Amid the subdued activity in Bitcoin and Ether and no catalyst in sight, investors are finding opportunities in altcoins and other small cap crypto assets.
After facing selling pressure earlier this week, the world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has been now hovering around $27,200 levels. Investors are keen to know what could be the next directional move for BTC. However, the BTC price remains range bound between the support of $26,600 and the resistance of $27,600 on the upside. While the trading activity in Bitcoin remains subdued, altcoins make a move.
On Wednesday, May 17, altcoins like Litecoin (LTC) jumped by 5.6{ee212069bfc2680724ddd6b0d505d051cd6a6be760d8da0a6a57844f2abae5c8} while the XRP price added 6{ee212069bfc2680724ddd6b0d505d051cd6a6be760d8da0a6a57844f2abae5c8}. Another altcoin that made a strong move was the Axie Infinity token (AXS) which gained by 8{ee212069bfc2680724ddd6b0d505d051cd6a6be760d8da0a6a57844f2abae5c8} shooting all the way to $8.
The AXS price shot up as the company secured a license to host its ‘Axie Infinity: Origins’ game on the Apple App Store. This is a big move as it would lead to a surge of users in Axie Infinity over a long time. Also, this is an important milestone considering the fact that Apple is having tough policies to allow Web3 apps on the platform.
Similarly, Ripple’s XRP gained 6{ee212069bfc2680724ddd6b0d505d051cd6a6be760d8da0a6a57844f2abae5c8} as the company announced the acquisition of Swiss crypto custodial services firm Metaco. The deal will give Ripple access to clients such as BNP Paribas and Citi and thus help it expand its overseas reach.
Similar to Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) has been also showing flat moves and continues to hover around $1,800 levels. However, Ethereum competitors like Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Polkadot (DOT) gained 3{ee212069bfc2680724ddd6b0d505d051cd6a6be760d8da0a6a57844f2abae5c8} each on Wednesday.
Crypto Traders Shifting Attention from Bitcoin to Altcoins
The price action in the crypto market has remained relatively subdued over the last month due to the drying up of liquidity in the market. As per the data from Glassnode, the 30-day volatility for Bitcoin and Ether are off their record lows for the year.
As a result, some crypto market investors have shifted attention away from Bitcoin and Ether and focused on other smaller and newer altcoins. Many predict this to be the beginning of the new altcoin season. Speaking to CNBC, Noelle Acheson, author of the “Crypto is Macro Now” newsletter said:
“Like macro markets, juggling resilient stock prices with increasingly bleak economic data points, the crypto market is also dealing with duality. There are some signs of frothiness”.
However, earlier this month, Bitcoin Ordinals spurted strong network activity with daily transactions reaching record highs. “In spite of these hints of froth, activity is low,” Acheson added. “Prices are down more than 10{ee212069bfc2680724ddd6b0d505d051cd6a6be760d8da0a6a57844f2abae5c8} on the month, and volumes are trending lower.”
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.