Bitcoin Rebounds to $4,200, But Semi-Bearish Sentiment Remains

The Bitcoin price is back where it belongs, by the looks of things. After a few days spent hovering below the US$4,000 mark, the price has finally returned to its previous level. Right now, one BTC is valued at US$4,223.67, representing a 7.43% increase in the past 24 hours. The trading volume is also holding its own fairly well, although it is a bit lower compared to yesterday. All things considered, most Bitcoin investors will be quite pleased with the current developments.

A Good Day for Bitcoin Price Speculators

Contrary to what most people would assume, the current Bitcoin market is still mainly dominated by speculators and a few market makers.  That being said, it was only a matter of time until we would see the Bitcoin price go back up following its latest correction. One cannot deny the market has evolved in a pretty curious direction, with major gains being noted over the past few months. Under normal circumstances, that price gain would be met with an almost equally substantial price correction, but that has not been the case whatsoever.

It is certainly true the Bitcoin price went down a fair amount a few days ago. Going from nearly US$4,400 to US$3,900 and lower over the course of a few days isn’t all that promising by any means. However, we have seen far more volatile Bitcoin price swings in recent years as well, which makes this one pale in comparison. Moreover, it allows the price to rebound with relative ease, which is what we are seeing right now. With just a small nudge in trades, the Bitcoin price increased by 7.43% over the past 24 hours.

The bigger questions, as always, is where the money is coming from and how things will evolve in the future. It appears Poloniex has been bringing in most of the volume, followed by Bitfinex and Bittrex. Two of the top three trading markets right now are related to the XRP/BTC market, which isn’t entirely surprising. Fiat currency exchanges claim spots 5 through 9, including the KRW, CNY, USD, and JPY markets. Once again, there is no EUR market in the top 10, and it doesn’t appear there will be any for the foreseeable future. That is somewhat disheartening, but it has been the way things go in the Bitcoin world for some years now.

Interestingly enough, the Bitcoin price rebound isn’t affecting the Bitcoin Dominance Index all that much. Right now, Bitcoin’s dominance sits at 45.4%, even though it has the largest market cap by quite a margin. Then again, no one can deny Bitcoin is and will remain the world’s largest cryptocurrency for quite some time to come. Even though Bitcoin’s stature in the Dominance Index isn’t as high as some people would like to see, the overall cryptocurrency market cap has grown to over US$153 billion.

Nearly half of that value still belongs to Bitcoin alone, despite there being around 1,000 different cryptocurrencies and assets tracked on CoinMarketCap right now. Do keep in mind thousands of other currencies exist as well. There is little reason to track useless currencies and assets, and not every creation brings any value to the table whatsoever. It is hard to rival Bitcoin in this regard, as it will always maintain the first-mover advantage.

Moreover, it remains more profitable to mine Bitcoin compared to Bitcoin Cash. Although a temporary profitability switch hasn’t affected the Bitcoin network all that much, there is no reason for miners to mine BCH right now. In fact, it is 137.6% more profitable to mine on the original chain. The latest difficulty adjustment for the Bitcoin Cash network hasn’t done miners any favors, to say the least. Going from being 140% more profitable to mine to negative territory in quick succession is not a development BCH supporters were looking forward to.