The cryptocurrency market experienced a slight downtrend at the start of the week as the weekend’s short-lived coup attempt in Russia echoed throughout financial markets on Monday but showed minimal impact on the overall picture of the global financial system.
Equities and Major Indices
Equities slipped lower as some of the best-performing stocks in 2023 received rating downgrades by Wall Street analysts in recent weeks, including Tesla, Apple, and Google. This put pressure on the major indices, which are heavily influenced by a handful of stocks. At the close of markets, the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq all finished in the red, down 0.45%, 0.04%, and 1.16% respectively.
Bitcoin’s Price Action
According to TradingView data, Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dipped below support at $30,000 early on Monday but managed to climb back above $30,200 in the afternoon. Bulls and bears are now battling for control of the crucial support/resistance level. Despite the weakness, Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff stated that July Bitcoin futures prices traded firmer in early US trading on Monday and hit another contract high on Sunday.
Possible Medium-Term Market Structure Shift
Gunter Lackmann, an analyst at MN Trading, suggests that the recent aggressive push higher for Bitcoin signals a potential change in the medium-term market structure. If support is found around the $30k level, the market may consolidate before making a liquidity run in either direction. Lackmann currently leans toward an upside move, taking BTC to $35,000-$38,000 in the medium term, but further price development is needed to validate this.
Altcoin Performance and Overall Market Cap
Most top 200 altcoins traded in the red on Monday, with concerns related to the broader economy keeping traders on the sidelines. Forks of Bitcoin, such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV), gained 16.46% and 7.16% respectively, while NEAR Protocol increased by 10.35%. The overall cryptocurrency market cap stands at $1.174 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance rate at 50%.
