Bitcoin Hovers Below $20,000 While Ether Continues to Add to Its Price Before the Merge

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, led other crypto assets in go-slow mode after losing over 4 percent in value over the weekend. However, things have begun looking better to begin the week already. The value of Bitcoin has witnessed a minor climb over the last day by 0.65 percent with its price continuing to hover below the $20,000 (roughly Rs. 15.97 lakh) mark across global exchanges while Indian exchange CoinSwitch Kuber values BTC at $19,873 (roughly Rs. 15.97 lakh), 0.65 percent higher than yesterday.

On global exchanges like CoinMarketCap, Coinbase, and Binance the price of Bitcoin stands at $19,875 (roughly Rs. 15.87 lakh) while CoinGecko data shows that BTC's value is currently 1.1 percent higher than where it stood last Monday.

Heading into the week of the much-awaited 'Merge', Ether on the other hand has continued to climb in value, managing to add more to its price over the weekend. As things stand, Ether is valued at $1,576 (roughly Rs. 1.25 lakh) on CoinSwitch Kuber while values on global exchanges also see the crypto's value at $1,576 (roughly Rs. 1.25 lakh), where the cryptocurrency's value has gained 1.7 percent over the past 24 hours.

Ether's showing over the latter stages of last week sees the cryptocurrency's value again move a lot higher than where it was last week, CoinGecko data suggests that the world's second-largest crypto asset has moved up 9.5 percent in value week-on-week.

Gadgets 360's cryptocurrency price tracker reveals that most major altcoins had a day of minor gains over the past 24 hours. The global crypto market capitalisation also witnessed a substantial 0.81 percent increase through late Sunday and early Monday.

Polkadot, Uniswap, Cosmos, Solana, Monero, Cosmos, Avalanche, Cardano, Polygon, TRON, and BNB all saw minor gains in the last 24 hours.

Memecoins Shiba Inu and Dogecoin also followed most altcoins with minor ups in value. Dogecoin is currently valued at $0.06 (roughly Rs. 5.3) after gaining 0.85 percent in value over the last 24 hours, while, Shiba Inu is valued at $0.000013 (roughly Rs. 0.001018), up 3.76 percent over the past day.

"The global crypto market has been on a bearish trend as sellers have become more active since the past week. Bitcoin has been struggling to cross above the $20,000 (roughly Rs. 15.97 lakh) level. BTC is currently nearly 71 percent down from its all-time high. If BTC can trade above the overhead resistance level, bulls might attempt to recapture the $20,000 price level soon. But if BTC keeps facing continued rejections, it might dip to the $18,000 (roughly Rs. 14.37 lakh) support level," explains Edul Patel, CEO and co-founder of crypto investment firm Mudrex speaking to Gadgets 360.

"The second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, is also struggling near the $1,600 (roughly Rs. 1.27 lakh) resistance level. A bearish trend at the $1,400 (roughly Rs. 1.11 lakh) zone can result in a price drop of ETH to the next support level at $1,260 (roughly Rs. 1 lakh). Overall, a bearish trend persists in the crypto market, and we might see a correction in the coming weeks," Patel adds.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.