Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade in a tightening band within a streamer pattern and, although the price has moved above the 20-day moving average, it is clear that bulls and bears are fighting over the direction that the digital asset will take.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView show that BTC traded in a range between $ 34,955 and $ 37,850 over the weekend, but traders who buy each fall appear to be doing so with less optimistic conviction.
Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, a research analyst at JPMorgan, recently emphasized the importance of Bitcoin exceeding the $ 40,000 level soon, in order to avoid being hampered by an exodus of “trend-following” investors, which could worsen last week’s correction. .
According to Yves Renno, head of trading at Wirex, Bitcoin is in a “consolidation above the $ 35,500 level”, but Renno still sees an overall positive trend in the market.
Renno also said that the most recent correction was seen as a buying opportunity for large institutional investors, as evidenced by an increase in the number of BTC whales and a “low to medium” offer from miners.
Renno said investors should expect to see a “continuous period of high volatility with a positive average trend” in the coming weeks and months based on the derivatives market’s action.
He said:
“Open interest contracts are always reaching new ATHs, which makes the market even more risky, as it implies that there is a greater risk of settlement during a correction, that is, a guarantee sold, which normally extends the corrections.”
Ether (ETH) also appears to show “a strong continuous price boost,” as Renno sees it, driven by the launch of Eth2 and the upcoming CME futures launch in February. Eth2 is also expected to boost the DeFi economy in general, as the ecosystem as a whole will benefit from a reduction in transaction fees and less congestion.
Positive developments on the regulatory front
News that new President Joe Biden plans to choose Gary Gensler, a professor who previously taught a blockchain and cryptocurrency course at MIT as chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, has given the crypto industry a short-term boost. term.
Bitcoin also received a significant vote of confidence from Stephen Harper, the former Prime Minister of Canada. Harper suggested that there may be a place for Bitcoin as part of “a basket of reserve coins to replace the dollar”.
Although the price of Bitcoin has been negotiated sideways, crypto experts have been asking Ether to deviate and follow BTC’s parabolic movement. In the last hour, Ether managed a bullish break in his BTC pair and USD pair. At the time of this writing, the top rated altcoin is up 5.43% and trading at $ 1,327.
Despite retreating on Monday, Polkadot (DOT) also remains one of the best performing altcoins, seeing a 75% increase in price last week and launching XRP when setting the sights on the $ 20 mark. , the DOT trades at $ 16.80.
The overall capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is now $ 1.03 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 65.7%.