Crypto Market Update for Oct 18th – Sideways Trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum Continues

Cryptocurrency markets continue to trade sideways this week with little change in the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum. While the crypto market trading volume and momentum increased yesterday, we’ve yet to see any significant price action today. Bitcoin remains in the $19k range, and Ethereum is trading at $1,300, with the global crypto market cap at $927 billion. Let’s look at relevant news affecting markets this week.

Key Points:

• The cryptocurrency market continues to trade sideways this week with little volatility and relatively-high trading volume.
• A recent report highlights that over $740M in Bitcoin left exchanges, a bullish sign suggesting traders are preparing to hold BTC for a prolonged period of time.
• Ethereum’s next network upgrade, Shanghai, already has a testnet and is scheduled for sometime in 2023.
• The fear and greed index puts the market in extreme fear, but the decreased volatility and high trading volume are positive signs for the market’s future.

Crypto Market Update

Today’s most significant news is a report by Cointelegraph, which highlighted an interesting statistic today. Over $740M in Bitcoin exits exchanges, which was the biggest outflow since June’s Bitcoin price crash.

According to Cointelegraph:

“The amount of Bitcoin flowing out of cryptocurrency exchanges picked up momentum on Oct. 18, hinting at weakening sell-pressure, which could help BTC price avoid a deeper correction below $18,000.”

The fact that a large number of Bitcoin is leaving exchanges is a bullish sign which means that traders and holders are potentially preparing to hold BTC for an extended period. After all, when users withdraw their crypto assets from exchanges, they’re usually preparing to put their tokens into cold storage or on hardware wallets.

The likely incentive behind users moving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin off exchanges is the decreased market volatility, providing further confidence to traders to open long-term positions.

In other news, Ethereum is already preparing for its next major upgrade, Shanghai. According to a report from Coindesk, Ethereum’s Shanghai now has a testnet and will enable developers to experiment with the next phase of ETH development, including implementing staked Ether withdrawals.

For those unaware, it’s still impossible to withdraw staked ETH, but the network’s next update will support withdrawals for staked Ethereum assets.

Don’t get your hopes up yet, because the update is scheduled sometime in 2023, with no specific date as of yet. Ethereum’s Shanghai update will be the first since September’s merge and will be another significant milestone in the network.

Regarding market sentiment, today’s Bitcoin fear and greed index remains in the extreme fear range, currently at 22 points. The index is two points higher than yesterday but is still quite lower than last month, suggesting the market is still bearish.

The good news is that trading volume remains relatively flat after yesterday’s spike, with BTC’s 24-hour volume only down 0.61% and Ether’s down 6%.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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