Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency, has been struggling with its price performance over the past day. The price is hovering close to $90,000, and it may drop below this key level soon. Other major cryptocurrencies, also known as altcoins, have seen small declines in their prices as well. For instance, Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, is valued at $3,100, while XRP has dropped slightly and is now near an important support level at $2.00.
Will Bitcoin Fall Below $90K?
Bitcoin started the week with high expectations for a significant price rise due to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday. For context, the FOMC is a part of the Federal Reserve, the central banking system in the United States. The Federal Reserve oversees monetary policies, like adjusting interest rates, to keep the economy stable (learn more about the Federal Reserve).
On Tuesday, a day before the meeting, Bitcoin’s price went up significantly, reaching just above $94,500. However, the excitement didn’t last long. After the Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, Bitcoin initially surged again. (1 bps = 0.01%. To understand bps better, visit this link). But shortly after, its price dropped sharply, falling below $89,500.
Bitcoin’s performance remained volatile. On Thursday, its price bounced back up to $93,600. However, it faced resistance again on Friday and slipped below $90,000. Over the weekend, Bitcoin tried to recover, reaching $90,500 on Saturday. But by Sunday, the price had fallen back below $90,000. Bitcoin’s total market value (also called its market capitalization) has fallen under $1.8 trillion. Currently, Bitcoin dominates about 57% of the total cryptocurrency market. (To learn more about market capitalization in cryptocurrencies, visit here.)
For a visual representation of Bitcoin’s latest performance, you can refer to the chart on TradingView.
Mixed Results for Altcoins
Other cryptocurrencies, particularly large-cap altcoins (the term for all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin), have had a mixed week. When looking at their performance over recent days, many have been slightly down. Let’s explore their movements this week:
– Ethereum, known for its smart contracts and being second to Bitcoin, dropped 1% over the past day but is still up 2% for the week at $3,100 (Learn more about Ethereum).
– The XRP Ledger, also called Ripple, remains just above $2.00. XRP has fallen 1% in 24 hours but managed to stay stable over the week. It is known for fast transaction settlements using a special technology (Learn about XRP).
– Tron (TRX), a blockchain platform for creating digital content, saw its price go down by 3% recently (What is Tron?).
– Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), another blockchain project, experienced a larger drop of 8% (Learn about Hedera).
On the positive side:
– Zcash (ZEC), a cryptocurrency focused on privacy, experienced a significant weekly surge of 25%, although it dropped 5% over the last day (Zcash overview).
– Monero (XMR), another privacy-based cryptocurrency, rose by 9% this week (About Monero).
– MNT increased by 18%, reaching $1.27.
– CC saw a 14% rise.
– The biggest winner was the cryptocurrency M, with an amazing 40% weekly growth!
However, not all coins had the same good fortune:
- QNT and KAS both declined significantly, each dropping 11% in the past week.
Overall, the total cryptocurrency market value dropped by $20 billion in just one day. It now stands at $3.15 trillion. This reflects the combined value of all cryptocurrencies in the market.
For a detailed look at how various cryptocurrencies performed this past week, visit the market overview provided by QuantifyCrypto.