Bitcoin Rockets Past $38K As Other Markets Steadily Improve

According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin (BTC) managed to break through the $38,000 mark, but it is difficult to say how long it will stay there. Altcoins, too, experienced a price increase as Ethereum (ETH) soared past $2,100 and SOL went above $60. IOTA has emerged as the top performer among the top 100 digital assets, soaring by over 30% in a day. The total crypto market cap has slightly decreased to $1.420 trillion.

Crypto gains momentum but falls short

Last Friday, Bitcoin witnessed a surge, propelling it to an 18-month peak of $38,500. However, the momentum could not be sustained, leading to a drop below $38,000 almost immediately. Over the weekend, BTC traded in a range between $37,000 and $37,500. As of this writing, it was trading at $38,300.

Monday and Tuesday brought more challenges as Bitcoin fell to a multi-day low of $36,700. Bulls managed to regain control, pushing BTC to $38,400 on Wednesday. However, the cryptocurrency could not sustain this upward trend and is now trading below $38,000. Its market capitalization is below $740 billion, with dominance over altcoins at 52%.

While some larger-cap altcoins showed significant gains recently, the current landscape has shifted. Ethereum went down by 2%, and various other altcoins like Binance Coin, Ripple, Tron, Toncoin, Avalanche, and MATIC also declined by similar percentages.

Solana, Cardano, and Polkadot have experienced more than a 3% decline. Interestingly enough, Dogecoin (DOGE) is the only top 10 alt in the green, while mid-cap alts like LEO, RUNE, UNJ, and MNT show gains.

Other markets

In the European equity futures market, there were gains despite a slip in Asian stocks following the third-largest monthly gain of the MSCI All Country World Index within the past decade. European contracts rose ahead of eurozone manufacturing data and comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, while US futures were slightly lower.

Elsewhere, the MSCI Asia-Pacific stock index fell, but Chinese shares recovered after reports of an unidentified state institution buying exchange-traded funds to bolster markets. The United States Dollar weakened against major peers as US inflation eased, supporting expectations of the continued pause by the Fed in the tightening cycle. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index also fell in November by the most in a year.

Meanwhile, the US stock market had an exceptional month, with the S&P 500 posting its second-best November since 1980, up 8.9%. Oil steadied after a tumble following the promise of further output cuts, with Brent crude trading near $81 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate around $76. The alliance announced 900,000 barrels a day of fresh output cuts starting next January, but the details remain unclear, and Saudi Arabia will extend its 1 million barrel-a-day reduction through the first quarter.