Bitcoin Bumps Up, but for How Long?

Mar 20, 2020 at 19:38 UTCUpdated Mar 20, 2020 at 19:43 UTC.As traditional markets continue to struggle with the coronavirus crisis, cryptocurrencies are seeing an upswing in both price and volume.

Now crypto traders are wondering how long this new rally will last.

Bitcoin is up 1 percent in the past 24 hours of trading, currently changing hands at $6,224 as of 19:00 UTC. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization may be trending below its 10-day moving average in price, but it's still above its 50-day average, the signal of a continued upward trend.

Over the past 24 hours, Bitfinex traded on its spot markets more than $400 million worth of cryptocurrencies, according to the exchange.

This coincided with a price spread developing and arbitrage opportunities forming on exchanges like Bitfinex and BitMEX.Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino told CoinDesk the action comes from "a combination of multiple factors [including] halving, hedging against the traditional market and an important number of fiat inflows entering crypto markets to take advantage of the recent decline."

"Seems like markets are having their relief rallies after a destructive week," said Michael van de Poppe, an Amsterdam-based cryptocurrency trader.

The Nikkei 225 ended its trading session down a percent, while the FTSE 100 index in Europe closed up 1.5 percent.

As of 19:00 UTC, the S&P 500 is down over 3 percent while gold is eking out less than a percent gain.

Other top gainers in the crypto market today as of 19:00 UTC include dash also in the green 9 percent Zcash up 5 percent and bitcoin SV gaining 1 percent,.

Downward pricing dogs in crypto include cardano down 4 percent, NEM also in the red 2 percent and IOTA down 4 percent.