Ethereum Classic pops higher as traders and desks clear out their dollar positions

• Ethereum Classic moves higher on the day as the dollar fades.
• ETC moves higher as risk looms that Monday could be business as usual for dollar strength. 
• Expect this to be a small window of opportunity for cryptocurrencies to book gains, as this is a mere ‘major event’ play.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) moves higher on the back of some large moves in the markets, mainly the dollar fading, triggering countercyclical moves as equities go up and cryptocurrencies find themselves back in favour. Traders must keep in the back of their mind what has happened on the other trading days of this week. With the death of Queen Elisabeth, several Asian and European banks and hedge funds were forced to follow the risk scenario triggered following the occurrence of a main event like a war, a terrorist attack or the death of a foreknow statesperson, which is the case here.

ETC will trade back at $32.90 once the dust settles

Ethereum Classic has been pulled upward in an environment that sees heavy dollar selling as banks and hedge funds are forced to clear a bit or portion of their positions on the back of Queen Elizabeth’s death last night. The passing away of a major statesperson will usually lead to risk managers demanding their funds and banks reduce their outstanding balance due to the increased risk of big market swings. Imagine if a report came out that it appears the Queen was murdered? That would shock the markets and trigger massive dollar strength.

ETC price is moving in the opposite direction to its previous trend because most banks and funds are heavily  long US dollars and need to unwind their positions in quite a short period of time. Heavy selling of the greenback, therefore, has opened up room for further upside for equities and cryptocurrencies. The window of opportunity looks quite narrow as pound sterling is already paring back gains and looks set to drop back to its levels from earlier this week, by next Monday, thus, the same is likely to be the case for ETC price, as $40 looks like the maximum level it will reach.

ETC/USD Daily chart

More upside could be granted, of course, but then a supportive level should survive over the weekend without any further breakdowns. The most important level is $36, at the monthly pivot. If that holds over the weekend and still results in  a positive opening on Monday, expect to see $40 or $45 printed on Monday evening.