After trading at the $24k range for several weeks, Bitcoin prices fell last week as support levels failed. Bitcoin price has found a new range in the $21k area and managed to hold it through the weekend. Cryptocurrency markets remain flat this Monday, with little change in 24-hour trading volume for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major crypto assets.
Key Points:
- Bitcoin’s price failed to hold the $24k range, falling to $21k.
- Transaction fees for BTC drop to 2-year lows, dipping below $1.
- Stocks underperform, causing a general bearish sentiment as fears of additional rate hikes plague the markets.
- Ethereum underperformed this week, losing more value than BTC in the past seven days.
- This week, Bitcoin will likely remain at the current range, following tech markets’ price action.
Bitcoin News
The most relevant Bitcoin news today concerns the significant drop in transaction fees. The average BTC transaction fee managed to dip below $1, the lowest in two years.
According to ycharts, the average bitcoin transaction fee is $0.8246 at the time of writing, the lowest since April 2020.
Contrary to popular belief, the number of transactions per block and the average daily transactions remained relatively steady over the past year. This means that the drop in transaction fees is likely due to falling market prices and increasing mining difficulty, causing less of a backlog in BTC’s mempool, which contributes to lower transaction fees.
Stock Market News
In other relevant news, since Bitcoin closely follows the stock market’s price action, it’s essential to keep the current activity of traditional markets in mind. According to a CNBC report today, Dow futures drop by 300 points to start the week, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ futures dropping by over 1%.
The decline in the U.S. markets correlates with the European markets showing significant declines as fears of additional rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank return. While interest rate hikes are meant to help the global economy and ease inflation, they cause bearish pressure on stock markets as investors pull money out of their investments and into cash.
Bitcoin Price Prediction
Bitcoin’s price will continue to test support at the $21k level, likely holding through this week. While global markets continue to suffer, it’s unlikely for BTC to return to the previous $24k levels anytime soon. However, if we see another bullish run for tech markets, Bitcoin’s price will likely follow the uptrend.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,217, with a market capitalization of $405 billion. Unfortunately, Ethereum’s market cap dipped below $200 billion, currently at $190 billion, as ETH underperformed this week, dropping by over 17% in the past seven days.
The good news is that the global crypto market cap remains above $1 trillion and is likely to hold the current level throughout the week.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any service.
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