Bitcoin, encountered unusual volatility on February 17, dropping by about $1,500 over the weekend, but most losses were recovered in the following hours, and at the time of writing, it is trading close to $52,000. Most altcoins also turned green on February 18. Ethereum reclaimed the $2,800 level and Solana returned to the $110 level.
Bitcoin’s Performance Over the Past Week
After closing the previous week with a 13% gain, Bitcoin started the current week with another surge, reaching $50,000 on February 12 for the first time in over two years. The US CPI figures on February 13 brought some pain to investors as Bitcoin dropped to $48,500, but this was short-lived, and the asset almost instantly returned to its upward trajectory.
This led to Bitcoin surpassing the $51,000 and $52,000 levels on February 12 and 13. More price increases were seen on February 14, with Bitcoin reaching $52,900, its recent peak. At least for now, the rally has paused. Aside from a brief price drop on February 17 that left $100 million in liquidations, Bitcoin has since calmed down.
However, as of now, the cryptocurrency is trading close to $52,000, with a market value of over $1 trillion. According to CoinGecko data, it continues to dominate nearly 50% of the altcoin market.
What Happened in the Altcoin Market?
Altcoin market saw most assets pulling back on February 17, but today they have erased their losses. As a result, Ethereum made a minor daily jump and rose above $2,800. BNB, XRP, TRX, AVAX, and MATIC also showed similar rates of increase. Solana saw an increase of over 1% and once again reached $110. Polkadot, Chainlink, and Toncoin gained between 3-4%. Cardano took the main stage with a notable increase of nearly 9%. Consequently, ADA rose above $0.6 and is currently trading close to $0.65.
For significant gains in the altcoin market, cryptocurrencies such as FET with 20%, GRT with 14%, RNDR with 11%, BTT with 11%, and INJ with 10% can be cited as examples. The total crypto market value increased by several billion dollars overnight, reaching $2.05 trillion according to CoinGecko data.
