Bitcoin
gained 6.3% over the past week, finishing near $41.3K. The price retreated
slightly to $41.0K on Monday morning, losing 2.1% over the last 24 hours.
Ethereum has corrected by 2% over the same period but still added 11.6% to the
price seven days ago.
Other
leading altcoins in the top 10 have gained between 7.3% (Polkadot) and 24.8%
(Avalanche) over the past week.
Total
cryptocurrency market capitalisation, according to CoinMarketCap, rose 7.5% for
the week to $1.86 trillion. The Bitcoin Dominance Index fell 0.6 points to
41.9% due to outperforming altcoins.
The
Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index rose 7 points for the week to 30 and moved
into “fear” from “extreme fear”.
Last week turned
out to be a good one for the crypto market, with bitcoin rising the most in six
weeks. Last Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve meeting weakened the dollar and
boosted stocks, which benefited all risky assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, bitcoin
has continued to trade in a sideways range of $38-45K for the second month,
with a closer look marked by a sequence of declining local highs with bullish
momentum fading near 42 in the last two weeks. The positive sentiment is
supported by the 50-day moving average reversing upwards. BTCUSD broke it in a
relatively strong move on March 16th, and it has been acting as local support
ever since.
The external
environment in the financial markets remains mixed. Traders have tighter
financial conditions due to higher rates and waning economic growth on one side
of the scale. On the other side is the demand for purchasing power insurance
for capital due to the highest inflation in two generations.
Weighing
these factors, Galaxy Digital head Mike Novogratz said bitcoin would continue
to trade in a sideways range this year. He said BTC will resume growth and
reach $500K by 2025 as inflation curbing measures are too weak.
Piyush
Gupta, chief executive of Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, said cryptocurrencies
could be an alternative to gold but would not be able to fit into the
traditional financial system due to excessive volatility.
This article was written by FxPro’s Senior Market
Analyst Alex Kuptsikevich.
