Crypto weekly wrap: Bitcoin rises as it hits $20,400, experts say
The crypto market has been very volatile since the Jackson Hole speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on August 26. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies fell below $1 trillion for the first time in over a month.
“The Fed chairman’s comment about tightening the economy further led to falls in crypto markets, which were in line with falls in the Nasdaq and the S&P 500,” CoinDCX research team told Business Standard.
The Nasdaq composite index was down more than 6 percent, and the S&P 500 fell 5.5 percent in the past week, market data showed.
On the other hand, Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency after m-cap, was down 6 percent as of August 26, according to data from coinmarketcap.com. Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, fell almost 3 percent.
“BTC seems to be consolidating near $20,000, an area of focus for many investors. ETH has shown more volatile moves than BTC,” CoinDCX added.
Bitcoin has fallen below $20,000 several times in the past seven days, but the graph showed no significant movements. Ethereum’s chart fluctuated with more volatility between $1400 and $1600 throughout the week.
What can we expect?
However, in the last week, Bitcoin remained above $19,000. “Despite the decline, BTC has not gone below the 19,000 level, so we may see sideways trading for a few more days,” said Edul Patel, CEO and co-founder of the crypto investment platform Mudrex.
Starting at. At 5 PM (IST), Bitcoin was trading at $20,024.
“We can expect BTC to rise once it returns to the $20,400 level,” he added.
On Friday, Ethereum traded at $1,584.
“Ethereum has outperformed BTC for quite some time now due to its recent network activity and the upcoming merger. ETH could likely break out of the $2000 level before the merger,” Patel said.
With Merge, Ethereum will move from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake blockchain. It is scheduled for September 6, and the upgrade will be completed between September 10 and 20.
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