Bitcoin, the world’s biggest digital currency on Monday, traded higher, punching above $8,500 in early action. However, the digital-currency market more broadly wasn’t faring as well, with most virtual assets kicking off the week in decline.
After reaching a weekend high of $8,575.99, bitcoin has retreated and a single bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.64% was last worth $8,468.71, down 1% since Sunday’s levels at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken exchange.
Despite the sluggish start to the week, sentiment remains high. The CEO of Atlas Quantum, one of Brazil’s largest crypto trading platforms, Rodrigo Marques, said in an email to MarketWatch that the move under $8,000 was an interim low for bitcoin, adding that he expects bitcoin to reach $20,000 in six months, recapturing levels it hasn’t approached since December.
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In further positive news for bitcoin enthusiasts, futures trading showed most investors aren’t giving up on the No. 1 digital currency. “We saw many traders roll out from May to June over the past few days,” wrote Peter Lusk, senior instructor at the Cboe Global Markets Inc. “Rolling futures to a further-dated contract is typical when near-term futures move toward expiration.”
Holders of bitcoin futures could have opted to exit their position and settle.
Read: The advent of bitcoin futures sparked the selloff from $20,000, says San Francisco Fed
What are altcoins and futures doing?
Altcoins, or those considered alternatives to bitcoin, have stumbled out of the blocks Monday. Ether ETHUSD, -2.76% is down 1.4% to $709.00, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -5.49% has lost 4.4% to $1,242.60, Litecoin LTCUSD, -3.51% is off 3.1% at $135.86 and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, -3.41% last traded at 69 cents, down 2.5%.
Futures are trading higher early Monday after the spot rally over the weekend. The Cboe June contract XBTM8, +2.27% is up 3.1% at $8,515, while the May contract traded on BTCK8, +2.19% is up 3.3% at $8,500.
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