Crypto market cap tops $240 billion with bitcoin’s 5% weekend rally

Crypto market cap tops $240 billion with bitcoin’s 5% weekend rally

Crypto market cap tops $240 billion with bitcoin’s 5% weekend rallyReuters

By

AARONHANKIN

REPORTER

Bitcoin prices moved sharply higher over the weekend, rising as much as 5% and bursting through the 50-day and 100-day moving averages, two closely watched momentum indicators.

In early Tuesday trading in New York, a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.02%  was last changing hands at $7,381.14, up 1.1% since Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange and is 5.1% higher than Friday’s 5 p.m. close.

Despite the resurgence, which took bitcoin to a four-week high of $7,389.26, one analyst says investors should temper their excitement as the overall trend is still intact. “I can’t look away from the broader trend,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. “We are seeing these intermittent rallies but the broader movement is extremely consistent like the move to $8,500 [in late July], which didn’t last long.”

Erlam did add that if $6,000 holds, digital currency owners “do not have too much to worry about.”

Read: Opinion: If you want financial secrecy, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can’t deliver it

Ether underperformance continues

Altcoins, coins alternative to bitcoin, moved higher over the weekend, helping the total market cap for all cryptocurrencies reach a four-week high of $240 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Ether ETHUSD, -0.38% is trading back towards $300, but continues to underperform most altcoins, trading at $289.41, down 0.3%, Bitcoin CashBCHUSD, +1.66% was up 2% to $644.20, Litecoin LTCUSD, +4.13% is higher by 4.6% at $68.63, and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, +0.01% was trading at 34 cents, up 0.8%.

Bitcoin futures have opened higher Tuesday. The Cboe Global Markets Group Inc.’s September contract XBTU8, +4.65% is up 4.4% at $7,360, while the comparable CME Group Inc. contract BTCU8, +4.83% is up 4.5% at $7,365.

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