April Market Review | Bitcoin Consolidates, Altcoins Setting Sail Again? Weiss Ratings: Dogecoin-Like Surges to Become the Norm
In the beginning of the second quarter, the cryptocurrency market saw a significant pullback. However, in reality, while the overall market corrected, specific altcoins quickly rebounded after a drop, even reaching new all-time highs. Bitcoin, on the other hand, continued to consolidate, with its market share dropping to a near three-year low, indicating further signs of altcoin season.
In mid-April, boosted by the listing on Coinbase, Bitcoin reached a historical high of $64,899 on 4/14, before pulling back to $47,044 on 4/25, marking a 27.51% decline.
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Bitcoin Stalls at $55,000
Previous statistics show that during the bull market of 2017, Bitcoin took an average of 13 days to "bottom out"; Weiss Ratings also pointed out that on average, it took 20 days for Bitcoin to recover to its pre-decline price in 2017.
In the 2016-2017 bull run, the average #BTC correction was 20 days, the longest was 47, and it took place between June 16th and August 2nd of 2016. The current correction so far lasted only 15 days. #Bitcoin $BTC
— Weiss Crypto (@WeissCrypto) April 28, 2021
Although Weiss Ratings previously considered $46,000 to $48,000 as the bottom, the current correction period is still shorter than the 20-day average in 2017. Additionally, facing strong resistance at $55,000, they do not rule out the possibility of Bitcoin retesting $45,000 to $48,000.
Bullish on Ethereum
Weiss Ratings had previously praised several public chains including EOS, ADA, Fantom FTM, but recently has been consistently bullish on Ethereum. They also believe that the so-called "Ethereum killers" are unlikely to emerge, with the only way to gain adoption being to become a sidechain of Ethereum. Weiss Ratings stated:
Some say other L1 (layer 1) blockchains are catching up to Ethereum, but we are highly skeptical. This is similar to 2017 when those looking to be Ethereum killers sacrificed all decentralization to make it cheaper and faster.
Ethereum Leading Altcoin Rally
Ethereum's correction this time is at 21.5%, reaching a historical high of $2,762 on the 28th. Weiss Ratings firmly believes that the altcoin season will further expand, and Ethereum's rise will undoubtedly trigger a more frenzied rebound in other altcoins.
Especially if Bitcoin consolidates or falls, it will bring upward momentum to other altcoins. In February of this year, Bitcoin's dominance was still at 61.1%. Despite the previous rise in altcoins, Weiss Ratings believes that many projects still have a long way to go compared to their historical highs in 2018, indicating that the altcoin season has just begun.
Currently, Bitcoin's dominance has dropped to 48.9%, which is similar to the mid-May levels in 2017.
Altcoin Performance in March
Dogecoin surged on the hype around the 4/20 commemoration day, reaching $0.45 at one point, although it has since dropped to $0.319, still showing nearly a 500% increase over the past month.
In addition, the Solana ecosystem has also shown impressive performance, with SOL and SRM both breaking historical highs.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin has dropped below $54,000. Weiss Ratings believes that Bitcoin may be entering the correction period they have been waiting for, and falling to $45,000 would satisfy a healthy 30% decline, which is also the lowest correction price forecasted by Weiss Ratings. They stated:
Bitcoin's sideways movement may open the door to an epic altcoin season. A 30% correction clearly delineates the previous bull market, and we will begin to see various sectors breaking out parabolically. The previous surge of Dogecoin may become the norm in the market, time will tell, and we will stand firm together.