Naughty or Nice

Chart of the Day

It looks like this will be a merry Christmas for most investors after all. In the U.S. stock market, new highs were just achieved on the back of speculation that the Omicron variant may not be as devastating as previously thought. The crypto market seems to be going down the same path despite the low trading volume and liquidity that has come to characterize the year-end festive season. For one, BTC has just ended its week-long struggle for significant upside momentum by successfully breaking above the key $50k psychological barrier, and is currently attempting to establish a stronger foothold above the $51k level. ETH appears to be treading closely behind BTC's bullish move, and is already up by around 3% from 24h ago. Further, many of the top altcoins that have been surging ahead with regard to price gains in recent days have been working hard to not let up on their winning streaks. For example, LUNA and SHIB both managed to post double-digit percentage gains in a mere matter of hours. The good news don't stop here. BTC's market cap dominance has been consistently retesting its support in recent times, and is approaching a level last experienced all the way back in January 2018. If the current support breaks, we may even see bigger rallies for most altcoins as that will signify the crypto market's entry into a fabled phase that has come to be known as "alt-season". However, there are still some things to take note of. If BTC continues to rally, it will be very important to keep an eye on funding rates. If it stays within the negative or neutral territory, the crypto market will be well-positioned to waltz into Q1 2022 with conviction. If funding rates go the other way, however, another long squeeze could also very well take place.