The crypto crash continues, but is it time to panic?

Libertex: The summer season, traditionally used for relaxing and unwinding by the pool or on the beach, was anything but a welcome break for many cryptocurrency investors.

Instead of reaping the rewards of their hard-earned gains, holders of many digital assets will be left to suffer losses following a series of shocking price drops for some of the biggest and most well-known projects.

The price of Bitcoin, for example, has fallen by almost 15% since the beginning of June, while the value of smart contract pioneer Ethereum has fallen by more than 30% during this period.

And the situation is similar in the area of ​​altcoins: practically all coins and tokens have either reached or exceeded Bitcoin's losses.

But before we give in to despair, we should look at the bigger picture.

After a relatively short crash following the pandemic, the entire cryptocurrency market has been in a regular boom since January 2023.

Even taking into account recent corrections, the price of Bitcoin has more than tripled from $16,529.00 on December 31, 2022, to now, hovering around the $60,000.00 mark.

Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum has doubled from $1,195.00 to around $2,600.00.

In fact, Bitcoin’s 6-month chart shows a more than modest increase of 14.5%!

So is this just a first sign of a further uptrend or an indication of a new crypto bear market?

What will be the key trends to watch through 2024 and beyond?

Catalysts galore

While it's easy to get upset when losing days pile up, we must remember that no market can rise indefinitely and corrections are perfectly normal.

It is understandable that the huge swings associated with cryptocurrencies can be particularly grueling, but we must remain logical and look at the fundamentals, which are undeniably positive.

After a period of stagnation, the US stock market has regained momentum this month, reflecting an increase in appetite for risky assets.

Even better, the consumer price index for July showed inflation below 3% for the first time in three years, while the latest jobs report showed a significant slowdown in the labor market.

Taken together, these two developments have made a Fed rate cut of at least 25 basis points in September all but certain.

As always, this is excellent news for risky assets, of which cryptocurrencies are notoriously the riskiest.

When we combine this with the already widespread and increasing adoption of major digital currencies by major financial institutions and pension funds following the SEC's approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, everything is set for further price increases for the two major legacy coins in Q4 2024.

According to Nate Geraci, president of ETF Store, the latest batch of 13F filings revealed 1,924 institutional holders of BTC spot ETFs, up from 1,479 in Q1.

The fact that this adoption has accelerated at a time of falling prices bodes well for a future increase under fairer conditions.

Ctrl+Alt

Bitcoin and Ethereum are all well and good, but as established instruments, their potential for huge price appreciation is now somewhat limited.

For the really big potential profits, interested investors have to look into the altcoin space.

Luckily for them, some of the best bargains can be found right here.

One of the most promising altcoins in 2024 is the famous “Ethereum killer” Solana, whose much faster transaction speeds make it an ideal choice for DeFi, NFTs and smart contracts.

Over the past few months, active Solana users have been rewarded with numerous airdrops from several projects developed on the platform.

For example, users of Jito and Jupiter Exchange received airdrops worth over $10,000.

This added value and return potential were and are the key to raising capital and further revitalizing the ecosystem.

At its current level of $141.36, SOL is still well below its November 2021 all-time high of $259.96.

It is hard to imagine that Solana will not reach a new high in the next bull cycle, which makes the current price very attractive.

Another altcoin that could be poised for big price increases in the next bull cycle – albeit for entirely different reasons – is the quintessential memecoin, DOGE.

Despite the downturn in the general cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin managed to see a 5% increase in price in a single day following the release of a recent meme by patron Elon Musk.

This is a sign of how vulnerable this dog-themed coin is to outside influences, and we often see hype during bull cycles.

From a technical perspective, DOGE is likely to face resistance at $0.188, which coincides with the 50% Fibonacci retracement level.

Based on the current price of $0.10, there is a solid upside potential of 80%, so at least a small speculative position could be worthwhile.

Bitcoin chart