The primary cryptocurrency reacted well to the mid-week price drop to under $63,500 and soared past $68,000 earlier today.

Most altcoins are also slightly in the green, aside from XMR and MKR, which have declined by about 3-4% daily.

BTC Taps $68K

Last Friday was quite eventful for the largest digital asset as it spiked from under $63,500 to $67,000 in hours. More volatility ensued during the weekend when the current US President, Joe Biden, said he would not run for re-election despite his ongoing campaign.

BTC dropped by $2,000 immediately but went on the offensive on Sunday evening and Monday. As such, it marked a 6-week peak of over $68,400.

The bears were quick to intercept the move and didn’t allow any further gains. Just the opposite, the asset started to lose traction and slumped hard on Thursday to a weekly low of $63,400.

However, the bulls came out of the woods at that point and propelled a notable price increase on Friday that culminated earlier today in another surpassing $68,000 once again despite the growing flows toward exchanges.

Although bitcoin has slipped to around that level now and has been unable to conquer it decisively, its market cap has jumped to $1.340 trillion, while its dominance over the alts stands close to 53%.

SOL Sees Monthly Peaks

Although the spot Ethereum ETFs have seen massive outflows in their first days of trading, the price of the underlying asset managed to recover some ground after the slumped to $3,000 earlier this week. As of now, ETH stands close to $3,300.

BNB, ADA, AVAX, TRX, SHIB, and LINK are also slightly in the green on a daily scale. Solana and Dogecoin have charted even more impressive gains (5% and $3.5%, respectively), which has helped the former touch a 2-month peak of over $185.

The biggest increases from the largest 36 digital assets come from the likes of APT, KAS, RNDR, and FIL. In contrast, XMR and MKR are down by 3-4%.

The total crypto market cap has gained about $30 billion overnight and is close to $2.550 trillion on CG.

TL;DR

• Analysts predict a significant bull run for bitcoin, potentially driven by the emergence of a “Golden Cross.”
• Some experts anticipate short-term corrections, advising caution to investors.

The Bullish Forecasts

The primary cryptocurrency passed through enhanced volatility in the past week, with its price ranging from $64,000 to over $68,000. Currently, it trades at around $67,300, with many analysts expecting a bull run in the upcoming months.

One example is the X user Titan of Crypto, who assumed that a BTC “Golden Cross” might be on the horizon. The phenomenon happens when the 50-day moving average (MA) crosses above the 200-day MA. Historically, these events have been a precursor of a significant rally for the leading digital asset. 

According to Titan of Crypto, this time, the “Golden Cross” might be formed by the crossing of the MA100 with the MA200 and could be observed by the end of 2024. The analyst said that has never happened before, envisioning “the most impulsive bull run” as a result.

For their part, X user Jelle argued that bitcoin might repeat its performance from several months ago. The trader reminded that the price consolidated between December 2023 and February 2024, dipped substantially for a short period of time, and later entered a bull run.

A similar consolidation and a brief correction were recorded lately, meaning BTC could be on its way to charting a new all-time high in the following months, Jelle’s chart shows.

Another X user thinks that BTC’s “perfect scenario is loading.” They predicted “one last dump” to as low as $50,000 by September before an exponential ascent to $100,000 before the year’s end.

The Bears

On the other hand, some industry participants believe BTC might head south in the short term. The popular analyst Ali Martinez maintained that the TD Sequential indicator presented a sell signal on the hourly chart, meaning a brief correction could be in the cards. 

The analysis tool, developed by Tom DeMark, is used to identify possible reversal moments by signaling periods of trend exhaustion. It consists of nine consecutive candles, each of which must close higher than the close four candles earlier. Earlier today (July 26), BTC briefly tumbled below $67,000, indicating a bearish move (according to Martinez). 

Speaking of bitcoin bears, one should mention Peter Schiff. The American stockbroker and financial commentator is well-known for his harsh stance on the cryptocurrency, often criticizing it and advising investors to exit the ecosystem.

Most recently, he predicted that many of the people who hold BTC will have their pain threshold tested. “I actually think those who decide they can’t take the pain any longer will end up better off than those who grin and bear it,” he added.

It is worth mentioning that Schiff’s anti-BTC forecasts have often been quite imprecise. At the end of 2023, he assumed that the asset was headed for a “black swan” collapse. BTC’s price was hovering around $42,000 when he chipped in, while several months later, it skyrocketed to an all-time high of over $73,500. 

TL;DR

• Litecoin (LTC) leads in non-empty wallets with over 8 million, followed by Dogecoin (DOGE) with 6.69 million.
• Ripple (XRP) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) holders have also been on the rise, recently reaching all-time high numbers.

Here is the Ranking

The crypto analytics platform Santiment revealed the six alternative coins that currently have the most holders on their respective networks.

Litecoin (LTC) leads the pack with almost 8.10 million non-empty wallets, while Dogecoin (DOGE) follows next with 6.69 million. Ripple’s XRP, Cardano’s ADA, Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Chainlink (LINK) are the others included in the ranking. 

Despite topping the list, Litecoin has witnessed a step back as non-empty LTC wallets were around 9.4 million several months ago. On the other hand, XRP and SHIB holders are currently at an all-time high level. As CryptoPotato reported, the number of XRP wallets reached the 5 million milestone at the start of the year and has only been progressing since then.

Shiba Inu might have less holders than its main rival – Dogecoin – but one research entity estimated that it has the strongest and most devoted community. The study was based on the overall number of socially-driven engagements, including likes, retweets, and posts involving SHIB, with the results announced at the end of last year.

DOGE ranked second on that list, whereas Pepe (PEPE), Floki Inu (FLOKI), and Bonk Inu (BONK) were next in line.

Litecoin’s Longevity

The cryptocurrency’s aforementioned achievement could be explained by the fact that it saw the light of day over a decade ago. It was created by Charlie Lee and released in October 2011 to provide an alternative to Bitcoin with faster transactions. Litecoin has a block time of approximately 2.5 minutes compared to BTC’s 10 minutes.

It also has a capacity for up to 50 transactions per second, whereas the primary cryptocurrency can handle up to seven transactions for the same period. 

Similar to BTC, Litecoin employs a halving mechanism to reduce in half the daily issuance of new tokens. The event occurs approximately every four years (or every 840,000 blocks), with the latest one happening in August last year. Back then, the miners’ rewards were cut from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC. 

The halving is usually a precursor of a price uptrend. Recall that LTC spiked to almost $110 in March this year before retreating in the past few months. Currently, it is worth around $68 (CoinGecko’s data).