- The cryptocurrency ecosystem recently lost over $7 billion after BTC failed to go past the $6,600 resistance.
- Most cryptocurrencies are currently in the red, while a few like Ripple’s XRP and Brave’s BAT are surging.
The cryptocurrency ecosystem recently lost over $7 billion, going from over $220 billion to about $213 billion at press time, after bitcoin failed to breach the $6,600 resistance it attempted to breach earlier this month, on August 15.
According to CryptoCompare data the flagship cryptocurrency is seemingly stuck between the $6,000 support and the $6,600 resistance. At press time, it’s trading at $6,422 after falling about 1.5% in the last 24-hour period.
Bitcoin’s failed bull run seemly led to the decline of most other top cryptocurrencies, with data showing most cryptos fell between 1% and 6% in the last 24-hour period. Ripple’s XRP and Brave’s BAT being among the few in the green, rising 1.8% and 7.18% respectively.
Some analysts believe bitcoin failing to breach $6,600 was part of the reason the crypto market declined, as the cryptocurrency has bounced from its support numerous times this year, but is seemingly still enduring a bearish trend.
Behind the crypto’s price movements may be various factors. As CryptoGlobe covered, Lou Kerner, a cryptocurrency market analyst, has recently argued it is a “much, much better,” store of value than gold.Curiously, BTC is on pace to clear more than twice the transaction volume of gold this year.
Notably, bitcoin shorts have risen over 78% this month, according to data from a leading cryptocurrency exchange. As covered, outstanding short interest on August 1 was of little over 17,000 BTC, while at press time it has risen to over 31,600 BTC.
The cryptocurrency community has been anxiously awaiting a bitcoin ETF, so much so that when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the Winklevoss twins’ ETF application, bitcoin dropped 3.5% late last month. The regulator set September 30 as the deadline for a decision on the VanEck-SolidX ETF application.
Recently, bitcoin activist Andreas Antonopoulos, author of “Mastering Bitcoin: Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies,” argued that bitcoin ETFs are a “terrible idea” as they’ll give institutional investors a chance to manipulate spot BTC markets. Per his words, they’ll also help a class of “second-tier” bitcoin investors who don’t control their private keys grow.
Despite the market’s downturn, eccentric cybersecurity expert John McAfee has recently revealed he’s still standing by his $1 million bitcoin price prediction.
Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently down by 2.5% in the last 24-hour period. ETH has been plummeting this month, and fell to an over 52-week low of about $250. At press time, it’s trading at about $300.
Per the cryptocurrency’s co-founder Joseph Lubin, price swings in it are being caused by “trader types”seeing their fortunes change in the charts. Ethereum’s fundamentals, according to Messari co-founder Dan McArdle, haven’t changed, as what’s needed for ETH’s adoption didn’t change because of the bearish trend.