Bitcoin battles to Boost as Bakkt Opening Looms

Having managed to break back above $10,000 and push on towards $11,000 after falling the previous week, Bitcoin? is battling to make much more headway in the general cryptocurrency? market. Currently, the price of the major cryptocurrency? sits at nearly $10,600, but it has fallen from $10,800.

The most recent spike gave rise to predictions that Bitcoin? was once again turning bullish, but this latest bout of parallel trading, which sees the coin? only up around 1 percent over the last 24 hours, has many sitting to wait and see what the next move is. 

Big news around the corner is that Bakkt, the trading institution for cryptocurrency?, will be opening its deposits for the upcoming futures trading platform. This will allow for an influx of institutional investment, but before it kicks off, the market is on tenterhooks. 

It is certainly disappointing that Bitcoin? move above $10,000 didn’t take it beyond $11,000, which would have indicated a bigger boom in the making. However, it could be that this latest bout of stagnation is the calm before the launch of Bakkt’s futures trading platform.

Still on the way up

Regardless of the shortcomings, there is still positivity ranged over the seven days. At press time, Bitcoin? traded at $10,620, compared with just $9,350 at the same point last week. 

The 12 percent seven-day gains excited analysts, who abandoned bearish sentiment to forecast a continuation of upward momentum. A subsequent slowdown in growth has tempered those aspirations, however, with markets now waiting for outside events to sway the mood. 

Looking at some well-regarded traders and commentators, such as Filb Filb, the prediction is that Bakkt will have a role to play in the next movement from the major cryptocurrency?. 

“Bitcoin? continues to consolidate above $10k,” he said, adding: 

“A lot of people are hoping to get bids filled below $9k; the market rarely gets what it wants and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are forced to buy higher. But let’s see what happens with the launch of Bakkt.” 

No good for altcoins

The backlash of this waiting to see the effect of Bitcoin? futures is that altcoins in the market continue to struggle. Their recent movement in terms of gains have been solely predicated off the back of Bitcoin?’s growth. Now, with the sideways movement at the top, Altcoins are once again flagging. 

In fact there has been some substantial losses in the top 20 altcoins. Ethereum?, the largest altcoin? by market cap, fared worse than any in the top twenty, dropping 3.4 percent to hit $171. 

As trader Nick Cote warned a further dip below $160 could even have a knock-on effect for Bitcoin?.

“A break below the $160 handle would spell disaster for the bulls. I'd assume most /USD pairs, including Bitcoin? would dump as well,” he wrote.