An increasing Bitcoin price is often bad news for altcoins. Even the top alternative currencies are struggling right now, whereas Bitcoin keeps marching on. The Ethereum price, which was above US$300 not long ago, is now starting to slip pretty badly. With losses against both USD and BTC, things aren’t looking all that great for ETH. Regaining the US$300 support will be incredibly challenging.
Ethereum Price is Slipping Quickly
No one is surprised to see most alternative cryptocurrencies losing value against Bitcoin right now. After all, that is the normal outcome whenever the Bitcoin price is surging. Especially with Bitcoin’s new all-time high in place as we speak, the Ethereum price is taking a bit of a beating. Although its value is still hovering near US$296 for the time being, it remains to be seen if this price point can be maintained for much longer. Altcoins are bleeding value left, right, and center right now.
This also means the Ethereum price is losing steam in both the USD and BTC markets at the same time. Earlier this week, one Ether was worth over US$345, but it swiftly lost US$50 over the next few days. The lowest price point for this week was US$291.59, which was reached before the Bitcoin price started moving up so spectacularly. At this rate, it is expected the Ethereum price will head well below this level and may even break US$285 in the coming hours.
Whether or not things will ever hit that level remains to be seen. The Ethereum price has declined by almost US$3 during the past 24 hours, but things will not end there by the looks of things. The bigger concern is that the Ethereum price lost over 10% in value against Bitcoin over the same period. While declines against Bitcoin are not uncommon in the world of altcoins these days, 10% is quite a spectacular drop for the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.
Additionally, the Ethereum trading volume isn’t looking all that hot either right now. With US$442.5 million worth of trading volume over 24 hours, ETH isn’t doing badly, but it’s not doing great either. This means Ethereum has one-sixth of Bitcoin’s trading volume right now. This would certainly explain why the Bitcoin Dominance Index is back at nearly 60%, compared to 43% not too long ago.
Not surprisingly, Poloniex is the largest exchange by trading volume for Ethereum right now. It is followed by Bitfinex and GDAX in this regard. With the ETH/BTC market being the largest in the world right now, it is evident there are plenty of people selling Ethereum in favor of Bitcoin. This course of action is set to reverse sooner or later, though, as most people know it is impossible to keep the Ethereum price below US$300 for very long.
The bigger question is how long this trend will last overall. Right now, it is evident Bitcoin’s run is far from done, as a new all-time high is seemingly being set every few hours. At the same time, the Ethereum price has continued to go down accordingly, especially in BTC terms. Cryptocurrency markets are never dull, although a lot of people would have liked to see things head in the other direction where the Ethereum price is concerned. Sadly for them, most altcoins will continue to bleed for some time to come.
