Bitcoin Hesitantly Moves Upwards, Altcoins Follow
As the 24/7 crypto market moved transitioned from Friday to Saturday, traders were able to breathe a sigh of relief, as Bitcoin made a hesitant move upwards, with no bears in sight. At the time of press, Bitcoin is trading within the low $6,700s, seemingly rangebound between $6,700 and the heavily-contested $6,800 resistance, which technicians see as a key level for this asset.
Whilst Bitcoin’s volatility may be on the down-low, traders have been continually backing up the asset with a consistent volume figure of approximately $4 billion per day, which goes to show that there is still interest in this budding industry. It is likely that BTC will encounter resistance at $6,800, and will need a daily close above that price level to indicate a potential breakout.
Altcoins followed ‘big daddy’ Bitcoin in this bout of positive price action, with coins like ETH, XRP, EOS, BNB and more posting near-identical gains to the foremost crypto asset. But as reported by Ethereum World News, there were some assets that stood above the rest, including eight altcoins in the top 100 that have seen double-digit gains today, further adding credence to the fact that the market may finally be undergoing a reversal.
But while altcoins may be hot now, prospects may be beginning to look dismal for these assets, as active trading in the altcoin markets has all but dissipated.
Crypto Market Posts Week-Over-Week Gain For The First Time In Weeks
The cryptocurrency industry has had a helluva week, with the SEC denying and then reviewing nine separate crypto-backed ETF proposals within a matter of 24 hours. Moreover, the Chinese government has come out in force, taking multiple measures to curb the propagation of cryptocurrencies all within the span of a few days. Said measures include the ban of crypto news outlets on WeChat, Alipay’s restrictions on Bitcoin OTC accounts, and China’s move to block 124 foreign cryptocurrency exchanges via its intranet firewall.
On the other hand, however, this week has had its fair share of positive news, including a widespread sentiment shift across many industry leaders, who see that Bitcoin is starting to bottom.
The market has clearly reflected this mix of bullish and bearish sentiment, with Bitcoin posting gains and losses throughout the week that had traders on the edge of their seats.
But for the first time in weeks, if not months, the collective market capitalization of all crypto assets has only increased on a week-over-week basis. Some analysts have pointed out that ‘FUD’ is starting to have less of an effect on the market, which may be an evident sign that the bears have finally bitten the dust.
While everyone's distracted by the #Bitcoin ETF, there's lots of other stuff going on behind the scenes. Every day there are exciting developments in $crypto that don't get picked up or broadcasted around.
Don't get distracted/focus on one thing.
— Emptybeerbottle (@Fullbeerbottle) August 23, 2018
Furthermore, as cryptocurrency commentator EmptyBeerBottle puts it, “every day there are exciting developments in crypto that don’t get picked up or broadcasted around. (So) don’t get distracted or focused on one thing.”
Photo by Bailey Mahon on Unsplash
