Bitcoin and ether rose slightly after a rather quiet weekend. The consolidation of bitcoin above the $49,490 level opens up pretty good prospects for further growth, but the ether still needs to try, since a fairly large level of $4,140 remains insurmountable before the trading instrument. We will talk about the technical picture of trading instruments a little below.

Over the weekend, it became known that the US regulatory authorities once again rejected several applications for the creation of a bitcoin-based crypto ETF fund. The US Securities and Exchange Commission stated that the offers from Valkyrie Investments and Kryptoin do not meet the requirements for preventing fraud and manipulation of bitcoin, which is necessary to protect investors. Only bitcoin futures-backed ETFs have the right to live. Many market participants expect that the SEC will make a positive decision on the approval in 2022 of an ETF fund tied to "pure" bitcoin.

The launch of the first spot bitcoin ETF remains the holy grail for investment funds that view the new product as an entry into the cryptocurrency for millions of investors. The first bitcoin futures ETF, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy, attracted about $1 billion in investments literally in a matter of days after its launch. However, it is quite expensive to manage, which scares off many investors.

The SEC's decision on the First Trust/Skybridge ETF for spot bitcoin is expected to be made on January 22, followed by a decision on Fidelity on January 27. The probability that they will be approved seems small.

Cardano is gaining strength

After the statements made by Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano and IOG, the ADA token began to gain strength. Hoskins revealed some plans for the development of the network in 2022. "My goal for the second half of 2022 is to figure out how to put everything together to create an end-to-end microfinance transaction on Cardano," Hoskinson said. The founder of Cardano also noted that a structure will be introduced that controls the creation of decentralized products on the network. The emphasis on DeFi will now be made thoroughly. It is not surprising, since this is a rapidly developing young sphere, which may in the near future displace banking organizations. In September of this year, the network was updated, which opened up opportunities to support decentralized financing applications, but it has not yet reached the full functionality of the network. "A formal open source project structure will be formed, like Hyperledger for Linux," Hoskinson said.

Let me remind you that Cardano, founded in 2015 and launched in 2017 as an alternative to Ethereum, is a blockchain that uses network validators to process transactions for ADA, its currency, and to service the network. It is the sixth largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $51.18 billion.

At the beginning of this year, critics began to complain quite actively that Cardano had not achieved its stated goal of full decentralization. In 2020, IOG published a document explaining how it will decentralize the production of blocks. It turned out to achieve this goal in April 2021.

As for the technical picture of bitcoin

Bitcoin remains above the $49,500 level, the consolidation of which continues to maintain hope for the continuation of the uptrend at the end of the year in the area of highs: $53,700 and $58,700. If the bears achieve a return to control of the $49,500 level, most likely we will see an instant drop in BTC to the support of $45,660. In the case of its breakdown – it is best to be patient and wait for the update of the levels: $41,600 and $37,380.

As for the technical picture of the ether

Ether buyers have gained a foothold above the $3,912 level – the middle of the side channel, which creates prerequisites for further growth of the trading instrument. In the near future, the return of ETH to the area of $4,140 is not excluded. A break in this range will open a direct road to the highs: $4,404 and $4,647. If the pressure on the ether returns, it is best to focus your attention and gain long positions in the support area of $3,680. Its breakdown is a very bad call for buyers at the end of this year.