While the second half of May has been burdened by a sustained downtrend, today’s price movements could be seen as a spark for a reversal. After reaching initials lows earlier in the day of just above US$7,000, Bitcoin saw a huge jump to above $7,400, and is continually inching higher. If things play out well, this could lead to a summer frenzy, similar to was witnessed at this time last year.
In the month of April, Bitcoin saw an almost 50% growth- from lows of US$6,600 to local highs above $9,600. While this was a strong indication that the bear cycle had ended, May’s woes have acted as a reinforcement of the bleed seen between January and March of this year. However, Bitcoin’s appreciation of close to 5% marks the highest performing day since the first week of May.
Perhaps more exciting is the performance of altcoins alongside BTC. Out of the top 100 coins listed on coinmarketcap, all have seen dollar appreciation within the past 24 hours. The worst performer, of course, is Tether, which remains pegged at US$1. Almost half of the top 100 has seen double digit appreciation, more than doubling that of Bitcoin. This surge is led by Bytecoin (BCN) and Nexus (NXS), with 35% and 25% growth, respectively. Altcoins globally saw an increase in market cap from US$182 billion to $201 billion, or roughly 10%.
Unfortunately, today’s performance alone does not cancel out May’s losses. The global market cap of all cryptocurrencies is down 30% from early May highs. To reach similar valuations, today’s activity would have to sustain itself and spill into June. Fortunately, sentiments surrounding the cryptocurrency space seem to be improving. Cryptocurrency magnate and John McAfee Tweeted his prediction of a US$15,000 Bitcoin by the end of June. While this 100% increase would be significant, McAfee’s altcoin calls are far loftier. The antivirus entrepreneur suggests that both Bitcoin Private (BTCP) and Golem (GNT) will see more than ten times growth by July, accompanied by 3-5x increases from a handful of other altcoins.
My short term price predictions: in a major dip, with nearly everything dropping, the price of Docademic doubled since my prediction. The market will turn before June 12th and my predictions will hit. My algorithms predicted Trump's June 12th date. They have never been wrong. pic.twitter.com/IGAzWPtOV4
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) May 24, 2018
Much of the cryptocurrency community consists of college students, and as such, a major volume increase is likely when all return home from school. If both a sustained growth of price and volume coexist into the start of June, the field may be set for a similarly exciting summer as was experienced in 2017. While December all-time highs seem to be very distant benchmarks, hopefuls throughout are suggesting that these price levels may be retrieved sooner, rather than later.
