WMA: Bitcoin struggles to make it past the $10k mark as Tether becomes 3rd-highest trading crypto

Get the weekly summary of cryptocurrency market trends, news, and forecasts!

This Week’s Summary

• The Crypto Market ends the week at a total market capitalization of $254 billion.
• Bitcoin lost almost 4% in a flash crash on Thursday and missed the chance to reach $10,000
• Ethereum is up over 3.5% against BTC, and it hints towards $215
• XRP price zig-zags across the $0.20 barrier
• Tether becomes the 3rd-largest trading crypto after overcoming Ripple’s XRP.

Crypto Trends 18th – 24th of May 2020: PERFORMANCE & ANALYSIS

Last week should have seen the first surge in a long string of spectacular bullish leaps that Bitcoin had to take due to its historical third halving. Or, at least, this is what most of its hyper-optimistic fans hoped for on the back of similar price increases that took place after the previous two halvings.

Instead, the third week of May 2020 saw a shy BTC trying desperately to overcome the dreaded $10k barrier and secure a position beyond it. Everything was going smooth enough until Thursday evening when its value suddenly dropped to $8,800.

There are two apparent causes of Bitcoin’s unexpected drop. One reason is the flash crash on the Bitstamp Exchange, which saw BTC trade from almost $9,400 to $9,100 in less than a minute.

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The second cause lies in a strange transfer of 50 BTC that had been mined more than 11 years ago, during Bitcoin’s first weeks of existence. Almost immediately, a rumor started circulating on the network that Satoshi Nakamoto may be selling its holdings. Even if most traders waved this piece of gossip quickly, the conspicuous event showed that the market is still susceptible to intense rumor-triggering volatility.

At the time of this writing, Bitcoin is trading at $9,136, and it is steadily recovering from the visit of its mysterious creator’s ghost.

Elsewhere, it has been a good week for Ethereum. The second most popular cryptocurrency gained more than 3.5% over BTC, and it is now trading at $207. The next resistance level is set at $215, while the nearest support level is $200.

Ripple’s XRP is still battling with the $0.20 barrier. Throughout the week, it traded below and above the level that it has been aiming to break for several months now. At the time of this writing, it is trading at $0.199, with the next resistance level at $0.215 and the nearest support level located at $0.192.

Tether has surpassed XRP in market capitalization, and it is now trading first in line behind Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively. The USD-pegged crypto follows an ascending trend after minting more than $1.5 billion USDT in the last months, and as a result of increased interest in cryptocurrency from global investors.

What’s in the News?

• Binance registers a new domain name with the Chinese Government.
• The Russian parliament is allegedly considering banning any cryptocurrency usage in the Russian Federation.
• An Australian lawyer accuses TRON’s Justin Sun of theft and criminal conspiracy for his controversial actions during the Steem Hardfork 0.23

Next Week’s Market Forecast

Btc

Bitcoin

$28.095
price

2.29701%
price change

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In the upcoming week, Bitcoin should make another attempt at the $10k barrier as long as other flash crashes or ghostly rumors won’t hinder its much-expected surge. For now, the only visible outcome of the Bitcoin halving is the increase in transaction fees. The drastic reduction in reward value has not left many miners happy, and they are now looking to boost their income with inflated fees.