The pessimism in the cryptocurrency market seems to continue in full swing through the week. Trend analysts and experts maintain that there may be more of a tough time ahead for all holding crypto in the coming days and possibly even weeks. Bitcoin’s 50-day simple moving average (SMA) continues to move further down and could even fall below the 100-week SMA. This phenomenon is the “bearish crossover” and indicates serious red flags about the future. Such a crossover last took place for BTC back in February 2019 and could be weeks away from a reoccurrence based on present trends.

Highlights of the week

• The Ethereum blockchain has announced plans to go ahead with its ditching of the mining rigs concept on 15 September, which could result in a dramatic drop in carbon emissions almost instantaneously. The move is monumental and indicates progression beyond the allegedly ‘destructive’ proof-of-work concept. Many reports that the restructure could throw several major financial institutions into disarray, considering them being structured to maximize mining operations.
• Amidst the gloomy pessimism and uncertainty of the last few weeks, yesterday saw a mild recovery, with some of the biggest names of crypto trading in green. Even though the actual gain remains minuscule, it comes as a breath of fresh air following a seemingly continuous plummet. These names include Bitcoin, which gained by 0.16%, as well as Ethereum which stepped up by 0.73%
• According to a recent survey by KuCoin, one of the largest crypto exchanges in operation, a staggering 15% of India’s total population between 18 and 60 years old have traded some form of digital assets in the last 6 months. This figure amounts to 115 million individuals and is especially significant. It emphasizes the rising popularity of the crypto phenomenon in the second most populous country in the world.
• Pew Research released findings of a study yesterday that states that 46% of Americans that have invested in cryptocurrencies had been faced with unfavorable outcomes. These findings suggest that almost half of all American adults that have invested in some form of cryptocurrency, hold unoptimistic views regarding the assets.
• Cryptocurrency used throughout Asia, as a currency to acquire goods and services continues on a fast-growing trend. Many economists have pointed out that digital currencies show progression beyond an investment class in these regions, and are highly effective in the procurement of goods and services, in an e-commerce context.

Crypto fear & greed index

Talk of pessimism amongst crypto market participants and traders seems to dominate the discourse surrounding the digital asset realm. One way to objectively display this is through the crypto fear and greed index. This index portrays a thorough sentimental analysis of how the market presently perceives crypto-currencies. At present, the index reflects a figure of 25, which lies in the extreme fear category. This seems to be consistent with wider price trends of the major crypto assets continuously losing ground in the market.

The index is at its lowest in more than a month and appears to be slipping terribly close to the fateful lows of mid-June when BTC fell beneath $19,000. Back then the index fell to a dangerous low of 6 and thereafter recovered to as high as 47, which is close to the stable middle point between fear and greed. Its fall back to 25 hints at the negative outlook surrounding the market, and suggests that heavy buying may be unlikely at present.