Ignoring Bitcoin, Hedera Hashgraph, Reef and Perpetual Protocol rally higher

Strong fundamentals are attracting traders to Hedera Hashgraph, Reef and Perpetual Protocol even as Bitcoin price hangs near a crucial support level.

Bitcoin (BTC) price tumbled more than 10% today to hit a low near $31,000 and at the time of writing it looks like the sell-off has a bit further to go. In a weekly report from crypto fund provider, CoinShares, some institutional investors seem to be booking profits and the analysts also cited the strengthening (trade-weighted) U.S. dollar.

Another indicator that points to professionals selling Bitcoin is the drop in "Coinbase Premium." As markets continue lower, an increasing number of investors may dump their positions with the intent to buy again at lower levels.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

Guggenheim Partners chief investment officer Scott Minerd has turned bearish on Bitcoin for the year. In an interview with CNBC, Minerd said that Bitcoin may have topped out and could “see a full retracement back toward the 20,000 level.”

If Bitcoin plunges, altcoins are also likely to witness selling pressure. Although this may be the case, during sell-offs, tokens backed by strong fundamentals may outperform.

Let’s have a look at three tokens which have held steady during the current market correction.

HBAR/USD

Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), the enterprise-grade distributed ledger, has been entering into various partnerships to leverage blockchain technology in real-world use cases in several sectors. If these initial projects are successful, it will open a plethora of future possibilities around the globe. Some of the recent collaborations are highlighted below.

Hedera and content services provider Hyland recently presented a proof of concept to the Texas Secretary of State to secure and verify government-issued records using electronic Apostilles, which will be recognized universally.

Fighting against money laundering and combating terrorism financing are critical regulatory requirements for every financial institution and these obligations are closely monitored by governments. TRM Labs has integrated with the Hedera public ledger to provide robust compliance and risk management solutions to the developers building on Hedera.

The team also has partnered with Everyware to monitor the cold storage equipment used to store COVID-19 and other vaccines at Stratford Upon Avon and Warwick hospitals.

Along similar lines, AVC Global and its Subsidiary MVC’s Track-and-Trace Platform have chosen to collaborate with Hedera to develop intelligent supply chains to reduce risk and fraud and enable the right product to reach the right place at the right time.

Hedera’s strength can be found in its diversified enterprises and the organizations that are part of the Hedera Governing Council. As the number of use cases for the protocol increase, it's possible that HBAR will also continue to perform well.

HBAR has risen from an intraday low of $0.04151 on Jan. 12 to an intraday high at $0.12467 today, a 200% rally within a short span. The sharp rally on Jan. 20 cleared the overhead hurdle at $0.083.

HBAR/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

However, the sharp rally of the past few days has pushed the relative strength index (RSI) deep into the overbought territory, which may have attracted profit booking from traders. This has resulted in the formation of a Doji candlestick pattern today, suggesting indecision among the bulls and the bears about the next directional move.

The HBAR/USD pair could retest the recent breakout level at $0.083. If the price rebounds off this support, the bulls will again try to resume the uptrend. A breakout and close above $0.12467 could resume the uptrend, with the next target objective at $0.16616.

This bullish view will invalidate if the bears sink the price below the $0.083 support. Such a move could drag the pair to the 20-day exponential moving average ($0.06) as a deep fall tends to delay the resumption of the uptrend.

REEF/USD

The growing popularity of the DeFi space shows no signs of slowing down. Several new platforms promising innovative products pop up every other day and this makes it increasingly difficult to keep track of all new developments.

Reef’s (REEF) AI and Machine Learning powered algorithms attempt to address this problem by aggregating liquidity from various sources in order to offer users the most profitable option.

To achieve this objective, Reef has entered several partnerships in the past few weeks. The platform added support to Avalanche, enabling Reef’s clients to directly access the products available on Avalanche without leaving Reef's platform.

Similarly, a partnership with bZx Protocol offers clients several trading and lending opportunities. The addition of a bZx farming pool to Reef’s AI and Machine Learning powered analytics engine will further widen the options available to Reef’s clients.

Reef’s collaboration with OpenDeFi allows users to invest in synthetic versions of real-world assets that are held by a custodian. Traders can invest in physical assets such as gold, silver, or even real estate and they can stake them to receive loans.

Reef finance was recently listed on Binance Launchpool, increasing its accessibility and a recent code audit by Halborn is likely to increase investors' confidence in the project.

REEF rallied from an intraday low at $0.006516 on Jan. 13 to an intraday high at $0.023 today, a 252% rally within a short period. Due to the short trading history, a 4-hour chart has been used for the analysis.

REEF/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The REEF/USD pair is currently trading inside an ascending channel, with both moving averages sloping up and the RSI in the positive territory. This suggests that the bulls have the upper hand.

If the pair rebounds off the 20-EMA, the uptrend could resume its up-move inside the channel. A breakout and close above the channel will suggest a pick up in momentum. The critical level to watch on the upside is $0.031 and then $0.042.

Contrary to this assumption, if the bears sink the price below the support line of the channel, the pair could drop to the 50-simple moving average. A break below this support could signal that bears have taken control.

PERP/USD

Perpetual Protocol (PERP) is a relatively new entrant in the DeFi space, listing on the Ethereum mainnet on Dec 14. The recent crypto bull run could have accelerated its adoption as traders have been using perpetual contracts to profit from the speeding market.

Even though the platform supports only three trading pairs, Perpetual said their 7-day volume puts them in the top 10 on the DEX Metrics highlighted by Dune analytics.

After its initial success, Perpetual plans to add a fourth trading pair and then follow it up with more additions in due course. The staking pool may launch in February, which will allow PERP token holders to stake and earn rewards on fees generated by trading on the platform. The team is currently working to integrate limit orders sell options to the platform and the feature is expected to go live before the end of Q1.

PERP rallied from $1.844 on Jan. 12 to an intraday high at $6.055 on Jan. 17, a 228% rally within a week. After a three-day correction, the bulls are currently attempting to resume the uptrend.

PERP/USD daily chart. Source: Beta.Dex Vision

The shallow correction of the past three days suggests that the bulls are not closing their positions in a hurry. If the buyers can push the price above $6.055, the next leg of the up-move could begin. The next target objective on the upside is $9.41.

On the contrary, if the price turns down from $6.055, the PERP/USD pair may correct to $4.275 and remain range-bound between these two levels for a few days.

A break below $4.275 may intensify selling with the next support at the 50% Fibonacci retracement level. A breakdown and close below the 20-day EMA ($3.19) will signal a possible trend change.

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.