The cryptocurrency markets have had an incredibly volatile week, with Bitcoin falling from highs of over $3,750 to lows of just above $3,500. This volatility appears to be dissipating as Bitcoin finds stability around $3,600, which may allow bulls to gain greater strength over the coming days.
Analysts tend to agree that Bitcoin’s price action in response to the VanEck-SolidX Bitcoin ETF withdraw is positive, as the markets only dropped slightly and have since recovered, but it remains unclear as to why the markets did not respond more rashly to the news.
Bitcoin Stable Around $3,600
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading up just under 1% at its current price of $3,610, up from its daily lows of $3,570. Bitcoin has continued to find buying support in the $3,500 region, which has acted as a strong level of support for the cryptocurrency over the past two weeks.
Yesterday, BTC dropped suddenly to lows of $3,560 after news broke that Cboe was pulling their Bitcoin application due in-part to the ongoing US government shutdown, which could have greatly impacted the results of the application if the government is not re-opened by late-February.
Although many investors had placed a high importance on the approval of this application, Bitcoin’s price bounced immediately after touching the mid-$3,500 region, further solidifying this price region as a level of support.
Alex Krüger, a popular economist who focuses on cryptocurrencies, spoke extensively about the ETF application withdraw, saying in part that it is unclear as to whether or not the delay was actually bearish.
“Was the withdrawal bearish? It is debatable, as what matters for price is not the action/news, but how the action contrasts with what is priced in, and that is hard to gauge. That's what makes speculating with price direction sometimes so difficult,” Krüger explained.
Regardless of the potential impact of the application withdraw, while focusing on technical analysis of Bitcoin’s price, Mayne, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, cautiously noted in a recent tweet that the current market’s pricing action may signal that this is a good area to begin setting long positions.
“$BTC I don't have a super clear read on PA right now. Longs make more sense than shorts down here IMO,” he explained, further adding that although bulls have been able to hold support at $3,500, the bounces at this price point have become increasingly weak, and there are several resistance levels keeping BTC’s price down.
Altcoins Trade Up Slightly
The altcoin markets have climbed slightly today, but they are continuing to closely track Bitcoin’s price action, and most major cryptocurrencies likely won’t make a big price move until BTC does.
At the time of writing, XRP is trading up just under 1% at its current price of $0.3185. XRP is up from its daily lows of $0.314.
Ethereum (ETH) is also trading up slightly today at its current price of $117.5. ETH is up slightly from its weekly lows of $114.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which surged yesterday, has surrendered some of its recent gains today, and it's currently trading down 1.85% at $129.8.