The crypto market is flexing its muscles today, showing a strong rebound that’s got traders buzzing! Bitcoin (BTC) is leading the way, up 1.65% to $98,259.15—just shy of that magical $100K mark. Ethereum (ETH) isn’t slouching either, climbing 2.37% to $3,716.60, while Solana (SOL) is stealing the show with a massive 5.31% pump to $225.11. Let’s break it down 👇:

💥 What’s Fueling This Rally?

1. The Short Squeeze Effect:
   • Did someone say short squeeze? Yup, big-time shorts are getting liquidated, especially on BTC ($6.96M in just the last 4 hours!). This forced buying pressure is helping push prices higher across the board. 🔥
   • XRP also saw $2.59M in short liquidations, helping it jump a whopping 7.46% today. Watch out—those XRP bulls are on fire! 🔥

2. Regulatory Optimism:

   • The crypto world is buzzing with hope for more friendly policies under a new U.S. administration. Ripple’s XRP is leading this charge, with traders betting on smoother waters ahead for crypto regulations. 🌊

3. Big Players Are Back:

   • Institutions like MicroStrategy are doubling down, with their latest massive Bitcoin buy signaling they’re in it for the long haul. This is confidence-building for everyone, from whales to weekend traders. 🐋➡️🐟

4. Altcoins Are Shining:

   • Solana’s ecosystem upgrades are paying off big time. It’s up 5.31% and doesn’t look like it’s slowing down. Even Dogecoin (DOGE) is wagging its tail, rising 2.25%—guess the memecoin magic is alive! 🐶✨

🔎 Liquidations: The Secret Sauce

Those pesky short-sellers just got rekt! 🚨 The stats show significant liquidation volumes, particularly for BTC, ETH, and XRP shorts. And when shorts get crushed, prices tend to pump hard. It’s like rocket fuel for the bulls. 🚀

🌟 Why Should You Care?

• Bitcoin is on the edge of greatness: It’s flirting with $100K, and if it breaks through, the FOMO wave could be huge. 🌊
• Ethereum is gaining steam: Eyes are on $3,750 as the next hurdle for ETH.
• Solana’s killing it: If you’ve been sleeping on SOL, today might be your wake-up call. ☀️

📈 What’s Next?

• Keep an eye on BTC: If it breaks $100K, all bets are off—it could go parabolic. 📡 With that, the ForexLive.com AI makes an interesting point for traders about considering to take partial or full profit taking if Bitcoin futures gets near $100,565.
• ETH’s $3,750 resistance: Can it push higher, or will it take a breather? 🤔
• Watch for more short squeezes: With liquidation volumes this high, we might not be done with these quick pumps. 🚀

Final Thoughts 🤑

Today’s turnaround is a reminder that crypto is never boring. Whether you’re trading or just holding, the market’s momentum is tilting in favor of the bulls. Let’s see if this energy can carry us through the week. Don’t forget—always zoom out and trade smart! 🚀📈

So, what’s your next move? Let us know in the comments or share your trades! 👇 Alwys invest/trade crypto at your own risk only and visit ForexLive.com for additional views.

This article was written by Itai Levitan at www.forexlive.com.

The US Dollar continues to
consolidate around the highs although it’s stronger against the commodity
currencies. In the bigger picture, the market reached the peak in the repricing
of interest rates expectations, and it will need stronger reasons to price out
the remaining rate cuts for 2025.

In fact, despite lots of
strong US data, the market’s pricing remaining largely unchanged around three
rate cuts by the end of 2025. The focus is now on the US CPI report. It looks
like the Fed really wants to cut next week before pausing for some months. So,
we might need an upside surprise in the core inflation numbers to force them to
change plans.

Even if the Fed decides to
cut next week despite a hot CPI, the market will likely scale back further the
rate cuts expectations for 2025 and that could trigger some risk aversion with
the US Dollar rallying across the board. The best scenario would be a soft
report given the overstretched long positions in the greenback. In such a case,
we can expect the US Dollar to selloff across the board.

On the NZD side, the RBNZ cut interest rates by 50 bps as expected
recently. We haven’t got any fresh New Zealand data in the meantime, but the
market increased the chances for a 50 bps cut in February to 57% with a total
of 104 bps of easing by the end of next year.

NZDUSD
Technical Analysis – Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can
see that NZDUSD sold off all the way to the 2023 low around the 0.5773 level.
This is where we can expect the buyers to step in with a defined risk below the
level to position for a rally back into the 0.6050 level. The sellers, on the
other hand, will want to see the price breaking lower to increase the bearish
bets into new lows.

NZDUSD Technical
Analysis – 4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, there’s
not much we can add here as the buyers will look for a rally from this level
and the sellers will look for a break. From a risk management perspective, the
sellers will have a better risk to reward setup around the trendline although we will likely need a soft
US CPI report today to trigger a rally into the trendline.

NZDUSD Technical
Analysis – 1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can
see that we have a minor downward trendline defining the current bearish
momentum on this timeframe. The sellers will likely continue to lean on it to
position for new lows, while the buyers will look for a break higher to
increase the bullish bets into the major trendline. The red lines define the average daily range for today.

Upcoming
Catalysts

Today we get the US CPI report. Tomorrow, we have the US Jobless Claims and
the US PPI.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.