Crypto market in choppy waters

Hola folks!

The crypto market took a breather last week, with BTC correcting over 8% in the past 7 days. The correction can mostly be attributed to investor concerns about the incoming US administration’s pro-crypto credentials. 

While the broader crypto market is correcting, altcoins such as XRP and ONDO brought cheer to crypto investors. 

The latest edition of our weekly crypto newsletter explores the reasons for the crypto market correction in the past week and how the coming week will likely pan out.

Bitcoin took a sharp turn south this week, falling over 8.5% from its local high of $102,000 recorded on January 7, and now trades just below $93,000. 

Bitcoin is struggling beneath its 20-day exponential moving average (EMA), signaling a shift in momentum toward the bears. With the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 45—down 22% since January 6—the market is neither overheated nor oversold, but the trend leans cautious. Adding to the unease, analysts predict further volatility ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20, with concerns over unmet promises of pro-crypto legislation and fears of a potential “sell-the-news” event.

In other news, the industry continues to grapple with a mix of innovation and regulation. Worldcoin has verified over 10 million users on its biometric-based digital identity platform, a milestone for decentralized identity solutions.

However, the crackdown on unregulated platforms persists—Singapore recently blocked Polymarket under its Gambling Control Act, underscoring the fine line crypto projects must walk between growth and compliance. The crypto landscape remains as dynamic as ever, setting the stage for another week of uncertainty, opportunity, and resilience.

Altcoin enthusiasts might find brighter prospects as the market prepares for a $3 billion token unlock this week, led by ONDO. 

Meanwhile, XRP has turned heads with its breakout from a symmetrical triangle pattern, paving the way for a potential rally. The bullish sentiment aligns with Ripple’s ongoing success in its legal battle with the SEC, fueling optimism for long-term gains. 

MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin tracker remains a talking point, with the company’s holdings showing unrealized gains of over $14 billion—Michael Saylor’s persistence in posting updates underscores the long-term faith in Bitcoin’s trajectory.

Weekly price movement: 

• BTC $93,039 ⏬ 6.15% 

• ONDO $1.13 ⏬ 25.68% 

• XRP $2.43 ⏫ 2.13% 

(All data here as of 2.25 p.m., 13 January 2025)

Before we conclude, here’s a quick look at some important news from around the crypto world.

• Solana is ratcheting up testing of Firedancer, the highly anticipated software upgrade that promises to vastly increase the blockchain’s processing speed. By the end of this week, Solana’s core developers want a “super majority” of processing power on the chain’s low-stakes test network to run through Frankendancer, an early version of Firedancer, according to messages in Solana’s technical Discord server. Read more here.

• Ripple, an enterprise-focused blockchain service closely related to the XRP Ledger (XRP), said that it will use data provider Chainlink’s (LINK) services to better integrate its RLUSD stablecoin with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. This feature, which went live on the Ethereum blockchain, allows developers to incorporate RLUSD into DeFi protocols for trading, lending, and other activities. Read more here.

That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.

See you later, folks! 👋

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