Today in Markets

Bitcoin Takes All

Anticipation of ETF approval drove action away from Alts and towards BTC

Jan 8, 2024 • 1 min read

Sacrificing Alts: Crypto’s attention remains squarely affixed to Bitcoin with key ETF approval deadlines looming this week; BTC price held steady throughout the weekend, despite the sell-off in alts, and is up 6.8% to new cycle highs on the day! How is ETF approval anticipation impacting the crypto market?

Alts bleed over the first weekend of 2024. The total crypto market cap excluding BTC (TOTAL2) declined by as much as 7.0% over the weekend but managed to stymie the losses late Sunday night and retrace them with a pump on Monday.

As ETF approval deadlines inch ever closer, market participants are selling alts to hop on what they perceive will be the fastest horse post-decision. If the approval of a spot BTC ETF provides meaningful capital inflows for the industry, expect to see the continuation of Bitcoin dominance.

Defying the broader trend of alt underperformance is Bitcoin L2 Stacks Network (STX), which has climbed 26.2% since Friday thanks to its acceptance as a high-beta BTC play among some crypto investors.

ETF hype is creating a Bitcoin centric narrative.

- $STX and its ecosystem is this best Beta play on #Bitcoin in the market

- Every alt bled today besides $STX

- $STX vs $BTC chart retesting 0.00004
Resistance for the 3rd time

A break out is imminent pic.twitter.com/F3zNHzNLp5
— jk.sats🟧 (@jksats) January 8, 2024

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