Both Bitcoin and Litecoin are trading lower this week. Bitcoin is down by $22 while LTC/USD is lower by 38 cents or 8.6 percent. As usual, let’s start with the bigger brother Bitcoin and get back to LTC later in the article.
Bitcoin Down by 3.3 Percent
Bitcoin is down by $22 or 3.3 percent since last Tuesday. The Bitcoin halving came and went but prices have yet to make a decisive move. After July 9, the Bitcoin creation rate dropped from 8% to 4% per annum. More on this in our previous article.
While the week prior saw some tentative gains for BTC/USD, the last seven days saw a lot of that move retrace. As we can see in the 4-hour chart below, for the past several weeks Bitcoin has been stuck in a range. While the medium and long-term trends are still bullish, the short-term daily charts are signalling indecision.
To break this deadlock, we will need to see a break above $707 on most BTC exchanges. Taking into account the current FXOpen/BTC-E price discount, prices here would need to rise to around $695 to trigger a new short-term rally. Resistance levels above here can be found at $744 swing high followed by the $800 round figure.
On the lower end, we have some support around $590-$600 ($600-$610 per coin on other BTC exchanges). But a new downtrend requires a break below $550 per coin on most exchanges. This corresponds to around $540-$550 on FXOpen. Below here we have a support at the round $500 figure (a weak level) followed by the breakout point for the last BTC rally at $460 per coin.
Litecoin Drops by 8.6 Percent
Alternative cryptocurrency Litecoin is down by 38 cents or just over 8.6 percent since last Tuesday. The larger Bitcoin losses should come as no surprise. We noted LTC/USD entering a bear market two weeks ago.
Currently we’re hovering right above the $4 round figure, a potential support. Below here we have more support levels at $3.78 followed by a support area from $3.50 to $3.61. A break below here could lead to more losses toward $3.30 per coin.
On the upside, a decisive clearing of the $4.50-$4.61 resistance area would end the current LTC downtrend. An extended move above $5 per coin could start a new short-term LTC rally. In the medium-term charts (weekly) Litecoin looks bullish but the longer-term monthlies are still in a neutral mode.
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