Crypto markets fail to rally after CZ’s first tweet

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, made his first tweet after getting out of jail, but the expected crypto market rally never happened.

CZ was sentenced to four months in jail for enabling money laundering on Binance after he admitted back in April that he failed to implement proper anti-money laundering (AML) controls as required by U.S. law.

In his post, he said he was going to focus on his Giggle Academy for the next couple of years. He also said he will continue to invest in blockchain and decentralized technologies, artificial intelligence, and biotech.

Bitcoin stuck in consolidation

At the time of this writing, Bitcoin sits at $65,522, up by a negligible $35.39 (+0.05%). The price movement has been dull, staying in a tight range around $65,500, with a failed attempt to break $66,000.

This means Bitcoin is in consolidation. There’s no momentum pushing it in either direction. Looking at the technicals, the 50-period moving average is $65,786, real close to the current price.

This means the market is testing this level as support. The 200-period moving average (MA200) sits much lower at $64,172.

The on-balance volume is at 772, showing steady buying activity. Though it flattened a bit, meaning the bullish pressure is drying up.

Without more volume, neither buyers nor sellers are taking control, which is why the market is in limbo.

Ethereum is doing worse

As per usual, Ethereum’s performance is even worse, sitting at $2,641, down by $0.99 (-0.04%). The chart below shows it failing to hold onto higher prices after hitting $2,700.

Ether is testing the $2,640 support level, but with recent lower highs, bullish momentum is fading. The 50-period moving average (MA50) is sitting at $2,677, pretty bearish.

Ethereum hasn’t been able to reclaim this level as support, showing that selling pressure is stronger at the moment.

The 200-period moving average sits just below at $2,630.08, acting as a major support zone.

Ethereum’s OBV line sits at 184.868K, showing that trading volume has been dropping off. This aligns with the price decline.

Is on-chain data different?

The on-chain data for Bitcoin is mostly bullish. At the current price, 92% of holders are making money, 3% are at breakeven, and only 5% are in the red.

There were $92.07 billion in transactions more than $100K over the last week, mostly from ETFs. Also, the total exchange netflows are negative, with -391.14M BTC leaving exchanges.

This means traders are moving their Bitcoin off exchanges and into cold storage or personal wallets, planning to keep their assets long-term, expecting future price gains.

But Ethereum’s on-chain metrics are bearish. At the current price, 68% of holders are in profit, 2% are at breakeven, and 29% are in the red.

With a larger portion of holders losing money, Ethereum is more vulnerable to selling pressure if market conditions deteriorate.

Ethereum saw $29.5 billion in large transactions over the past seven days, way lower than Bitcoin’s. The total exchange netflows for Ethereum are negative, with -274.03M ETH leaving exchanges.