The party was cut short on Monday when bitcoin (BTC) tanked 5.8% on the day, effectively cutting back a week of gains for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
But BTC/USDT managed to recover some of this lost ground this morning, with the pair climbing 1.4% to $41,888 at the time of writing.
Bitcoin’s volatility played havoc in the futures market, with a staggering $130 million in long positions wiped out on Monday alone, the largest among in at least three months.
Perpetual funding rates have fallen, suggesting a cooling off of the impressive bull run experienced by bitcoin in recent weeks.
But bitcoin’s spot price remains hot, having added over 150% year to date, with the prospect of US-regulated exchange-traded funds on the way.
While some analysts contend that these ETFs, which will provide mainstream investors with access to the bitcoin market, have already been baked into bitcoin’s price, others believe eventual approval with thrust spot prices substantially higher.
Next April will also bring the next bitcoin halving, when the rate of newly minted bitcoins will be halved, providing another possible tailwind.
Bitcoin has risen by two-thirds in six months –Source: tradingview.com
Bitcoin’s sudden dip filtered through to crypto-adjacent stocks, with Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) getting sent nearly 6% lower.
Ethereum (ETH) closed 5.4% lower on Monday and has remained relatively unchanged at $2,230 this morning.
In the wider altcoin space, Binance’s BNB token has had a surprisingly strong week, gaining 6.7%, though Layer-2 blockchain token Avalanche (AVAX) is the clear leader right now, posting more than 17% in gains over the past seven days.
Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) have added mid single digits to their spot prices, while Ripple (XRP) remains generally flat.
Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation currently stands at $1.58 trillion, with bitcoin dominance trending near to 53%.
This is a 180-basis-point decline in dominance over seven days, suggesting that the altcoin space is gaining short-term traction.