In a cautious, BTC-led market, ICP crypto is stuck under key daily averages and fighting to avoid further downside while other majors stabilize.
Daily Chart (D1): Clear Bearish Bias
Daily timeframe sets the main scenario: for ICPUSDT, that scenario is bearish.
Trend Structure – EMAs
Price vs EMAs (D1)
Close: $3.42
EMA 20: $3.82
EMA 50: $4.20
EMA 200: $4.76
Price is below all three key EMAs, and those EMAs are stacked bearishly (20 < 50 < 200). That is textbook downtrend structure. It tells us ICP crypto is in the discount bin for a reason: rallies into the low $3.80s–$4.20s are structurally vulnerable to selling until price can reclaim and hold above them.
Momentum – RSI
RSI 14 (D1): 38.62
RSI is below the midline but not yet oversold. That is classic controlled downside: bears are in charge, but there is no sign of capitulation. It usually means there is still room for price to drift lower or chop sideways without triggering an aggressive short-covering squeeze.
Momentum Confirmation – MACD
MACD line (D1): -0.34
Signal line (D1): -0.33
Histogram (D1): ~0
MACD is negative but flat, with the line essentially on top of the signal. The downtrend is established but momentum has cooled. Bears are not accelerating the move anymore; they are just maintaining pressure. That often precedes either a consolidation base or a weak bounce, not an immediate trend reversal.
Volatility & Range – Bollinger Bands and ATR
Bollinger Bands (D1):
Mid band: $3.77
Upper band: $4.37
Lower band: $3.17
Close: $3.42
Price is hugging the lower half of the band structure, closer to the lower band than the upper. That is consistent with a grind-down environment: sellers are keeping price suppressed, but you are not seeing a volatility blowout. It signals controlled downside rather than panic.
ATR 14 (D1): $0.26
A daily ATR near $0.26 for a $3–$4 coin means roughly 7–8% typical daily swings. Volatility is elevated but not extreme for altcoins. There is enough movement to trade, but nothing that screams crash mode.
Reference Levels – Daily Pivot
Daily pivot point (PP): $3.41
R1: $3.45
S1: $3.38
ICP is trading almost exactly on the daily pivot. That shows an intraday stalemate inside a broader downtrend. The market is pausing to decide whether $3.40 is a floor worth defending or just another stop on the way to the lower Bollinger band around $3.17.
1-Hour Chart (H1): Neutral, Short-Term Balance
The 1H chart is where the story starts to diverge from the daily. Here, ICPUSDT is no longer in outright sell mode; it has flipped to neutral, with signs of short-term balance.
Trend & Structure – EMAs
Close (H1): $3.42
EMA 20: $3.40
EMA 50: $3.42
EMA 200: $3.52
Price is slightly above the 20 EMA and essentially on the 50 EMA, but still well below the 200 EMA. Short term, that is a reset to equilibrium: intraday participants are no longer pushing ICP lower; they are trading around a fair value zone in the low $3.40s. The big-picture downtrend (price < 200 EMA) remains intact.
Momentum – RSI
RSI 14 (H1): 52.54
RSI on the hourly is just above neutral. That shows balanced order flow. Neither side is pressing hard, and the market is happy to consolidate. For a daily downtrend, this type of hourly RSI is often a staging area either for a continuation leg lower or for a corrective bounce.
MACD – Flat Tape
MACD (H1): line, signal, and histogram all around 0
Hourly MACD is flat at the zero line, which is exactly what a neutral regime looks like. Momentum has reset: the earlier downside impulse has been fully digested and the tape is waiting for the next catalyst.
Volatility & Range – Bollinger Bands and ATR
Bollinger Bands (H1):
Mid band: $3.40
Upper band: $3.44
Lower band: $3.36
Close: $3.42
Price is slightly above the mid band, inside a tight envelope. That is compression, not expansion: volatility is being bottled up. A squeeze on the hourly after a downtrend can break either way, but statistically it more often continues in the direction of the higher timeframe trend unless there is a strong catalyst.
ATR 14 (H1): $0.04
An hourly ATR of four cents underscores how compressed the market is intraday. The coin is moving about 1%–1.5% per hour at most. For traders, this is a wait-for-the-break environment, not a chase-the-move setup.
Intraday Pivot
Hourly pivot point (PP): $3.42
R1: $3.43
S1: $3.41
Again, price sits right at the pivot. Bulls have not been able to build value above $3.43, and bears have not forced a decisive move below $3.41. It is a tight, directionless box.
15-Min Chart (M15): Execution Context, Micro Neutral
The 15-minute chart is purely for fine-tuning entries and risk; it does not change the broader bias.
Short-Term EMAs
Close (M15): $3.42
EMA 20: $3.41
EMA 50: $3.40
EMA 200: $3.41
All three EMAs are essentially on top of each other with price sitting slightly above. That is a textbook micro-range condition. There is no clear intraday trend, just oscillation around $3.41–$3.42.
