Bitcoin’s (BTC) current bull run continues to attract institutional investors who are finally realizing its long-term potential. The latest to take the Bitcoin plunge is BlackRock Financial Management, which has “started to dabble a bit” in crypto investments, according to the investment giant’s chief investment officer Rick Rieder.
In another positive, investment advisory The Motley Fool projected that Bitcoin could rise to $500,000 over the next 15 years. The firm announced its plans to buy $5 million worth of Bitcoin and has also advised its 10X real-money portfolio members to make the digital asset a part of their core holding. The firm said it is not worried about short-term price fluctuations due to its long-term investment horizon.
Although Bitcoin garners most of the attention, there are several altcoins that have been skyrocketing in the past few days. One set of tokens that have been surging in February are exchange tokens.
Let’s look at the fundamentals of the top four exchanges that make them stand out and attractive compared to their competitors and analyze their charts to project the target on the upside.
BNB/USD
Binance Coin (BNB) is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange token with a market capitalization of over $40 billion. In a bull phase, trading activity surges and Binance has benefited from this. A sign of a good business is when it quickly adapts to the changing landscape.
When the decentralized finance boom happened, Binance was quick to jump on the bandwagon and add support to DeFi projects. Binance Smart Chain (BSC) has emerged as a possible substitute for the Ethereum network that is facing issues with high transaction fees.
BSC has grown in popularity and the total value locked (TVL) on the network has risen over $10.5 billion, according to data from Defistation. The two largest projects on BSC are Venus (XVS) and PancakeSwap (CAKE), which have $3.9 billion and $3.6 billion in TVL.
To attract further customers and projects, the BSC community reduced transaction costs to 10 Gwei from 15 Gwei. The current bull run has attracted a record number of new traders to the crypto space.
According to data from SimilarWeb, Binance was the third most popular website in the “Finance > Investing'' category, with 136 million monthly visitors in January making it the 381st most popular website worldwide. This web traffic is continuing to rise further in February.
Binance Coin has been in a phenomenal run in February putting it in third place by market capitalization. The token has rallied from $43.4331 on Feb. 1 to an intraday high at $284.08 today, a 554% gain within 19 days. The vertical rally has pushed the relative strength index (RSI) above 93, which suggests the token is extremely overbought.
Such vertical rallies usually end up in a sharp correction. The first support on the downside is the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement at $220.6374 and then the 50% retracement at $201.04. If the price rebounds off this support zone, the bulls will once again try to resume the uptrend.
If they succeed in pushing the price above $284.08, the uptrend could resume, with the next target objective at $367.
On the other hand, if the bears sink the price below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at $181.4426, the BNB/USD pair could completely retrace the latest leg of the up-move and drop to $118, just below the 20-day exponential moving average at $125.
Such a deep fall will suggest the momentum has weakened and that could delay the next leg of the uptrend, keeping the pair stuck inside a range for a few days.
HT/USD
Huobi Token (HT) has also benefited during the current crypto bull run and its market cap has risen to over $3.69 billion.
Some of the steps taken by Huobi may have helped the platform attract traders. During a strong bull phase, traders use leverage and borrow money to trade. Huobi’s launch of crypto loans on Jan. 5 with up to 50% discount till Feb. 3 could not have come at a better time.
In addition, the launch of the Huobi Eco-Chain Heco mainnet on Dec. 21 could be seen as a long-term positive. Heco seems to have quickly picked up momentum with the core assets TVL reaching $1.38 billion on Feb. 5.
To further expand its services to the traders, Heco recently tied up with decentralized derivatives trading platform Injective, which could increase cross-chain derivatives adoption, enabling traders to bridge assets between the two entities. Additionally, Huobi DeFi labs has tied up with Kava Labs to expand into the DeFi market and offer its users access to the Kava ecosystem.
HT has surged from $6.4808 on Feb. 1 to an intraday high at $19.4555 today, a 200% rally within three weeks. This sharp up-move has pushed the RSI above 88, which shows the token is overbought in the near term.
The HT/USD pair is likely to face resistance between the $19.4017 and $20.3162 overhead resistance zone. If the price turns down from the zone, the first support is at the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement at $16.0981 and then at the 50% retracement at $15.0611.
