Blue-chip cryptocurrencies continue to pull lower from multi-month/year highs hit earlier in the month amid profit-taking ahead of what is expected to be a somewhat calmer and lower volume run in to the end of the year, as major market participants take time off for the Christmas holidays.
Bitcoin was last trading around $41,500, down 1.3% in the past 24 hours as per CoinMarketCap, whilst Ether was last down around 3.0% in the mid-$2,100s.
Most major altcoins are also lower, with the likes of BNB (BNB), XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX) and Dogecoin (DOGE) all down between 2-6% over the same time period.
Major recent developments generating discussion in the crypto space include 1) the recent Ledger vulnerability which sparked renewed concerns about wallet safety in DeFi, 2) a spike in layer-1 blockchain transaction fees amid renewed meme coin mania sparking fresh concerns about scalability and 3) hawkish commentary from a Fed official at the end of last week, which has muddied the waters regarding when the Fed will start cutting interest rates in 2024.
Optimism about near-term expected spot Bitcoin ETF approvals remains a reason for dip-buyers to want to continue entering the market.
But price risks remain tilted to the downside this week for major cryptos, with Bitcoin having recently dropped below a short-term uptrend and its 21DMA, a technical sign a short-term dip back to $38,000 could be on the cards.
The release of US Core PCE inflation data on Friday will trigger volatility in the market – if it indicates that the deflation trend in the US continues, then that could be a positive catalyst.
But ahead of that, expect conditions to remain subdued.
As a result, traders looking to book quick exponential gains will continue to flock to the highly volatile and more illiquid low-cap markets.
Here are some of the biggest low cap gainers on decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap on Monday.
Metis ($METIS)
Layer-2 scaling solution Metis’ native token $METIS has enjoyed a 13% pump in the past 24 hours, as per Uniswap, making it one of the best-performing low-cap coins.
Its market cap was last around $127 million as per DEXTools, with around $1.4 million having changed hands in the past 24 hours, with nearly 18,500 holders and around $2.4 million in liquidity.
$METIS was last around $28 per token, having pumped as high as $35 per token earlier in the session, with bulls eyeing a retest of 2023 highs in the $45 area.
Injective ($INJ)
Finance-focused layer-1 blockchain Injective’s native token $INJ is up around 10% on Monday, as per Uniswap.
$INJ isn’t exactly a low-cap coin, with a market cap of around $2.8 billion as per DEXTools.
The token has seen 24-hour trading volumes of around $8 million, has over 25,000 holders and liquidity of around $1.8 million.
$INJ’s latest rally saw it print a record-high price just below $34 per token on Monday.
Open Exchange Token ($OX)
Decentralized spot, derivatives and claims exchange the Open Exchange’s native token $OX is up an impressive 9% in the last 24 hours, as per Uniswap, making it a top performer.
The token last had a market cap of around $42 million, with around $1 million having changed hands in the past 24 hours, with 5,640 holders and with $2.4 million in liquidity, as per DEXTools.
Despite the Monday pump, $OX’s price was last at $0.0145 where it remains locked within recent trading ranges and still a long way from its summer record price highs in the $0.08 area.
Crypto Alternatives to Consider
Low-cap coins can offer huge potential returns but also come with a lot of risk.
For those looking for a better probability of near-term gains, an alternative high-risk, high-reward investment strategy to consider is getting involved in crypto presales.
This is where investors buy the tokens of upstart crypto projects to help fund their development.
These tokens are nearly always sold cheaply, and there is a long history of presales delivering huge exponential gains to early investors.
Many of these projects have fantastic teams behind them and a great vision to deliver a revolutionary crypto application/platform.
If an investor can identify such projects, the risk/reward of their presale investment is very good.
The team at Cryptonews spends a lot of time combing through presale projects to help investors out.
Here is a list of 15 of what the project deems as the best crypto presales of 2023.
See the 15 Cryptocurrencies
Disclosure: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. By using this website, you agree to our terms and conditions. We may utilize affiliate links within our content, and receive commission.
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