Commodity Blog

Bitcoin is trading in a channel between $8,000 and $8,200 as it enters an accumulation phase, after posting its biggest weekly gains since October. The increase means that the cryptocurrency has broken out of the descending channel, lending credence to the belief that the world’s largest digital currency could be ready to move to new highs. The move would coincide with Bitcoin’s halving, which is set to occur in May this year. The halving event happens every four years and, historically, the coin has posted very strong gains in these years. Analysts have said that any price increase typically occurs in the lead up to the halving, rather than during the event itself, which could highlight potential short-term gains.

In the coming days, bulls will be hoping for a break above the $8,200 resistance level, but this has proven a difficult level to break in recent weeks. If BTC prices do hold above this point, the next major resistance awaits at $8,500. However, if prices break down and fall below $8,000, investors should expect prices to fall further to $7,700, where they may find support and enjoy a decent bounce.

The rest of the cryptocurrency market has remained relatively stable, although most coins have posted slight losses over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin SV, which saw an increase of nearly 50% last week, has leveled off, trading at $163.

Dash saw its price increase from $50 to $67 yesterday, a gain of more than 20%. Dash was launched by Evan Duffield in 2014. Duffield wanted to create a cryptocurrency with greater privacy and improved transaction times compared to Bitcoin. Today, it is four times quicker to mine a block on Dash than Bitcoin.

Initially launched as Xcoin, and then DarkCoin, the currency was rebranded once again to be called Dash. Since its inception, it has gained real-world use cases, especially in countries like Venezuela. Venezuela’s economy has suffered serious financial difficulties, and citizens have had to endure incredible levels of hyperinflation. Venezuelans have been using the coin as a store of value, and an increasing number of stores in the country have signed up to accept the coin. Not only does this mean that a coin like Dash benefits from political uncertainty in these countries, but real-world use cases show that the cryptocurrency can perform and transact as expected, heightening its credibility and viability.

At 17:00 GMT, Bitcoin (BTC) prices are down 0.71% and trading at $8,100.10. Ethereum (ETH) is down 1.28% at $143.09 and Ripple (XRP) is changing hands at $0.211, having slipped 1.83%. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) are down 1.23% and 2.29% and now cost $262.83 and $49.47 respectively.

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