A strong rebound off either support level will suggest the sentiment remains bullish and traders are buying on dips. If the bulls can thrust the price above the resistance zone, the next leg of the up-move to $25 could begin.
Conversely, if the price breaks below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at $14.0240, the correction may deepen to the 20-day EMA ($11.51). A break below this support will suggest that a short-term top is in place.
FTT/USD
After starting its journey like any other crypto exchange in April 2019, FTX Token (FTT) started innovating in 2020 and that has helped it attract a huge client base.
FTX has focused on adding several products that benefit the short-term momentum traders. In early 2020, the daily and weekly binary Bitcoin options were launched and that was followed by the introduction of leveraged tokens such as the 3x Long Bitcoin and 3x Short Litecoin.
The exchange further expanded its offering by starting tokenized equity trading where it allows traders to buy less than one share, which is useful for small traders who want to buy high-priced stocks. However, this service is currently not available to U.S. citizens.
Its innovative products such as pre-IPO futures contracts, thematic products, and prediction markets attract a diaspora of clients that are not covered by other exchanges. FTX quickly introduces products to fulfill the trader’s requirements. A recent example of that was the launch of a Wall Street Bets Index that will contain the most discussed stocks in the hugely popular r/Wallstreetbets Reddit group.
FTX’s Project Serum, the decentralized exchange and ecosystem, is an attempt to capture the DeFi crowd and it could add value in the long term if the innovation continues.
FTT has been in a strong bull run for the past few weeks. It has risen from $10.815 on Feb. 1 to an intraday high at $30.077 today, a 178% rally in 19 days. The rally has pushed the RSI deep into the overbought territory, which suggests the token could be due for a correction or consolidation.
The long wick on today’s candlestick suggests profit-booking at higher levels. The first support on the downside is the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $25.655 and below that at the 50% retracement at $24.289.
If the price rebounds off this support, it will suggest the sentiment remains bullish and traders continue to buy on dips. The bulls will then try to resume the uptrend by pushing the price above $30.077. If they succeed, the next leg of the uptrend could begin. The next target objective on the upside is $35.866 and then $37.232.
Conversely, if the bears sink the price below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $22.922, the correction could deepen to the 20-day EMA ($19.32). A strong rebound off this level will suggest the uptrend remains intact while a break below the 20-day EMA will tip the scales to the bears.
OKB/USD
OKEx (OKB) was struggling when the current bull market was starting last year. Rumors were afloat that its CEO was under criminal investigation and the exchange had halted withdrawals from mid-October to late November last year. Naturally, several investors fled the exchange when withdrawals resumed.
However, OKEx has taken certain steps to again attract clients. It started real-time settlements for all perpetual swaps, futures and options contracts in a phased manner from the end of December last year.
The exchange launched OKExChain mainnet on Dec. 31, 2020, offering an opportunity for the early adopters to earn about 10 million OKT tokens as rewards. On Jan. 22, two decentralized applications OKEx Swap and OKEx Farm were launched on OKExChain, enabling users to mine their OKT tokens.
OKEx recently announced plans to integrate with Bitcoin’s Lightning Network “in the coming quarter” experimenting with faster and cheaper Bitcoin transactions. The exchange also announced support for the simplified address format from Unstoppable Domains. OKEx is trying to make a comeback and only time will tell if it has succeeded in redeeming itself.
OKB has risen from $5.652 on Feb. 1 to an intraday high at $12.555 today, a 122% gain in less than three weeks. The token is currently in a strong uptrend but is nearing its target objective at $12.839.
If the bulls can push the price above $12.839, the uptrend could extend to $13.87 and then $15. However, the RSI has risen above 81 level, which suggests the OKB/USD pair is overbought in the short term.
If the price turns down from the current level or the overhead resistance, the first stop is likely to be a retest of the previous resistance turned support at $9.50. If the pair rebounds off this level, it will act as a new floor for launching the next leg of the uptrend.
On the contrary, if the pair dips and sustains below $9.50, a fall to the 20-day EMA ($8.3) is possible. A break below this support will tilt the advantage in favor of the bears.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.