Bitcoin and Ether Prices Stagnate as Traders Take Wait-and-See Approach

The March 12 crash is still fresh in crypto traders’ and fund managers’ minds, leaving some to think no trading decisions are the best decisions for now.

AccessTimeIconMar 27, 2020 at 8:31 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 8:23 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

After staging a recovery earlier this week, cryptocurrencies were stuck in a holding pattern Friday afternoon.

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) appeared to be in a period of consolidation where prices bounce around within a tight range, showing indecisiveness among traders. 

Bitcoin and ether had both climbed by less than a percent. Notable performers on CoinDesk’s big board include XRP (XRP), up 10 percent, Stellar (XLM) in the green 3 percent and dash, up 4 percent. All 24-hour price changes are from 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET) on March 27. 

Traditional markets, meanwhile, continued to reel from the record unemployment claims in the U.S., part of the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, despite a $2 trillion stimulus package making its way to President Donald Trump for his signature. U.S. stocks closed with the S&P 500 index down 3 percent. Earlier in the day, Japan’s Nikkei 255 closed its session up 3.8 percent. For Europe, the FTSE 100 Index closed in the red 3.3 percent. 

Federal Reserve "and fiscal policies have averted for now accelerated economic and financial de-leveraging. Unfortunately, they can't avoid a deep and sudden recession resulting in alarming unemployment and business closures,” Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, wrote in a tweet

On low volumes, bitcoin’s price changes have narrowed, staying in a $6,400-$6,900 per 1 BTC range since March 24. This has put the bellwether cryptocurrency’s 10-day and 50-day moving averages close to each other.

Bitcoin trading on Coinbase since March 24. Source: TradingView
Bitcoin trading on Coinbase since March 24. Source: TradingView

“I think bitcoin just moved up from its $4,000-$5,000 crash range earlier than equities did. While equity markets have been rallying the last couple of sessions, other more safe haven-type markets like bonds and gold have been consolidating,” said Siddharth Jha, a former Wall Street analyst now focused on blockchain technology at startup Arbol. 

Indeed, gold has started to consolidate moving averages as of March 27.

Contracts-for-difference on gold since March 24. Source: TradingView
Contracts-for-difference on gold since March 24. Source: TradingView

“Some people I respect say gold is a buy here,” said Rupert Douglas, head of business development for institutional sales at Koine, a digital asset manager. “Perhaps it is, perhaps silver is going to go rocketing higher, but if it doesn't and trades lower, does bitcoin follow?”

The crash on March 12 is still fresh in the minds of crypto traders and fund managers, leaving some to think no trading decisions are the best decisions for the time being. 

“Markets need to be saturated for people to look for incremental yield. Plus, there’s a lot of wound licking, post-BitMEX debacle,” said Vishal Shah, founder of Alpha5, a new derivatives exchange backed by large crypto funds. 

Shah was referring to the $700 million of liquidations on BitMEX on March 12. This caused problems for the Ethereum network-based DeFi ecosystem, which relies on ether’s price to ensure stability. Not surprisingly, ether has been consolidating, although there was a bit of volume early Friday. 

Ether trading on Coinbase since March 24. Source: TradingView
Ether trading on Coinbase since March 24. Source: TradingView

“After a major crash and rebound, markets often consolidate for some time to see which way the flows may develop,” Arbol’s Jha said.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.