XRP vs BNB Heats Up for 4th Spot as BTC Hits Resistance at $73K: Market Watch

Bitcoin reached a multi-week peak of almost $73,000 yesterday before it was rejected and pushed south by over two grand.

Most altcoins have also erased a big portion of yesterday’s gains, with ETH sliding below $2,200. LINK and XLM have dropped by 5%, while RAIN has risen by a similar percentage.

BTC Rejected at $73K

Bitcoin’s previous peak above $72,000 came on March 25, but the subsequent rejection was quite painful. By the following Monday, the asset had already tumbled to a monthly low of $65,000 before it experienced more volatility between $66,000 and $69,000 during that business week.

The fluctuations calmed as the weekend arrived, perhaps because it was Easter in most Western countries. Even Trump’s new threats and comments on the war couldn’t really shake BTC, which remained sideways around $67,000. Reports about an upcoming cease-fire on Monday sent BTC flying to just over $70,000, but it quickly lost the momentum and dipped to $68,000 on Tuesday as Trump’s deadline was close to expiring.

However, the two nations indeed announced a ceasefire on Tuesday morning, and BTC exploded by several grand to $72,700. After a brief dip, it jumped to $72,800 later that day after the FT claimed Iran wanted other countries to pay in bitcoin for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

BTC dipped almost immediately after that new three-week peak to $70,400 but rebounded to just over $71,000 as of now. Its market cap has slipped to $1.420 trillion, while its dominance over the alts is up to 57% on CG.

BTCUSD April 9. Source: TradingView

Alts Retrace

Most altcoins mimicked BTC’s gains yesterday but have turned red today. Ethereum went toward $2,300 but was stopped and now sits below $2,200. XRP and BNB continue to fight for the fourth spot, but BNB has taken the lead after a more modest decline in its market cap.

LINK, ADA, SOL, DOGE, XLM, and WLFI have dropped even more from the larger-cap alts, while RAIN has surged by more than 5% to $0.008.

The total crypto market cap has erased around $50 billion since yesterday’s peak and is down to $2.5 trillion on CG.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview April 9. Source: QuantifyCrypto