Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptos traded higher on Tuesday as bearish sentiment over the past week appears to be fading.
Most alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) outperformed bitcoin, suggesting a greater appetite for risk among traders. For example, THORChain's RUNE token rallied by 11% over the past 24 hours, compared with a 2% rise in BTC over the same period. Meanwhile, decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens such as AAVE and EOS rose more than 7% on Tuesday.
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Sentiment is also starting to improve among crypto traders, evidenced by a slight uptick in the bitcoin Fear & Greed Index on Tuesday. Still, some buyers remain on the sidelines as BTC trades in a tight range between $32,000 and $46,000.
Stocks were also higher on Tuesday as the 10-year Treasury yield rose toward 2.9%, a level not seen since late 2018. Gold, a traditional safe haven asset, traded lower over the past 24 hours, indicating a slight risk-on tone in global markets.
Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.
A large amount of bitcoin supply has been accumulated between the $38,000 and $45,000 price range, according to blockchain data compiled by Glassnode. Typically, price "value" zones, areas with a large amount of trading activity, precede strong breakouts or breakdowns in price.
"Despite an additional two months of sideways consolidation, a large proportion of the market appears unwilling to spend and sell their coins, even if their coins are held at a loss," Glassnode wrote in a blog post. That suggests price-insensitive traders hold much of bitcoin's supply above the $40,000 price level.
So far, long-term price momentum has deteriorated, so it remains to be seen if traders will continue to find attractive buying points between $35,000 and $42,000. From a technical perspective, a breakout or breakdown of the current price range is needed to confirm a shift in trend.
The chart below shows a volume profile of bitcoin's year-long price range. Currently, the midpoint indicates short-term support at $38,590. High-volume nodes around $32,000 and $50,000 define the most recent price range, which typically coincides with prolonged periods of accumulation or distribution.
The recent decline in buy volume relative to sell volume, however, could indicate a lack of conviction among bitcoin buyers. If a breakdown of the current range occurs, secondary support is seen at $27,000 and $23,500.
Terra’s LUNA surges 11% as UST becomes third-largest stablecoin: Terra’s LUNA outperformed the wider crypto market, rising by as much as 11% over the past 24 hours.
The move comes after a nearly 37% drop in the first two weeks of April following lifetime highs of $120 earlier this month.
The spike comes as Terra's algorithmic stablecoin UST toppled Binance USD (BUSD) to become the third-largest stablecoin by circulation, during the later hours of Monday. Read more here.
BNB chain burns over $770M worth of BNB tokens: BNB Chain will burn over 1.8 million binance coins (BNB) in its first burn this quarter, data from trackers shows. The burn was executed on BNB Chain at 08:23:05 UTC on Tuesday. Read more here.
Ethereum Foundation holds $1.3B in ether, $300M in non-crypto investments: The Ethereum Foundation held more than $1.6 billion in treasury assets at the end of March, the non-profit said Monday.
Almost $1.29 billion was held in ether (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. That represented over 0.297% of the total ether supply as of March 31. Some $11 million was held in other cryptocurrencies. Read more here.