Bitcoin inches up; Dogecoin, Solana lead losses

Bitcoin inches up; Dogecoin, Solana lead losses

Time Stamp: August 14, 2023 6:53 AM
Source Node: 2822285

Bitcoin inched up in Monday afternoon trade in Asia and continued to hover around the US$29,000 mark. Ethereum and most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization were little changed, except Dogecoin and Solana. 

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Bitcoin prices may struggle until Sept.

Bitcoin inched up 0.04% in the last 24 hours to US$29,393 at 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, bringing its weekly gains to 1.24%, according to CoinMarketCap data. At the same time, the world’s largest cryptocurrency’s market capitalization dropped 0.03% to US$571.67 billion.

“Bitcoin prices have been pinned at US$29,000 for three weeks, refusing to decline, despite the correction in some large-cap technology stocks – Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft,” Markus Thielen, head of research and strategy at digital asset service platform Matrixport, said in an emailed statement on Thursday. 

“Two significant catalysts are supporting Bitcoin and Ethereum prices into year-end: the potential SEC approval for a U.S.-listed physical Bitcoin ETF and Ethereum’s EIP-4844 upgrade, which is expected in Q4 2023,” Thielen added.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, dropped 0.02% to US$1,848 in the past 24 hours. 

Ethereum’s EIP-4844 upgrade, with the introduction of ‘blobs’ of data – a new transaction type – is expected to reduce transaction fees and increase transaction throughput. 

In June, BlackRock and a number of major U.S. financial institutions filed applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create spot Bitcoin ETFs. The SEC was expected to announce its decision on Ark Investment’s spot Bitcoin ETF application on Aug. 13. However, the regulator said in a Friday filing that it will solicit public comment on the ETF proposal, effectively pushing back the deadline.

“More SEC responses will also be expected during the first week of September, when seven other Bitcoin ETF filings are required to receive a response from the SEC. The possibility is high that several Bitcoin ETFs would be approved in short order, igniting the next leg higher in Bitcoin prices as those ETF providers would spend considerable marketing expenses to draw in retail and institutional capital,” Thielen added.

However, Bitcoin prices could decline by September to as much as US$26,000 as the summer lull ends, Thielen cautioned, adding that this could be an attractive buying opportunity for the seasonal rally in the fourth quarter.

“Bitcoin prices would struggle until September before they start their ascent again. This is happening, and our inclination of being very cautious in managing our positions in the short term but we are eying another perfect buying opportunity to prepare for the year-end rally and the expectations for a strong 2024,” he added.

Bitcoin’s next halving event is expected in April 2024, when the amount of new Bitcoin issued is cut in half, increasing its scarcity and pushing up the token’s price.

Dogecoin led losers in the past 24 hours, followed by Solana, although both posted gains on the week. Dogecoin lost 1.90% to US$0.07491 in the last 24 hours but gained 0.32% on the week. At the same time, Solana dropped 1.44% to US$24.39 while gaining 5.59% in the past seven days. 

The total crypto market capitalization dropped 0.03% to US$1.17 trillion while market volume gained 47.04% to US$23.76 billion in the past 24 hours. 

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