Bitcoin is back above $100,000 after a slight correction at the beginning of this week. A 2024 Pew Research Center poll showed that 17% of US adults say they have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrency. This statistic has not changed since 2021.
Bitcoin’s rise above $100,000 has many investors fearful of losing it. The Fear and Greed Index, which measures market sentiment, reads “Extreme Greed.” However, marginal traders looking to enter trades can consider cheap altcoins as alternatives to the largest cryptocurrency this market cycle.
Trump’s Cryptocurrency Plans Are Catalyzing Gains in Bitcoin and Altcoins
“We’re going to do something great in crypto because we don’t want China, or anyone else…but other people are embracing it, and we want it,” incoming US President Donald Trump told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. To be at the forefront.”
Trump answered questions about a possible Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, stating that it would be something great, sparking positive sentiments among cryptocurrency traders.
Previously, Trump’s pro-crypto stance and nomination of crypto-friendly candidates to key positions such as AI & Crypto Czar and SEC Chairman eased regulatory and policy concerns for crypto market participants.
Bitcoin is back above $100,000 after correcting earlier this week; Altcoins have been rising alongside the largest cryptocurrency since mid-week. As the market recovers from the flash crash, cheap altcoins pose an investment alternative for traders who may have missed the dollar cost averaging of buying Bitcoin this cycle.
The launch of Google’s new computing chip has raised concerns among cryptocurrency traders regarding the security of their Bitcoin holdings. However, there is no significant impact on the price. Addressing these concerns, Dario Lo Beaulieu, Head of Blockchain and Co-Founder of Brickken, told crypto.news:
“Google’s recent breakthrough in quantum computing just shows what we already knew for years.
The majority of cryptography used in everyday tasks from banking to data processing is based on cryptographic techniques that would have taken many, many years for quantum computing to become a problem today. […].
Recent research from the University of Sussex suggests that one would need a quantum computer with 13 million qubits, and what Google achieved is 105 qubits. […]This should remind us to update our system for quantum-resistant cryptosystems as soon as possible.
Bitcoin options data suggests the rally may extend
Options data paints a bullish picture for the cryptocurrency with a market cap of $2 trillion. Bitcoin’s 14-day 25-delta risk reversal is 3.75985. This means that the implied volatility of calls is greater than the implied volatility of options, indicating a bullish sentiment. More market participants are betting on a rise in the price of Bitcoin, while… Bitcoin It remains stable above $100,000 across spot exchange platforms.
A call/put ratio of 0.55 or less indicates strong bullish sentiment in the market, as more calls are being bought than put. Derivatives traders expect a bull market and this supports the hypothesis of a Bitcoin price increase.
Implied volatility has fallen since BTC returned above $100,000 on Wednesday. The hourly chart shows a decline over the past 24 hours.
Typically, a decline in Level IV indicates that traders expect prices to be stable, and significant fluctuations are unlikely. Bitcoin confirms this thesis and remains firm above a major psychological barrier.
Altcoins could rise as the altcoin season returns
The Blockchain Center’s Altcoin Season Index rose to 71 on a scale of 0 to 100. While a reading of 75 indicates it is altcoin season, between December 9 and 12, the index added 6 points.
Altcoin season is the time period when 75% of the top 50 altcoins outperform Bitcoin by 90 days. The indicator shows that the market is closer to the second phase of the altcoin season, which could push token prices higher in the coming weeks.
Cheap altcoins to consider for this course
Three main narratives support the list of cheap altcoins that could help marginal buyers gain an advantage over Bitcoin holders in this cycle:
- Ethereum (Ethereum) could outperform Bitcoin with higher inflows from institutions and retail traders and bullish options metrics. This paves the way for Ethereum beta runs, layer 2 tokens, staking tokens, Ethereum-based memes, and DeFi tokens like ghostpendel (Pendle), maker (Poor), Ethereum Name Service (Forget) and baby (baby), among others.
- Gaming tokens and AI tokens could see a rebound in demand among traders with an increasing affinity for AI.
- Cryptocurrencies based on Bitcoin can compete with Ethereum Solanaand XRPList memes.
Alvin Kahn, COO of Bitget Research, told crypto.news:
“The emergence of new meme coins on platforms like[…]The introduction of new tokens may stimulate public interest in the meme sector, which may benefit all meme coins by attracting new investors to the market.
Airport financing (Aero) is a symbol of the liquidity position in the underlying ecosystem. AERO is averaging over $1 million in fees per day and is a leading decentralized exchange on Base, an experimental platform for Ethereum. AERO is ranked 92nd in terms of market capitalization.
AERO is trading in the buy zone between $2,080 and $2,146. The previous all-time high for AERO is $2,372, and the token is less than 4% below that level. The 161.8% Fibonacci retracement of the rise from the November low to the December high sets a target of $3,142 for price discovery this session.
Two technical indicators, RSI and Moving Average Convergence Divergence, support the bullish thesis for the token on the daily time frame.
beam (beam) The token is the native crypto asset of the gaming network powered by Beam DAO. The ecosystem consists of players and developers, and this altcoin is ranked 85th by market cap on CoinGecko.
BEAM fits into the distinct gaming narrative of the ongoing market cycle, and has recently announced the integration of AI into its games, fueling innovation.
BEAM is about 23% below its 2024 peak of $0.044300. The buy zone for the gaming token is $0.028501 to $0.029940. MACD is flashing green histogram bars that support the thesis for gains in BEAM.
Chainlink (LINK) is the largest oracle network in the cryptocurrency space and enables cross-chain connectivity for many traditional and decentralized finance platforms. LINK ranks among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
LINK’s buy zone is between $29.09 and $31.09, in the imbalance zone on the weekly price chart. Targets are a November 2021 high of $38.31 and an all-time high of $53.
Pups World Peace (PUPS) ranks 379th in terms of market cap, with over $232 million. PUPS wiped out nearly 9% of its value in the last 24 hours. PUPS fell below the buy zone between $0.211139 and $0.230000.
The meme coin recently reached a high of $0.405265, its highest level in November 2024. This is the target once PUPS recovers from its correction. The symbol is in an uptrend as of Thursday.
The RSI is reading 44, below the neutral level of 50 and the MACD is showing underlying negative momentum in PUPS.
ghosta DeFi token that ranks 34th by market cap, and the price was almost unchanged in the past day. The market capitalization of AAVE has exceeded $5.43 billion and the token could increase its gains according to technical indicators.
The AAVE buy zone is between $288.09 and $294.76. AAVE could target an October 2021 peak of $459. Both momentum indicators support the bullish thesis for the DeFi token.
Strategic considerations
The cryptocurrency market cycle in 2024 differs from the previous uptrend as most institutional capital flows are directed towards Bitcoin. The “capital turnover” narrative does not hold as much ground in sustained upside.
Options metrics indicate that Bitcoin price may be hovering near the psychologically important level of $100,000. The return of altcoin season may send prices higher, but there is always the possibility of a market correction if Bitcoin notices a sudden collapse.
Ryan Lee, senior analyst at Bitget Research, told crypto.news:
“Bitcoin’s increasing dominance may temporarily shift investment away from altcoins. However, history suggests that once Bitcoin stabilizes, altcoins often see a rebound. Investors often enter Bitcoin at new highs, anticipating sustained upward momentum , which may lead to an increase in its price in the short term.
Disclosure: This article does not constitute investment advice. The content and materials contained on this page are for educational purposes only.