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Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) prices have extended their gains today to push the cryptocurrency market capitalization over $500 billion. 

The top cryptocurrency advanced around 150% year-to-date and is up around 360% from its March levels after the coronavirus outbreak.

“Driven by a mix of market structure and strong fundamentals, bitcoin could now be within days of reaching its all-time high,” said Nicholas Pelecanos, chief of trading at NEM.

“Underlying this bullish price action is the inflation hedge narrative that has captured Wall Street since the immense money printing campaigns undertaken by the Fed earlier this year,” Pelecanos added.

Bitcoin’s uptrend this year was driven by strong demand for riskier assets as a result of unparalleled stimulus measures by governments and central banks around the world to ease the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. 

According to analysts, investors including family offices have seen Bitcoin as a hedge against future inflation that might emerge from the unprecedented stimulus. They also said that expectations of adoption of Bitcoin among mainstream companies to use it as a means of payment largely contributed to its price rally.

Furthermore, almost half of Bitcoin rise in price happened thanks to PayPal’s announcement last month when the online payments company said it would open trading of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on its platform.

Bitcoin looks unstoppable at the moment. Weekly gains are now amounting to nearly 15% to push the world’s largest digital asset to a fresh 3-year high at $18,500. The price action may extend higher for another leg as BTC buyers look to post a new all-time high above the $20,000 mark. This corresponds with the technical picture that suggests a move to $20,180.

While Bitcoin’s rally looks impressive, Ethereum buyers are required to work harder for their gains. ETH/USD is down 1% on the day despite an initial move higher that saw the price action printing $495.45, the highest levels since July 2018. A weekly close above $490 would be a major bullish development for ETH investors, opening the door towards $550. 

Ripple (XRP) price is struggling to keep up with ETH and BTC bulls. Similarly to Ethereum, the price action moved higher this morning to record a 3-month high above the $0.30 mark before pulling back to trade about 4% in the red on the day. Looking lower, $0.2770 offers support in the short-term for traders looking to buy XRP on a dip.

Bitcoin buyers seem determined to continue dragging the entire crypto market higher as Ethereum and Ripple have so far struggled to keep up with the pace of the latest bullish momentum in the market. 

The post Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) price analysis as crypto market cap exceeds $500 billion appeared first on Invezz.

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