Alexandra Pankratyeva2019 has been a great year for Bitcoin and its major peers so far. However, the cryptomarket has made a U-turn within a 24-hour period. Bitcoin (BTC) has collapsed under $9,000, losing more than 15% in an hour. Altcoins look ever worse with Ethereum down for –16.6%, Ripple -12.7%, Litecoin -18.87%, Bitcoin Cash –23.7% and EOS –23.8%. The total cryptomarket capitalisation has dropped by $10 billion to around $250 billion.
Bitcoin collapse: BTC breaks down under $9000
Yesterday, 24 September, was a complete nightmare for the entire cryptomarket. There was no obvious news associated with such a sharp spike down. However, what we’ve got now is that Bitcoin (BTC) price has crashed below $9,000 for the first time in months. At the moment of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at $8,307.
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Notably, Bitcoin’s price volatility has been reaching its lowest levels since April.
Usually, a low-volatility period often ends up with a big swing in either direction. It case with BTC, the big move has happened to the downside.
Over the summer, the majority of Bitcoin price forecasts looked positive, predicting $23,500 by the end of 2019 and $50,000 over the next couple of years.
Bitcoin community was thrilled about the final announcement of the official launch for Bakkt – a Bitcoin futures platform – which finally happened on 23 September 2019. They expected that Bakkt’s launch will become a catalyst to propel BTC back to its glory days.
There are several reasons to believe that Bakkt may bring wonders to Bitcoin in the long run. In fact, it’s the first official futures platform, which can drive liquidity for Bitcoin market. Backed by the Intercontinental Exchange (the ICE), the service may contribute to further adoption of Bitcoin inside traditional financial system.
However, something went wrong. With this massive flash crash, Bitcoin price falls out of a 3-months contracting triangle – the descending triangle bottom of 9,500, the horizontal support of $9,400 and key moving averages. A weekly close below these levels may indicate the end of bullish trend.
However, the game is not over yet. A loss of a descending triangle doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the bull run. The break above the upper edge of the contracting triangle, which is $10,692, will indicate the revival of the bullish trend.
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Big crypto losses: Altcoins are bleeding heavily
Things have been tough enough for Bitcoin since Tuesday, but the altcoins from the list of top 20 cryptocurrencies have been suffering even worse. We might say that cryptos other than Bitcoin tend to fall further when Bitcoin drops down.
However, just a few days ago, on 22 September, cryptomarkets saw a huge wave of red with major cryptocurrencies facing big losses, while Bitcoin was still up.
Two days later Bitcoin joined the bloodbath, with top-traded cryptocurrencies experiencing double-digit losses.
The last few days have been very painful for the entire cryptomarket. Since 23 September, one of the most popular altcoins, Ethereum (ETH) has fallen from $210 to $161 (at the moment of writing), which is a heavy loss of $50 during just a couple of days.
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Ripple (XRP) sank down to the critical $0.25 from the intraday high of $0.28 in one single day, which is a 16% loss.
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Other top 20 cryptocurrencies, suffering from the massive flash crash continue a free fall with no sign of stabilising their prices. As often happens with digital assets, there are several reasons to blame for the sharp decline – from lackluster launch of Bakkt on Monday to an overall risk-off atmosphere with US stock markets.
What we can do right now is to keep track of top crypto markets in real time with Capital.com and catch up the best trading opportunities amid the roaring cryptomarket.
