Contrary to what most people had expected, the Bitcoin price is not slowing down. Although there is a fair bit more volatility ever since surpassing $6,500, it is safe to say the Bitcoin price is going up in a decisive manner. The following factors all contribute to this extensive bull run, albeit no one really knows what this momentum will take the market in a few weeks or months from now.
The Path of Least Resistance
Several trends can materialize in the financial world. Wicks, candles, head-and-shoulder patterns followed by a cup-and-handle, they have all been charted on Bitcoin’s price graph in the past. However, one often overlooked indicator is the path of least resistance. Albeit Bitcoin lost tremendous value from its all-time high to early 2019, there was never any real market resistance in place to prevent a complete reversal. The market simply moved too quickly to bring any real “meaning” to those price levels. Currently, the Bitcoin price is going up to “charted territory” which no one can define as either support or resistance.
To put this in perspective, the levels between $3,000 and $19,000 have never truly acted as either support or resistance. Although there will be “psychological resistance levels” among traders, it seems unlikely any real roadblock lies ahead at this time. Everything in that range spanning $16,000 in value has acted as a buy or a sell zone, but has never acted as real support. One notable exception is the $9,500-ish range, but everything before and after should not offer any real resistance of any kind. This current trend may shed some light on how these particular price levels will serve in the future.
Altcoins Continue to Underperform in BTC Terms
Most speculators trade altcoins to hopefully increase their BTC holdings over time. It is a very common and somewhat reliable trading strategy. Even so, this uptrend shows altcoins are genuinely struggling more often than not. While the alternative markets gain USD value, their ratio with Bitcoin is often looking bearish, barring some minor exceptions along the way. That is not entirely unexpected either, as it is very difficult to keep up with the world’s leading cryptocurrency and its bullish tendencies. The altcoin season is not upon the market just yet.
When sorting the CoinMarketCap rankings by BTC gains rather than USD changes, a very bleak picture emerged. Although XRP successfully reclaimed 6.17% in BTC value, it is still down by 7.93% over the past seven days. Other markets are in the double-digit percentage range, with altcoins like Tron losing over 20% in BTC value in that same period. It will take a while for these ratios to recover, and there is no decoupling of altcoins in sight by any means. A rather interesting statistic more traders should keep an eye on.
Buy the News Rather than Sell the News
It is remarkable how some of the more positive developments for Bitcoin have not triggered an avalanche of selling pressure lately. Just this week, a news story started spreading as to how Bitcoin payments are now accepted at some of the US’ biggest retailers. Although it is not paid directly in Bitcoin, it seems a few companies can handle Bitcoin payments through a dedicated payment interface. In the past, such news was usually a sell signal. This year, it is one of the reasons why the Bitcoin price is going up, even after its most recent spectacular bull run.
The list of retailers includes the likes of Starbucks, Whole Foods, and Nordstrom. This Bitcoin payment option is seemingly facilitated by Gemini – the trading platform – and Flexa – the company responsible for building the app in question. Although this feature will be coming to more retailers in the future, it seems as if Bitcoin might become a viable payment method after all. Getting people to spend BTC will not become much easier if the price keeps rising at this pace, however.
Special Mention: Bitfinex and Tether?
As has been the case for some time now, every time the Bitcoin price is going up, there must be something going on with Bitfinex and Tether. This conspiracy theory has gotten out of hand recently, yet it would appear the rumors are still in place today. Some people will gladly point out how there is a vast increase in Tether’s supply which seems to coincide with the recent Bitcoin price uptrend. The USDT supply has increased from just under 2.1 billion to 2.804 billion since late April.
As is always the case, there is no way to tell whether or not there is any truth to these claims. More importantly, one has to wonder if it even matters at this time. There appears to be a more than genuine demand to buy BTC right now which can’t be fueled by just Tether or Bitfinex. In fact, most of the USDT trading volume against Bitcoin comes from CoinBene, ZBG, OEX, BW, Binance, and OKEx. In terms of overall Bitcoin markets, the same companies are all in the top eight as well. Bitfinex’s markets generate no notable volume for either USDT or BTC right now, thus it seems this conspiracy theory can be put out of its misery.
Disclaimer: This is not trading or investment advice. The above article is for entertainment and education purposes only. Please do your own research before purchasing or investing into any cryptocurrency.
