Bitcoin Takes a Back Seat as Altcoins Gain Momentum
Bitcoin (BTC) took a back seat to altcoins in trading on Monday as cryptocurrency investors moved to rotate out of the top crypto – which hit its highest price of 2023 on Friday – and into promising low-cap tokens as the crypto bull market continues to ramp up.
Stocks opened higher but fell under pressure in the afternoon as traders looked to book profits following the stock market’s best week of the year. While it appears the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates for the time being, investors remain on edge due to escalating geopolitical tensions and the unrelenting growth of the national debt in the U. S. and many countries around the world, which suggests that challenging economic conditions lie ahead.
At the closing bell, the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq all managed to finish in the green, recording gains of 0.18%, 0.10%, and 0.30%, respectively.
Data provided by TradingView shows that Bitcoin’s price traded in a range between $34,760 and $35,305, showing signs of compression that will inevitably lead to a breakout, with most analysts predicting a breakout to the upside.
“November Bitcoin futures prices [were] firmer in early U. S. trading Monday,” said Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, who noted that “Prices have paused at higher levels and that’s not bearish.”
“The bulls appear to be storing up power for the next upside move,” Wyckoff said. “The BTC bulls still have the firm overall near-term technical advantage as a price uptrend on the daily bar chart is still alive.”
MN Trading analyst Gunter Lackmann noted that Bitcoin has been holding up “fairly strongly” since initially climbing past $33,500 and is currently “consolidating in an ascending price channel.”
“While an eventual retest of the previous HTF range high ($31.5k) remains likely, for now, focus should be on the daily 8EMA,” Lackmann said. “Price has been retesting and finding support on the 8EMA during times of strength, and unless that relationship changes, we should lean towards more upside.”
Lackmann identified the range from $38,500 to $43,000 as “a likely target if we get another impulsive leg up, while the range between $31,500 and $33,000 “looks like a good place to scale in or add to your long exposure if you are bullish based on the chart structure.”
“Chart structure-wise, there is no plausible scenario in which we dip to $30,000-$32,000,” MN Trading founder Michaël van de Poppe added. Poppe also mentioned that the current chart pattern shows that Bitcoin has begun grinding upward as it has done in previous cycles and could hit $36,500-$37,000 in the coming days. However, he noted that there is a possibility of Bitcoin retesting support at $30,000-$32,000, and if that happens, “it’s time to step into the markets” as “Sentiment has changed.”
The majority of tokens in the top 200 recorded gains on Monday, with only eight projects recording a loss greater than 3%. Blur (BLUR) led the gainers with an increase of 35.8%, followed by a 22.9% increase for Trust Wallet Token (TWT), and a 17.4% gain for Vulcan Forged PYR (PYR). Liquity (LQTY) led the losers with a decline of 19.2%, while Status (SNT) fell 14.3%, and MultiversX (EGLD) lost 6.6%.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.33 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 51.4%.
