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Bitcoin (BTC) challenged three-month lows into June 10 as altcoins in particular felt the heat from United States regulatory pressure.

Altcoin bloodbath as exchanges reshape landscape

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $25,483 on the day, down over $1,200 from the previous day’s high.

While showing weakness, Bitcoin was spared the fate of major altcoins, which reacted strongly to delisting that accompanied U.S. legal action against major exchanges.

Trading app Robinhood announced that it would remove support for several cryptocurrencies named in the lawsuit against Binance and Coinbase by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

These subsequently hemorrhaged value, with both Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) down nearly 25% in 24 hours at the time of writing.

Bitcoin (BTC) remains well above the crucial support at $25,250, indicating that market participants have shrugged off the news of the lawsuit by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Binance and Coinbase. When markets do not stay lower for long after negative news, it is a sign that traders are looking to buy the dips rather than panic and dump their holdings.

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has been buying the dip in crypto-related stocks since the SEC unleashed its recent crypto regulatory action. First Wood purchased $21 million worth of Coinbase stock on June 6 and followed that up with a purchase of Block Inc. shares worth $19.9 million between June 7 and 8.

The resilience of the cryptocurrency space is supported by a risk on sentiment. The U.S. equities markets are on a roll with the S&P 500 rising above 4,300 on June 9, the first such instance since August 2022.

Can bulls sustain the recovery in the cryptocurrency markets or will higher levels bring out the bears in large numbers? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin turned down from the moving averages on June 7 but a minor positive is that the bulls did not allow the price to slump below $26,125. This suggests that lower levels are attracting buyers.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking ‘alternative service’ from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to issue a legal summons to Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Zhao and Binance were recently sued by the SEC over alleged unregistered securities operations.

Related: SEC sues Coinbase for breaking US securities rules

In a case document filed with the District Court on June 7, the SEC requested alternative service. It explains its evident stance that typical service (which requires the presence and signature of the person being served) might prove difficult in this case:

“Binance and Zhao are not the typical foreign entity and individual, as they are widely known for disagreeing with the premise of a headquarters or domicile, let alone identifying one, and Zhao is famously protective of revealing his whereabouts.”

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are due volatility — but not thanks to “toothless” United States regulators, new analysis says.

In its latest market update on June 9, trading firm QCP Capital told market participants to gear up for macro-fueled price action for BTC and ETH.

Related: Why is Bitcoin price stuck?

QCP Capital: U.S. crypto "mudslinging" to continue

The dust is continuing to settle on this week’s main macro stories — lawsuits against exchanges Binance and Coinbase from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

More upheaval will come in future, QCP believes, as the macro environment from next week onward becomes much more unpredictable.

The judges presiding over Coinbase and Binance’s lawsuits will likely watch the results of the SEC v Ripple case closely, crypto lawyers told Cointelegraph.

Ripple has been in a legal battle with the SEC since December 2020. The regulator alleges it was offering unregistered securities via XRP (XRP) since 2013.

On June 6 the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase also alleging that it has been offering unregistered securities. A day before it filed a lawsuit against Binance containing some similar allegations.

Lawyer James Murphy, known as “MetaLawMan” on Twitter, explained in a series of tweets on June 9 that a favorable outcome for Ripple could “undermine the entire basis for the SEC’s case” against both, Coinbase, and Binance.

However, he also warned that “before anyone gets too excited,” a ruling by Judge Torres in the Ripple case would not be “binding precedent” for these recent filings.

In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Lark Davis, who has been actively involved in the world of cryptocurrency since 2017. He is a Bitcoin (BTC), crypto and stock investor and boasts over 1 million followers on Twitter and over 470,000 YouTube subscribers.

In today’s discussion with Davis, we first get to know him a little better by finding out how he got into crypto in the first place and why he is still so deeply interested. The answer might not be as simple or orthodox as you think.

With so many years of experience in the crypto space, Davis certainly has assessment criteria for determining what altcoins might be able to make it big and run with the kings in the space, such as Ether (ETH) and BTC. We get the details of what he looks for when analyzing altcoins and finding those hidden gems.

BTC might not reach a new all-time high in 2023, at least it doesn’t seem likely as of right now, but there might be some major events or catalysts that can propel it on an upward trajectory and lay the groundwork for new all-time highs. We get Davis’ opinion on what these events might be and what his price target is for 2023 and 2024.

Lastly, we discuss the most important things happening in crypto right now, whether it’s regulation, lawsuits, development or experiments in the space, Davis gives us his honest opinion. We also ask him what every new and experienced crypto investor should be doing in this current market. You dont want to miss it! 

The market capitalization of BNB (BNB) has dropped by more than $7 billion since June 5 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance.

BNB price eyes technical bounce

The impact of the SEC lawsuit on Binance has been substantial so far with BNB down nearly 15% week-to-date.

On June 6, the SEC requested the Washington D.C. district court to freeze Binance's U.S. assets worldwide. The order, if passed, will likely force the exchange to repatriate "fiat currency and crypto assets deposited, held, traded, and accrued by customers" at its U.S. platform.

