Bitcoin Stuck in the Ranges, as Stellar Lumens Continues its Rally

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Updated: Jan 25, 2018, 08:26 GMT+00:00

Bitcoin futures may be the problem for the cryptomarkets today, with little to direct investors and a lack of catalyst to reignite the rallies of yesterday. Sideways moves are acceptable for a while, but in the end, the likes of Stellar Lumen could be too alluring to ignore.

Cryptomarket relief continued to reverberate through Wednesday’s session, with Bitcoin managing to get through the day unharmed, rising by 4.32% to $11,318.06 by the close.

Gains were seen across the board on Wednesday, as the flow of negative news appeared to have ground to a halt.

The markets have had some time to reflect as opposed to responding and it’s proven to be the tonic going through the middle part of the week. The chaos was largely attributed to the threat of the South Korean government shutting down the exchanges, with this week’s panic coming even though the government had merely stated that they would be banning anonymous trading, following the previous week’s U-turn.

Concerns that China may look take more stringent steps against the crypto community was also a factor, though, with plenty of fake news and speculation there to drive volatility and the wild swings seen through the first part of the year, there was little time for investors to digest and form a more calculated view.

The cryptocurrency performance on Wednesday and the early part of the day were also more comparable to more mature asset classes than the intraday moves associated with the cryptocurrencies.

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At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up 1.04% to $11,520, in what has been a relatively tight range, with an intraday low $11,300 and high of $11,741.82.

While the markets are continuing to steady, investors have been relatively slow to return, with Bitcoin’s market cap still sitting below the $200bn market, at $194.71bn at the time of writing.

The good news is that investors have been returning, however, with Ethereum’s market cap recovering to $105.65bn and Ripple moving back to $53.24bn.

What’s next will be the question on many investors’ minds, with a catalyst needed to bring back the rallies of old.

For Ripple, being included on Coinbase would certainly reignite the fire, though, with sentiment still on the cautious side, one does question whether Ripple would be able to recapture the number 2 spot and overtake Ethereum.

At the time of writing, Ripple had lost ground, down 0.37% to 1.34739, while Ethereum was hanging on to positive territory, up 0.66% to $1,064.01.

The day ahead will provide some insight into investor sentiment ahead of the weekend, with the cryptocurrencies having enjoyed weekend rallies since the start of the year, investors conscious that there’s unlikely to be any negative government chatter that could catch the markets off guard.

In the Futures market, the Cboe’s February contract is up $295 to $11,490, which is sitting below Bitcoin’s value at the time of writing. This will likely be a drag through the day, as investors look for a reason to jump back into the cryptomarkets.

For the day so far, Stellar Lumen is the HODL however, up 7.29% to $0.6129 on the back of Wednesday’s 14.39% rally that certainly outclassed the rest of the pack.

As always, while sentiment has improved, market conditions can deteriorate rapidly and investors will need to keep an eye on the news, which is almost impossible to pre-empt.

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About the Author

Bob Masonauthor

With over 28 years of experience in the financial industry, Bob has worked with various global rating agencies and multinational banks. Currently he is covering currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes and global equities, focusing mostly on European and Asian markets.

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