Markets Quiet as Most Major Coins Report Small Gains, Bitcoin Hangs Below $3,500

Feb. 1 — Markets are relatively quiet, as major coins are trading sideways, with most seeing small gains over the 24-hour period.

Market visualization from Coin360

The top cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) is hovering below the $3,500 mark, trading at $3,492 at press time. The coin is up by .71 percent on the day and is still down by 2.85 percent on its weekly chart.

Yesterday, the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (CBOE) re-submitted its application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). CBOE had initially withdrawn its request, as the U.S. government shut down made it unlikely that the SEC would be able to review the request by the impending deadline of Feb. 27.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ripple (XRP) is down 1.18  percent on the day, following large gains made on Jan. 30. Currently XRP is trading at $0.308 at press time. On its weekly chart, XRP is down 1.18 percent from $0.314 on Jan. 25.

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ethereum (ETH) has changed little over the 24-hour period, and is trading at $107.75 at press time. On its weekly chart, the token is down 7.43 percent after plunging from $116.17 on Jan. 27. Yesterday, Ethereum launched its first pre-release for phase zero of the network’s evolving transition to Ethereum 2.0. The upgrade is planned to be the system’s last, as the entire network transitions from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, and purportedly solves problems such as scalability, economic finality and security.

Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Litecoin (LTC) and the native token of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, Binance Coin (BNB), are the major gainers among the top 20 cryptocurrencies at press time. According to CoinMarketCap, both coins are up 5.17  percent and are trading at $33.31 and $6.55, respectively.

Total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is down 11 percent on the month following a sharp drop on Jan. 10. At press time, total market cap is $114.6 billion.

Total market capitalization monthly chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

In traditional commodities markets, oil prices are rising after Saudi Arabia cut supplies to the U.S. A jump in prices yesterday followed a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration which showed that America-bound imports from the OPEC founder were decreasing.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, Brent crude, and OPEC basket are all up on the day. At press time they are trading at $55.29, $62.81 and $61.19 respectively, according to Oilprice.com.

A report that employment is improving in the U.S. reportedly resulted in a decrease in gold futures prices. While April gold is down 0.20 percent to $1,322.60, the yellow metal is still up 1.9 percent on the week, marking two consecutive weeks of growth. Prices have purportedly been pushed up by trade uncertainties between the U.S. and China, and a hint that the U.S. Federal Reserve could pause interest rate increases.