Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are trading above the psychologically important levels of $30,000 and $2,000 respectively. This suggests that the crypto winter may be on its last legs. 

Some analysts are calling for an altseason to begin but it may be too early for that. When most of the crypto bears turn bullish, Bitcoin is likely to turn down sharply and catch the late entrants off guard. That could hurt sentiment in the short term and cause a sell-off in altcoins. After the weak hands are shaken out, the crypto markets may stabilize and begin a sustained uptrend.

Data from on-chain intelligence platform Glassnode suggests that there are significant similarities between the current having cycle and the previous ones. However, Ecoinometrics warned that an economic recession could alter things. 

Let’s watch the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to spot the important resistance levels that may start a pullback.

Bitcoin price analysis

The bears tried to stall the up-move on April 12 but the bulls did not give up. They resumed their purchase on April 13 and cleared the hurdle at $30,550 on April 14.

Ethereum (ETH) is witnessing a price breakout on the back of the successful Shanghai and Capella (Shapella) upgrades. The increased bullish sentiment after the upgrade led Ether price to hit a year-to-date high of $2,123 on April 14.

The Ethereum decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem received more daily fees, growing 30% in 24-hours on April 14 in tandem with Ether’s price growth. With the increase in Ether fees, the Ethereum proof of stake (PoS) token economics have turned deflationary and revenue is up 32% in the past 24-hours. 

Although the Ethereum network is showing positive momentum, regulators are trending toward taking swift action against the crypto sector. Debates on whether Ether is a security token under the Howey test continue combined with privacy concerns that an Ethereum researcher says staking reveals IP addresses. 

Let’s review a few of the reasons for Ether’s newfound strength.

Ethereum Shanghai was a success

The long-awaited Shapella upgrade was officially executed to mainnet on April 12.

Ethereum’s long-anticipated Shanghai and Capella upgrade was activated on April 12 and the total withdrawals in the first 40 hours after the Shapella upgrade stood at 142,425 ETH, per Nansen data. This falls in line with previous estimates. 

For a brief moment on April 12, when Shapella was activated, the deposits to ETH staking contracts outpaced withdrawals. However, deposits have slowed down come April 13 while the withdrawals are going strong.

ETH moved for withdrawals

The validators are required to update their staking software clients with withdrawal credentials changed to 0x01 from 0x00 and point to a valid Ethereum address. Once validators do that, the partial withdrawals, i.e. the withdrawals of rewards above 32 ETH, will be processed automatically.

Over 70.1% of validators have changed to 0x01, with 407,851.20 worth over $850 million set for withdrawal.

Additionally, 875,325 ETH worth $1.85 billion are waiting for full exit. Adding to the amount already processed in the first 40 hours, over 1.42 million ETH will be withdrawn from the staking contract.

Ethereum’s long-anticipated Shanghai and Capella upgrade was activated on April 12 and the total withdrawals in the first 40 hours after the Shapella upgrade stood at 142,425 ETH, per Nansen data. This falls in line with previous estimates. 

For a brief moment on April 12, when Shapella was activated, the deposits to ETH staking contracts outpaced withdrawals. However, deposits have slowed down come April 13 while the withdrawals are going strong.

ETH moved for withdrawals

The validators are required to update their staking software clients with withdrawal credentials changed to 0x01 from 0x00 and point to a valid Ethereum address. Once validators do that, the partial withdrawals, i.e. the withdrawals of rewards above 32 ETH, will be processed automatically.

Over 70.1% of validators have changed to 0x01, with 407,851.20 worth over $850 million set for withdrawal.

Additionally, 875,325 ETH worth $1.85 billion are waiting for full exit. Adding to the amount already processed in the first 40 hours, over 1.42 million ETH will be withdrawn from the staking contract.

Bitcoin (BTC) preserved new 10-month highs at the April 14 Wall Street open as analysts kept hoping for further gains.

$31,000 revealed as make-or-break trend line

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD consolidating around $30,700 after spiking past the $31,000 mark.

The pair saw no major retracement as it headed further into grounds it originally lost in June 2022.

Now, market participants eyed the potential for bulls to capitalize on existing momentum with the help of positive macro trends.

United States equities opened higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index both up 0.3% at the time of writing.