Bitcoin now stands alone in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value at CoinMarketCap, with the rest having fallen below a key long-term moving average.
The top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value, ether (ETH), XRP, bitcoin cash (BCH), litecoin (LTC), binance coin (BNB), EOS, bitcoin SV (BSV) and stellar (XLM), have now all closed firmly beneath their 200-period moving average (MA) on the daily chart.
The event marks a period of greater selling momentum, confirming the majority of the bearish mood currently prevailing among investors. Most traders now have their funds locked up in bitcoin (BTC), as seen by its high dominance rating standing at 69.1 percent.
The majority of the top 10 altcoins had already been trending bearish below the 200-period MA for some time (as early as July) while bitcoin cash (BCH) completed the set passing beneath the average on August 28.
As it stands all major top 10 alternative currencies by total market capitalization are now below the key moving average with traders bracing the possibility for another violent sell-off.
The onus is now heavily on the bulls to recoup losses above the 200-period MA’s or risk reverting back to 2018’s market trend of significant long-term lower lows and lower highs.
Death cross
Deepening the possibility of a greater drawdown from its recent peak high at $146 on June 22, litecoin’s (LTC) death cross looms on the daily chart with the 50-period MA and the 200-period MA flirting for a cross.
When the short-term 50-period MA passes below the long-term 200-period MA it signals a death cross, a reliable predictor of some of the worst bear markets in traditional stocks and crypto alike.
The possibility is notable given that litecoin lead the crypto market recovery earlier this year, when traders bought up the crypto asset in anticipation of its reward halving. Still, despite the event that reduced the mining reward from 25 LTC to 12.5 LTC, the world’s fifth largest crypto by market value appears to be rallying the markets for another drop.
Disclosure: This author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing.
image via Shutterstock; charts via Trading View