Following an uneventful weekend, the cryptocurrency markets have had a good Monday, with Bitcoin continuing to trade sideways while many altcoins surge. So far, the market surge has been led by NEM (XEM) and Ripple (XRP).
Bitcoin Trades Flat, What Will Make It Break its Range?
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $6,380, currently up marginally over a 24-hour trading period. Bitcoin is still trading in its long-established trading range between $6,200 and $6,700 and is showing no signs of making any big moves in either direction in the foreseeable future.
Because both bulls and bears haven’t had enough strength to push BTC decisively in either direction, it is becoming increasingly likely that it is going to require a news-based catalyst in order for it to break above or below the aforementioned trading range.
Investors should keep their eyes on upcoming events, like the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision regarding the VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin ETF, and the success of upcoming cryptocurrency platforms that are focusing solely on corporate and institutional investors, like Bakkt and Fidelity.
If the products offered by these companies are well received by Wall Street investors, Bitcoin may see a major rally driven by retail investors who fear missing out on any institutional-driven price rally.
Altcoins Trade Up Amidst Bitcoin’s Stability
Despite BTC’s sideways trading being frustrating for some traders, it hasn’t had any negative impact on most major altcoins.
Currently, today’s minor market surge is being led by NEM, which is currently trading up nearly 18% at its current price of $0.109. NEM’s rise comes after the Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck, resumed trading for the asset.
Coincheck just recently announced that they would be slowly re-enabling trading for their array of digital assets nearly a year after the exchange was the victim of a $500 million hack. In the time since the hack occurred, the exchange has been facing growing scrutiny from Japan’s regulatory authorities and has supposedly faced management troubles.
It is unclear how these factors will affect the performance of the exchange long-term.
XRP has also been one of today’s best performing cryptocurrencies, currently trading up over 4% at its current price of $0.52. Today’s price rise is bringing it closer to its seven-day highs of $0.56 and it is seeing gradually increasing trading volume.
Market Expert: Despite Market Lull, Lots of Money Still to be Made
Although investors may be slightly demoralized by the general sideways trading pattern of the cryptocurrency markets, one prominent industry expert still believes that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology is going to generate significant wealth, along with other benefits.
While speaking at the New York Times Luxury Conference on Monday, Joseph Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of ConsenSys, said that:
We are going to be more in control of our identity and our agency on these different decentralized networks and I think that’s going to create more wealth... more interest in expressing ourselves, and I think there will be more appetite for luxury than less.