It was a tough week price-wise in the cryptocurrency market. The total capitalization lost around $100 billion as every single coin from the top 20 is in the red. Some lost more than others, but we’ll get to that later.
Kicking it off with Bitcoin. It had a relatively calm week, and even though it’s down about 3% over the period, it’s still not as bad as a lot of the altcoins. BTC was trading at around $34,000 last Friday, and apart from a brief positive spike on Monday, it was all downhill from there. Towards the beginning of the working week, the cryptocurrency started plummeting to reach as low as $31K. At the time of this writing, it’s trading at $31,900.
However, it’s worth noting that the range within which BTC is trading is getting thinner. As reported earlier in the week, the Bollinger Bands – an indicator measuring the price’s standard deviations relative to an SMA – are squeezing hard. This is a typical precursor to a huge move. The last time they were at the current rate was all the way back in October. At the time, the cryptocurrency was trading at about $10K, and there was a massive breakout to the upside that followed.
Another serious event that may explain why the market is so stagnant and indecisive right now is the massive unlock of GBTC shares. As CryptoPotato reported, this Sunday, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust will unlock shares worth 16,240 BTC, and investors will be free to do with them whatever they see fit. Obviously, this is a serious quantity, and it could cause a serious deviation.
Stepping aside from Bitcoin, altcoins had it even worse. Ethereum is down 10%, Cardano – 10%, Dogecoin – 13.5%, Polkadot – 17.5, Solana – 17%, Polygon (MATIC) – 20%, and so forth. This had Bitcoin’s dominance increase to as much as 46.9% today – a 2% surge since last week.
In any case, it appears that we have turbulent times ahead of us, and it’s important to remain particularly vigilant, for what’s next – only time will tell.
Market Data
Market Cap: $1299B | 24H Vol: 66B | BTC Dominance: 46.9%
BTC: $31,882 (+-3.1%) | ETH: $1,905 (-10.4%) | XRP: $0.602 (-3.5%)
This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Better Not Miss
Michael Saylor Says He’s Not Forced to Sell MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin No Matter What. Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, said that regardless of how low the price of bitcoin goes, he won’t be forced to sell any BTC – whether his personal ones or those belonging to the company he runs.
China Situation Not as Bad, Bitcoin to Reclaim $60K In 2021: Interview with OKEx. In an exclusive interview with CryptoPotato, Lennix Lai, the director of financial markets at OKEx, said that the situation in China isn’t so bad. He also said that Bitcoin should be able to reclaim $60K this year.
Payments Platform Square Touts New DeFi Business Focusing on Bitcoin. Square, the popular mobile payments platform spearheaded by Twitter’s CEO – Jack Dorsey – is branching out with a new business venture that will be entirely focused on Bitcoin. It will host a platform for developers to create non-custodial and decentralized financial projects built around Bitcoin.
Cardano’s Alonzo White Hard Fork Successful, What’s Next? Alonzo’s testnet of the Cardano blockchain went through a successful hardfork dubbed Alonzo White. It is the second in a series of updates that will lead to the ultimate launch of the Alonzo mainnet in preparation for smart contracts on Cardano.
Visa and Mastercard Maintain Support for Binance Amid Regulatory Issues. Customers of Visa and Mastercard will still be able to operate with Binance. This comes as a relief amid the regulatory hurdles that the company is facing. Both payment processors said they are discussing the situation with Binance as well.
ECB Confirms Plans to Work on a Digital Euro, Syas It Will Be Greener Than Bitcoin. The European Central Bank (ECB) has confirmed its plans to work on a Digital Euro. The institution also said that its digital effort will be a lot ‘greener’ compared to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Charts
This week we have a chart analysis of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, and Polkadot – click here for the full price analysis.
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