Digital Currency Revolution Series: Fragile Altcoins Hamper Prospects of Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Lingering at $10k With Safe-Haven Sentiments

During the beginning of this October, there could be huge volatilities among the crypto-avenues as we get to see the race for Bitcoin ETFs reach its end. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is scheduled to make its final decision regarding Bitwise’s exchange-traded funds (ETF) proposal on 13th October.

The US SEC has deferred their decision on several applications contemplating apprehensions such as market manipulation, market surveillance and divergence with futures trading as being the main issues it was so reluctant to approve any ETFs so far, like the approval of Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF application, the regulator is due to its review whether the applications fulfill the pre-requisites and ensure safeguards investors’ interests.

It was another unsteady week in the crypto markets with the BTC price twice sliding under $10,000 briefly before bouncing back - in so doing shaking the ‘Bitcoin is a safe haven asset’ narrative - albeit slightly. As the global macroeconomic outlook continues to darken, it was gold, the traditional safe-haven asset, that pushed on to a new five-year high while Bitcoin led the crypto markets down.

The number two and three cryptos on BNC’s market cap table, ETH and XRP, fell 2.4% and 3.4% respectively. The altcoin markets were hit hard by the Bitcoin drop with Chainlink losing 17% during the week, and Algorand down 20%. Bucking the trend, Ethereum Classic gained an impressive 27% across the last seven days ahead of next month's Atlantis hard fork to improve functionality, stability, and the compatibility of ETC with Ethereum. The overall crypto market cap was up just 0.2 - driven by a Bitcoin rally late in the week.

Bitcoin dominance continues to hover at around 68%. According to Into the Block, a blockchain analytics firm, 79% of all BTC wallet addresses are currently in profit. While this reflects Bitcoin's strong 2019 price performance, leading altcoins have not performed nearly as well. The research suggests that 74% of ETH addresses are holding at a loss, while an eye-popping 95% of long-suffering Zcash holders are in the red. The reason that the majority of Bitcoin holders remain in profit is because BTC has only traded above $10,000 for a small percentage of its existence.

With Bitcoin now sitting at the key psychological level of $10,000, an anxious market awaits its next move. Any significant drop below $10K is likely to be met with buying pressure as long term Bitcoin bulls look to accumulate at four-figure prices. Meanwhile, analyst Willy Woo crunched the data to make the argument that alts may be heading into a region of support. Courtesy: BNC