As of the end of February 2019, the cryptocurrency market rose by $6 billion to attain a total valuation of $132.3 billion. Within a week, daily volume jumped by $5 billion. Two conditions result from this upsurge: first, Litecoin achieved a record annual high. Equally significant, Bitcoin is poised to reverse its longstanding downward trend.
Robust Cryptocurrency Market Fuelled by Spinoffs
Yet it was the altcoins, i.e. Litecoin and Binance, that mobilized this revival, a resurgence that shows definite signs of continuing. Binance is a gargantuan crypto exchange platform founded in China, but now operating from Japan. Its price climbed 17.84%, reaching $13.40. In market capitalization, Binance coin’s $1.9 billion is gaining ground on market cap leader tether (the Stablecoin behemoth once linked to the U.S. dollar at a 1:1 ratio), lagging by only $150 million.
Nearly immediately after Binance commenced improving, Litecoin started to swell in price, ascending by 10% within minutes. In one day, it reached a present global average of 52.93, an increase of nearly 14%. Litecoin is an early Bitcoin offshoot.
Bitcoin Nearing Important $4,000 Mark
Meanwhile, Bitcoin – showing new signs of vitality – headed up by 3.29%, attaining a present global average of $3,872. Yahoo/CryptoCompare demonstrate that it represents a $168 improvement against the low of the prior day. This, however, was not enough to prevent a loss of market share. Dropping from 52.4% on March 4 to 51.7%, “Bitcoin dominance” took another hit.
Can the Bitcoin Price Cross a Crucial Threshold?
The reasons behind the recent upsurge are not certain. Market experts give some credit to Litecoin’s tightened privacy procedures as well as its very public alliance with KPOP, letting patrons purchase concert tickets using Litecoin. Still, those developments unfolded as far back as the new year, casting doubt about their influence on an early March rally.
The rumour that Starbuck’s is prepared to receive Bitcoin might have played a role in the gains but, if so, it should have produced a much more vibrant rise for Bitcoin than occurred. The rumour, furthermore, is unconfirmed.
A more plausible explanation is that traders, reacting to the March 2 sell-off and ensuing indecision, were aiming for higher targets. After Bitcoin was unable to clear resistance – i.e. the price where increasing value stops because of an abundance of sell orders – at $4,200 on February 23rd, it lost $520 in value, and sold for $3,670 at its nadir. The recent upturn, while positive news, advances Bitcoin only a short way toward again approaching that technical barrier.
If, by some surprising turn of events, this forerunner cryptocurrency arrives at that threshold point quickly, it does not spell victory for Bitcoin yet. To truly liberate itself from bear market conditions, Bitcoin must surpass a value of at least $6,000, per agency broker and block trader BitOoda. For now, Bitcoin can take comfort in the old Chinese proverb:
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Fortunately, Bitcoin is doing a little better than that.
