Crypto Market Daily Highlights – ETH Leads as the Merge Date Nears

Key Insights:

• It was a bullish Saturday session for the crypto top ten, with Ethereum (ETH) leading the way as the Merge date nears.
• There were no crypto events or external market forces to influence, leaving the bullish sentiment from Friday to spill over.
• The total crypto market cap rose by $15.1 billion to $1,024 billion, a fourth consecutive daily increase.

It was a bullish Saturday session for the crypto top ten. ETH led the crypto top ten, supported by market sentiment towards the approaching Merge. Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated Friday’s return to $21,000 by avoiding sub-$21,000 for the first time since August 18. Despite a modest gain, DOT remained within the top ten.

It was a quiet Saturday session, with no crypto news or external market forces to shift investor sentiment. The bullish sentiment from Friday continued into the Saturday session.

However, investor sentiment could change in the coming week, with US inflation and retail sales in the spotlight. Softer inflation figures should ease pressure on riskier assets, though rising consumption numbers could allow the Fed to continue with its front-loading plan on interest rates.

The crypto correlation with the NASDAQ 100 will likely continue in the week. We expect market sensitivity to the NASDAQ 100 Mini’s early moves in the final hour of the Sunday session (UTC).

Crypto Market Consolidates Friday’s Breakout with a Fourth Rise

On Saturday, the total crypto market fell to an early low of $998.4 billion before rising to a high of $1,033 billion.

However, a late pullback left the crypto market cap up $15.1 billion to $1,024 billion for the session. Four bullish sessions reversed losses from earlier in the week. For the current week, the total crypto market cap is up $60 billion.

The Crypto Market Movers and Shakers from the Top Ten and Beyond

It was a bullish Saturday session for the crypto top ten.

ETH led the way, rallying by 3.23%, with ADA (+1.79%), BNB (+1.12%), BTC (+1.32%), and SOL (+1.05%) finding strong support.

However, DOT (+0.26%) and XRP (+0.08%) trailed the front runners.

From the CoinMarketCap top 100, it was a mixed session.

Helium (HNT) led the way, surging by 20.75%, with EOS (EOS) rising by 5.17% and Waves (WAVES) by 5.19%.

At the other end of the table, STEPN (GMT) fell by 4.64%, with Monero (XMR) and Loopring (LRC) seeing losses of 2.32% and 1.77%, respectively.

Crypto Liquidations Ease Back as Crypto Market Settles

Over 24 hours, total liquidations fell back to more normal levels, with the crypto market seeing modest gains on Saturday.

At the time of writing, 24-hour liquidations stood at $172.82 million, down from $372.09 million on Saturday morning.

Liquidated traders over the last 24 hours also decreased. At the time of writing, liquidated traders stood at 50,233 versus 103,210 on Saturday morning. Liquidations over one hour and twelve hours declined, while liquidations over four hours were higher, reflecting market volatility.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations stood at $120.10 million, down from $189.87 million on Saturday morning, with one-hour liquidations down from $2.33 million to $1.08 million. However, 4-hour liquidations were up from $12.32 million to $96.63 million. The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.