The bitcoin bulls drove the asset to another monthly high of $64,800, but it ultimately failed to continue upward and has retracted by around a grand.

Chainlink has popped as today’s top performer from the larger-cap alts, while SUI continues its ascend with another double-digit surge.

BTC’s Path to $65K Halted Again

It was last Wednesday when the primary cryptocurrency faced massive volatility as the US Federal Reserve met to discuss and eventually lower the key interest rates in the country by 50 basis points. BTC went up and down on several occasions, but the bull prevailed in the end and pushed the asset north to $64,000 on Friday morning.

After a relatively sluggish weekend, bitcoin went on the offensive once again on Monday and neared $65,000. However, the bears were quick to intercept the move and pushed the cryptocurrency south by more than two grand.

The bulls didn’t stay down for long, though, as they initiated another leg-up in the past 12 hours or so that propelled BTC to $64,800 again. However, as it happened with the previous attempt, bitcoin couldn’t break through $65,000 and now trades below $64,000.

Its market capitalization has remained at around $1.260 trillion on CG, but its dominance over the alts has lost some more ground and is down to 53.8%.

SUI in the Headlines

Many of the larger-cap alts stand quietly today. Ethereum and Binance Coin have retraced by 1-2%, and so has Tron. In contrast, SOL has increased by that percentage and trades at $150. Similar minor gains come from the likes of DOGE, SHIB, TON, and BCH.

ADA has increased by 3% and has neared $0.4. LINK has jumped by 7% and now trades above $12. However, SUI stands out as the top performer from the mid-cap alts, having added more than 12% of value daily. Moreover, the asset is up by 45% in the past week and a whopping 80% on a monthly scale. As such, it now sits at $1.75 and is the 26th-largest cryptocurrency.

Other notable daily gainers include SEI (24%), POPCAT (9%), and NOT (8%).

The total crypto market stands close to $2.350 trillion, which is basically the same as yesterday.

Bitcoin’s correlation with one of the oldest and arguably the safest investment instruments, gold, has risen to a five-month peak, according to data from IntoTheBlock.

At the same time, Ethereum’s numbers point to precisely the opposite, even though ETH is supposed to be ultra-sound money following some of its updates in the past few years.

BTC, Gold Correlation Rises

Due to many of the similarities between the two, such as limited supply and lack of central authority behind them, gold and bitcoin have been frequently compared, albeit mostly by supporters of the digital asset. In fact, they even argue that BTC has one up on the precious metal due to its existence in the digital world and its known hard supply of 21 million ever to exist.

However, bitcoin is a newer asset with less history, a smaller market cap, and a highly volatile nature. This has been the most vocal criticism of BTC doubters, such as Peter Schiff. Their performances tend to deviate in certain times but should follow a similar trajectory in times of economic uncertainty, wars, etc.

Data from IntoTheBlock shows that this has been the case on a few occasions this year. At first, both went toward uncharted territory simultaneously in March and April but parted ways in May and July. However, the trend has been on a positive uptake since the summer and reached a peak of 0.75 yesterday, which is the highest level since April.

Bitcoin’s correlation with gold has been on a rising trend, now reaching its highest level since March.

In contrast, $ETH‘s correlation with gold remains minimal and largely insignificant.

Key Takeaways

Bitcoin’s rising correlation over the past months aligns with… pic.twitter.com/fGstlFiAT6

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) September 24, 2024

CryptoPotato recently compared the two asset’s YTD performances, concluding that BTC has done a lot better, even though it is far from its all-time high (registered in March), while the precious metal keeps charting new peaks. The latest came earlier today at $2,670/oz.

Ethereum, Gold on a Different Path

ITB’s post highlighted that while investors’ behavior highlights “bitcoin’s evolving role in macroeconomic hedging,” the same cannot be said about the second-largest cryptocurrency.

“Ethereum’s limited correlation with gold points to its position as a more speculative, growth-driven asset. Its price movements are less influenced by external economic factors and more driven by the underlying ecosystem, such as DeFi activity & staking.”

While this casts doubt over the ultra-sound money narrative for ETH, it just shows that Ethereum has a different role in the crypto market.

TL;DR

• ADA’s price surged to almost $0.40, potentially driven by positive metrics such as an increase in large transactions.
• However, its RSI recently spiked to 81, suggesting overbought conditions and a potential correction despite predictions of further rallies from analysts.

ADA’s Resurgence

Cardano’s ADA has been among the top-performing leading digital assets in the last 24 hours, with its price hitting a one-month peak of over $0.39. Its market capitalization pumped to $14 billion (and retraced a bit since), making it the 11th-largest cryptocurrency. 

Its revival aligns with three important metrics that have been on the rise. The first (somewhat expectedly) is the “In the Money” indicator, which, according to IntoTheBlock, is up 10.5% on a daily scale. It measures the change of ADA investors currently sitting on paper profits. As of now, 31% of those are in the green, while 66% are underwater.

The stats looked much worse during the crypto market crash at the beginning of August. Back then, ADA’s price plummeted to a seven-month low of $0.27, while only 0.35% of its holders were sitting on some profits on their initial investments. 

The second bullish factor is the large transaction volume (where each on-chain ADA transaction exceeds $100,000). The figure reached $6.6 billion on September 25, representing a 12% increase in 24 hours.

Last but not least, we will focus on ADA’s NVT (network value to transactions) ratio. The metric is currently set at around 2.7, which is considered low. It indicates that the token is undervalued and, hence, ready for a potential rally.

One popular analyst who recently predicted a further pump for Cardano’s native token is the X user CryptoBullet. The trader expects the price to reach a lower high of around $1.80 sometime next year. However, they assumed it may later head south to roughly $0.15.

The Bearish Element

Conversely, ADA’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) suggests the asset could be poised for an imminent correction. The analysis tool measures the change and speed of price movements, varying from 0 to 100.

Readings above 70 signal that the token might be overbought, while anything below 30 is considered bullish since it indicates oversold conditions. Currently, the RSI is hovering around 70, briefly spiking to 81 on September 24.