The cryptocurrency market witnessed mixed trading on Tuesday, with several major tokens experiencing notable gains while others declined. Bitcoin, Solana, Toncoin, Cardano, and Avalanche were among the top performers, recording gains of up to 7%. In contrast, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Polygon faced downward pressure, with losses of up to 2%.

Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization rose by 1.25% in the past 24 hours, reaching approximately $2.01 trillion, reflecting a market-wide recovery after recent volatility.

As of 12:23 p.m. IST, Bitcoin was trading 1.8% higher at $56,829, continuing its upward momentum and approaching the critical $57,000 mark. Ethereum, however, remained subdued, trading below the $2,500 level.

Market experts pointed to improving sentiment as a key driver behind Bitcoin’s recent strength. “The crypto market continues to show signs of recovery, with Bitcoin marking another green day and breaching the critical $56,500 resistance level,” said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus. He further noted, “Bitcoin whales have accumulated 30,000 BTC during the market correction earlier this week. Market sentiment is also improving, as reflected in the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which has risen from an extreme fear level of 17 to a fear level of 29 in the past 24 hours.”Despite this optimism, some analysts cautioned against overly bullish expectations. Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder & CEO of Pi42, commented, “Bitcoin’s price is gradually rebounding to $57K. However, low trading volume and a bearish market indicate cautious investor sentiment.”The volume of all stablecoins is now $97.52 billion, which is 94.12% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume, as per data available on CoinMarketCap.In the last 24 hours, the market cap of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell to $1.123 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 55.87%, according to CoinMarketCap. BTC volume in the last 24 hours declined 40.7% to $46.9 billion.Altcoins also saw varied performances, with Solana emerging as a top gainer, rallying nearly 7% to $151. Toncoin followed with a 3.5% rise to $5.75, and Polkadot added over 3% to its value. Vikram Subburaj commented on Solana’s strength, stating, “Solana continues to showcase relative strength – it is up 7% today and trading above $150. The altcoin market continues to play catch-up to Bitcoin.”

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

After a massive price crash, the overall cryptocurrency market has experienced a significant upside move in the last 24 hours. Amid this, Solana (SOL) the world’s fifth-biggest cryptocurrency has gained massive attention from crypto enthusiasts following its substantial price surge. 

Breakout in Solana (SOL)

During the price crash, SOL reached the lowest level of $109.66. Since then, it has experienced a notable price surge of over 33%. However, this price surge has caused a crucial breakout of the $145 level in the 4-hour time frame. 

Solana price prediction

According to expert technical analysis, SOL looking bullish as it is trading above the 200 Exponential Moving Average (EMA) and recently gave a breakout of a crucial resistance level of $145. 

Following this breakout, there is a high chance it could soar another 10% to the $161 level. However, if investors’ interest and market sentiment remain bullish then SOL could soar to $185 to its next resistance level. 

This breakout and this surge in open interest will be potentially responsible for the upcoming bullish rally in the coming days. 

SOL price analysis

At press time, SOL is trading near $147 and has experienced a notable price surge of over 15% in the last 24 hours. Despite this massive price surge, its trading volume has dropped by 56% during the same period.

Meanwhile, SOL’s open interest (OI) has skyrocketed by over 17%, in the last 24 hours. This significant surge in OI indicates higher interest from investors and whales.

Solana outperforms BTC, ETH, and BNB

With its massive price surge, SOL has outperformed top assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and BNB (BNB) in terms of price increase. According to coinmarketcap, SOL has experienced a price jump of over 15%, whereas, BTC, ETH, and BNB have seen only 7%, 4.5%, and 7.5%, respectively, in the last 24 hours.

SOL’s major liquidation level

As of now, SOL’s major liquidation levels are at $136 on the lower side and $153 on the upper side, according to an on-chain analytic firm CoinGlass.

If the market sentiment remains unchanged and SOL soars to the $153 level, nearly $86 million worth of short positions will be liquidated. Conversely, if sentiment changes and SOL falls to the $136 level, nearly $162.5 million worth of long positions will be liquidated.

The Ministry of Finance recently made it clear in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that the government is not considering a law to regulate the transaction of cryptocurrencies.

“Currently, there is no proposal to bring legislation for regulating the sales and purchase of virtual digital assets in the country,” Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Finance, told the Lok Sabha via a written response.

It is interesting to note that this is not the first time that the government has been evasive about its commitment to establishing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently stated that there should be a global understanding on cryptocurrencies and merely rolling out regulations by one country was not going to make much headway into the space of regulations.

In November 2021, Sitharaman — in a reply to a question on bitcoin in Parliament — had said that the government has no proposal to recognise Bitcoin as a currency.

What industry players think?

However, crypto industry participants are not too pessimistic about Chaudhary’s statement, which was released at the behest of the Finance Ministry since they pin hopes on a discussion paper on digital currencies likely to be released next month.

“The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary indicated just a few weeks ago that a discussion paper is likely to be released by September 2024. We remain optimistic and will look forward to this paper to better understand the potential next steps for the virtual and digital assets (VDA) sector in India,” says R Venkatesh, SVP and Head of Public Policy, CoinSwitch.

Likewise, Dilip Chenoy, Chairman of Bharat Web3 Association, also saw hope in the Department of Economic Affairs secretary’s recent comments about the upcoming discussion paper on VDA policy. “We look forward to studying the paper in detail when released for public consultation and offering our policy inputs. We applaud India’s leadership during the G20 Presidency last year in building consensus on crypto assets policy and adopting the G20 Roadmap on Crypto assets,” said Chenoy.

“We urge the government and regulators to take a lead in formulating a comprehensive regulatory regime for Web3/VDAs in India,” he added.

CoinDCX refused to comment on this development.

It is interesting to note that the finance ministers of G20 nations in October 2023 adopted the synthesis paper released by the IMF-Financial Stability Board (FSB) the previous month.