Benzinga - by Mehab Qureshi, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Major cryptocurrency took a hit on Monday evening, kicking off Q2 in the red. The price of BTC dropped by over 5%.
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 12:00 a.m. EDT) |
| Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) | -5.35% | $66,838 |
| Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) | -8.52% | $3,369 |
| Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) | -12.55% | $0.18 |
What Happened: Bitcoin’s volatility has surged compared to ETH in recent times.
The annualized 30-day historical volatility for Bitcoin spiked to almost 60% last week, surpassing ether’s 30-day realized volatility by nearly 10 percentage points. This marks the widest difference in volatility spread in at least a year, according to data from Paris-based Kaiko. Historical volatility serves as an indicator of the level of price turbulence observed over a specific period.
The upcoming Bitcoin blockchain reward halving is a significant event that occurs every four years. It will decrease the rate of Bitcoin emission per block by 50%, potentially leading to increased volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
Scheduled for April 21, this event will reduce the reward paid to miners for each block to 3.125 BTC from the current 6.25 BTC. This halving will effectively cut miners’ revenue in half, currently estimated at $26 billion annually, according to ByteTree.
Top Gainer (24 Hour)
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 12:00 a.m. EDT) |
| Core (CRYPTO: CORE) | +38.48% | $3.75 |
| Bittensor (CRYPTO: TAO) | +4.35% | $534.65 |
| Bitget Token (CRYPTO: BGB) | +1.62% | $1.07 |
The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.69 trillion, showing a 1.63% increase in the past 24 hours.
The S&P 500 closed lower, decreasing by 0.2% to reach 5,243.77. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite experienced a slight gain of 0.11%, closing at 16,396.83. At the same time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also dipped at the beginning of the second quarter as traders assessed new U.S. inflation data and expressed concerns about a potential slowdown in the market rally.
Investors are keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve's approach to cutting interest rates and reaching the 2% inflation goal.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated on Friday that the economy is robust and inflation remains above the target. Following Powell’s comments and a crucial inflation indicator, Treasury yields increased on Monday. The 10-year Treasury yield went up by almost 13 basis points, reaching 4.319%.
See More: Best Cryptocurrency Scanners
Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analyst Michael Van de Poppe said that Bitcoin is currently calmly consolidating. According to him, the crucial levels to watch on lower time frames are $67K, which needs to hold for support, and $71.7K, which could lead to a final breakout towards the all-time high.
"If either of the two happens, probably direction is chosen. I think we’ll have one final ATH test before halving happens."
#Bitcoin calmly consolidating.Crucial levels (lower timeframes):
– $67K to hold for support.
– $71.7K for a final breakout towards the ATH.
If either of the two happens, probably direction is chosen.
I think we'll have one final ATH test before halving happens. pic.twitter.com/ZeHNBxnptg
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) April 1, 2024
Analyst Keith Alan noted the increasing bid liquidity pushing towards $60,000. "Despite the history making the 7th consecutive green monthly close for BTC, there is no ‘up only' to the Halving," part of one post read.
Despite the history making 7th consecutive green monthly close for #BTC, there is no "up only" to the #Halving.#SmartMoney has bids laddered down to $62k.If you want to follow the smart money. Get #FireCharts!https://t.co/z8VpL3p88E pic.twitter.com/xsndMERF6H
— Material Indicators (@MI_Algos) April 1, 2024
Analyst and economist Alex Krüger predicts that Bitcoin could soon reach new all-time highs. According to Krüger, the crypto daily charts are displaying very bullish trends, leading him to anticipate an imminent surge to new all-time highs for Bitcoin. In his own words, “Expecting Bitcoin ATHs (all-time highs) soon.”
Crypto daily charts all very bullishExpecting bitcoin ATHs soon pic.twitter.com/bIJTcdUVHt
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) March 31, 2024
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