After a gruesome encounter on Friday, cryptocurrencies across the board spent the weekend seeking stability and a chance to restart uptrends. The market was thrown off balance when OKEx suspended digital assets/cryptocurrencies withdrawals. An update from the exchange after the incident says that “withdrawals are still temporarily suspended, but all other operations are running smoothly. User funds are safe.”

Significant growth has been recorded in terms of the total market capitalization from Friday’s $355 billion to $360 billion on Monday. The data by CoinMarketCap highlights a decrease in trading volume from $87 billion to $60 billion. This low trading volume puts to perspective the drab price action over the weekend.

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Bitcoin screams buy as volatility returns

The flagship cryptocurrency made a gradual recovery from support at $11,200. However, bulls could not sustain gains above $11,500, resulting in a retreat. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is exchanging hands at $11,435 amid a short-term building bearish momentum.

According to the Relative Strength Index (RSI), the reversal from $11,500 is only temporary. A breakout above the descending trendline shines a light on the strengthening bearish grip. On the other hand, a series of higher highs is forming on the RSI, a bullish signal for BTC.

Simultaneously, the formation of a symmetrical triangle pattern points towards a potential breakout in the near term. As soon as the triangle resistance is thrown in the rearview, majestic price action will begin to actualize.

BTC/USD daily chart

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Santiment’s Age Consumed metric shows a significant movement of previously idle BTC. In other words, the metric highlights the amount of Bitcoin changing addresses daily multiplied by the days since they last moved. On October 19 (65,000 BTC), a spike in Age Consumed points to a significant increase in volatility and extensive price action soon.

Bitcoin Age Consumed chart

According to IntoTheBlock’s IOMAP model, Bitcoin is facing relatively strong resistance at $11,470 - $11,799. Here, nearly 985,000 addresses previously purchased approximately 731,000 BTC. Flipping this region into support might send Bitcoin considerably above $12,000.

On the downside, the flagship cryptocurrency is accorded immense support. The stacks of buyer congestion areas can hold BTC, preventing dire losses. It is essential to single out the most robust support, running from $11,123 to $11,370. Here, around 2.2 million addresses previously purchased roughly 1.1 million BTC.

Bitcoin IOMAP chart

Ethereum bulls aim for $400

Ethereum bulls are not giving up on the mission to pull above $400 despite last week’s slump to $360. Meanwhile, the smart contract giant is trading at $375. The 50 Simple Moving Average hinders movement immediately on the upside. More resistance is expected at $380 and $390 (ascending triangle pattern resistance).

On the downside, buyers need to hold the price above the triangle pattern. Otherwise, a breakdown might continue. In case of a reversal, support is anticipated at the 100 Simple Moving Average (SMA). Nonetheless, the path of least resistance is upwards, at least for now.

ETH/USD 4-hour chart

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On-chain data provided by Santiment’s holder distribution metric shows some Ethereum whales still accumulating. Since October 7, a lock-step growth is visible in the number of addresses holding between 10,000 and 100,000 tokens. Precisely, these addresses rose by 13 to 974 by October 18, representing a 1.3% increase.

While the figure may seem insignificant, the sum of the volume moved is relatively high. As the price steadily grows, buying pressure behind Ether is likely to build, in turn, pushing the price higher.

Ethereum holder distribution chart

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Ripple consolidates before breakout

Ripple inched farther away from the resistance at $0.26, delaying the recovery to $0.3, as discussed last week. Support at $0.24 has been retested again, but XRP is trading at $0.241. The 50 SMA limits movement on the immediate upside.

Similarly, the Bollinger Band middle layer will also delay recovery but once in the rearview, XRP bulls will shift the focus to $0.25 and $0.26. The 100 SMA may also slow gains to $0.25, but the RSI’s uptrend emphasizes the path with the least resistance is upwards.

XRP/USD hourly chart

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Santiment’s holder distribution metric is printing a bullish picture for Ripple in the near term. Addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP have grown significantly in the last week, from 1,329 on October 13 to 1,340 on October 19. The upturn represents building buying pressure behind the cross-border token, resulting in the possibility of recovery to $0.26 and $0.3.

Ripple holder distribution chart

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Daily takeaway

Bitcoin recovered from the drop to $11,200 but failed to sustain gains above $11,500. However, on-chain analysis shows that the flagship cryptocurrency is heading into a period of high volatility. If the resistance between $11,451 and $11,780 is broken, Bitcoin might have a smooth sailing above $12,000. It is worth mentioning that if the immense support between $11,123 and $11,370 is broken, BTC may plunge to $10,700.

On the other hand, Ethereum’s upside is capped under the 50 SMA. If this the hurdle remains intact, recovery to $400 might be a pipe dream. Besides, the formation of an ascending triangle is a bearish sign.

Ripple whales continue to accumulate tokens even as the price dropped to $0.24 support. Consolidation brought to light by the Bollinger Bands may culminate in a breakout to $0.26 and $0.3, respectively.