FX.co ★ ETH/USD starts rallying while BTC/USD fluctuates: reasons and prospects

In late March and early April, the cryptocurrency market shows rapid growth despite some fluctuations in the prices of separate assets. Market capitalization is approaching the $2 trillion mark, and the daily trading volumes of major coins continue to increase. The growth of cryptocurrency quotes is associated with a positive news background, the introduction of digital assets into Visa and PayPal payment systems, as well as the end of bitcoin expiration, which eased the pressure on the market.

Despite all the positive factors, BTC/USD is going through a local decline near the important psychological level of $60,000. As of April 1, bitcoin's price consolidated at around $58,500, having risen by 1.5% within a day. A slight decline in bitcoin is associated with critical comments of the US Fed's Chair who said that bitcoin could not become a "digital gold" as it is too volatile and not supported by anything. In addition, most BTC holders, including institutional investors, prefer to consolidate their profit in cryptocurrency rather than transfer it to fiat money. Due to this, the price of bitcoin is not growing as rapidly as it should considering the increasing demand (daily turnover of $61 billion).

Some worries regarding the performance of the BTC/USD pair are also associated with the consolidated movement of buyers who are massively opening long positions. Most of the sellers are large companies that react to the general market sentiment in the opposite way, using the mechanisms of crypto-exchanges that allow them to liquidate the positions of users. This speculative move is extremely beneficial for large players who can absorb the necessary volumes of assets without causing a significant increase in prices. In the near future, the quotes of the BTC/USD pair will continue to grow. After another record surge, the market should be ready for the subsequent pullback of the asset by 5-10%.

The main altcoin Ethereum is doing much better. On April 1, the ETH/USD pair showed a sharp increase to the level of $1,930. Within a day, the crypto asset has advanced by 6.2% and approached a record high. The market capitalization of ETH has reached $222.5 billion, and soon Ethereum will be able to move above its all-time high of $2,035.

The Ripple token also shows good performance amid the overall market euphoria. The asset has risen in price by 1.5%, and now the XRP/USD pair has stopped at around $0.556. The number of cryptocurrency users is growing thanks to cooperation with the payment systems. In addition, Ripple is going to acquire 40% of the leading cross-border paymentsspecialist Tranglo which is also a positive factor for the crypto currency.

Litecoin displays steady growth, with its price rising by 2.2%. The LTC/USD pair is now trading at $196, and the cryptocurrency shows good dynamics of the trading volume which indicates high growth potential. However, the asset still needs to overcome several important psychological marks to reach news highs.

The cryptocurrency market is starting the second quarter of 2021 with great prospects and positive news. The main factor that contributes to the growth of digital coins is the introduction of crypto transactions by Visa and PayPal for their US customers. Now cryptocurrencies have every chance to overcome important psychological marks, reach new record highs and bring the total market capitalization to $2 trillion