Altcoins, ATH XRP & Ethereum’s Surge

Speaking on the Tapping Into Crypto podcast on Tuesday, hosts Ted Coldrake and Pav Hundal discussed the recent crypto market surge, which has seen both BTC and XRP post new all-time highs and ETH finally show some positive price action after a lengthy sideways run.

Bitcoin achieved a new all-time high on July 14, topping out at just under US$123,000 (AU$185,000), while XRP hit its new all-time high of US$3.65 (AU$5.51) on July 18.

“It seems like the appetite for XRP as an investment, or a speculative investment, is super high right now,” Coldrake said. He said the interest in XRP seems to be driven by Ripple’s focus on banking and its relatively simplicity compared to many other cryptocurrencies.

It’s [XRP] been around a long time and it’s easier to understand, more so than some of the other projects.

Ted Coaldrake, Tapping Into Crypto podcast co-host

On Ethereum, Coldrake and Hundal agreed that a surge in institutional interest, largely driven by recent record inflows into the Ethereum ETFs, is helping push ETH’s price higher.

“I’ve got a nice little stat here — 59% of all the net flows for Ethereum [ETFs] has occurred in the last month and half. So, since the start of June,” Hundal said. 

“About two-thirds of that buying has actually just happened in July. There’s been a huge resurgence of interest in Ethereum,” he said.

The rise of the so-called Ethereum corporate treasury strategy, in which corporations are adding ETH to their balance sheets, has also likely contributed to ETH’s recent surge, according to Coldrake and Hundal.

Coldrake also noted that this flow of capital from Bitcoin into ETH mirrors dynamics observed in previous crypto cycles, saying it’s “what we’ve seen in other cycles, where you know, Bitcoin runs first, then it flows into ETH, then it flows down into other altcoins. And that seems to be playing out.”

Related: XRP Hits All-Time High as Open Interest Hits Records; Ripple Inks Ctrl Alt Deal

Short-term Retracement Likely, Says Hundal

While the market has been trending upwards over the past week or two, Hundal cautioned that a significant short-term retracement could be on the cards, particularly for altcoins.

I do think, having a look at how Bitcoin’s technical structure formed up on this week, bit of a failure — failed to make a new solid high. Like, we put in that new all-time high last week, but really haven’t pushed any higher than that and actually sold off quite quickly in my opinion.

Pav Hundal, Tapping Into Crypto podcast co-host

“The way things are shaping up right now…things might be getting overheated,” Hundal warned, adding that “we could see altcoins still continue [their rally] till the end of the week but these are the kind of times where you just don’t know — could finish Wednesday, could finish Thursday.”

This prediction was made Tuesday, and as it turns out the market is indeed experiencing a significant correction today, with many altcoins down 5% to 10% on the day.

Lessons On Surviving A Crypto Bull Market

Coldrake offered some tips for newbies on how to navigate crypto bull markets and hopefully come out with more profits than regret.

His first tip was to make sure to have an exit plan. The plan doesn’t necessarily need to be detailed, according to Coldrake, but at the very least you should be looking to dollar cost average out of your positions just as you dollar cost average into them.

He also advised against chasing coins that’ve already pumped. 

If you go chasing after pumps you’ll likely miss a lot of them. Sometimes you might catch it halfway up and ride it to the top. But I think if you’re chasing you often get burnt more so than doing well.

Ted Coaldrake, Tapping Into Crypto podcast co-host

Related: Retail Chases Alts as Institutions Choose Stability, Wintermute Report Reveals

Coldrake also cautioned against holding too many altcoins, explaining, ”when you have 20 to 30 altcoins you have no idea what’s happening with them,” and you can wind up not knowing when or if to take profits. Other tips included ensuring you hold at least some Bitcoin, and keeping a stash of cash on the sidelines to buy into the inevitable dips even as the market is trending up.