Bitcoin Pulled Around by Ether Troubles

Bitcoin is being pulled around by Ether troubles again. During the past few days we’re seeing BTC/USD zig-zag up and down depending on what ETH does. Meanwhile Bitcoin’s little brother Litecoin continues the slow trend downward.

Bitcoin Pulled Around by Ether

Bitcoin is being pulled up/down by Ether. The strong inverse relationship between these two coins is back in full force. Every major Ether sell-off leads to some BTC gains while every large ETH rally drops Bitcoin prices somewhat. You can read more on why ETH volatility is off the charts HERE.

To break this deadlock, we will need to see Ether volatility decrease or Bitcoin break out. The two potentially critical points are $670 on the upside and $589 on the downside. On other BTC exchanges, these levels correspond to around $690 at the top end and $610 on the bottom. As we’ve written previously, prices can fluctuate substantially on different Bitcoin exchanges, so it’s always a good idea to check where the general market is trading.

Resistance levels above $670/$690 can be found at the $700 round figure followed by the $744 swing high and the $800 round figure. On the lower end below $589 we have a support at $540-$550 on FXOpen followed by another round figure at $500. The breakout point for the latest major rally at $460 per coin is a major level of support as well. The longer-run trends (weekly and monthly) remain bullish for Bitcoin.

Litecoin Losses Continue

Alternative cryptocurrency Litecoin is still clocking losses. The coin is currently trading at $3.89, down by 18 cents or 4.4 percent since last Tuesday. Prices traded as high as $4.12 during the past seven days but this was not enough to clear the important resistance at $4.16 per coin. This level is still the key figure to watch on the upside. A breakout above here would end the current downtrend.

A new uptrend requires a break of $4.40 as well. Resistance levels beyond here are at $4.50-$4.52 per coin followed by the November spike high of $4.85 and the round figures at $5 and $5.50. This year’s high at $5.86 is another potential resistance.

On the lower end, support can be found at $3.78 followed by a support area from $3.50 to $3.61. A clearing of this area could lead to more losses toward $3.30 per coin. The weekly trend for LTC/USD is up while the monthly trend is still neutral.