Bitcoin (BTC) remains in a good position as Tuesday trades kick into gear, with spot prices holding steady at US$30,400, having added 0.3% in this morning’s Asia trading window.
BTC bulls are supported by a strong book of buy orders at US$30,000, as seen on Binance’s depth chart, while selling pressure at US$31,000 and US$31,5000 are likely to offer upside resistance.
Recent discussions have gravitated toward the bitcoin derivatives market, where a flurry of activity has recently taken place.
Open interest on BTC futures is sitting at US$10.4bn, matching levels seen in early 2022 prior to the onset of the crypto winter.
Institutional money remains the primary driver behind the recent bitcoin bullishness, encouraged by BlackRock’s filing for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US.
Additionally, the institutionally back EDX exchange, replete with investments from Charles Schwab (NYSE:NYSE:SCHW), Fidelity and Citadel Secutities, has reinvigorated interest in the world’s first largest cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin (BTC) stays strong, for now – Source: currency.com
Ethereum has not quite matched the pace of bitcoin’s recent growth, though it still remains approximately 8% higher week-on-week, compared to bitcoin’s 13% of gains.
Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash pull ahead
Litecoin (LTC) is one blue chip to be matching bitcoin right now, having surged 14.5% bringing its market capitalisation close to US$6.5bn.
LTC has largely evaded the regulatory enforcement threats faced by competitors like Solana (SOL) Ripple (XRP) and Cardano (ADA).
For this reason, the newly launched EDX exchange has listed LTC alongside bitcoin, ether and Bitcoin Cash (a fork of the original bitcoin protocol).
Litecoin, which currently stands as the 11th largest cryptocurrency by market cap and is also a fork of the original bitcoin code, is primarily used as a payment mechanism and is one of the most widely used cryptocurrencies at the point of sale.
As for the smaller cap Bitcoin Cash (BCH), it has smashed over 100% higher since the EDX launch.
Global cryptocurrency market cap currently stands at US$1.18tn, having added close to 10% across the past seven days.
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