decrypt.co
The cryptocurrency market has experienced a slight pullback today, with major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum showing modest declines.
However, the broader picture remains bullish, as most top cryptocurrencies have posted significant gains over the past week.
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $63,800, down 1.2% on the day, according to data from CoinGecko. Despite this small setback, Bitcoin has surged approximately 11% over the past week.
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is trading at $3,390, down 1.8% today but up around 10% since last week.
Other notable performers in the top 10 include Solana (SOL), which has seen a 19% increase over the past seven days, and XRP, which has gained about 17% in the same period.
The market's resilience is particularly noteworthy given recent events that have exerted significant sell pressure.
Germany's liquidation of approximately 50,000 Bitcoin (worth about $3 billion) seized from a movie piracy site likely contributed to the Bitcoin price dropping from $65,000 to $55,800 in early July.
Additionally, the defunct Mt. Gox exchange has begun repaying creditors with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, potentially introducing more supply to the market.
Valentin Fournier, an analyst at BRN said Bitcoin's strong momentum from previous weeks has been broken over the last three days. He wrote that technical indicators show a decreasing momentum (MACD) and a return to the mean of the RSI.
The moving average convergence divergence, or MACD, is a trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two moving averages of a security's price.
RSI, or Relative Strength Index, is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price movements.
“This slowdown in momentum could be influenced by the stock market, which suffered more significant losses over the week and showed less resilience than Bitcoin,” Fournier said in a note shared with Decrypt.
Despite these challenges, many experts remain optimistic about the crypto market's future.
#Bitcoin Bollinger Bands are crazy tight by historical standards.
Only two other months in history have we seen the weekly Bollinger Bands so compressed: April 2016 and July 2023.
During both of the previous episodes, Bitcoin prices rose significantly over the following twelve… pic.twitter.com/hBb8d73SGc
— Julien Bittel, CFA (@BittelJulien) July 19, 2024
Pointing out an interesting technical indicator, Julien Bittel, head of macro research at Global Macro Investor, wrote on Twitter that Bitcoin Bollinger Bands are “crazy tight” by historical standards.
Bollinger Bands are a volatility indicator consisting of a simple moving average and two standard deviation lines. Tight bands, as observed now, often precede significant price movements in Bitcoin.
“Only two other months in history have we seen the weekly Bollinger Bands so compressed: April 2016 and July 2023. During both of the previous episodes, Bitcoin prices rose significantly over the following twelve months,” he said.
Bittel suggests that a similar move this time could target BTC between $140,000 and $190,000.
The approval and launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year could also be playing a significant role in market dynamics.
"Investors who are allocating into spot Bitcoin ETFs may be new entrants to the market that did not previously have direct access to spot Bitcoin and are using this market dip as an opportunity to increase exposure to Bitcoin,” according to a Gemini analyst report.
Fournier from BRN added that Bitcoin is expected to keep accumulating in the $62,500 to $67,000 range until the launch of Ethereum ETFs, which will be a real test for the markets.
The volatility is likely to generate profit opportunities over the next week, he added.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.