Speculation points to the pump and dump party behind the surprise move, but there could be another aspect involved that might serve like a dark cloud hanging over altcoins for several months to come.
Bitcoin rose by $29,000 in 2020 from a low of $3,800 to the end of the year. The bull market is back for the top crypto asset, and investors are looking at the inevitable break-up of altcoins in the remainder of the market.
For eg, Ethereum trades about 50 percent of its former all-time peak, while Bitcoin is 50 percent above it. Divergence has some shark-like buyers hunting for the best opportunity in the blood.
Some altcoins reveal architectures that look poised to break out against BTC, and one altcoin from the last bull run did just that.
FunFair (FUN), an altcoin built for the online gambling industry, has undergone an immense spike against Bitcoin. Over the span of several hours, the altcoin surged as high as 350 percent against the BTC.
In only one hour, however, the entire rally was retraced, prompting the crypto world to wonder whether the pump and dump parties had returned to crypto. These organisations organise attempts to falsely pump the price of a coin, only to dump it until the FOMO is sufficiently ignited.
They were incredibly popular at the height of the Crypto Bubble in 2017, and they may be returning. Or may it be a symbol of anything else?
Pump and dump? Or did a whale end all the fun? | Source: FUNBTC on TradingView.com
Although it could be fun and games for a pump and a dump party, a “whale call” alerting users to a huge amount of FUN tokens being transferred could tip someone off the coming dump.
The fact that such a significant supply has been transferred indicates that this was not the activity of a pump and dump party, but a whale sale the first sign of a big rally in the altcoin.
With altcoins already down too low, with probably more risk ahead of the asset class as the SEC continues to tighten regulations, whales may be waiting in the ocean, ready to liquidate their tokens as fast as they can.
Many of the Altcoin holders who got in around 2017 are now underwater and may be hoping to sell the moment they can, even if only to trade for Bitcoin. It may be the primary reason behind why no old season has returned, and the short-lived summer has been held to DeFi tokens and other new alts.
-newsbtc
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