Bitcoin approaches Christmas with solid gains

• Cryptocurrency market is consolidating with a positive bias.

• Bitcoin and major altcoins had one of the best weeks this year.

Cryptocurrency market had a really good week as the overwhelming majority of top-10 digital assets managed to recover from this year lows. The total value of coins in circulation has reached $142 billion, which is about $40 billion higher than a week ago.

Bitcoin (BTC) gained over 30% since the recent low; however, the palm of victory belongs to Bitcoin Cash (BCH) that catapulted above $200 and returned to the fourth place in the cryptocurrency rating. The coin is 150% higher than a week ago. Tron (TRX) gained 65% to trade at $0.021 at the time of writing, while Ethereum (ETH) and EOS also became more expensive than a week ago. ETH/USD is trading at $150 after a short-lived spike above $154 handle; EOS/USD has settled marginally above critical $3.00.

A strong positive momentum improved forecasts, though some experts stay cautious. Thus, Peter Brandt, a 71-year-old trading veteran, said that Bitcoin's move above $4,000 was just a dead-cat bounce. He believes that the price will bottom out somewhere closer to $1,200. The cautious approach is understandable as the market has made several false recovery attempts during this year.

Tanya Abrosimova

FXStreet