of these have been from investors moving to lower-fee ETFs.Moreno highlighted that, while GBTC sold approximately 60,000 Bitcoins, other Bitcoin ETFs net purchased roughly 72,000 Bitcoins, thus offsetting the sales of BTC from Grayscale’s GBTC.He attributes the volatility in Bitcoin’s price to selling by Bitcoin holders (short-term traders and whales) who took profits following last year’s surge, noting that the ETF approval might just be the “sell-the-news” event.However, several metrics in both the on-chain and derivatives domains suggest that a non-trivial portion of Bitcoin investors did treat the ETF approval as a sell-the-news event.While there are other key driving factors behind the interim volatility, both futures and options markets have seen a meaningful uptick in open interest (OI) since mid-October, according to Glassnode.Open interest in both markets remains around multi-year highs, showing that leverage is rising and becoming a more dominant force in markets.At the time of writing, BTC was up 0.58% in the last 24 hours to $41,543, per CoinMarketCap data.This article was originally published on U.Today More

  • 163 Shares109 Views

    in Economy

    US reviewing Venezuelan sanctions policy in wake of court decision – State Dept

    The ruling by Venezuela’s Supreme Justice Tribunal on Friday means Machado, a 56-year-old industrial engineer, cannot register her candidacy for presidential elections scheduled for the second half of 2024.”The United States is currently reviewing our Venezuela sanctions policy, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition candidates and civil society,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.The U.S. eased economically debilitating oil sanctions on the crude-exporting country in October after President Nicolas Maduro’s government signed a deal with the opposition under which Caracas made commitments to hold a free and fair 2024 presidential election.Miller said the court ruling was a “deeply concerning decision” that ran contrary to the commitments made by Maduro to allow all parties to select candidates.Maduro on Thursday said the deal with his opponents was in danger of collapse, citing what he has described as “conspiracies” against him.Gerardo Blyde, head of the opposition negotiating team, denied members had been linked to acts of violence and demanded the court ruling be reversed.”We are not asking for sanctions, that is not our job. We are looking for the process to move forward,” he told a news conference in Caracas on Saturday.At a separate press conference in Caracas, a representative for the government’s negotiating team insisted the ruling party would remain in the talks.”We will never hesitate to remain in the talks, to remain in the discussion,” said Hector Rodriguez, the ruling party governor for Venezuela’s Miranda state. He said the government had complied with all prior agreements. More