Cryptocurrencies mixed: can Bitcoin consolidate at $19,300?

The cryptocurrency market continues to find no clear direction to go in and bears a clear mixed sign among the main tokens. On Monday, Bitcoin (BTC), the world's largest cryptoasset, records slight declines and is trying to consolidate the $19,300 gained over the weekend. Ethereum (ETH), the largest altcoin on the planet, rises moderately and stands at $1,330.

'Cryptos' gained upward momentum during the final stages of the weekend, registering rises of around 2%. That was Bitcoin´s case, as it began to rise to over $19,600 at 12 p.m. on this very Monday, although its price has been trimming in the last few hours to reach current levels.

According to cryptanalysis firm Messari, this fluctuation is not as rare as it might seem at first glance. "The current Bitcoin price action is anomalous, but it is not unique. The BVOL, (the index) that measures the pace of an asset's price fluctuations over time, has reached these levels in the past," they explained. These analysts further pointed out that "the last three BVOL closes below 25 have resulted in big moves: two upward and one downward."

"From a technical point of view, there is nothing new on the horizon," stated Javier Molina, senior market analyst at eToro, "Low trading volume, downside volatility and the range we marked of $17,500-$22,500 is still intact." According to the expert, if BTC holds the $19,000 level in the coming days it will go higher; if not, prices below the $19,000 support "open the way to the $17,500 benchmark." "Losing that level means going for $13,500. Watch for actual volume as the clue as to the likely path of movement," he added.

Most analysts also noted that the price of the world's largest crypto-asset seems to depend heavily on the performance of the S&P 500, and many analysts expected even more declines for the world's most important stock market index. "Since its highs, Bitcoin has fallen 73% and the S&P 500 has descended 27%. In contrast, over the past 3 months, Bitcoin has fallen 27% and the S&P 500 has dropped 19%, a difference of only 8%," the analyst firm CryptoQuant commented.

"Our year-end target of 3,300 points for the S&P could be beaten on the downside. However, 3,000 seems to us to be an entry point at which the double unfavorable dynamic of weakening macro data and rising inflation should be broken," explained Wolf von Rotberg, equity strategist at J. Safra Sarasin Sustainable AM. The expert anticipated a further drop of between 10% and 20% from current levels, something that has also been expected by other major firms such as Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.

This is not the only data that anticipates more pain for BTC. According to CryptoQuant data, a large number of Bitcoins have been put on the market in recent days, which may indicate a price drop in the short term. The firm expects sharp falls next November 22 and December 23 and highlights that 50% of the movements that have occurred in recent days have been in the 'altcoins' market, volumes that have recently led to large falls in Bitcoin, highlighting the plunge from $67,000 to $36,000 between November 2021 and January 2022.

In other market news, Cardano (ADA) and MATIC (Polygon) are among the 'altcoins' that have done best in the past 24 hours with rises of more than 2% and 6%, respectively. Solana (SOL) is up 0.5% and Shiba inu (SHIB) is up more than 0.1%.