Weekend Market Watch – Altcoins soar as Bitcoin recovers above $64K

Following a week of declining trends, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin experienced a surge in trading on Saturday afternoon. Following the April 2024 jobs data release by the U.S. Labor Department, there was a significant surge in crypto values. Last month, the U.S. saw an increase of 175,000 jobs, resulting in a slight rise in the unemployment rate to 3.9%. Experts had predicted the addition of 235,000 new jobs and a 3.8% unemployment rate.

Altcoins season dominates yet again

Bitcoin experienced a tumultuous trading week with significant price drops on multiple occasions. The week began with a promising surge as BTC reached nearly $65,000, but unfortunately, the market quickly fell under the control of the bears, causing it to drop to $62,000.

The downward trend continued as the asset plummeted to and below $60,000. The correction reached a two-month low of $56,500 on Wednesday, just before the latest US FOMC meeting.

After the necessary steps were taken and the Federal Reserve announced its decision to hold off on raising interest rates in the near future, BTC experienced a sudden surge of $2,000 followed by a rapid decline, ultimately returning to its initial position. It made significant progress in the subsequent hours and came close to reaching $60,000 yesterday, as reported.

Initially halted, it eventually managed to overcome that mental barrier later in the day. The market bulls maintained their momentum and drove BTC to reach a multi-day high of $63,500. Despite experiencing a slight decline, the current value of Bitcoin is approximately $63,000.

With a daily increase of 6%, the market cap of this asset has now reached $1.240 trillion, solidifying its dominance over altcoins at 50.5%.

The top performers among the largest altcoins are found in the unpredictable meme coin sector. Dogecoin, the first and largest of the cohort, has experienced a significant increase of over 20%. Following the recent announcement, Tesla has decided to accept DOGE as a form of payment.

PEPE has experienced a significant increase of 11.7%, while SHIB has also seen a gain of 8% and is now valued above $0.000025. Ethereum and Binance Coin have both experienced a notable increase of approximately 3.5%. As a result, the price of ETH has surged to over $3,127, while BNB is currently trading at $590.

The remaining larger-cap altcoins are also showing gains, such as TON, BC, AVAX, NEAR, and HBAR. The crypto market cap has seen a remarkable recovery, surging by over $200 billion since Wednesday’s low. Currently, it stands at an impressive $2.4 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

Bitcoin market performance

Bitcoin’s price has experienced significant fluctuations over the past few weeks. The bulls are making a strong comeback, successfully reclaiming their dominance by surpassing the $60K mark. But can it be sustained in the long run? 

The price of BTC has experienced a significant rebound of over 12.50% within a span of three days, following a recent dip to a two-month low of around $56,550. It has now surged past $64,000 as of May 4.

The recent upturn has been primarily driven by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates steady until 2024. In addition, the latest U.S. employment data shows a decrease in jobless claims to their lowest point since mid-February, which has contributed to the continued upward trend in Bitcoin’s price.

Some members of the Bitcoin market are hopeful for a sustained BTC bull run in the upcoming months. One independent market analyst predicts that the price of BTC could potentially reach $85,000. 

The crypto market has experienced significant growth in 2024, despite the presence of higher interest rates and indications of a weakening economy. In addition, the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. provided a significant boost.

However, it is important to note that certain factors that have been driving the market may be losing momentum, which could have a negative impact on valuations in the future. Unless there is a substantial improvement in the practicality of cryptocurrencies, this could pose a long-term challenge.

Currently, the value of Bitcoin (BTC) stands at $63,636.10, reflecting a slight 0.1% increase within the past hour and a notable 3.3% increase since yesterday. The current value of BTC is 1.4% higher than it was 7 days ago.