Over the past month, the leaders of the cryptocurrency market remained bullish and hit swing highs. Bitcoin soared and reached $24,500. The BTC price failed to break through the strong resistance at the first attempt, and the price continued to consolidate at $24,000. Technical indicators also show bullish momentum has finished and the current uptrend has been completed.
The RSI index reached 60 and began to move sideways. This indicates a decrease in buying activity and increased selling pressure. The stochastic oscillator reached the overbought zone at 83 for the third time in July. The indicator has acquired a downward bias and is also completing a bearish crossover. The local reversal of the stochastic oscillator indicates sellers' increased activity and a local downtrend. At the same time, the MACD indicator continues to move upwards, which points to the upward potential.
The Bitcoin network has posted a significant increase in trading volume to $40 billion. This indicates an increase in buyer activity and the fact that a new uptrend is possible. However, trading volumes are not confirmed by the steady uptrend of unique active addresses on the BTC network. This discrepancy could play a cruel trick on Bitcoin's medium-term upside potential.
Ethereum also continues its uptrend and surpasses Bitcoin in growth rate. Over the last 7 days, the altcoin added 6.5% and hit a swing high above $1,700. The main reason for the growth of the main altcoin is its transition to the PoS algorithm, which should take place in mid-September.
From a technical point of view, the situation around Ethereum is similar to Bitcoin. The prices of BTC and ETH have the same pattern, and the main indicators prove this. However, there are certain differences. Ethereum's stochastic oscillator and the RSI are close to the overbought zone, indicating more buying demand. The upward movement of the MACD indicator is much more powerful than that of Bitcoin. This indicates that the ETH uptrend is stronger than that of BTC. The altcoin also made an upward breakout of the downtrend line. The price is trying to fix above it to open the way to $2,000.
The main Ethereum onchain indicators point to great potential for an uptrend. The trading volumes are rising as well as the number of unique addresses. Due to the transition to the new algorithm, Ethereum is attracting both retail and large investors. With this in mind, it is likely that Ethereum will pierce $2,000 in August and continue the uptrend.
The situation with Bitcoin is more complicated. Technically, the first cryptocurrency does not form bullish patterns confirming the uptrend. The main driving force of the BTC/USD pair is news and market reaction to it. Stock indices play an important role as well, making the Bitcoin price follow suit. The Bitcoin market is driven by macroeconomic factors, and therefore one can question the current uptrend.
Bitcoin's key problem is low trading volumes. A decline or persistence of certain trading volumes in an uptrend generates divergence, which in turn makes one question the feasibility and validity of the current uptrend. With this in mind, the validity of Bitcoin's uptrend is questionable and can be considered speculative and emotional.
For example, the upward movement of Ethereum has been supported by a major upgrade and migration to PoS protocols. This entails certain positive changes for investors. Therefore, there is an increase in address activity and daily trading volumes on the Ethereum network. The ETH's uptrend is robust and unquestionable. Therefore, from a technical and fundamental point of view, Ethereum looks preferable for investments at the current stage. Bitcoin is subject to spikes in trading volumes, which can cause a drop in price if the news background is negative.
