Autor Cointelegraph By William Suberg

Bitcoin (BTC) began a nervous weekend at around $39,000 on Feb. 26 after an overnight spike briefly saw $40,000 return.BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewStocks gains but crypto “fear” pervadesData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView revealed calmer conditions for BTC/USD Saturday after overnight volatility saw highs of $40,330 on Bitstamp.With traditional markets closed, the probability of “fakeout” moves up or down was elevated thanks to thinner weekend volumes on crypto markets.The geopolitical turmoil focused on Ukraine and occupier Russia formed the backdrop for continued cautious sentiment, amid concerns that Monday, in particular, could bring fresh instability.The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, while inching up towards the end of the week, remained in the low “fear” zone at 26/100.Crypto Fear & Greed Index (screenshot). Source: Alternative.meA potential silver lining for Bitcoin bulls meanwhile came from the weekly chart. With its recent $34,300 low on the Ukraine invasion, BTC nonetheless managed to put in a higher low versus January’s $32,800 dip.Should that hold, trader and analyst Rekt Capital believed, February’s comedown from $45,500 would most likely turn out to have been a “necessary” consolidation move.#BTC Mission Accomplished$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/IYHnRJFDlu— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) February 25, 2022Macro markets meanwhile ended the week on a high, with significant rebounds for both European and U.S. indices.The U.S. dollar, which had surged in strength as hostilities began, gave back most of its gains, with the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) returning to 96.5 from highs of 97.7.U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) 1-hour candle chart. Source: TradingViewLUNA leads top ten altcoins higherAltcoins provided a mixed but still overall strong picture Saturday, major tokens led by Terra (LUNA), up almost 50% in a week.Related: Price analysis 2/25: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, AVAX, LUNA, DOGE, DOTWith Bitcoin cooling, some late gains were still playing out, including for XRP, which was 10.3% higher over the 24 hours to the time of writing.Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, traded above $2,750 on the back of 5.6% daily gains, having sought to challenge $2,900 overnight.ETH/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Bitcoin (BTC) kept $40,000 in play at the Wall Street open on Feb. 25 after 16% daily gains increased bulls’ confidence.BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewWhales “leading the charge” towards $40,000Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD circling the $39,000 mark at the start of trading Feb. 25, geopolitical turmoil failing to induce a fresh major sell-off.Stocks also benefited as the week came to a close, with Germany’s DAX up 3% on the day and the FTSE 100 up 4% in London.Signals from the Russia-Ukraine conflict provided an additional boost, with the prospect of talks being raised by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to end hostilities.With $34,300 this week’s floor, optimism was slowly increasing over a rematch with $40,000 resistance.”Purple Whales are leading the charge,” monitoring resource Material Indicators noted about a chart showing a fresh spate of buying from both small and large investors. “Historically, this class has had the most direct correlation to Bitcoin price. If BTC bulls can push past $41.5K, then $45K should come into focus rather quickly.”Binance orderbook chart. Source: Material Indicators/ TwitterPopular trader and analyst Pentoshi, meanwhile, revealed that he planned to wait for $40,000 to hit before reducing BTC exposure.Have my next sells at 40.3k (initial was 38.5 for TP1) (1) 38.5k (2) 40.3 (3) 41.6k40.7k is the summer range high and looks like market will likely get another stab at it for $BTC Will look for 37.5-38k to hold on any dips this weekend Still no HH so playing this range https://t.co/u6JTk0WCxl pic.twitter.com/Ra1Ej46HdG— Pentoshi (@Pentosh1) February 25, 2022As he noted, however, on longer timeframes, there was still no overall shift in the paradigm for BTC price action, which continued to stick to a rigid range.Bitcoin dominance pushes higherAltcoins moved in step with Bitcoin, providing some relief for embattled bagholders.Related: Bitcoin investors ‘buy the dip’ as BTC nears $40K, gaining 16% in less than 24 hoursTen percent daily gains were commonplace, while the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap were led by Terra (LUNA), which was up 20% on the day to $65.40.Ether (ETH) hovered near $2,700, still down 5.7% compared to the same time last week.”Dominance is still on track for further upside, though this upward progression towards the red level may extend into early March,” trader and analyst Rekt Capital commented on a chart about Bitcoin’s market cap presence versus altcoins.Bitcoin dominance annotated chart. Source: Rekt Capital/ Twitter

Bitcoin (BTC) edged higher after Wall Street opened on Feb. 24 with Russia’s Ukraine invasion and its aftermath still top on markets’ agenda. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewRisk sentiment set to be “dominant driver” in cryptoData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD nearing $36,400 on Bitstamp two hours after the opening bell, up $2,000 from its recent lows.Skittish markets faced the music from Russia’s overnight incursion into Ukraine, a move that continued and ricocheted across global trading.Russia’s stock market unsurprisingly faced a different level of trauma, with MOEX losing 50% and at one point halting trading altogether.Bitcoin, suffering earlier in the day, nonetheless staged a respectable comeback.”At the start of the week, escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine had hit crypto markets hard. Our crypto indices were already showing sizeable losses across all sectors,” Sahil Sakhrani, a market analyst at crypto research firm Hive, told Cointelegraph. Sakhrani warned that the announcement of further sanctions against the Russian economy may exacerbate the situation anew and that Bitcoin’s correlation to traditional equities markets should not be overlooked.”Now the news has worsened with an apparent Russian invasion of Ukraine followed by the EU, UK, and US proposing further sanctions against Russia,” he continued. “Risk aversion is likely to be the dominant theme for markets. With the correlation between bitcoin and NASDAQ picking up again, broader risk sentiment will likely be the dominant driver of crypto markets.”A second bone of contention came in the form of the United States Federal Reserve potentially slackening key rate rises due to the conflict.Pershaps the #Fed is relieved that #Russia invaded the #Ukraine as now it has an excuse not to raise interest rates in Mar. If it wasn’t this it would’ve been something else, but as far as excuses go this one’s hard to top. #Gold spiked 1.5% and #Bitcoin dumped 5.5% on the news.— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) February 24, 2022For popular trader and analyst Pentoshi, however, such a theory seemed out of place.”If you have an impending recession w rates at 0 and inject more capital you get something worse. Stagflation,” part of a recent Twitter update argued.On the topic, economist Mohamed El-Erian said that such risks “come at a time when Fed policy flexibility is limited and liquidity can be patchy.”Liquidations pass $500 millionThe day’s events meanwhile sent derivatives funding rates well into negative territory as traders weighed the likelihood of more downside.Related: Last Bitcoin support levels above $20K come into play as BTC price faces ‘time of uncertainty’Data from analytics source Coinglass confirmed the action, along with cross-crypto liquidations reaching $530 million in 24 hours.Bitcoin futures funding rates chart. Source: Coinglass”Heavy” selling by shorters was thus in evidence, research firm Numbrs added about the data.