Bitcoin Leads Momentum as Top Cryptos Trade Below Key Price Average

Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin SV (BSV) are the only cryptocurrencies within the top 10 by market capitalization to have jumped back above their long-term moving averages.

The 200-day moving average (MA) is often regarded as a marker for bullish long-term health when prices are above and bearish long-term market health when prices reside below.Bitcoin’s (BTC) 30 percent jump to 5-week highs from $7,393 to $10,350 over a 2-day period pulled prices back above the long-term moving average, marking a change in both momentum and sentiment for the world’s premiere crypto.

Bitcoin SV (BSV) already led the charge a day earlier, closing above the 200-day MA on Oct. 25.

Still, those moves are yet to be reflected in the remaining top 10 cryptos as the bulls struggle for supremacy from the consistent 4-month downward slide that began towards the end of June, 2019.

BTC and BSV - Daily chart

As seen above, BTC and BSV both managed to rise above the 200-day MA with conviction, leading to expectations for further appreciation in price as it heads toward the monthly close for October.

Still, significant leg work for the remaining eight cryptos out of the top 10 is required to convince traders of a major change in trend for altcoins, which could encourage further investment in projects such as Ether and XRP as optimism begins to build off China’s positive pivot towards crypto.

Altcoins - Daily chart

XRP, Ether, Litecoin, bitcoin cash, EOS, Binance coin and Stellar still reside beneath the 200-day MA despite gaining between 11.45 and 22 percent in a single period on Oct. 26.

The weekend move caught many traders off-guard as BTC broke out on its third-best single-day price gain in its history, as noted by Yassine  Elmandjra.

Still, more is required from buyers looking to drive alternative crypto’s performances higher, which is currently mired by BTC’s near 70 percent market dominance.

Should the rest of the top 10 cryptocurrencies follow suit by rising above their respective 200-day moving averages, that would add credence to further price gains as the markets head toward the BTC halving event in May 2020.

Confidence in BTC has been restored for now, but how long that will last and to what effect it has on the rest of the top 10 remains to be seen.

Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.

Chart image via Shutterstock; charts by Trading View