On Wednesday, Bitcoin (BTC) gained over 1.3% in value to trade at around $27,700, largely due to headwinds in the traditional markets alleviating after Congress agreed to extend U.S. government funding for another 45 days and the crypto markets calming down.
In a note to investors, analysts at crypto service provider Matrixport reported that the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has broken out of its downward trend that began in the summer and has turned the $27,000 range into a support level.
BTC Could Hit $30,000 But Trading Volume Continues To Drop
According to the analysts, BTC could be headed toward $30,000 but Monday’s surge in prices lacked a significant follow-through for the rest of the week, resulting in Bitcoin’s trading volume dropping from $19 billion to $11 billion.
In a separate report, institutional digital asset liquidity and advisory firm Enigma Securities forecasted that low volatility in the crypto markets will continue for the next few months. Vetle Lunde, a senior analyst at K33 Research noted in a report that the market will likely consolidate and “chop sideways” as October progresses, further extending the accumulation window for long-term Bitcoin investors.
Meanwhile, the crypto market index inched higher by 0.8%.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $27,540 – down 0.2% from the previous day’s price.
Stock Market Rises Slightly After A Disappointing September U.S. Jobs Report
The traditional markets also saw some recovery this week after ADP’s National Employment Report announced that the U.S. economy added 89,000 new jobs in September. However, this figure was significantly less than the 153,000 that analysts had expected last month and way below the 180,000 jobs created in August.
Kathy Jones, the chief fixed income strategist at asset management giant Charles Schwab noted in her X post that last month’s numbers were the smallest rise in private sector jobs since 2020.
The S&P 500 index closed at a high of 0.8% compared to the previous day, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 index posted a 1.45% gain on Wednesday.
Ethereum Slides As ETH Futures ETFs Underperform
Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, underperformed this week. The crypto asset slid 0.7% in value after a disappointing debut for the first-ever Ether-focused futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. market.
ProShares, VanEck, Bitwise, Valkyrie, Kelly, and Volshares were among the investment firms that listed their much-hyped Ether futures ETFs on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) on Monday. However, the funds failed to perform as expected, with all of them trading below the price of Ether (ETH).
Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on X that the funds’ performances were “pretty average” as they traded for less than $2 million in total on the first day.
The products clearly failed to grab the attention gained by the first-ever Bitcoin futures ETF that was launched in October 2021, which changed hands for over $1 billion on launch day while the crypto market was at its all-time high.
K33 Research is advising investors to shift to BTC, citing ETH’s lack of medium-term catalysts.
Ether (ETH) is trading at $1,632 – down 0.3% in the last 24 hours.
Keep reading : Guide To Purchasing Ethereum: Easy Steps For Beginners
XRP Surges As Court Dismissed SEC’s Appeal In The Ripple vs SEC Lawsuit
Ripple (XRP) enjoyed big gains this week after a federal judge dismissed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) request to appeal a verdict in the Ripple Labs vs SEC lawsuit. Previously in July, Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York had ruled that the sale of XRP tokens via trading platforms to retail investors was not a violation of the federal securities laws.
She said the tokens can only be considered a security if sold directly to institutional investors, thus contradicting the SEC’s argument that Ripple Labs violated federal laws by raising $1.5 billion selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP. On Thursday, Torres said the securities regulator failed to provide any evidence to suggest that her statements were wrong.
The SEC now has to wait until after the trial, which is scheduled for April 2024, to appeal the court’s verdict, or else reach an agreement with Ripple to settle the case.
Earlier this week, Ripple obtained a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to operate as a financial payment platform in the city-state.
XRP rose 7% in value from last week on Wednesday to hit a recent high of $0.54. At the time of writing, Ripple is trading at $0.52 – down by 0.2% in the last 24 hours.
Avalanche (AVAX) And Solana (SOL) Highest Performing Crypto Of The Week
Avalanche (AVAX) was the highest-performing cryptocurrency this week, surging by 7% to hit $10.60 on Friday. Solana network’s native SOL token also made some considerable gains. Although SOL slumped by 2.3% yesterday, it is still up 20% from last week. Solana is currently priced at $23.31 – up 1.1% in the past 24 hours.
Keep reading : Ripple Surges As Judge Overrules SEC’s Attempt To Appeal Court Decision
