- ETH price is building up downside pressure while clinging to the 200-SMA support.
- RSI remains flat below the midline, keeping the sellers cheerful.
- A drop towards $2450 remains in the offing if the 200-SMA caves in.
Ethereum, the no.2 widely traded digital asset, remains under pressure for the second straight day, consolidating Friday’s steep losses.
ETH price snapped its two-day rebound from monthly lows of $2651, as it got sold-off into the latest Chinese crackdown.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Friday declared all cryptocurrency transactions as illegal, imposing a ban, which saw over $400 million worth of tokens liquidated within 24 hours. Ethereum lost as much as $420 at one point before recovering to $2930.61 at the close.
At the press time, ETH/USD is trading almost unchanged on the day around $2900, having bounced off from daily lows at $2800.
Ethereum price defending 200-SMA but for how long?
Ethereum’s 12-hour chart shows that the price is wavering in a narrow range, remaining in close vicinity of the daily troughs, as ETH price is not out of the woods yet.
Having witnessed good two-way volatility recently, ETH price maintains its range play, with the bearish 21-Simple Moving Average (SMA) at $3185 capping the upside.
Meanwhile, the 200-SMA at $2734 continues to offer support to ETH bulls. However, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) still holding below the midline and bear cross in play, the path of least resistance appears to the downside.
Note that the 21-SMA breached the 100-SMA from above, confirming a bear cross on the said time frame on Thursday.
Once the 200-SMA gives way, a test of the horizontal trendline support at $2450 cannot be ruled out. The $2400 round number would be next on the sellers’ radars.
ETH/USD: 12-hour chart
On the upside, immediate resistance is placed at the 21-SMA, above which the horizontal 100-SMA at $3305 will be put to test.
ETH buyers will seek fresh entries above the latter, paving the way towards the downward-pointing 50-SMA at $3418.
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