Market Watch: Bitcoin Consolidates Above $19K, Ahead of Critical Weak

Bitcoin has remained relatively calm during the weekend, with small fluctuations around the $19,000 level. The altcoin market has also displayed untypical stagnation with an absence of double-digit price movements.

Bitcoin’s Chill Weekend

Following the highly volatile week with two consecutive all-time highs on some exchanges and sharp retracements, bitcoin calmed as the weekend started. The cryptocurrency recovered the losses and dabbled around the $19,000 level, as reported yesterday.

The situation didn’t change much in the past 24 hours. BTC dived to an intraday low of $18,900 and then shot up to $19,400. Following these short-term price fluctuations, the primary cryptocurrency calmed above $19,000.

Somewhat expectedly, bitcoin’s inability to break into uncharted territory north of $20,000 has impacted the general sentiment within the cryptocurrency community.

The analytics company Santiment pointed out that the social volume of positive and negative commentaries on Twitter has “died down a bit as market price came up just short of $20,000 on previous attempts.” However, the company asserted that optimism levels are still slightly higher.

In any case, following relatively prolonged periods of consolidation like the one that we are currently witnessing, usually follows a big move.

Untypical Stagnation On The Altcoin Street

The alternative coins, and especially mid- and lower-cap ones, are known for their high levels of volatility. Just last week, they went from yearly highs for several tokens to losing double-digit percentages during the Thanksgiving massacre.

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However, they have mimicked BTC’s performance during the weekend, and most of them have remained relatively still. The top ten coins by market cap have only two representatives with 24-hour moves higher than 1%. Those are Ripple (1.1%) and Bitcoin Cash (1.4%).

Ethereum, Binance Coin, Chainlink, Polkadot, Cardano, and Litecoin display essentially the same price tag as yesterday.

The situation among the lower- and mid-cap altcoins is similar. The most significant gainer, Aave, has increased by less than 3%. BitcoinSV (2.7%), Enjin Coin (2.6%), Terra (2.3%), and Ravencoin (2%) are next.

In contrast, Kusama has lost the most value – 2.6%. Nano, Zilliqa, and Orchid have also declined by approximately 2%.