Crypto markets have been in a state of flux for the past few weeks, with Bitcoin and Ethereum prices dropping significantly. That’s largely due to the recent US nonfarm payrolls report, which showed more-than-expected job growth. As a result, market sentiment has turned bearish, and investors are now wondering how low Bitcoin and Ethereum prices can go.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the current price predictions for Bitcoin and Ethereum and discuss what factors could affect their future performance.
Record number of US nonfarm payrolls rose by 517,000 in January
The U.S. Department of Labor recently reported that seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls rose by 517,000 in January. Economists had forecast employment growth of 170,000. According to the consensus estimate, hourly wages rose by 0.3 for the month. % compared to the previous month.
The pace of income growth slowed from 4.8% in December to 4.4% in January, compared with an estimate of 4.3%. This means a decrease compared to the previous year’s figures.
The average duration of working hours increased to 34.7 hours last month, which is 0.3% more than in the previous period. Meanwhile, total weekly total hours increased by 1.2% to 115.6.
As the US economic situation improves, the US dollar strengthens against other world currencies. This increase affected the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum, causing them to fall. The Federal Reserve’s decision to likely raise rates also contributed to this development.
Craig Wright’s Bitcoin Battle: Will 2023 Be the Process of the Century
Craig Wright has filed a lawsuit against Bitcoin developers to force them to hand over cryptoassets and change the code. According to a February 3 Reuters report, the case is likely to go to trial. Craig Wright sued 15 software developers to gain access to 111,000 bitcoins worth about $2.5 billion.
According to Wright’s claims, a hack he suffered in the past caused him to be unable to receive cryptocurrency from certain addresses without those keys. Reports suggest that one of the addresses associated with Craig Wright may contain the missing funds from the Mt.Gox hack, which he has denied.
If Wright wins his case, the software developers may be forced to create patches to help Tulip Trading recoup all the losses they have suffered.
Wright took the case to court in Great Britain for several months. It was thrown out last year, but the UK Court of Appeal ruled today that developers may now have obligations to blockchain owners.
Judge Colin Birss recently ruled that Tulip had a valid opinion that the cryptocurrency was being placed in the care of developers who could be tasked with moving a user’s bitcoin to a safer location for security reasons.
James Ramsden, a lawyer for some of the developers who are challenging their case, said his clients are concerned. Not only could this mean paying out of pocket, but it also has a potential ripple effect throughout the blockchain industry.
Craig Wright has sparked speculation about the cryptocurrency after claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin. This has caused a lot of discussion and controversy in the crypto space. Despite his early involvement in Bitcoin, he used his position in several lawsuits. His accomplishments include winning copyright cases as well as maintaining positive results and narrow defeats in defamation cases.
Bitcoin price
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently priced at $23,300 with a 24-hour trading volume of $25 billion. It is ranked #1 on CoinMarketCap and has a market capitalization of over $449 billion. It has a circulating supply of 19.28 million BTC and a cap of 21 million.
Bitcoin is in a downtrend with its immediate support zone at $23,300. A breach of this level could lead to further losses up to $23,000, a potential support point marked by an ascending trend line.
According to the RSI and MACD indicators, the selling pressure may increase and consequently push the price of BTC towards $22,750 as the next support zone.
BTC/USD’s 50-day EMA is currently bullish above $23,300, so we may see a bounce soon. If the price breaks above $23,950 on the upside, it could rise to $24,500.
Ethereum price
The current trading price of Ethereum is $1,650 and the 24-hour volume is $7.6 billion. Over the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency asset has increased by 0.50%. It currently has a market capitalization of $202 billion and is ranked #2 on CoinMarketCap.
The value of Ethereum fell significantly after it failed to break the $1,700 resistance level. The sudden drop is likely due to investors taking profits while Ethereum is overbought and has already reached the 50% Fibonacci retracement of $1,635.
If ETH prices do not stay higher than the current level, it may fall to $1,615, which is the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level.
Ethereum’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) fell to 56 and 0.40 respectively, indicating that ETH is no longer overbought. The 50-day exponential moving average also suggests a potential bullish trend with prices rising above the $1,620 mark.
Ethereum is currently dealing with resistance levels around $1,650 and $1,680. If these numbers are successfully broken, the value of Ethereum could rise to a maximum of $1,720.
