The cryptocurrency markets regained some poise in the week ending March 23, with several individual tokens making more notable gains.
Overall, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies clocked a weekly high of $356 billion on March 21, and was last seen at $345 billion – up 29 percent from the low of $275 billion see on March 18.
The recovery could be attributed to bitcoin’s (BTC) 24 percent rise to $9,160 from the weekly low of $7,335, as well as more positive general news flow. As of writing, BTC is trading at $8,547, meaning the cryptocurrency has appreciated by a meager 2.5 percent on a weekly basis.
Once again, small-cap names like ICON’s ICX token, EOS, and Qtum were the strongest gainers in the top 25 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Top Gainers
ICON
Weekly performance: 64.44 percent
All-time high: $12.04
Closing price on Mar. 16: $2.25
Current market price: $3.7
Rank as per market capitalization: 19
ICON’s ICX token, February’s best-performing cryptocurrency, rose to $4.02 on Binance on Thursday – its highest level since Feb. 26. ICX ran into bids after Bithumb, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, announced it would list ICX on March 21. Upbit, Korea’s largest exchange, also listed the token on March 22.
Trading volume rose above $0.2 billion on March 21 for the first time since Jan. 30. That day was also the highest single-day trading volume since Jan. 9, according to CoinMarketCap. The high volume rally indicates the ICX token will likely extend gains in coming weeks.
EOS
Weekly performance: 34.38 percent
All-time high: $18.71
Closing price on Mar. 16: $5.09
Current market price: $6.84
Rank as per market capitalization: 6
EOS witnessed a bullish doji reversal this week and clocked a weekly high of $7.28, as per Bitfinex data. Apart from the broad-based crypto market recovery, the rumors of exchange listings and joint venture news seem to have helped the cryptocurrency post good gains week-on-week.
That said, EOS is still struggling to beat the falling channel resistance, having created a doji candle yesterday that indicates indecision in the marketplace. So, EOS might be in for a pullback before the falling channel resistance is breached in a convincing manner.
Qtum
Weekly performance: 22.83 percent
All-time high: $106.88
Closing price on Mar. 16: $14.98
Current market price: $18.4
Rank as per market capitalization: 18
Qtum (QTM) jumped to a one-week high of $21.84 on March 21, according to Bitfinex data. The cryptocurrency notably spiked 60 percent on March 19 after Binance added the Qtum-Binance Coin (QTUM/BNB) and Qtum-Tether (QTUM/USDT) trading pairs.
However, the initial buzz created by the new pairs seems to have faded, as QTM has traded in a sideways manner for the last 36 hours. Further, the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) remains below 50.00 (bearish territory) despite the sharp week-on-week gains. The outlook would turn bearish if prices drop below $16.23 (Feb. low, as per Bitfinex).
Top losers
NEM
Weekly performance: -15.89 percent
All-time high: $2.09
Closing price on Mar. 16: $0.338381
Current market price: $0.284618
Rank as per market capitalization: 13
NEM’s XEM token was one of the top performing cryptocurrencies of the week ending March 16. However, the follow-through this week has been anything but encouraging. The “death cross” (bearish 50-day moving average and 200-day moving average) crossover confirmed on March 17 (as per Poloniex data) seems to have weighed over the token.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance added XEM-Binance Coin (XEM/BNB), XEM-Bitcoin (XEM/BTC) and XEM-Ether (XEM/ETH) trading pairs earlier this week, but the news failed to put a floor under XEM prices.
Also, beginning March 18, the NEM.io Foundation disabled the tracking mosaic intended to monitor movements of XEM stolen in the Coincheck hack, although it is unclear whether the news had anything to do with the price drop.
VeChain
Weekly performance: -14.87 percent
All-time high: $9.45
Closing price on Mar. 16: $3.9
Current market price: $3.32
Rank as per market capitalization: 17
VeChain’s VET token was the last week’s top performing cryptocurrency. However, prices fell to $2.89 on March 19 on Binance – the lowest level since Feb. 6.
The investor community had anticipated a price drop, courtesy of a reduction in liquidity due to an X Node lock-up. Further, investors see little incentive to buy the token in the short run, unless there is big positive news before the mainnet launch in June. Consequently, VET may remain under pressure in the days ahead.
Nano
Weekly performance: -12.70 percent
All-time high: $34.43
Closing price on Mar. 16: $8.82
Current market price: $7.7
Rank as per market capitalization: 22
Nano (NANO) fell to $5.97 on March 18 – the lowest level since Dec. 25. Although Koinex, one of India’s top cryptocurrency exchanges, listed NANO yesterday, still prices closed (as per UTC) down 4 percent. Furthermore, the team behind Nano shared its roadmap and vision for the future this week, but there was no noticeable impact on prices.
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