Cryptocurrency traders found cause for celebration on July 18 as total market capitalization once again surged above the $1 trillion mark after weeks of widespread selling after the price of Bitcoin (BTC) broke its yearly lows below $18,000.
The crypto green day largely tracks a positive day in traditional markets, which rose slightly despite analyst estimates that the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates by at least 75 basis points at the FOMC meeting on July 27.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
While traders will welcome positive price action on July 18th, many analysts are warning that the rally is nothing more than a bear market pump. Let’s take a look at the current top performing employees.
Bitcoin has a gain of 16%
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that over the past week, Bitcoin has rallied significantly and at the time of writing, BTC has a 16% weekly gain from its recent low of $18907.
BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
The top cryptocurrency now finds itself heading towards resistance found at the 200-week moving average, which also happens to be the upper end of the trading range that bitcoin has been trapped in since mid-June.
This level has proven difficult to breach over the past five weeks as multiple attempts to break above it were met with rejection. It remains to be seen if Bitcoin will be able to break free from this level and move higher or spend more time trading between $19,000 and $22,000.
Ethereum consolidation surge advances 43%
Ethereum (ETH) has also seen an increase in momentum and price over the past week, jumping 43% from a low of $1,005 on July 13 to a daily high of $1,530 on July 18, reaching its highest price since June 12.
ETH/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Ether has shown increased momentum since the merger was successfully completed on July 6 on the Sipolia Test Network. Another boost to its price was provided on July 15 when it was announced that the mainnet was expected to be integrated on September 19.
While the September 19 date is still tentative and should be seen as a roadmap offer rather than a strict deadline, the prospect of a merger finally taking place after years of preparation is intriguing to the community and possibly increasing demand for Ether.
Related: Bitcoin Price Approaches Critical 200-Week Moving Average As Ethereum Touches $1.5K
Matic keeps moving
On the altcoin front, Polygon (MATIC) continues to lead the pack higher a week after several major announcements including being selected to participate in Disney’s 2022 Accelerator Program, gaining 32.4% in the past 24 hours and trading near resistance at $0.94.
MATIC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Other notable gainers on the 24-hour chart include a 19.6% increase for STEPN (GMT), an 18.9% increase for Theta Fuel (TFUEL), and a 17.6% increase for Convex Finance (CVX).
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization is now at $1.019 trillion and the bitcoin dominance rate is 41.6%.
