The cryptocurrency markets have been shaken up quite a bit over the past few weeks. With the Bitcoin price skyrocketing, other currencies have suffered losses for the most part. It appeared Bitcoin Cash might generate some market momentum, but those plans have been canceled for the time being. It looks as if the main focus is neither on Bitcoin nor Bitcoin Cash right now. This is not entirely surprising, but still worth taking into account.
Bitcoin Price Continues Sideways Momentum
It is evident the Bitcoin price has been undergoing a brief correction phase over the past few days. Unfortunately, leaping from around US$2,000 to US$4,300 in just a few weeks will have that type of consequence. Everything that goes up in price must come back down eventually, and Bitcoin is no exception. Nor is Bitcoin Cash, for that matter, as that particular currency is seeing a much-awaited correction as well as we speak. It is unclear what the endgame of either will be, though.
To put this into perspective, the Bitcoin price is stuck in sideways limbo for the time being. The price has hovered around US$4,000 for several days now, with most dips being bought up and most gains being sold again. Though this stability is not necessarily what most traders were looking for, it is never bad to go into sideways trading mode after making some major gains. After all, the Bitcoin price has been pretty bullish all year long and still shows no real signs of slowing down. Reaching US$5,000 before the end of this year is certainly possible, although it will not be easy.
There is still a healthy dose of Bitcoin trading volume to take into account right now. Similar to the past few days, the Bitcoin volume is well above the US$2 billion mark. This seems to be slowly becoming the new normal, although things can always turn around at any given moment. For the time being, Bitcoin has nothing to worry about in this department, as it still represents nearly 40% of all cryptocurrency trading volumes combined. Maintaining that position will not be easy, but now that the weekend is over, we can start looking toward the future once again.
Dominating the exchange volume for Bitcoin are the same markets we have seen topping the charts for weeks on end. However, the order in which they are ranked has changed quite a bit. bitFlyer is currently the #1 exchange for Bitcoin volume, bringing in 15.1% of all global volume in the past 24 hours. That is a very unusual turn of events, as Japan has never been one of the major trading hubs for cryptocurrencies. That has come to change, though, which is a good thing.
Bitfinex, Poloniex, and Bithumb are all contained in the top five as well. It is quite remarkable to not see Bittrex in this list for a change, although it claims spots six through eight right now. Bitcoin is getting most of its volume from the Japanese yen, U.S. dollar, and Korean won once again. Fiat currency trading against Bitcoin is always good to see. Altcoins are being converted to and from Bitcoin at an accelerated pace as well, with Monero and Ethereum clearly leading the rest of the pack. While this is an interesting development, Bitcoin will likely continue to reign supreme.
All things considered, everything is still in place for the Bitcoin price to rise in the near future. By how much it will increase remains to be determined, though. The market is seemingly preparing for a big move, which will hopefully result in a higher Bitcoin price. Right now, it is impossible to tell what market makers are thinking. Some people predict one BTC will be worth US$10,000 soon, whereas others expect a value increase to US$100,000 or more in the next three years. It is certainly possible all of these predictions are incorrect, but we will find out soon enough.
