Bitcoin breaches $8,000 mark as altcoins remain in limbo

As tensions between the United States and Iran escalate, safe-haven assets are seeing massive gains. On the back of market uncertainty, Bitcoin broke the $8,000 barrier for the first time since 22 November, while gold continued to climb massive highs.

For over a month, the Bitcoin market was stagnant owing to the holidays subduing volatility. Locked between the $7,200 – $7,500 levels through December, the market was primed for a major move either up or down. Fortunately for investors, the world’s largest cryptocurrency moved upwards.

Between 3 January and 8 January, Bitcoin recorded 6 consecutive green daily candlesticks for the first time since the close of October, surging by 19.63 percent in value and highlighting the consistent nature of this price rise.

On 6 January, Bitcoin’s massive move over $8,000 saw it move above its $100-day MA which stood at $7,950. The king coin had been trading below the same since mid-September 2019. Hence, a move above the same bears a lot of significance.

Source: BTC/USD via Trading View

While the 100-day MA is an important support at the time, resistance will be seen at the 200-day MA which is placed at $9,120, at press time. The 200-day MA, together with the 50-day MA [which is placed at $7,350], suggests bearish and bullish signals for financial assets. Bitcoin’s bearish period was marked when the 200-day MA moved above the 50-day MA on 25 October, a development that was seen as the death cross for the cryptocurrency.

The range between $7,300 and $9,100 will be looked at keenly by market participants now.

Altcoins, contrary to the trends in previous instances, are not moving up, despite Bitcoin’s surge. The two top altcoins, Ethereum and XRP, saw stagnant movement, and even declines, while Bitcoin jumped up by over 5 percent on the daily scale. Among the top cryptocurrencies, only Litecoin, the digital silver to the digital gold, saw a notable upward movement, rising by over 4.5 percent over the past 24-hours.

The cryptocurrency and commodity markets saw simultaneous jumps following the death of Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani, on 3 January by an American strike. Bitcoin and gold surged owing to their claim of being “safe haven assets” in times of economic and political uncertainty.

Source: XAU/USD via Trading View

However, gold’s surge upwards began well before Soleimani’s death. From 23 December, gold was on an upward trajectory, with the safe-haven claim adding impetus and allowing the yellow metal to break its previous September high of $1,551 per ounce. At press time, an ounce of gold was priced at $1,590, its highest price since March 2013.