Cryptocurrencies find support after volatile week
By Neil Dennis
09:42, 24 May 2021
Cryptocurrencies enjoyed some respite on Monday, reclaiming some of the ground lost after a week of stormy trading conditions.
The cryptocurrency market has had a volatile month since bitcoin hit its record high of $64,778 on 14 April.
There had been some suggestion the market had become a little frothy after global asset managers in the latest Bank of America/Merrill Lynch fund manager survey said bitcoin was the single "most crowded" trade of the month in April.
In the year to April's record high, bitcoin had rallied by more than 1,100%, but then the negatives began to creep in.
Accentuating the negatives
Recent comments by some of the most-closely followed digital asset supporters haven't helped confidence in the cryptocurrency market since April's highs.
Elon Musk, in particular, has been among those to have had the most market impact after his comments provoked rumours – later proved to be false – that his company Tesla had sold some of its bitcoin holdings.
Meanwhile, China has been adding to the negative sentiment after reminding global investors that it will not tolerate cryptocurrency dealings.
This weekend, Beijing policymakers were venting their ire at the crypto-mining industry, leading Huobi Mall and BTC.TOP to suspend their China operations and causing market prices to tumble heavily.
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Price action
On Monday, however, prices were higher. There was no particular event-driven reason for the gains, suggesting buyers were seeking bargains after several days of heavy selling.
Nigel Green at deVere Group said: "Some of the shrewdest investors have consistently utilised market volatility as major buying opportunities in traditional financial markets – and the cryptocurrency market should be no different."
By mid morning in London, bitcoin was up 7% at $36,530 while ethereum added 11.8% to $2,272.
Among the biggest movers in the top 10 by market cap, cardano gained 16.1% at $1.463 and binance coin added 13.2% to $293.34.
Read more: Bitcoin falls below ,000 after China ban
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