Bitcoin futures contracts provide some much needed support to the cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin's more than 10% rally coming amidst lighter trading volumes.
The post-Christmas rally was in evidence through the early part of the day today, with Bitcoin Cash up 4.08% to $2819.9.
Upside through the early part of the day comes off the back of a Bitcoin rally, with Bitcoin up 10.35% to $15,350.78. The gains come in spite of Central Banks and governments continuing to warn investors over cryptocurrencies and the risks associated.
Supporting Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash through the early part of the day came from a bounce in the CME futures market, with January and February contracts rising by $1,175 and $1,320 respectively to pull values up to $15,310 and $15,570 at the time of writing.
With many markets still closed for the holidays, trading volumes were on the lighter side and amongst the Bitcoin bad press, there were more 2018 forecasts for Bitcoin to see even more sizeable gains through the next year.
For the day ahead, Bitcoin Cash will need to make a move to $3,000 levels to set up for another run towards $4,000, through with trading on the lighter side, we will expect Bitcoin Cash to lag behind Bitcoin through the day.
Get Into Bitcoin Cash Trading Today
Following an early bounce to a morning high $286.99, it’s been fairly range bound for Litecoin through the morning, with Litecoin failing to get a major boost from Bitcoin’s morning rally.
The Bitcoin futures markets and likely imminent launch of the Bitcoin ETFs are bringing significantly greater volatility to the cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin and its siblings are likely to be more significantly impacted by rising vol than the likes of Litecoin that has been more resilient to the bad press over the last week. Having said that, Bitcoin rallies will continue to leave Litecoin behind, with investors all too aware of where the larger returns can be made on the rallies.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was up 3.12% to $282.05, but for a Litecoin rally to gain momentum, a move to $300 levels is needed before the trading volume picks up in the coming days.
Buy & Sell Cryptocurrency Instantly
Ripple was trailing the other major cryptocurrencies at the time of writing, up 2.67% to $1.02673, though the reality is that Ripple was able to find its feet more quickly during the pre-holiday sell off that saw Bitcoin fall by close to 50%.
That’s not to say that Ripple came through the latest crypto test unscathed, having hit a very brief Friday low of $0.68, which is well of its all-time high $1.248. In contrast to Bitcoin, which has relatively less influence on Ripple than its peers, Ripple news has been a little more upbeat and has provided strong support for the cryptocurrency during moments of market panic.
The Ripple team has done well to provide strong support and the ever increasing availability of Ripple on exchanges across the world is certainly another positive.
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen Ripple back at sub-$0.30 levels and December has been a poignant moment for Ripple and the cryptomarkets, with bubble talk having boiled over in the wake of last week’s correction, all of which has Ripple still looking at a 300 plus percent gain for the month.
A flat start to the day could change should Ripple manage to break out of its current ranges, which have been on the tighter side, with any move through to $1.05 likely to set Ripple up to make a splash.
With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.