Cryptocurrency prices today: Bitcoin, Ether, Cardano rise

There are two ways to look at Bitcoin’s rally. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency seems to be enjoying a robust little rally, gaining more than 10% since last Monday for one of its best such stretches of the year.

In a completely, different picture, even with its recent gains, Bitcoin is still well within the narrow province it has inhabited for most of the year. The coin has wobbled inside a 10% range of a key trend line — its average price over the past 50 days — for 49 straight sessions, the longest stretch since July 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency is down about 8% in 2022 (year-to-date or YTD) so far as it is about 37% below its record high of near $69,000 that it had hit in November last year.

Ether, the coin linked to Ethereum blockchain and the second largest crypto in terms of market capitalisation, was also last trading 2.5% higher at $3,079.

The performance of other digital tokens was also upbeat as Polygon, Litecoin, Stellar, Solana, Uniswap, Polkadot, Cardano edged higher, while Terra declined over the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap today is $2.06 trillion, higher by 2.4% in the last 24 hours.

Many crypto investors are re-evaluating their riskier holdings as the Fed raises rates and signals it could move even more aggressively. That suctions away cash that otherwise might have been deployed toward crypto or other high-growth areas of the market. Noted Bitcoin-investor Mike Novogratz weighed in recently, saying the coin is likely to trade in a range all year as the Fed continues to raise rates. It’s also difficult to bring in new investors against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and other upheavals.

Some market-watchers say the narrative playing out now is the developing struggle between long- and short-term holders. Long-term traders have been stepping in during downdrafts, while short-term ones have been selling at every rally as they try to break even. The result means Bitcoin remains stuck, reinforcing the current trend.