Bitcoin Back Above $46K on Low Daily Volume as Altcoins Outperform

Bitcoin has clawed back lost ground from Thursday's 2.4% sell that saw the crypto reach a low of around $43,800.

The world's largest cryptocurrency by market value was up 1.5% over a 24-hour period by press time and is currently changing hands for around $46,100.

Bitcoin is beginning to edge closer toward analyst's projected $50,000 price tag, as CoinDesk reported Thursday.

"We were seeing many investors taking advantage of recent market movements by taking profits,” said Asher Tan, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange CoinJar. "There's a trend of conservatism among users who jumped into crypto around similar price levels earlier in the year, with users slightly trimming their holdings."

Indeed, bitcoin's total daily volume across major exchanges, including Bitstamp, remains flat when compared to previous months, particularly towards the end of May.

"While the recent price movements have seen an increased amount of activity in the markets, trading volumes globally are nowhere near where they were the last time the price was at $45,000 - they’re much lower," said Janine Grainger, co-founder of Australia-based exchange Easy Crypto.

The co-founder points toward new investors remaining cautious ever since they had a taste of the crypto market's volatility when the sell-off in May saw bitcoin prices drop 50% from $56,700 to around $30,000 in a little over a week.

Yet seasoned investors, Grainger argues, are increasingly active with data hinting at a strong uptake in altcoins, beginning Aug. 9. "In particular, ether has picked up significantly against bitcoin and that is starting to trend again as of today," she said.

"Some folks are worried we’re about to repeat history with this year’s $60,000-$30,000-$45,000, but this time it really is different," BCB Group CEO Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie told CoinDesk via Telegram on Friday. "There is a ton of institutional money in the system, which behaves very differently from retail money; the ecosystem has evolved significantly with hundreds of thousands of man hours of innovation; and regulation has gained much greater definition."

Ether isn't the only crypto trending higher on the day with cardano, stellar and solana posting the highest gains. Zooming out to a seven-day period, most altcoins in the top 20 by market cap are outperforming bitcoin while most decentralized finance (DeFi) cryptos are trending higher in the green, up between 6%-90% over the same period.

"In terms of altcoins, many cryptocurrencies, especially DeFi coins, have been lagging in comparison to bitcoin and ether," said Tan. "However, we're starting to see a trend of users swapping bitcoin for DeFi coins, which has been a catalyst for the recent appreciation in their price."