Meanwhile, Binance's United States' entity halted trading for several pairs, including Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), and Binance USD (BUSD).

Theoretically, these events risk stirring people's BNB buying sentiment, given it has been incorporated as a utility token in the Binance ecosystem.

A number of memecoins drawing their likeness from the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and its chair Gary Gensler have seen a sharp spike in price following the regulator's lawsuits against crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance.

One such token is Good Gensler (GENSLR) which rallied more than 260% in the hours following the regulator's complaint against Coinbase for offering unregistered securities on June 6.

Good Gensler currently sports a total market capitalization of around $3.2 million. In the last 24 hours, the token has just over $1.25 million in trading volume. According to Etherscan data, Good Gensler was launched on April 19, some five days after the launch of fellow memecoin Pepe (PEPE).

Similarly, another Gensler-derived memecoin with the profanity-laden name Fuck Gary Gensler (FKGARY) also witnessed some upward momentum, rallying more than 530% in the last 48 hours according to data from decentralized exchange (DEX) screener DEXTools.

Gensler wasn’t the only target for memecoin enthusiasts. Another token featuring the ticker “SEC” — standing for “Stupid Egotistical Cocksuckers” — experienced some major volatility in the wake of the regulator's recent actions. The SEC token was launched on June 5 and in the following 24 hours rallied a staggering 15,530%.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index — a tool that measures broader market sentiment towards Bitcoin and the broader crypto market — has dipped to a level of “fear” not witnessed since March 11 this year, when Circle’s USD coin (USDC) briefly lost its dollar-peg. 

The stumble in market sentiment comes in the wake of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing a lawsuit against Binance, its U.S. arm of operations and its CEO Changpeng Zhao.

The SEC pressed a total of 13 charges against the exchange and its affiliates for failing to register as a securities exchange and operating illegally in the United States.

The index works by aggregating a mixture of indicators to gauge market sentiment. It combines metrics including price volatility, momentum, trading volume with data from social media and Google trends to form an overall picture of investor’s emotions towards Bitcoin and the wider crypto market.

Much of the negative sentiment owes to the immediate plunge in the value of cryptocurrencies following the SEC’s latest move against Binance. Blue-chip crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) are down 4.1% and 3.1% respectively in the last 24 hours according to data from Cointelegraph Price Index.

Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins witnessed a sharp sell-off on the news that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed a suit against Binance in U.S. courts for unregistered securities operations.

This lawsuit could delay the recovery in Bitcoin and most major altcoins as traders could prefer to remain on the sidelines for a few days until some clarity emerges. Another upcoming event that could keep the investors at bay is the Federal Reserve’s meeting on June 14.

Although the short-term picture is uncertain, Glassnode data shows that the largest cohort of Bitcoin whales, owning at least 10,000 Bitcoin, has been on an accumulation spree for the past few days. On the other hand, all the other major cohorts have been in a distribution phase.

What are the important support levels that could start a recovery in Bitcoin and the major altcoins? Let’s study the charts to find out.

S&P 500 Index price analysis

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) broke and closed above the overhead resistance of 4,200 on May 26, completing the bullish ascending triangle pattern.

A two-month-long lull in cryptocurrency optimism has seen online search interest for “crypto” and other common cryptocurrency terms stumble down to late 2020 levels.

According to data from Google Trends, the term “crypto” currently has a score of 17, which is well off its reference point of 100 in May 2021. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum have followed a similar downward trajectory.

However, search interest for these terms has been in a relatively consistent decline since May 2022, about a month after much of the Terra Luna ecosystem collapsed. A small spike in interest came in early November when the crypto exchange FTX collapsed.

The fall in interest comes as Bitcoin (BTC) has held steady around $28,000 for 10 weeks now — something which Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz recently described as “lackadaisical,” due ta lack of “institutional excitement right now.”

Guy Turner, commonly known as “Coin Bureau Guy” suggested in a June 4 Twitter post that the fall in interest also coincides with lower trading volumes on exchanges, which he claims to have reached a 32-month low last month:

The United States equities markets welcomed the debt ceiling deal and the May nonfarm payrolls data on June 2 with strong rallies. The S&P 500 rose 1.8% during the week while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 2%. This was the sixth successive week of gains for the Nasdaq, the first such occasion since January 2020.

In addition to the above, the expectation of the Federal Reserve remaining in a pause mode during the next meeting may have acted as a catalyst for the rally. CME’s FedWatch Tool is showing a 75% probability of a pause, with the remaining 25% expecting a 25 basis points hike in the June 14 meeting.

Rallies in the equities markets failed to trigger a similar performance in Bitcoin (BTC) and the altcoins. However, a minor positive is that several major cryptocurrencies have stopped falling and are trying to start a recovery.

Could bulls maintain the momentum and surmount the respective overhead resistance levels? If they do, which are the top five cryptocurrencies that may lead the rally?

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been trading close to the 20-day exponential moving average ($27,233) for the past three days. This suggests that the bulls are buying the dip near $26,500.