The aggregated crypto market has been incurring heightened selling pressure in the time since Bitcoin’s meteoric rally from $7,300 to $10,600, as it was unable to sustain its momentum and has been grinding lower in the time since. This has led major altcoins like XRP to similarly grind lower, and the market is showing few signs of slowing its descent any time soon.
In the near-term it is probable that Bitcoin’s price action will continue to guide that of XRP and other altcoins, which may mean that further bearishness is inbound as BTC struggles to break above its near-term support levels.
Bitcoin Struggles to Hold Above Key Support Level, Leading to Market-Wide Turbulence
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading down over 3% at its current price of $8,175, which marks a steep retrace from its recent highs of $8,700.
Bitcoin’s recent bearishness has come about after its bulls failed to generate any sustained upwards momentum, with each upwards movement being followed by swift rejections that sent its price reeling downwards.
Big Cheds, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, spoke about Bitcoin’s near-term resistance level in a recent tweet, noting that it is currently struggling to break above its 8-day EMA on its one-hour chart.
“$BTC #Bitcoin – Eyes on 1-hour EMA 8,” he noted.
In spite of this, BTC’s bulls have been ardently defending $8,000, making this price a near-term support level that could bolster the crypto in the near-term.
“$BTC – after the longest consecutive red 4hr candles streak this month, #bitcoin trying to find some relief on the follow up to a TD9 to finally break the streak,” Big Chonis, another popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, explained in a recent tweet.
BTC has been steering the price action of most major altcoins, as XRP, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash have all plummeted significantly over the past couple of weeks.
This recent bout of selling pressure has led XRP down to its key long-term support level at $0.25, and a decisive break below this level could open the gates for lower lows, as this is where its bulls have consistently had significant strength.
The coming hours and days will likely be pivotal for Bitcoin as it trades between its key support and resistance levels, and how it trends in the near-term will set the tone for where altcoins like XRP go next.