Cryptocurrency Prices Slide as China’s Economic Struggles Take Center Stage
Cryptocurrency prices slid lower on Tuesday as China’s economic struggles took center stage after the People’s Bank of China unexpectedly cut a range of key interest rates in a bid to spur growth in its stagnating economy.
Stocks also fell under pressure as the world’s second-largest economy struggled to find its footing, with the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq all closing the day lower, down 1.16%, 1.02%, and 1.14%, respectively.
Data from TradingView shows that Bitcoin (BTC) bears overwhelmed bull support at $29,300 and dropped the top crypto to a daily low of $29,045 in the afternoon before bullish reinforcements arrived to push it back above $29,100.
“September Bitcoin futures prices [were] near steady in early U. S. trading Tuesday,” according to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff. “Still not much new in the dog days of summer, when many traders/investors are on vacation,” Wyckoff said. “Prices continue in a sideways and choppy trading range. Neither the bulls nor the bears have been able to gain much traction in recent weeks. The direction in which prices break out above the resistance line or below the support line [outlined on the chart] is likely to be the direction of the next trending price move in the market.”
Crypto analysts on Twitter were relatively quiet about the price action in the market as not much has changed in the macro picture since BTC first entered the current trading range on July 24.
MN Trading founder Michaël van de Poppe noted that he is still monitoring $29,700 for a potential break upwards, and a break below $29,000 for a possible pullback to $28,000. Market analyst TechDev spotted a promising fractal pattern for Bitcoin that suggests its price could soon start to break out higher. But Crypto Tony warned that the market could continue to see sideways trading through next April, and will only get some relief once Bitcoin completes its next halving.
It was a red day for the altcoin market as 95% of the tokens in the top 200 recorded losses on Tuesday, while those that managed to post gains saw only minimal upside.
THORChain (THOR) was the one exception with a gain of 13.7%, while Hedera (HBAR), Helium (HNT), and UniBot (UNIBOT) increased by 4.2%. ApeCoin (APE) was the biggest loser, falling 10.7% to trade at $1.85, followed by a 9.9% loss for Reserve Rights (RSR), and an 8.7% decline for Cartesi (CTSI).
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.16 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 49%.
