It’s been boring bitcoin so far this week, with ether making gains for traders in a crypto market still generally signaling bullishness.
- Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $ 55,502 as of 9:00 PM UTC (4:00 PM ET). 1.9% slipped compared to the last 24 hours.
- Bitcoin’s 24 Hour Range: $ 54,565 – $ 57,043 (CoinDesk 20)
- BTC is approaching the 10-hour 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin’s price has changed little in the past 24 hours, despite the asset’s notorious volatility, causing the spot market to ripple from $ 54,565 to $ 57,043 during the session, a swing of $ 2,478, according to CoinDesk 20 price data.
Nonetheless, BTC has usually stayed above USD 55,000 for nearly a month. According to CoinDesk 20’s historical data, the last time bitcoin closed below that level was back on March 26.
Since the beginning of April, bitcoin’s dominance, a measure of assets relative to the broader crypto market, as calculated by charter company TradingView, has fallen sharply. It’s down nearly 10% since April 1, and bitcoin currently has a 51% dominance as of press time, about half of the market. At the beginning of 2021 that figure was over 70%.
“Traders are looking elsewhere for opportunities,” said David Russell, VP of Market Intelligence at brokerage firm TradeStation Group. That seems to be happening now. It’s not bearish, but a potential sign of confidence in the space. “
Less bullish bitcoin action following the excitement from Coinbase’s direct listing comes as no surprise to some, with prices failing to break through the all-time high of $ 64,829.14. positioning for that led to a sell-off over the weekend, ”quantitative trading company QCP Capital noted in an investor note on Wednesday.
A week later, traders are looking to other markets to play. Volumes on the major spot exchanges are much lower than the Wednesday average, less than $ 3 billion on the eight major exchanges followed by CoinDesk 20.
TradeStation’s Russell told CoinDesk that US dollar inflation will continue to be a major driver of investment in cryptocurrencies, and the case for crypto remains. According to data aggregator Inflation Tool, the dollar’s value has fallen in purchasing power over the past decade, so that in 2021 it will cost $ 118 to pay for something that would have cost $ 100 in 2011.
“Procter & Gamble is raising prices and the [Federal Reserve] does not increase interest rates. Signs of inflation are increasing across the economy, ”added Russell. “Inflation and scarcity may emerge as newer drivers for the crypto space, especially with a Fed meeting next week.”
Read more: During Bitcoin’s latest crash, ‘Tether Premium’ shows where money went
Ether optimistic about bitcoin
Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose Wednesday, trading around USD 2,425 and rising 4.2% in 24 hours from 9:00 PM UTC (4:00 PM ET).
While bitcoin’s price has largely stagnated this week, ether is popping. A good benchmark for comparing the world’s oldest cryptocurrency to ether is to view charts on the ETH / BTC pair, available on most major cryptocurrency exchanges.
When the pair turns bullish on the charts, it means that traders are selling bitcoin for ether, which is the case now.
The ETH / BTC turned bullish on Tuesday, with the price now well above the 10-day and 50-day moving averages on the hourly chart; it is up more than 5% on Coinbase so far.
“It is interesting to note that with the current ETH / BTC ratio, we are back to the level we last saw in early February,” noted Andrew Tu, an executive at quant trading company Efficient Frontier.
“In February, we saw this peak reach 0.046 BTC. So this is the level we need to look at to see if it breaks out of that resistance, ”added Tu. At the time of writing, ETH / BTC was trading at 0.043 BTC on Coinbase.
Nick Mancini, research analyst at crypto sentiment analysis firm Trade The Chain, told CoinDesk that a breakthrough in bitcoin’s price performance could cause ETH and other crypto markets to turn red. “If bitcoin breaks bullish out of the current trend, we will likely see ETH and [altcoins] take a little turn. “
Read more: Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital said it was in talks to buy BitGo
Other markets
Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are usually higher on Wednesdays. Notable winners as of 9:00 PM UTC (4:00 PM ET):
- Oil fell 2.1%. Price per Barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil: $ 61.04.
- Gold was in green at 0.90% and at $ 1,794 at time of writing.
- Silver is up 2.9% and changes hands at $ 26.57.
- The 10-year yield on US Treasuries fell to 1,554 on Wednesday and 0.22% in the red.
