Cryptos take a breather after sustained rally over the weekend
07:22, 9 August 2021
Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), the top two cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalisation, accelerated their rally over the weekend and climbed to their highest levels since the end of May. On Monday, the rally cooled down as some traders decided to take their profits.
Bitcoin went up to over $45,000 on Sunday 8 August, for the first time since 18 May. The top cryptocurrency also briefly passed its 200-day moving average but quickly withdrew below it. On Monday morning, 9 August, bitcoin was trading around $43,500, which is still almost 50% higher than the most recent low on 20 July.
If the bitcoin price breaks above the 200-day moving average and stays there, this could represent a strong bullish signal.
Ether up 70% from July low
Ether, the native coin of the Ethereum blockchain, also had a strong week. In just five days, its price climbed from below $2,500 to almost $3,200, a level not touched since the end of May. On Monday, ether’s price was down 7.6% to $2,930.
The currency’s price is still up almost 70% since its most recent low on 20 July. Ether got a strong boost last week after the successful implementation of a significant network upgrade.
The London hard fork made it possible to burn ether for the first time and marked an intermediary step in the network’s goal to change its validation algorithm and reduce the amount of electricity needed to operate.
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Crypto gains 50% in 3 weeks
The rally led by bitcoin and ether has pushed up the prices of all the major cryptocurrencies. The overall capitalisation of the crypto market passed $1.8trn on Sunday up from under $1.2trn on 20 July, according to Coinmarketcap.com. This stands for a gain of over 50% in less than three weeks.
The investors’ sentiment has also changed after this rally. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index touched its highest level since the end of April at 74, signalling that the investors are turning greedy again. This is a major shift compared to 20 July when the index was at 10, signalling extreme fear, according to Bybt.com data.
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Read more: Ether leads new crypto rally after blockchain upgrade
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