Bitcoin retreated after failing for a second day to break through price resistance at $60,000, a key psychological level that has also proven a formidable stopping point during this year’s powerful rally.
A major missing ingredient from the market recently? Spot trading volume.
Thursday’s volume has trended lower since bitcoin broke a record high on March 13, according to data from eight leading crypto exchanges tracked by CoinDesk.
“We still see the highest volume when the market sells off, which is a concern,” Arcane Research wrote in its weekly newsletter on March 30.
But to bitcoin bulls, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is likely to test a new all-time high very soon.
“Bitcoin is poised to retest the $60,000 level again,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer at San Francisco-based crypto exchange OKCoin. “The reason for this recent rally is that bitcoin and crypto have gone mainstream.”
“The normalization of crypto in daily chatter and usage is increasingly obvious,” Lau said.
Ether has outperformed bitcoin in the past 24 hours, which could be “a signal of crypto asset rotation,” according to OKCoin’s Lau.
Alternative cryptocurrencies mostly outperformed during the first quarter, based on CoinDesk 20 data. While bitcoin logged an extraordinary 102% return, that level of performance was only good enough for 14th place in the CoinDesk quarterly ranking.
Cardano (ADA) was the top performer in terms of percentage gains, with a staggering 560% return.
The token is now the No. 5 cryptocurrency by market capitalization, behind only bitcoin, ether, Binance’s BNB token and the stablecoin tether, per Messari data.
ADA, which is the native token for the smart-contract blockchain Cardano, tripled in February alone as traders bet on the success of “Ethererum Killers.”
In March, Cardano received a price boost thanks to the so-called Coinbase effect. The U.S. cryptocurrency exchange giant listed ADA on both its institutional platform Coinbase Pro and more retail-centered Coinbase exchange in March, sending the price higher.
Other digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly in the green Thursday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):