Bitcoin price rally cools down as Polkadot gains 34% in first week of ‘altseason’

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $26,000 on Dec. 29 as fresh fallout from Ripple’s threatened lawsuit with the United States Security and Exchange Commission was felt throughout crypto markets.

BTC price dips as Coinbase halts XRP trading

Data from Cointelegraph Markets, Coin360 and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $25,830 during Tuesday trading.

$27,000 support failed to hold overnight, sparking a retest of lower levels that now center on $26,000. On the weekend, Bitcoin hit all-time highs of $28,400 before swiftly reversing.

The latest losses come as XRP, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, hits $0.23 thanks to major U.S. exchange Coinbase opting to suspend trading from next month. The SEC’s lawsuit against the token threatens to classify XRP as an unlicensed security and make trading it legally impossible.

“There is going to be a rangebound construction, after which 2021 will most likely break out again,” Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe summarized about Bitcoin’s short-term perspectives in a video update on Monday.

Analyst braced for altseason

Van de Poppe is eyeing altcoins as next in line to see major gains. XRP notwithstanding, the market is already showing signs of life, with Ether (ETH) climbing above $700 for the first time since May 2018 this week.

Another winner on Tuesday was Polkadot (DOT), now the seventh-largest token by market cap, which saw a 22.5% daily rise, capping weekly performance of nearly 34%.

For Van de Poppe, the next “impulse wave” on Bitcoin in 2021 should take the market to $40,000 or $50,000, but “until then, altcoins will most likely do well.”

He additionally pointed to a likely top in Bitcoin market cap dominance, which at almost 70% should soon give way to altcoin presence. December tends to see BTC dominance peaks, with 2017, the time of Bitcoin’s first attempt to crack $20,000, a notable comparison.