Dec. 27: Bitcoin (BTC) is staying stable while major altcoin markets are showing signs of a fresh downward trend, led by Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Market visualization from Coin360
Data from Cointelegraph’s price tracker and Coin360 showed a mixed but broadly calmer top twenty assets by market cap, compared to last week’s volatile activity.
BTC/USD, which had gained over $1,000 to hit intra-week highs around $4,230 Dec. 23, has since begun a U-turn, hovering around $3,800 since Christmas Eve while trading in a narrow corridor.
At press time, the pair traded around $3,806 and down just a fraction of a percent, having remained unfazed by separate volatility in traditional stock markets.
Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin Price Index
Cryptocurrency commentators have sought to debunk the myth that Bitcoin is a correlated asset as stocks posted their worst Christmas Eve on record, only to stage the biggest one-day gains in history Dec. 26.
“I definitely agree there are some psychological components at play as the stock market pulls down,” Morgan Creek Digital Assets founder Anthony Pompliano told CNBC the same day.
Pompliano also warned that a more significant reversal was due for Bitcoin, one which could take it below $3,000.
In altcoin markets, it was BCH leading the daily losses, dropping 4 percent on the day to press time.
Reaching over $200 from $75 previously, BCH/USD has since pulled back to $165. Controversy over Bitcoin SV (BSV) — formed in a recent hard fork of Bitcoin Cash — continues to abound on social media.
Bitcoin Cash 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin Cash Price Index
Other larger downward movers Dec. 27 include Monero (XMR) at 3.4 percent and second largest altcoin Ethereum (ETH), at 3.1 percent.
ETH/USD had also made significant gains in recent days, hitting highs of $160 before trending down to $127. The pair’s lows a week prior had reached $83.
Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph’s Ethereum Price Index
One of the only top 20 coins in the green, Ethereum Classic (ETC) is up almost 6 percent on the day to press time. The coin, ranked 17th by market cap, is currently trading at $5.21.
Total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is at about $127 billion at press time, down from $147 billion on Dec. 24.
