Bitcoin prices moved higher over the weekend, pushing the world’s largest cryptocurrency above $4,000 for the first time since Dec. 25.
After trading to a two-week high near $4,100 on Sunday, the cryptocurrency has pared some gains on Monday, with a single bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.01% last fetching $4,017.13, down 1.4% since Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange.
“With BTC yet to show any real grip above the $4,000 level, there is still much market comment that the bear market is still apparent and yet to show signs of complete exhaustion and turnaround,” wrote David Thomas, director and co-founder of U.K. cryptocurrency broker GlobalBlock.
“The last month has seen the overall BTC price recover by over 20%, and whilst the bears are less vehement that an imminent ‘zero’ is coming, few are willing to make a call on the short-term direction for bitcoin.”
What are altcoins and futures doing
Smaller cryptocurrencies, commonly referred to as altcoins, are mostly lower on Monday. Ether was down 2% at $152.60, Litecoin LTCUSD, -0.96% was off 1.3% to $38.09, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -2.12% was down 1.9% at $162.00 and XRP, XRPUSD, +1.62% was trading higher, up 0.9% at 37 cents.
After the weekend rally, bitcoin futures are outperforming spot prices on Monday. The Cboe Global Markets February contract XBTG9, +6.06% is trading up 5.9% at $3,975, and the CME Group February contract BTCG9, +6.17% has added 6.7% to $3,980.
