Bitcoin and Ethereum Continue to Shine
Written By: Isha Goel | May 5 2021
This week proved strong for both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as prices were up significantly. As of 4 PM EST on April 30th, Bitcoin was trading at around $56,996 and Ethereum was trading at around $2,786.
Bitcoin Options Expire
Analysts believe that this stark push in Bitcoin’s market price was a result of the $4.2B options expiration that pushed the price up 7.5% over the previous 24 hours. Steve Ehrlich, CEO at Voyager Digital, mentioned that ‘historically, there have been price dips in the days leading up to a bitcoin options expiry, only for it to rebound after’ and this trend is once again present looking at Bitcoin’s hourly price chart since April 27. Due to the fact that Bitcoin was not moving how many derivative traders expected, the options expiration likely caused them to return to the spot market on Friday.
Credit for image: Coinbase
While this bullishness around Bitcoin was a result of the rebound, many do not remain confident that it will hold at the $60,000 mark. Market data aggregated by Skew presents the notion that for options expiring May 21st, ‘there’s only a 38% chance Bitcoin will reach $60,000 on that date, with a 53% probability of $56,000 and a 74% probability of BTC over $50,000.’ Nonetheless, BTC’s positive momentum resulted in upward price movement for the previous 24 hours for other altcoins as well such as XLM and LINK. This is because traders remain bullish with crypto assets overall and are confident in their growth as opposed to selling them off to buy more into Bitcoin.
Ethereum Rides Bitcoin’s Wave
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is Ether, a technology aimed at expanding blockchain to decentralized applications in a way that Bitcoin has not been able to achieve. This coin peaked in early 2018 but was dragged down from nearly $1,200 to under $100 as the rising market crashed. Over the last 12 months, it has gained traction to hit a series of all-time highs because of a resurgent Bitcoin. Analysts are claiming that ‘a ride to $5,000 is imminent.’
While Ethereum made significant gains during the week, it did not appear to do as well as Bitcoin on Friday. The two coins have been very correlated thus far but there is talk amongst the crypto community that Ethereum may be decoupling from Bitcoin. The CIO of QCP Capital, Darius Sit, noted that many sold ETH into BTC and that it was simply some mean reversion. After speculation, this abnormal decoupling was likely a temporary condition and ultimately not statistically significant in the long run.
Credit for image: Coinbase
From bull markets to significant crashes overnight, the cryptocurrency market has not always had the best track record of being steady. That said, Bitcoin and Ethereum along with other altcoins have emerged as a new asset class with commendable returns in the last few years. As this asset class becomes more legitimized and accepted, there is most definitely a future for these altcoins and a bullish trend with an opportunity for promising returns.
Work Cited
Cawrey, Daniel. “Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $57K After $4.2B Options Expirations; Ether Steadies at $2.7K.” CoinDesk, CoinDesk, 30 Apr. 2021,
www.coindesk.com/market-wrap-bitcoin-57k-expirations-ether-steadies.
Cointelegraph. “Ethereum News by Cointelegraph.” Cointelegraph, Cointelegraph, 1 Jan. 2020, cointelegraph.com/tags/ethereum.
Reiff, Nathan. “Where Is the Cryptocurrency Industry Headed in 2021?” Investopedia, Investopedia, 30 Dec. 2020, www.investopedia.com/where-are-cryptocurrencies-headed-2019-4580342.
Swigunski, Mike. “How Cryptocurrency Will Transform The Future Business Forever.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 22 Apr. 2021,
www.forbes.com/sites/mikeswigunski/2021/04/17/how-cryptocurrency-will-transform-the-future-business -forever/?sh=5289ec344368.
“What’s Going on with Ethereum? The Cryptocurrency Vastly Outpacing Bitcoin’s Growth.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 30 Apr. 2021,
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/ethereum-price-latest-prediction-2021-b1839777.html