Market update

Bitcoin suffered no lasting effects over the past week as 130 of the biggest Twitter accounts were roped into an amateurish BTC ‘giveaway’ scam. It’s traded in a narrow range around $13,000 and is currently around $13,100 to finish the week 0.9% down. Trading volumes are as low as they’ve ever been and data analytics firm Skew pointed out that BTC has traded in a 1% range over the last ten days. The last time that happened was in November 2018 just before BTC plunged nearly 50%. However, Morgan Creek Digital executive Jason Williams interprets the same data as suggestive of a major price increase this week: “Bitcoin volatility could be extraordinary to the upside.”

Another week of steady as she goes for neo-stablecoin Bitcoin, with the price trading in a narrow range and no major moves. BTC ends the week 0.7% down and is currently trading around $13,350. Research firm Skew says the correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 reached a new all-time high this week. Ethereum and Litecoin also finished flat. XRP was up 6%, Stellar increased 27%, while Bitcoin Cash lost 3.1%, EOS lost 1.2% and BSV was down 3.8%. All eyes this week were on IR’s newest listing Chainlink (LINK) which surged from under $8 to around $11.50. It’s currently $10.40 and to finish the week up 34%.

Although Bitcoin has been showing signs of life in the past 24 hours (up 3%), the price action this week traded in a fairly narrow range above $13,000. It’s currently just over $13,400 and is up 1.78% for the week. Zooming out, the price has essentially stagnated over the month, down 3.3%. But zooming out even further and Bitcoin is up 27% for the year, outperforming gold and stocks. Crypto Compare’s report shows that the low BTC volatility has coincided with low volumes, which are down 36% on top tier exchanges. But altcoins made strong gains this week: Ethereum recorded its best price in a fortnight and is up 5.6%, XRP is up 6.3%, Bitcoin Cash (7.6%), Bitcoin SV (21%), Litecoin (5.3%), EOS (10.1%) and Stellar (10.3%).

Bitcoin dropped briefly below the US$9000 ($13,100) mark on the weekend, but it was on fairly thin volumes. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was 4.24% down on the same time last week, to trade around $13,400. Its performance was better than most of the top ten coins: Ethereum lost 5.7% this week, XRP (-5.7%), Bitcoin Cash (-6%), Bitcoin SV (-9.3%), Litecoin (-5%), EOS (-7.1%). Stellar lost 8.4%.

Bitcoin is currently trading just under $14,000 and is 1.9% up on seven days ago. Ether gained 4.8% this week, but the rest of the top ten remained fairly steady: XRP (-0.9%), Bitcoin Cash (2.4%), Bitcoin SV (0.5%), Litecoin (0.8%), EOS (1.4%) and Stellar (1.45%). Apart from a few flashes of volatility, Bitcoin has been trading in a 10% range for almost two months. Will today’s Paypal rumours help propel BTC above the psychological US $10,000 ($14,422) mark?

After yet another attempt to top the psychological US$10K mark – around A$14.4K – Bitcoin dove almost $1,000 in the early hours of Friday morning and then dropped below A$13,000 earlier today. The recovery has been just as swift though and the price is currently trading around $13,600, as it has done for much of the week. Bitcoin finished the week 2.7% down. Ethereum lost 5.6%, XRP was down 5.2%, Bitcoin Cash (-6.5%), Bitcoin SV (-7.9%), Litecoin (-5.1), EOS (-8.7%) and Stellar (-10.7%).

After a euphoria-inducing spike above US$ 10,000 at the time of our last market update, Bitcoin dropped sharply some hours later back to its previous US$ 9,500 – US$ 9,800 range, where it has remained since. The constant tests of the barrier are becoming routine, which analyst Keith Wareing believes signals that a fast break up to $12K ($17,100) could be on the cards. At the time of writing Bitcoin was trading just under $13,900 and was down 1.2% for the week. Bitcoin dominance has fallen from 67.5% a month ago to 64.8%. Ether held steady this week, while XRP lost 2.2%, BCH increased 1.25%, BSV (-4.1%), LTC (-2.6%) EOS (0.6%) and Stellar (4.2%).

As President Trump was threatening a military crackdown this morning, Bitcoin was spiking above the psychological US$ 10,000 mark. Things are moving fast but at the time of writing Bitcoin was trading just over A$ 14,800 to be 14.1% up for the week. Ethereum finished the week up by 20.1%. The past week has also been positive for the rest of the top ten: XRP (7.2%), Bitcoin Cash (11.2%), Bitcoin SV (9.7%), Litecoin (12.4%), EOS (11.3%). Stellar was up 16.8%.

Bitcoin appears to have the post-halving blues, falling 7.6% this week. It’s trading just above $13,600 at the time of writing. Somewhat unusually, Bitcoin experienced a much bigger loss over the past seven days than any of the other coins in the top 10 (apart from BSV) but that’s probably because its gains for the month are still 18.4% – three times more than its closest competitor Ethereum (which only rose 5.5% this month). Ether is down 3.3% for the week, Bitcoin Cash (-6%), Bitcoin SV (-8%), Litecoin (-4%), EOS (-3.5%) and Stellar (-5.3%).

In Markets

Bitcoin is up 12.8% on this time last week to trade at just under $14,800 at the time of writing. However, BTC seems very reluctant to make a sustained break above the psychological US$10,000 mark (A$15,331). The overall trend is very positive with BTC up by a third in the past month. Ryan Selkis from Messari noted that what he’s calling the ‘Pomp Trade’ – “Long Bitcoin Short the Bankers” – has paid off in spades this year, with BTC up 38% YTD while the major US banks have lost 37% or more. Ether was up 15.2% on seven days ago, XRP was up 6.2%, Bitcoin Cash (6.9%), LTC (9.3%), EOS (10.5%) and Stellar (12%).

In Markets

Despite a sharp fall on the weekend, Bitcoin finished the week just 3.24% down and was trading at just over $13,500 at the time of writing. It’s up 25% for the month. The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index is at 40 or ‘neutral’ which suggests traders have quickly shrugged off the volatility. Still, it was a sea of red for the remainder of the top ten with Ethereum down 10.3%, XRP (-12.2%), Bitcoin Cash (-5.8%), Bitcoin SV (-11.2%), Litecoin (-12.5%), EOS (-13.5%). Stellar was down 15.2%.

Market Update 29th April – 5th May 2020

In Markets

The Bitcoin price has been on the move in the lead up to next week’s halving, with BTC up 15.1% on a week ago to trade just over $14,000. Altcoins have increased to a lesser extent: Ethereum was up 6.6%, XRP (11.4%), Bitcoin Cash (2%), Bitcoin SV (6.8%), Litecoin (7.1%), EOS (2%). Stellar increased another 10.6%, bringing its gains for the month to a hefty 68%.