Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Spike: Analyst Sees Apex Crypto Staying Rangebound Even As Regulatory Jitters Dip

Major coins traded in the green on Wednesday evening as investors grew less worried about regulatory risks and focused more on the increasing demand that surfaced in February.

What Happened: Apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD held strong above $23,500 after a volatile trading session. Prices rose to $24,000 before dropping, only to quickly rebound.

Ethereum ETH/USD was trading at $1,656. Dogecoin DOGE/USD at $0.081, up 0.99% in the last 24 hours. 

At the time of writing, the global crypto market capitalization stood at $1.08 trillion, an increase of 2.02% over the last day.

U.S. equities closed lower on Wednesday as the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Market sentiment was dampened as investors failed to recover their footing following the market's losses in the previous month and bond yields continued to reach higher levels. 

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News Highlights: Silvergate Bank SI said it will delay filing its annual 10-K report, sending its stock price to plummet more than 30% after-hours. The 10-K report is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide a comprehensive overview of the company's business and financial health. 

Polygon announced the launch of its new Polygon ID product on Wednesday, a product based on Zero-Knowledge (ZK) technology that allows users to securely verify their identity or credentials without revealing sensitive information. 

Analyst Notes: “Bitcoin is higher on the day but remains constrained to its tight trading range. Investors are growing less concerned over the regulatory risks and focusing more so on the improving demand that emerged in February. Bitcoin looks like it might stay in its $21,000 to $25,500 range a while longer,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.    

Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe said the $23,800 mark is pivotal for the apex crypto to find continued upside momentum. A successful break of this level could significantly boost Bitcoin's price to sustain upward progress. 

The area at $23.8K remains to be a crucial breaker for the markets to continue the upwards momentum.#Bitcoin needs to break it for continuation. pic.twitter.com/sqRObCVPAG

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) March 1, 2023

Analyst Justin Bennett said that Bitcoin tested $23,800, but the bears are holding firm. “A second daily close below this trend line near $23,300 confirms the breakdown, IMO. It was marginal, but Tuesday closed below it. I still think $20,000 is only a matter of time. 

We got the $23,800 retest from $BTC, but bears are holding strong.

A second daily close below this trend line near $23,300 confirms the breakdown, IMO. It was marginal, but Tuesday closed below it.

I still think $20k is only a matter of time.#Bitcoin https://t.co/ioBeg1ELa8 pic.twitter.com/MShd0zcqIO

— Justin Bennett (@JustinBennettFX) March 1, 2023

Data analytics provider Santiment reported that the number of existing Bitcoin whale addresses has seen a considerable decrease over the last 12 months, down to 2,011 from a high of 2,489 on Feb. 8. 

The amount of existing whale #Bitcoin addresses are continuing to sink, with 2,011 existing compared to 2,266 that existed one year ago today. 2,489 was the #AllTimeHigh set on February 8th, where prices jumped +70% in the following 10 weeks. https://t.co/wzHKjooCkN pic.twitter.com/hWS8wHNctp

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) March 1, 2023

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