Weak volumes and rotations into other cryptocurrencies are likely to stop bitcoin’s price movement from going higher. Meanwhile, ether has been more volatile than bitcoin in 2020 and could remain that way.
- Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $ 18,349 at 21:00 UTC (4 pm ET). Gained 0.14% over the previous 24 hours.
- Bitcoin 24 Hour Range: $ 17,904- $ 18,652 (CoinDesk 20)
- BTC just above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish trend signal for market technicians.
Again, the price of bitcoin fell below $ 18,000 on Thursday, going as low as $ 17,904 according to the CoinDesk 20. The price reversed course, with higher volumes pushing it back up to $ 18,349 at press time .
Read more: Bitcoin Stuck as Lagarde Primes Extra € 500B ECB Stimulus
Constantin Kogan, a partner in crypto investment firm Wave Financial, is pegging $ 17,900 as a “support” level where if traders don’t start grabbing bitcoin to push price back up, there may be a bigger fall. “The trend is weakening,” Kogan told CoinDesk. “If we dip further then I will regard that as the beginning of a decline.”
Chris Thomas, head of digital assets at Swissquote Bank, has noticed a quiet time in the market this week but sees it as a buying opportunity for those with a longer time frame. “This doesn’t scare me. Just provide a better entry point for those who want to invest in the medium term, ”Thomas told CoinDesk. “I haven’t seen much [over-the-counter] or a larger activity this week, though. ”
At a combined $ 1.1 billion as Wednesday’s near-spot spot volume on major CoinDesk 20 exchanges is lighter this week than last week’s $ 1.7 billion. As of press time, combined volumes were at $ 873 million on Thursday.
Henrik Kugelberg, an over-the-counter (OTC) crypto trader, is not disappointed by the doldrums in the crypto market this week. “It’s a moderate dip on the way up,” Kugelberg told CoinDesk. “Nothing to see here.”
Rotation into alternative cryptocurrencies has been a popular theme in the crypto market as recently, and Thomas from Swissquote highlighted XRP as one example of this dynamic. “Our data shows that the XRP volume has significantly increased the disadvantage to ether and a small amount of bitcoin over the last four weeks,” said Thomas.
Read more: Coinbase to Support XRP Holders Token Airdrop Spark
Indeed, XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has seen a blow in volume over the past month, according to data from aggregator CoinGecko.
Sulfur in cooperation with Coinbase is likely to accelerate the cycle of hype on XRP, leading to volume jump along with price, Thomas noted. “I think XRP volumes continue to outperform BTC and ETH ahead of a snapshot of tomorrow night’s flight ticket,” said Thomas.
Ether more volatile than bitcoin this year
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down on Thursday, trading around $ 566 and slipping 1.1% in 24 hours at 21:00 UTC (4:00 pm ET).
Read more: Ethereum Far Outpaces Bitcoin in Developer Activity in 2020
The 30-day volatility for ether has generally been higher than for bitcoin in 2020, according to data collected by CoinDesk Research.
Vishal Shah, a crypto options trader and founder of Alpha5’s derivatives location, says Ethereum’s ambitious “2.0” upgrade provides completely different fundamentals for ETH compared to BTC, giving it more depressing gyrations.
“ETH should have higher volatility given that it is a less established protocol than bitcoin; it is significantly smaller in terms of market cap and has more uncertainty on the immediate horizon, ”Shah told CoinDesk. “The biggest uncertainty would be settling [the Beacon Chain] and the change to 2.0, it’s all a bit of an understatement. “
Other markets
Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mixed on Thursday, mostly red. One winner from 21:00 UTC (4:00 pm ET):
Read more: Paxos Becomes Latest Crypto Company to File for Federal Bank Charter
- Oil was up 2.5%. Barrel price of raw Central Texas Intermediate: $ 46.86.
- Gold was in the red 0.14% and at $ 1,836 at press time.
- The 10-year US Treasury bond yield fell on Thursday dipping to 0.915 and in the red 2.1%.
