In our article last Thursday we mentioned that while bitcoin managed to break out of its range, the same couldn’t be said for PPC and NMC, which fell short. On Thursday evening, PPC/USD moved below the $0.80 handle while on Saturday Namecoin followed suit, breaking down below $0.86.

Bitcoin Continues Decline

Bitcoin continued the move lower after the breakout below $337. On Friday prices fell to $319 per coin but since then there has been no progress. The $319 mark managed to support BTC prices for almost three days now. We are currently trading at $321. The longer BTC/USD continues to hover right above $319, the more the odds increase for an eventual break lower. This is especially true if prices don’t stage any substantive rally in the meantime and just continue to trade near $320.

A decisive break below $319 may expose bitcoin to quick losses toward the $300 round figure. Below this, the swing low for the latest BTC fall at $285 may present some support. But the crucial milestone for bitcoin can be found slightly lower at $266. This was the high for BTC/USD during most of 2013 (until November). A break below $266 could trigger a longterm bear market for bitcoin. To end the current downtrend, at least in the short-term, BTC will need to climb back above $350.

Peercoin Moves Below $0.80

Like we mentioned above, late on Thursday, alternative cryptocurrency Peercoin broke below the important $0.80 mark. The move lower lead to losses in excess of 8 percent as PPC/USD hit a low of $0.73 yesterday. We are currently quoted at $0.733.

Peercoin prices are trading very close to the October 5^th swing low at $0.736. If PPC/USD can manage to clear this area and continue the decline, the next potential support can be found at the September 9th low at $0.675. Lower still, the Peercoin yearly low at $0.565 will be an important milestone for the altcoin.

Namecoin Breaks $0.86

Namecoin followed BTC and PPC lower and broke down from its own range. But unlike these two, NMC losses have so far been limited. After breaking below $0.86 on Saturday, NMC/USD fell to a low of $0.832. We are currently trading at $0.838.

Some of the important support levels to keep an eye on are $0.783, followed by the yearly low at $0.751. On the upside, while a break above $0.90 would be a cause for worry, the downtrend will technically remain in place until prices take out the top of the range at $0.95. When trading altcoins is important to pay attention to bitcoin’s movements as well, even if you don’t have a position, as cryptocurrencies will often follow BTC higher/lower.

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