Momentum & Volatility
RSI 14 (M15): 54.35
MACD (M15): line, signal, histogram ≈ 0
ATR 14 (M15): $0.01
Short-term momentum is mildly positive, volatility is tiny, and MACD is flat. This is a scalper’s tape, not a swing trader’s. Moves are likely to get faded quickly unless backed by higher timeframe participation.
15-Min Pivot Levels
Pivot (M15): $3.42
R1: $3.42
S1: $3.41
On this micro timeframe, the market is literally rotating around $3.42 with near-zero separation between pivot and resistance. Liquidity is clustering here; it is where both breakout and breakdown attempts will be tested.
Market Context: Fearful, BTC-Led Tape
Broad crypto market cap is around $3.23T with a positive 24h change of about 2%, yet the fear and greed index is at 29 (Fear). Bitcoin dominance at 57%+ tells you where the money is hiding: majors, not speculative altcoins like ICP.
In practice, that means even if the market is up on the day, marginal capital is cautious. ICP crypto will likely lag any market-wide bounce and could sell off faster if fear intensifies. The current regime favors trend-following on weakness rather than aggressively bottom fishing minor alts.
Putting It Together: Scenarios for ICP Crypto
Baseline View
The main scenario is bearish, defined by the daily timeframe: price below all major EMAs, RSI sub-50, MACD negative, and price pressing the lower half of the Bollinger structure. The 1H and 15m charts do not contradict the downtrend; they simply say the market is taking a breather around $3.40.
Bullish Scenario: Oversold Relief Rally
For a constructive bullish case, ICP needs to turn this intraday neutrality into a proper relief rally.
What a bullish path looks like:
- On the 1H, price holds above the pivot region around $3.40–$3.42 and starts building higher lows, pushing consistently above the upper hourly Bollinger band near $3.44.
- RSI on the 1H sustains above 55–60 while MACD on the hourly turns clearly positive, showing actual buying pressure rather than just random chop.
- On the daily, ICP reclaims the Bollinger mid band near $3.77–$3.80 and challenges the 20-day EMA at $3.82. That is the first real signal that the downtrend is losing its grip.
- A stronger bullish extension would then aim at the $4.20 region (50-day EMA) as the next magnet and key battle line.
What would invalidate the bullish scenario?
If price loses the short-term floor around $3.38–$3.40 and daily RSI rolls back down toward the low 30s while MACD widens deeper into negative territory, the idea of an imminent relief rally is off the table. A daily close near or below the lower Bollinger band (around $3.17) would be a clear signal that the market chose continuation over bounce.
Bearish Scenario: Trend Continuation Lower
The bearish path is essentially more of the same, with the daily trend reasserting itself after this intraday pause.
What a bearish continuation looks like:
- On the 1H, price fails repeatedly at $3.44–$3.45 (R1 and upper band), generating lower highs just under that zone.
- Hourly RSI drifts back below 45 and MACD crosses back under zero with an expanding negative histogram, marking a fresh downside impulse.
- Price breaks and closes (on 1H then on D1) below the $3.38 support or pivot S1, opening the way toward the Bollinger lower band around $3.17.
- If fear in the broader market worsens, a spike in daily ATR beyond the current $0.26 could accompany a sharper leg down, with markets testing psychological levels below $3.
What would invalidate the bearish scenario?
A sustained reclaim of the daily 20 EMA around $3.82 would be the first serious blow to the bearish thesis. If ICP can then hold that level as support on subsequent pullbacks and compress under the 50 EMA at $4.20, the downtrend is no longer in full control. In other words, daily closes back in the $3.80s that stick would force bears to reassess the situation for ICP crypto on this chart.
How to Think About Positioning and Risk about ICP crypto
From a trading perspective, ICP crypto is in a macro downtrend with micro neutral consolidation. That combination usually rewards patience.
- Momentum traders typically wait for the hourly squeeze to resolve: either a clean breakdown below $3.38 to lean with the daily trend, or a breakout above $3.45–$3.50 that has enough strength to challenge the daily 20 EMA.
- Mean-reversion traders might nibble near the lower daily band only if volatility spikes and sentiment gets more extreme, but that is fighting the main trend and demands very tight risk control.
The key is acknowledging the uncertainty. The indicators are aligned on the daily (bearish), but flat on the intraday frames (neutral). That conflict means there is no must-trade setup here. There are only conditional trades depending on how price behaves around the current $3.40 pivot and the $3.17–$3.80 daily band corridor.
Position sizing, hard stops, and respect for volatility (that 7–8% daily average range) matter more than any single indicator right now. In this kind of tape, it is usually better to let price confirm direction rather than trying to predict the exact turning point.
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Disclaimer: This market commentary is for informational and educational purposes only and reflects a technical view of the ICPUSDT chart at a specific point in time. It is not investment, trading, or financial advice, and it does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation, or risk tolerance. Crypto assets are highly volatile and can result in total loss of capital. Always conduct your own research and use independent judgment before making any trading decisions.
In summary, ICP remains in a broad downtrend with short-term stabilization, and traders are better served by waiting for confirmation rather than anticipating a reversal.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2025/12/12/icp-crypto-analysis-bearish/



