The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading in a defined range over the past weeks as the halving hype has passed. Bitcoin’s price action also led to increased volatility in altcoins and some of the smaller altcoins have been showing impressive strength. So far, Theta Token (THETA) and Band Protocol (BAND) have been heavy movers.
However, in the previous days, the larger cap altcoins have started to move up, with Cardano (ADA) and Ether (ETH) as the primary movers. As Bitcoin attempts to find a way back to $10,000, traders will closely watch to see if there is more to follow from these large cap altcoins.
Crypto market daily performance. Source: Coin360
Ether breaks through the $215 barrier
ETH USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
The daily chart is showing an evident compression between $195 and $215, which finally broke to the upside. Alongside that, the chart is also showing some critical metrics for further upward momentum.
Key indicators for bull or bear markets are the support above or below the 100-day and 200-day moving average. As long as the price of a certain asset continues to move above the moving averages the asset is in bull territory.
Why is that important? Throughout the entire previous bull cycle, the price of Ethereum remained above these indicators, leading to a peak of $1,400 in January 2018.
Notably, the volume is also massively increasing in recent periods, showing signs of accumulation as volume precedes price. A similar sign is shown on the altcoin market capitalization chart.
Altcoin market capitalization prepares to shift toward $110-$140 billion
Altcoin market capitalization 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
The total market capitalization for altcoins is showing an impressive increase in volume, while the capitalization is also flipping the 100-day and 200-day MA for support.
As the chart is showing, the support is found at these MAs in which $68-$72 billion is an essential support.
Furthermore, the resistance is established at $113 and $136 billion. This is a vital resistance as the $113 billion level can be compared with the $6,000 floor of Bitcoin in 2018. The price of Bitcoin is now far above the $6,000 barrier, as it’s currently hovering between $9,100 and $10,000.
Therefore, it’s time for altcoins to start pacing up, and the next resistance levels are found at the $113 and $136 billion level. If the total market capitalization rallies towards the $136 billion level, that would mean a surge of 60% for the entire altcoin market capitalization.
What’s happening with Cardano?
ADA USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
The strongest large-cap altcoin in the past week has been Cardano which has moved 30% in recent days. This last push made the cryptocurrency rally towards the levels from February 2020, through which all the losses of the March 12 market crash have vanished.
What’s behind this push? From a fundamental perspective, a new roadmap for the release of Shelley is complete, triggering a further rally on the price.
However, on the technical side, the price has been holding the 100-day and 200-day MA as support earlier. After that, the green area around $0.05 became support, which fueled the continuation of the upwards momentum.
Right now, the next resistance of this pair is found at $0.07, with a potentially exciting support level at $0.057-$0.06.
If the $0.057-$0.06 confirms as support, a potential continuation rally towards $0.07 and $0.09 as the next targets are on the tables.
Confluent with previous statements, Cardano’s trading volume is also increasing this week. A possible explanation is that investors are jumping from Bitcoin towards altcoins as various projects are finally starting to release their products and platforms.
Will Stellar Lumens follow Cardano?
XLM USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Meanwhile, other large-caps are starting to show signals of potential upwards continuation as well. Cardano has been rallying in the previous days, Ether broke through $213-$215 as a key resistance level. Stellar Lumens (XLM) is also showing signals of potential continuation as well.
The green zone at $0.06-$0.0625 has to remain a support, but overall the structure is beginning to form a bullish pennant. This is due to the fact the price of Stellar Lumens continues to make higher lows, leading to a potential continuation to the upside.
The next primary target for Stellar Lumens is the resistance at $0.085-$0.087.
What to expect from the ADA/BTC and ETH/BTC
The ETH/BTC pair has been trading inside a range structure since the August-September of 2019. However, since it’s low in September 2019, the price has been making structural higher lows.
ETH BTC 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Through that, the trend for ETH/BTC can be classified as an uptrend. What are the next significant hurdles for Ether?
First of all, a breakthrough above the 0.024 sats level should be beneficial for continuation. The 0.024 sats level is confluent with the 200-day MA and needs to be broken for a sustainable extension. As discussed, finding support above the 200-day MA is a vital indicator for further bullish momentum.
Once the price of Ether is above the resistance level (whether or not a retest of the 0.021 sats level occurs), a new higher high should be made.
By creating a new higher high, the price of Ether will finally break out of this range. If the 0.027 sats level is broken to the upside, the next target lies at 0.034 sats.
Where Ether is still fighting the moving averages, is ADA/BTC is already leading the pack and acting above them.
ADA BTC 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
The Cardano chart in the BTC pair is showing an apparent breakthrough in the resistance at 0.00000625 sats, after which the price rallied towards the next resistance at 0.00000680-0.00000700 sats.
This is the last hurdle before a further surge. Preferably, the price should come down for a retest of the 0.00000625-0.00000640 sats level for support.
However, once the price of ADA/BTC breaks through the 0.00000690 sats level, a further, mpre sustainable rally towards 0.00001000 – 0.00001070 sats level is on the table. Such a rally would mean a new surge of 60%-70%.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.