Cryptocurrencies to Watch This Week – BTC, LUNA, ETC, EGLD, WAVES

Key Insights:

• With BTC back near the $40,000 range, the weekend gains are reversed.
• ETC, EGLD, and WAVES noted double-digit weekly gains at press time of the top coins.
• Bitcoin’s short-term uptrend could further push the top gainers’ prices.

After a six-day streak of making higher highs and higher lows, bitcoin’s price fell to $40,915 at press time, noting 2.46% losses over 24-hours. While BTC was testing its lower support, certain altcoins seemed to garner attention with their high weekly gains.

Notably, the global crypto market cap stood at $1.86 trillion with a 1.77% decrease as most coins started to consolidate once more on the recent BTC losses. Nonetheless, of the top 50 cryptocurrencies, Terra (LUNA), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Elrond (EGLD), and Waves (WAVES) were some of the top gainers highlighting high weekly gains.

To better understand what to expect from these coins, let’s look at their price movements as a new week begins.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin faces resistance near $42,411 as bulls face challenges from the bears at higher price levels. BTC’s recent u-turn from the $42,000 level indicates that traders maintain a cautious stance.

Notably, the BTC/USD pair maintained around the upper $41,000 zone on March 20. The coin saw one of its best weekly closes since early February.

In the late hours of March 20, the price started to slide down as bitcoin slipped under the critical support presented by its moving averages. BTC’s return above the $41,120 price level could mark a near-term recovery for the top asset.

The top coin still hovered above the key $40,360 support, which was good. As highlighted by Glassnode, the futures market was driving BTC’s spot price. Notably, there was more activity in the futures market as futures prices converged with spot.

Terra (LUNA)

Terra’s native token LUNA has displayed an exceptional market dissociation in 2022, making a new all-time high of $104 on March 10. Yet again, as the market gained momentum last week, LUNA saw a close to 6% rise in the previous two days.

Even though LUNA suffered from some choppy price action over the weekend, its price seemed to chart a recovery at press time, trading at $94.18, noting 1.47% daily and 4.24% weekly change.

The 7th ranked coin’s moving averages and the relative strength index (RSI) noted a slight uptick favoring bulls. The same indicated an advantage to buyers alongside minor price gains.

This week, the $86 and $96 price levels would play key support and resistance zones for LUNA. A move below the $86 mark could lead to selling pressure taking over the coin, while a move above $96 could trigger fresh rallies.

Ethereum Classic (ETC)

Making a star-studded comeback, Ethereum Classic (ETC) saw close to 60% gains over the last week. The coin saw one of its highest trade volume candles since the May 2021 bull run as trade volumes saw an over 50% rise in just one day.

ETC’s recent gains have reversed the losses since December 2021, bringing its price back to the early-December 2021 levels. Notably, RSI for ETC was still hovering in the overbought zone on a daily chart and noted high values last seen in August 2021.

The overheated ETC market could face a short-term rebound, especially since RSI presented high values.

While aggressive buying has pushed ETC’s price near the overhead resistance at $40, bears are likely to defend this level as trade volumes wane. Notably, the next significant support for ETC lies at the $35 mark, and moving under the same could trigger sell-offs.

At press time, ETC traded at $38.93, noting 8.50% daily and 50.11% weekly gains. If bulls can push ETC above the $40 resistance, another round of decent profits could follow.

Elrond (EGLD)

EGLD has been in a more significant uptrend for the last one-week, noting 19.01% weekly gains at press time. Elrond’s price broke above its key moving averages on March 15 as the price saw a close to 15% rise in just one-day.

Buyers’ interest seemed waning despite the minor daily gains as trade volumes had flattened out on a daily chart. A slight uptick in daily RSI indicated that bulls are still attempting a comeback.

Notably, bears have kept EGLD from making it past the $168 resistance over the last few days. A push from bulls above this crucial resistance could trigger short-term gains for the coin. However, if bears pull EGLD’s price under the $156 support, further price losses could be expected.

Waves (WAVES)

Waves, the 37th ranked coin, traded at $32.82 at press time, noting 2.95% daily and 25.91% weekly gains at press time. Since late February, the currency has charted over 250% gains and was a mere 17% away from its all-time high value of $40.35. 

The coin’s daily RSI still hovered in the overbought zone, where it has been for most of this month. The $34 price level acted as a crucial resistance as bulls tried to push their way above. 

If WAVES can establish above the $35.5 mark, a run for a new all-time high could be expected this week.