The cryptocurrency markets have been struggling to garner any decisive momentum in one direction or another over a shorter time frame, with Bitcoin (BTC) leading most major altcoins to range sideways.
Over the past 24-hours, however, a few notable altcoins incurred a massive amount of selling pressure that was anomalous, leading one analyst to believe that they could be front running the next major BTC movement, and it wouldn’t be the first time this has happened.
Bitcoin Stuck in Firm Bout of Sideways Trading, But This May Soon Change
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading up marginally at its current price of $7,300, which is around where it has been trading at for the past week.
The crypto has, on multiple occasions since its surge from lows of $6,400, attempted to rally up to its resistance that exists within the upper-$7,000 region, although each of these movements have resulted in strong and swift rejections that have led BTC back to its current levels.
Naturally, Bitcoin’s bout of sideways trading has influenced the price action of most major cryptocurrencies, although a few altcoins have incurred anomalous price action over the past 24-hours, which could spell trouble for Bitcoin.
Scott Melker, a popular cryptocurrency analyst who goes by the pseudonym “The Wolf of All Streets,” explained in a recent tweet that both ADA and XRP faced intense selling pressure yesterday, which he muses could mean that Bitcoin is similarly about to “see some fireworks.”
“$ADA – Did I miss something? Huge sell volume. Just noticed that $XRP has major sell volume (but less movement) as well. Wondering if we are about to see some fireworks on $BTC and elsewhere,” he noted.
$ADA – Did I miss something? Huge sell volume. Just noticed that $XRP has major sell volume (but less movement) as well. Wondering if we are about to see some fireworks on $BTC and elsewhere. pic.twitter.com/xsKTvC3qkI
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) December 27, 2019
Altcoins Front Running BTC is Not Unprecedented
Altcoins have, in the past, had influence over Bitcoin’s price action, which is especially true during time of low trading volume or low volatility, like now.
Luke Martin, another popular cryptocurrency analyst, noted that the recent Bitcoin rally – which resulted in a rejection and return to its current price levels – was perpetuated by Ethereum’s price action, with ETH helping to lead BTC higher.
“$BTC & $ETH climbing in the past 24hrs with ETH leading the move higher,” he said while pointing to the chart seen below.
$BTC & $ETH climbing in the past 24hrs with ETH leading the move higher. pic.twitter.com/ZPqH1sIDVO
— Luke Martin (@VentureCoinist) December 26, 2019
How Bitcoin trades in the coming few days will likely offer insight into the validity of this theory, as a significant increase in selling pressure would confirm that the price action seen by ADA and XRP was offering a hint of what was to come for BTC.
Featured image from Shutterstock.