Bitcoin moved sharply higher over
the weekend, rising as much as 5% and bursting through its 50- and
100-day moving averages, two closely watched momentum
indicators.
In late Tuesday trading, a single
bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.14% was last changing hands at $7,345.60,
up 0.6% since Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto
exchange and is 5.1% higher than Friday’s 5 p.m. close.
Despite the resurgence, which took
bitcoin to a four-week high of $7,389.26, one analyst says
investors should temper their excitement as the overall trend is
still intact. “I can’t look away from the broader trend,” said
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. “We are seeing these
intermittent rallies but the broader movement is extremely
consistent like the move to $8,500 [in late July], which didn’t
last long.”
Erlam did add that if $6,000 holds,
digital currency owners “do not have too much to worry
about.”
Four week winning streak in
sights
Despite the short-term volatility,
digital assets, especially bitcoin, are pointing in the right
direction. Should the price of the No. 1 digital currency finish in
the green for the week it would log its fourth consecutive wining
week for the first time since April. Over this period, bitcoin has
added as much as 26% from its August 14 low.
Bitcoin would need to close above
$7,300 to achieve this feat.
Ether underperformance
continues
Altcoins, or digital currencies
other than bitcoin, moved higher over the weekend, helping the
total market cap for all cryptocurrencies reach a four-week high of
$240 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Ether ETHUSD, -0.73% is trading
back toward $300, but continues to underperform most altcoins,
trading at $283.96, down 2.2%, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -0.24% was down
1.2% to $623.90, Litecoin LTCUSD, -0.12% is higher by 3.6% at
$67.92, and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, -0.90% was trading at 33
cents, down 2.1%.
Bitcoin futures finished higher
Tuesday. The Cboe Global Markets Group Inc.’s September contract
XBTU8, +0.48% finished the day up 4.3% at $7,350, while the
comparable CME Group Inc. contract BTCU8, +0.48% closed Tuesday up
4.3% at $7,350.
By Aaron Hankin