Bitcoin rises, but Ethereum sets new record highs and steals the show

Bitcoin maintains its range-bound trading of the past few days, and traded above $60,000 on Monday and Tuesday, reaching the vicinity of $63,000, a psychological price level that seems to be becoming a short-term support. While upside for the crypto queen is limited to this area, some analysts expect a slight pullback ahead of a seasonally strong period for cryptocurrency prices.

As for the 'altcoins,' the outlook is bullish, with Ethereum surpassing its recent all-time highs in intraday range, up to $4,460, following the record above $4,400 it set at the close on Oct. 29, according to 'CoinMarketCap'. Total capitalization exceeds $2.7 trillion and Bitcoin's dominance rebounds to nearly 44%.

"Bitcoin is continuing to hold on in there above $60,000 after coming under a little pressure over the weekend," comments Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda. "It bounced back quickly after breaking this level last week which suggests there's plenty of desire to push for new records but it is struggling to take off following the ETF launch. A break of $60,000 could see the correction deepen but there still seems to be plenty of support longer term," he adds.

Overall, the market is in watch-and-wait mode, while some regulatory issues in the US are being clarified. In particular, 'stablecoins' are under the spotlight, following a request made by the US Treasury that they should be regulated by the US Congress as soon as possible to take advantage of their potential, according to a report written by the President's Working Group on Financial Markets.

All in all, analysts are not hiding their optimism. Bitcoin tends to gain between 11% and 18% in the fourth quarter, which is one of the reasons why some experts maintain their bullish outlook on cryptocurrency prices for the rest of the year. It appears that Bitcoin followed a seasonal pattern with a surge at the beginning of the year and a volatile September, although the decline was limited as traders came in to buy on the dips.

Despite the sharp price swings, Bitcoin's long-term uptrend remains intact. Also, analysts generally view cryptocurrencies as an early-stage investment. "Cryptocurrencies remain poorly understood and there is still a large knowledge gap, but the industry is rapidly gaining traction among professional investors," wrote cryptocurrency trading firm, QCP Capital, as reported by 'CoinDesk'.

All this is occuring on the heels of a record October for Bitcoin. In addition to all-time highs at $67,000 on Oct. 20, the digital currency closed a month above $60,000 for the first time and finished its third consecutive week above that mark. The monthly rise in the tenth month is nearly 40%.

Despite last week's declines, "the last few negative days failed to damage the overall market structure and the fundamentals also indicate that the long term remains decidedly bullish," says Alejandro Zala, country manager in Spain at Bitpanda.

Both Bitcoin and the major altcoins are experiencing strong volatility on the intraday chart, which is normal at all-time highs, as we have seen lately. "The weekly and monthly charts remain very bullish, suggesting that traders are positive for the rest of the year and expect the bull run to continue," Zala emphasizes. The cryptocurrency fear and greed index for October stands at 76, which shows extreme greed, and is up from 27 in September.

As for Ethereum, it has left highs at $4,400 in October and is up 39% since the beginning of the month. "Higher time frames are bullish and increased volatility is normal after such a positive move since the beginning of October," concludes Zala.