Altcoin Season Is Back! Bitcoin Dominance Tumbles.
Ripple Soars as SEC Admits Defeat.
The predominance of Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market faced a slight setback following Ripple’s partial triumph against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, resulting in a plunge of Bitcoin dominance below 50%, fueled by a boom in altcoin values.
But while this may sound “bad” for Bitcoin, let me assure you that it is not. The apex cryptocurrency soared to a high of $31,818, a price last reached in June 2022.
Notably, this decrease comes after Bitcoin’s market dominance managed to climb back above 50% only a few weeks ago, following a two-year period of lower dominance. The climb came amid a surge of Bitcoin ETF applications by major financial corporations.
This recent dip in Bitcoin’s market share coincides with the cryptocurrency community’s anticipation of an impending “altcoin season.”
Altcoins – The Pump!
Fueled by Ripple’s court victory, the XRP token shot up 83%, peaking at $0.866, and claiming the fourth-largest spot by market capitalization. Currently, it still holds the fourth position after a few seat changes with Binance Coin (BNB). At the time of writing, XRP has backed up a little, trading at 0.7902.
In the meantime, Ethereum (ETH) posted an impressive 8% gain, crossing the $2,000 mark for the first time in three months. Cardano (ADA) experienced a substantial 27.89% leap, changing hands at $0.3604 at press time.
Solana (SOL), another token categorized as a security by the SEC, enjoyed a 42.71% increase, hitting $29 and trading slightly below that mark at the time of writing. Concurrently, Polygon (MATIC) soared by 29% to trade at $0.859. Stellar Lumens (XLM), surged 59% on the news.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance is 48.5%. In terms of daily gain, Bitcoin only managed a 4.09% increase, peaking at $31,818. Definitely an underwhelming performance compared to the double-digit altcoin run.
Chart Analysis – BTC/USD
The current price of Bitcoin stands at $31,115 and the bulls seem to be in control. Notably, the Bollinger Bands, a tool used by traders to identify market volatility and potential overbought or oversold conditions, have started to expand. This expansion, following a period of contraction, suggests that Bitcoin’s price volatility might be increasing, a condition that is often followed by a significant price movement.
The pair has been oscillating between $30,000 and $31,500 for some time, indicative of consolidation. Now, Bitcoin appears to be at the higher end of this range and is showing strong bullish momentum (a large green candle that pierced resistance). This could be an indication that the bulls are in control and we might see a breakout from this range.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is near the 70 level, but not yet in overbought territory. This leaves some room for Bitcoin’s price to increase before hitting a potentially overbought condition which could trigger a sell-off or a temporary pullback.
