A Technical Look at Altcoins

My last article on altcoins called ‘’Bitcoin Feeds on the Tears of Altcoins’’ (/bitcoin-feeds-on-the-tears-of-altcoins/) tried to make the case that despite the large gains seen in BTC in May, altcoins will not be coming for the ride this time. A month and a half later and a lot has changed in Altcoinia. The Ripple fiasco decimated confidence in alternative currencies. Bitcoin’s silver, Litecoin, lost over 50% since May of this year, with most of the losses transpiring in June after my article was written.

On July 2^nd, LTC/USD flash crashed to a low of $3.05. The fall was the result of the depletion of the order book and prices soon recovered to over $6 a piece in the next hour. Still, the move demonstrates just how vulnerable altcoins still are. But where are we going from here? Let’s look at the technical picture.

Litecoin Undecided

From a technical standpoint, litecoin looks undecided. The trend is clearly down and has been down since November of 2013, when prices briefly spiked to over $48 per coin. However, since the flash crash on July 2^nd the momentum has shifted to the upside. We need to see how things play out from here before committing on either side.

Peercoin Poised for More Losses

Peercoin prices are again knocking on the important $1.3 figure. The level marked the low in the crypto back in April when PPC/USD fell to $1.280. It was subsequently tested on two more occasions, once in late June, and recently few days ago. The constant slow creep toward $1.3 means that a break below this figure is likely going forward. With the thin orderbook and a downward momentum in play, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Peercoin fall to $1 per coin on a significant break below $1.3.

Namecoin Flat

Namecoin is trading in a range. Prices have been moving back and forth between $2.10 and $1.64 since the middle of June. A break below $1.64 may lead to more losses toward the $1.34 April low. To the high end, an upside breakout over $2.10 may trigger a rally in NMC/USD. The first resistance on the way up is the May swing high at $2.77. This is followed by the April 15^th spike at $3.35. However, until prices brakeout and give us a clear direction, stay out of Namecoin.