The cryptocurrency market has seen improved sentiment as Bitcoin managed to breach resistance at the $21,000 level. Crypto assets have stabilized along with S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq.
At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin was trading at $21,090. It has gained 3.83% in the last 24 hours, as per data from CoinMarketCap. Ethereum is following closely. Up by 6.40%, it’s changing hands at $1,150. Word in the market is that Ether could be entering a bull trap zone after rebounding above the crucial $1,000 mark.
In the broader crypto market, altcoin Polygon MATIC is the biggest gainer. This comes after the Polygon network introduced enhanced privacy for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). It is up by 20.45% in the last 24 hours. Avalanche gained 14.14%, Ripple’s XRP is up by 12.30% and Solana gained 8.53%. Cardano has also gained 3.38%. Much of the crypto market is in the green.
Analysts say the $20,000 mark for Bitcoin remains pivotal. There may be further declines akin to 2013 when the world’s favorite cryptocurrency plunged by 85%, and in 2017, it fell by 84%. If there is a similar fall, BTC prices would fall close to $10,000. Kaiko, a crypto data firm, warned that low prices for a sustained period of time would spell trouble for crypto exchanges. Riyad Carey, an analyst at Kaiko, highlighted that as prices remain low, volumes decrease, hedge funds unwind and fees compress, crypto exchanges will be put to test. The analyst said those that have enough volume and spent responsibly will likely be able to weather the storm. And those that played fast and loose with risky staking products and investments, may go under.
Some examples to be noted are CoinFLEX, a futures crypto exchange, pausing withdrawals due to extreme market conditions as well as uncertainty around a certain counterparty.
